Gaining the Competitive Edge

Lowering prices is not always a good practice in the art business. You may get a few sales, but you really need to educate your customer as to the value of your work. Once a customer realizes your work is of value and that you offer something that others do not they will accept the price associated with quality work. Larry Padgett at PhotBizGuru has an excellent article about this.

According to Larry:

"I don’t believe in low-balling quotes to a prospective client. Sure, there is competition to consider, but the principles of hard work, vision, enterprise, initiative and resourcefulness are worthy of recognition and reward. So by now you’re thinking I’m smoking some really good stuff. Actually, I’m recalling my early experiences in sales, always pioneering a new product, usually by a small company against the giants in the industry. I succeeded where others often did not, and literally killed much of my competition without resorting to lowering my product costs. How? By educating the prospective buyer about why my product was superior, and how I would provide support unmatched by my competitors."

"How does this translate to the life of a commercial photographer? In many ways, the situations are similar. The challenge is to differentiate yourself and your services from the work of competitors and employees with a digital camera. Photographers have a product to sell – their photos or video. They can provide client support through their expertise. The following illustrates several approaches you can use in various combinations to make yourself the “go to photographer.” Once you get a sense of the methods, you’ll come up with your own style, appropriate for the circumstances."

He goes on to mention further points in the article available here.

Pete Hellmann Photography
Buy Fine Art Prints
Pete's Photo Blog