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Pricing your mini sessions can feel like a guessing game. Should you charge what other photographers do? Should you price lower to attract more bookings? Or maybe you feel like you're just throwing out a number and hoping it works. If you’ve ever second-guessed your pricing, you’re not alone! Many photographers struggle with setting prices that not only attract clients but also ensure profitability. Today we'll be calculating your cost of doing business (CODB) because pulling numbers from thin air or copying what other photographers are doing won't help YOU and your business succeed! Let's learn how to price your mini sessions for profit!

Here's What We'll Cover:

Why Calculate Your CODB (3:40)
Gathering Your Numbers (7:02)
Calculating Your Numbers (10:34)
Brand New Resource – Prep Week (20:18)

How to Price Your Mini Sessions for Profit

Have you ever felt like you're working hard, but you're not sure that you're seeing the profit from? Have you ever wondered if you're even covering your costs and making this thing worth it? Whether you're a numbers person or not, learning to calculate your Cost of Doing Business is a must! In the simplest terms you make sure all expenses and taxes are covered in your revenue AND you're paying yourself. Statistics show that most photographers don't make it past year 3. This is solely because they don't price their work appropriately.

Gather Your Numbers

Step one you need to list EVERY expense you have. Let's take your Spring Minis Sessions for example! List out any expenses that would go towards them including softwares like your CRM (gallery delivery), Lightroom or Imagine AI (your editing software), email marketing, google domain, website costs, gear, props or client gifts, etc! If you pay for something annually divide it by 12 to give you a monthly amount. Next, calculate the number of hours you spend on Spring Minis. Don't just include your shooting time! List the time spent marketing, driving to locations, editing and post processing! Lastly, ask yourself: how much do I want to be paid for my hourly rate? And please pay yourself more than a teenager who works at Costco! I suggest no less than $50/hour because you are well worth your time!

Calculating Your Numbers

In any given month for Spring Minis list how many sessions you realistically want to book. For example's sake we'll say 16 (that's 2 days of minis). Here's where gathering your numbers come into play. How many hours will you spend on these specific Mini Sessions (for everyone it's different, but remember to include marketing, post processing/editing, shooting time). So, you should have your total number of expenses for one month and the number of hours you will work for these sessions. Take your hourly rate multiplied by the number of hours for these sessions and that's your profit. Next, take your expenses and add them to your profit amount. Finally, divide that number by 16 (the amount of sessions) and this gives you the bare minimum you should be charging for your Mini Sessions! If this amounts to less than $150 you should consider either recalculating your expenses or paying yourself more. It's a good rule of thumb that Minis start at $150 and go up.

Price Your Mini Sessions with Confidence

By running your CODB, you can confidently price your mini sessions for profit. This way you cover your expenses, pay yourself a fair wage, and generate profit for long-term success. If you plan on doing Spring Minis you need to register for my brand new (FREE) 4 day training! It's called PREP WEEK! Essentially I am coming alongside you, and together, we are prepping out our Spring Mini sessions. Get all the details and register for Prep Week HERE!