Dream Clients Don’t Book Cheap Photographers (Here’s Why)

Welcome to The Wedding CEO Podcast, where we discuss all things marketing, sales, and scaling, so you can become the CEO of your life and business. I'm Alora Rachelle, and I've been a wedding photographer for over a decade, and now I'm sharing all of my secrets so you can stop sacrificing your time and make more money like a CEO.
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Welcome back to The Wedding CEO Podcast. In today's episode, we're going to dive into why I believe and why I know dream clients don't book cheap photographers. Let's get into it. 

So, when I first charged 2,500 for weddings, which I consider that to be pretty much affordable, honestly. It was more than 1k, but it was still less than 3k. I feel like that is definitely the mid range that everybody feels very safe charging, especially when they join a program. It was one or two things when I was charging this rate. My clients were either very sweet and grateful and they wanted the bare minimum package and they were just thankful. They were just amazing to work with or they wanted the entire world for 2,500 and expected images in like two weeks. No in between. 

If you have another story, feel free to chat with me in the DMs because I'm all ears and I'd love to hear it. 

Most of my students don't even start talking about dream clients and dream weddings until they at least have started charging 5k minimum.

Which is easy once you implement our pricing and sales strategies, but I digress. We could have your pricing revamped in just one lesson or one call so you can confidently start selling 5k minimum. I think 5k needs to be the minimum the minimum average rate I do have a pricing dead zone lesson and training inside The Wedding CEO, but I'm gonna share the concept with you. Here's what I have, affordable range is around 1k to 3k. The average is like 3k half to 5K, and then the mid luxury is more like 6K to 9K. Then of course, luxury is 10K and beyond.

Now I know there was a recent Instagram post going around saying that luxury now starts at 15K or 20K. Honestly, I don't know. This is kind of starting rate, in my opinion, and this is just what I have learned in my journey, so I'm just sticking to this particular model. But I do think once you start charging 10k and above, the weddings become very detailed, very gorgeous, dreamy images, clients are thankful, grateful, and aren't checking up on you. It's just an easy wedding, in my opinion. But I want my students to at least be in the mid luxury to luxury range, which is from 6K to 10K.

I want them to work up to 5K, and then I want them to zoom past that, so they can book less weddings. Then if they decide to bring on an associate team, if that's something they're looking for, they can charge these higher prices and then give their team the average prices so they don't have to sacrifice the weddings, the credibility for the company.

These are some of the things that I'm noticing though. Dream clients don't book cheap photographers. How do I know this? Because your dream client is going to be somebody that values photography. Right? Your dream client is going to be somebody that wants the best of the best and they value the experience. They value the images. They understand that these images are going to live on forever. They're going to carry a legacy. When you put value on something, you are willing to pay whatever it takes to make it happen. Think about anything that you've ever paid for in your life and if you are a photographer and you have been a bride then think about what you were looking for in terms of your vendors when you were looking for your own wedding.

For me, when I was booking photography because I was a wedding photographer. Don't get me wrong. I wanted somebody at least 1,000 to 2,000 dollars over what I charged minimum. Like, I did not want somebody at my level. I wanted the best of the best because I valued the art of photography. To be honest, if I could do my wedding over, I probably would have had something more intimate and more attention to details. But overall, I'm really glad that I chose a documentary photographer because to this day people in my life, people that were in the wedding, they use those images as their Facebook picture. They use those images forever, to be honest with you, because it was so genuine, it was so fun, and it was all authentic reactions. So I actually have no regrets with that. 

But thinking about dream clients, thinking about your dream clients, are they wanting somebody that's cheaper than you? Really? And a lot of times, photographers, we get so upset, you know, when someone doesn't book us and then the first thing we say it's pricing.

How do you know it's pricing? 

I want to literally squash this one so much. It's not always pricing. Sometimes it can be, but maybe they just didn't value photography enough. 

Is that the kind of client you want? Do you want someone that's searching between a bunch of people and being like, Hmm, but which one's cheaper? Like, is that the wedding you want to shoot? Probably not. 

I mean, I understand when you're at a place in your business where you just want to book weddings to stay in business. I do get that. I also think, don't quit your part time job until your wedding photography has completely replaced your salary. If it hasn't, don't put this crazy, unnecessary pressure to be like, “I had to be a full time entrepreneur” like, gone are the days, okay?

Honor the days. Literally just build a sustainable business at this point. We just want you to make money, pay your bills, and then also pay your expenses. That's it. Quick and easy. Simple. Should be simple. 

I think that chasing this dream and listening to all these other people and the curse of knowledge, there's so much knowledge out there. There's so many opinions. I personally think it's like, what do you want? I ask myself all the time, because I'm always listening to a podcast. I'm always on like threads or somewhere getting some kind of information, right? I mean, even TikTok, right? I'm like, “Okay, what do you, wait, wait, wait. Everyone's telling me what I need” but what exactly is it that I want?

This person that's telling me what it is that I need, do I like the lifestyle they lead with? Am I willing to live like they do to get the results they're telling me that I have to get? My goodness, this is something that took me so long to figure out, and I'm just learning to trust myself more. I am trusting myself and being like, if that's something I'm not leaning towards, then I'm not going to take that person's advice.

Imagine somebody who's not an entrepreneur, they're like working a nine to five or whatever, and they're giving you advice on how to be an entrepreneur. 

Would you take their advice? If so, please tell me why. Please. 

But me, I could smell that a mile away. I do not believe in listening to people that just have something to say.

What do your receipts say? What do your accolades say? Like, have you done something for yourself? Because you're not going to tell me what to do and you haven't done it. Being an entrepreneur is hard. Literally so hard. My mom has recently started a business and she's like, “Oh my gosh, Alora, this is so hard.”

I'm like, “I know mom.”

She's like, “Every day you just have to tell yourself that you can do it.”

I'm like, “Yeah, every day.” 

“And you just have to believe it.” 

I was like, “Yeah. You want to know why, mom? Because no one's coming. No one's coming to take up on you. Nobody's picking you up off the floor. You got to make your own to do list. You have to make it happen. It is so hard.” 

She's like, “I can't wait to see the results. But like, this is hard.” 

I'm like, “It is. It's hard. That's why I talk about mindset so much. Because you literally have to be your own hype person. Hype woman. For a while. Before you see anything for any money comes and then you're like, okay, I do know what I'm doing. Oh, thank goodness. It's working.” 

Oh my goodness entrepreneurship! That's a whole another rant for like another day.

Okay, back to dream clients and cheap photography and value. There's just so much. There's so much spinning out that happens with inquiries and bookings, and all I'm saying is, let's just keep it simple, and also, give yourself permission to be like that person just wasn't for me, like, we weren't a fit. Especially if the personality, I feel like that's the first red flag. 

First red flag is personality. 

Second red flag is just not being upfront with you, not being relaxed with you. Like, maybe you just, it's not, okay, there's gonna be another one. 2. 4 million weddings, guys. Come on.

There's gonna be another one. You only need, like, 25. Maybe 20. Maybe 15. You don't need a million, so we gotta stop wiggin out about every single person not booking us. 

We just need the 15. 15 was my sweet spot, honestly. I loved 15. 15 weddings was the best. 10 out of 10. Highly recommend it, especially when you raise your prices.

Okay, I'm going to wrap it up. 

If you like this episode, there's going to be so much more where this came from. Come to my live free masterclass, February 22nd, How to Make 100k with Half of Your Weekend Free. I can't wait to see you there. It's going to be so much fun. We're going to break down the science of pricing and sales. It's going to be something you've probably never seen before, at least with my spicy takes. Anyway, I will see you in the next episode or inside of the masterclass. 

Bye.
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Wait, don't go yet. If you loved today's episode, I would love if you took five seconds to leave a rating and a five star review. If you do send me a DM so I can give you a virtual hug and of course a shout out. Now, if you're ready to grow your photography business, I invite you to join the waitlist for The Wedding CEO.

The Wedding CEO is my signature program for wedding photographers who are ready to make 100k with half of their weekends free. You're ready to finally book higher ticket weddings. You can spend your time freely, whether it's creating more income strings, being present with family and friends or just working less like a CEO is supposed. Join the wait list for when we open the doors on February 22nd, 2024.

If you've seen my Instagram, then you'll know we have students making five figure months, launching their dream brands, doubling their prices, taking vacations, and more. Which are lifetime skills that you can take with you even if you decide to leave the industry.

Link in the show notes. I'll see you inside.