Minimum Purchase And Incentives Pricing Strategy
Kathy Holcombe
Lesson Info
10. Minimum Purchase And Incentives Pricing Strategy
Lessons
Class Introduction
07:01 2How To Price Your Products
05:01 3Which Products Will You Offer
13:14 4Methods For Pricing
10:38 5Mark Up Factors On Products
05:46 6What Is Your Per Hour Figure
04:45 7What Is The Feasibility Of A Product
11:28 8Target Sales Average
08:04Session Fees Pricing Strategy
09:48 10Minimum Purchase And Incentives Pricing Strategy
05:53 11Bundling Pricing Strategy
25:47 12Pre-Design Pricing Strategy
10:33 13Album Pricing Strategies
10:33 14Example Pricing List
17:33 15Business Basics Overview
07:07 16Tracking Product Lines In Your Business
14:01 17Track Your Session Counts
07:19 18Know Your Sales Average
06:41 19Importance Of Data Analysis
10:14 20Overview Of Costs
13:46 21Professional Photographers Of America Benchmark Survey
18:57 22Creating A Vision For Your Business
08:25 23What Do You Want To Accomplish
13:31 24Take A Leap Of Faith
20:19 25Refine Your Vision
12:44 26Products That Sell
07:48 27Identify Pricing Strategies
03:03 28Portrait Pricing Strategy Example
15:57 29Album Pricing Strategy Example
09:21 30Online Pricing Strategy Example
08:21 31Fine Art Prints Pricing Strategy Example
05:54 32Packages Pricing Strategy Example
12:39 33Sales Strategies Overview
05:45 34Portrait Sales Session Overview
05:34 35Sales Strategy for Portrait Sales
22:56 36How to Present Images to Client
23:03 37Sales Strategy for Wedding Sales
09:49 38Album Pre-Design
18:51 39Marketing: Define Yourself
12:55 40Who is Your Ideal Client?
05:12 41Who is Your Ideal Partner?
03:27 42How to Start a Partner Business Relationship
08:29 43Marketing Strategies that Work
17:10 44Product Lines: Business Plan Part One
09:07 45Workload: Business Plan Part Two
08:23 46Sessions: Business Plan Part Three
16:06 47Expenses: Business Plan Part Four
11:14 48Clients: Business Plan Part Five
05:29Lesson Info
Minimum Purchase And Incentives Pricing Strategy
Minimum purchase. So this is similar to a session fee. What a minimum purchase, it's a strategy similar to the session fee, in that it relieves some of the burden off of the final sale. So when you book a session with a minimum purchase, you usually pay at least a percentage of that minimum purchase up front. Sometimes you pay all of it up front. And it's telling your client you should plan on investing at least this much with me. So, you can use this as a tool in combination with a session fee or you can use it independently. So here's how it might work. You could say, I have a session fee of $ and a minimum purchase of $400. So what you're communicating to that client, is that they should plan on spending $500 with you. Very clear, up front, no mistake, right? So, then we know we still have to get to that $800 mark, so we're still gonna have to sell $300 of product on the back end, alright? That's one way to get over halfway there up front. Or, you could use this to your competitive ...
advantage and say, you know, I don't charge a session fee. Everybody in the area charges a session fee, I want you to see what you get before you invest with me. There is a minimum purchase of $ or whatever you want it to be. You should expect to invest that much, but I want you to see everything up front, okay? Take the session fee off the table, all of a sudden, you are more competitive, right? Or, you could just say, I have a $500 minimum purchase. I'm so busy, I don't know what I can do and it's $500 if you want your picture taken. You see how those have very different messages? Of course you probably wouldn't say it to your clients that way. But I know photographers that have $1,500 minimum purchases. They're experienced, they've been doing it a long time, and they have to use that to filter and make sure they get to the right clients for their business, okay? So basically, the minimum purchase is a strategy to say up front, this is the minimum amount that you should expect to invest. You can use it in combination with other tools for selling. Okay, incentives. So, this is like the, I compare it to training my dog. I give my dog a treat whenever he does a good job. That's not a nice way to talk about your clients, but it's the same concept. So whenever your clients do something that you want them to do, you reward them for it. And you reward them with something that they're really excited about. And so, the trick to incentives is, you can't give an incentive to your client, until they reach that target sales average. So, when we're talking about our happy math and our target sales average is $800, your first incentive happens at $800. You never give them a reward for doing anything less than what you need them to do to make this a sustainable livelihood, okay? And incentives are things that they want, that don't cost you a lot of money to make. So the obvious one is digital files. You don't have a cost of goods on those, unless you're delivering them on a jump drive or a disk or something like that. And so, that would be something easy that they all really, really want. You could use this in your business as an incredible tool, maybe the only way they get digital files is if they do X,Y,Z. That is a powerful tool. You only get the digital files if you invest $1,000 or $1,500 or whatever it is, $500. Whatever you want them to do. Remember, digital files, once they're in the hands of your customer, there's no opportunity for an additional sale. So use them with caution. There are lots of other things that you can use as incentives. One of the favorite things that we always do is we give away cards to our clients that do certain things. But we only give them ten cards and that's very intentional. Our cards actually come in packs of 25, so it's not a logical thing from a business standpoint. But, I know for certain, that if they send ten of their family members a card, somebody is gonna feel left out, right? They're gonna buy more cards, always. Every single time, okay? So be really intentional about how you use these incentives and use them to get your clients to do something that you want them to do. Okay, other incentives. So cards, digital files, you could give them a really cute little, inexpensive frame for some unique product that you make. Give them a Christmas ornament. These are happy, little things that make them feel incredible, it's a gift. Makeup companies use this all the time, they are the king of the incentive. Whenever you go into a department store, you'll see gift with purchase. Same thing, so if you spend $50 on makeup, you get this cute little pouch with all kinds of goodies in there that you probably don't really use anyway. But, it makes you feel good as a buyer, right?
Class Materials
Ratings and Reviews
Lindsay
I started my business a year ago with little formal technical photography education. It's hard to admit but I've been winging it, figuring out each small task that goes with photographing a session, editing one, and working with clients as I go. I may be doing things backwards, but now that I feel like I'm more comfortable in those small, specific parts of business, I need to figure out how to make this business sustainable and profitable. Kathy's class felt perfect for this time in my business to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of what I want to focus on and where I want to go (and how much I want to pay myself!). She uses realistic, specific numbers: something that's SO helpful and I feel like I rarely see in the photography community. And she breaks everything down in an organized and easy to understand way. The classes were easy to follow along with and Kathy's positivity and patient manner is inspiring and motivating. The fact that she used to be a school teacher is clear. Thank you so much Kathy (and the rest of the Holcombes)!
Jenny Farrell
I am so glad I was able to attend this course in person and receive all the wonderful and practical information Kathy shared with us. I also really enjoyed the connections with other audience members and side conversations with Creative Live peeps as well as the Holcombe family. What an inspiration this family is--lots of practical info, but also a great pep talk to not sell yourself short and get out there and do what you love, but use sound business practice while doing it. Thanks so much for these incredible two days.
Vanessa
Fantastic course! Very helpful instruction and how-to guide for anyone considering starting up a photography business. Kathy was an excellent instructor, with a wealth of knowledge and experience. I gained a good understanding of the practical everyday aspects of running this kind of business, and how to create my own vision.