Nicole (00:00)
Today's episode is all about the myth of the part-time photographer. And that myth is pervasive and it's, Nicole, I'm only part-time so I don't need to charge full-time prices. Well, we're gonna dig into why that is not true. Stay tuned.

Nicole Begley (00:18)
I'm Nicole Begley, a zoological animal trainer turned pet and family photographer. Back in 2010, I embarked on my own adventure in photography, transforming a bootstrapping startup into a thriving six-figure business by 2012. Since then, my mission has been to empower photographers like you, sharing the knowledge and strategies that have helped me help thousands of photographers build their own profitable businesses. I believe that achieving $2,000 to $3,000 sales is your fastest route to six-figure businesses;

that any technically proficient photographer can consistently hit four figure sales. And no matter if you want photography to be your full-time passion or a part-time pursuit, profitability is possible. If you're a portrait photographer aspiring to craft a business that aligns perfectly with the life you envision, then you're in exactly the right place. With over 350,000 downloads, welcome to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast.

Nicole (01:17)
Hey everybody, welcome back to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast. I'm your host, Nicole Bagley. Before we dive into this, I want to share a little story back from the archives. That is when I was first starting my business. I remember when I had the idea that, I was going to start my photography business and my sister-in-law sent me a post that was in local Facebook group of somebody doing mini sessions for, I don't know, I can't remember if it was like $75 or $250.

whatever it was, I was like, oh, wow, yeah, look at that. Did the math and like, it's going to make a killing. At the time I was working as assistant director of animal programs at the national aviary making a whopping $35,000 a year in the, what is it, around 2010. So, you know, I didn't get into that field for the money. And then when I do the math of,

$200 a session. Oh my gosh, it can make so much money. So that was my plan when I started my business. I like, I'm just going to charge like 197, 175, somewhere between 175 and 200 for a session. They get all the digital files. I'm going to be laughing all the way to the bank. I'm going to be making so much money, so much more than I was making in my full-time job at the time. But I neglected a really important piece and that is I didn't think about the hours

that are spent planning, shooting, editing, delivering the images. And when you do all that math, I was ended up making about $5 an hour, which, you know, like, I don't know, Starbucks barista is going to be making more than that, probably just in tips. So, yeah, you need to go into this eyes wide open. And I firmly believe that if you're doing this part time or as a side hustle or as a retirement thing to make some extra money,

You need to be even more so than a full-time photographer focused on that $2,000 $3,000 average sale because you're still going to have the same cost as somebody that shoots 100 sessions a year. You are just shooting less of them. So you need to be more profitable because you're still going to have these costs to cover in your business if you want to run a business. So what we're going to talk about today is why the idea of that part-time photographers can charge less is a myth.

the real math behind part-time profitability, how you can build a profitable part-time business without working yourself into the ground. So if you're juggling photography with a full-time job, full-time kids, full-time dogs, any other life obligations, this episode is going to change how you see your pricing. So let's dig into why it's a myth. So many people have said, I just do this for fun, so I don't need to charge much.

Since I don't rely on my photography for income, can price lower. Lower pricing means I'm going to get more clients and I could build my business later. You guys, if you've said any of those things, please, please stop right now. And while you're here, you're listening to this, this is the first step. The truth is that pricing low as a part-time photographer keeps you stuck in an unsustainable cycle.

and it becomes a lot harder for those of you that say, all right, I'm just going to lower pricing now to get more clients and I can build my business later. That also becomes challenging. Now, I do realize that I recommend kind of moving up through those four levels. So at the very beginning of your business, you might be charging like this and that's okay. The key is when you're charging like this and you're doing a low cost, all inclusive that you know it is just for a short time.

as you're putting your business together and that you are going to move up to that level three, start to offer products, move up to that two to $3,000 average sale as quickly as possible because the longer you spend at this all-inclusive low cost step, the harder it is to move to those higher levels in the future and the more likely chance you have of reaching burnout and getting sick of your business and shutting it down before you even give it a chance to get started.

Here's the truth, clients don't care if you're part-time or full-time. They care about the experience and the end product. And your costs are going to be the same no matter how many sessions you take. And quite frankly, your time is more limited than a full-time photographer, meaning that every session you take really needs to be worth it. So let's have a little quick reality check. Expenses don't change just because you're part-time. Do cameras cost less for part-time photographers?

Do computers last longer if you only edit a few sessions a month? Is insurance cheaper? No. So let's break down some real numbers. Here's scenario one. The part-time photographer charging too little. So let's say your business expenses are $7,500 a year. You're charging $300 a session. Maybe you're going to even work really hard and shoot 50 sessions a year for $15,000 in revenue.

After expenses, you're only keeping 7,500 and then after taxes, you're likely only keeping around $5,000. So if you're spending 10 hours per client, which is the average when you're doing a more boutique type setting, you're making $10 an hour. This is not a profitable business.

For our second scenario, we have a part-time photographer not even charging that level three, that eagle level that I talk about, which is $2,000 $3,000 average sale. This particular photographer for this scenario is charging about $1,500 per session, which is firmly in level two. That's where you start to offer products and you're usually in a $1,000 to $1,500 average sale. Let's have that client only take 20 clients a year.

So $30,000 in revenue. After expenses, they keep $22,500. After taxes, they're still going to take home around $17,000. And that is an $85 per hour rate

instead of the $10 per hour rate. The only difference there is the pricing. And the second client is working a lot less. They're only taking 20 clients a year, so they're making three times as much profit working really, gosh, less than half of the person that's doing 50 sessions a year.

If we were to look at that a little bit more, and let's even say they were at a $3,000 average sale with only 20 clients a year, that number is going to double. So now we're at $60,000 of revenue. Their expenses are going to go up a little bit. They have some new cost of goods sold, but they're likely going to be making twice as much money as that. Again, only working 200 hours a year, only having 20 clients per year. This business is a wonderful business to have as a part-time business.

that can make some great extra money on the side to help fund vacations or retirement or whatever it is you want to have a little bit of extra money for doing something you love. Now, I'm not saying you can't do this full time. You definitely can too, but I'm just saying it works really well as a part-time business as well. don't feel if you have other things going on in your life, maybe you're getting closer to retirement and you're like, I don't want to work full time.

or you are working full time at a job that you like and you want to do this as a creative outlet on the side and get paid for it, that's great. It is a great business to do that. Just make sure you are pricing profitably.

So some part-time photographers hesitate to raise their prices because they love photography and they don't want to feel like they're quote, in it for the money. And let's be honest, there is a reason so many of us feel this way. From an early age, most of us are conditioned to believe that work has to be hard to be valuable. The making good money should require long hours, stress, and struggle.

We grow up hearing things like, you have to work hard to make a living or making money doing what you love is a fantasy or if it's too easy, it's not real work. So when we start to make money from something that feels joyful, creative and fun, we subconsciously devalue it. We assume that because we enjoy photography, we shouldn't charge premium prices for it.

that because it comes naturally to us, we shouldn't make too much money doing it. But work does not have to be exhausting to be valuable. And just because photography is fun doesn't mean you shouldn't be well paid. Your skill, experience, and artistry deserve compensation just like any other profession.

If you went to a high-end restaurant, the executive chef likely got into it because they love chefing, well, cooking. Could you imagine saying to them, oh, since you love cooking, you don't deserve to get paid for developing this incredible menu? Yeah, no. Of course we're willing to pay that. We should be paid too. There is no reason to undercharge out of guilt because we enjoy the work.

If you struggle to raise your prices, want you to ask yourself, number one, what do I believe about money? For instance, do you see money as something that has to be earned through hard labor? Do you feel guilty charging a premium price because photography feels easy? Did you grow up in a home where it was believed that money is, you have to work hard for your money? Then ask yourself, what do I believe about my own value? For instance, do you believe that time and talent

or worth real compensation? Or would you tell your best friend that they should work for free just because they love what they do? I spent 13 years working as a zoological animal trainer. I loved what I did. Did I not deserve to get paid for it, even if it was a small amount? What do I believe about success? Actually, let me go back there for a second. What about teachers? We always hear that teachers love what they do. Do they not deserve to get paid for what they do?

So many people believe they should be paid more for what they do. That is a challenging job and such an important job. Our job as photographers is just as important. While teachers are helping to educate the next generation, we're preserving the memories of the current generation. Also, extremely important work. Anyway, let's move on. Ask yourself, what do I believe about success? Do you think success only comes from struggle? Or are you afraid that if you charge more, people will stop booking you?

or even more, if you charge more, people are going to start judging you. Well, it's time to rewrite that story. Instead of thinking, love photography, so I shouldn't charge much, or I feel guilty making money from something fun, start to shift to something that you can believe in. Maybe I'm lucky to do work that I love and I deserve to be well compensated for it. My clients are happy to pay a premium for this experience and I provide that.

Making good money doesn't mean I'm taking advantage of people. It means I'm running a real business. Or what about just looking at what I am creating is priceless, incredibly valuable that people are going to cherish for a generation.

Remember, a client isn't just paying you for an hour long session. They're paying you for the years it took you to master your craft, the thousands of dollars you spent on education gear and business tools, the time you spend planning, calling and editing, delivering and managing the client communication, the experience and confidence that you bring to every session. this isn't a hobby, this is a business.

And if you're going to run it like one, you need to price accordingly. Now, if you're out there and you're like, all right, Nicole, I do not want to run a business. I just want to do this as a hobby. That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. However, if you're this far into this pricing series, something tells me you want this to be a business. So remember, if someone else doesn't value your work enough to pay your rate, that's not your problem. It's just not the right client.

Or maybe we need to work on sharing what the value is that we're doing for people if we're not able to share that value as importantly, which go back, we talked about that during the inquiry process here of how to talk about the value of what we're offering. But just remember, not everyone is our client and that's okay because there are people out there that are and it's your job to find them. It's your job to price for them.

It's your job to create a business that serves them.

And most importantly, it's your job to stop undercharging because of your own mindset blocks. This is your permission slip to stop treating your business like a hobby and get paid for what you deserve because you deserve to be paid well for creating beautiful memories for people.

So, how do we price for profit as a part-time photographer? Well, number one, we need to decide our business goals. How much money do you want to make?

Remember that I have the session profit planner that you can get at www.freedomfocusformula.com/target. you can get it for free with the coupon podcast and that will tell you what you need to be making per session to reach those revenue goals. And then we can go ahead and work backwards to figure out what do need to be selling? What do we need to be offering to reach those goals? And then we can start.

being selective with our clients. The advantage of doing this part time is that you can say no to clients who aren't a good fit. You can spend some time focusing on building your boutique brand to offer a premium service without worrying about how you're gonna pay your rent. So I think it's actually a superpower major hack to be in this business part time as you get it off the ground.

So I have a quick piece of homework before we wrap this one up, and that is I want you to take your last five sessions. I want you to write down how much time you spent on each one, estimate if you need to, and then I want you to take your total cost or your total sales, whatever your final sale was, minus your cost of goods sold, divide it by those hours you worked so you can see what your hourly rate was.

And if that's less than $75, you need to raise your prices because again, those are just the hours that you are working on your client. We have so many other hours that nobody's paying us to run this business, balancing our books, marketing, getting back to emails, just all of those different things that I think that your goal should be a minimum of a hundred to $150 an hour when you're breaking this down. Of course, the higher is better to make this as profitable as possible. But yeah, that's your homework for now.

Let me know, feel free to always DM me at NicoleBegleyOfficial on Instagram and let me know if you are finding this helpful.