I’m very confident in my abilities as a photographer, and I think my prices are fair, yet I am just not able to lock in a solid confirmation from potential clients, they always slip away.
I’m a student photographer offering portraits at a University, so maybe it’s college kid cash insecurity that is the problem, but then I wonder why they even bother to DM me in the first place?
I charge $10 a photo, minimum of $60 or 6 photos. From what I’ve heard that’s about as undercut to the competition as I can go, and yet no one is interested?
I know for certain that the market for portraits exists at my Uni, as I walk past our front entrance with a rival photographer and graduate model everyday.
Reaching people has always been my weakspot. I feel like there is a network I don’t exist in.
What are you offering that they can’t offer themselves with their phones? Seriously. That’s the question you need to have an answer for.
To add onto this topic. I think you need to work on your portfolio more before you start trying to get clients. You have some strong images in there but you also have some that should clearly be cut, edited or be cropped.
The fact that the first thing I see on your website is text and I have I have to scroll down to see your photos is not ideal. The first thing someone should see when they hit a photographers website should be a picture that impresses them.
Your creative statement/mission statement does not land as well as you may think. With it being the first thing a visitor sees before they even see your work some people may move on before they even get to your work.
You’re too cheap. The perception may be that you’re a shit photographer.
There’s so much more in a customers decision than ‘price’. I’d even think that ‘price’ isn’t even very high up there.
Most photographers don’t make it at the rates they charge (massive amount of die-off in the first 3 years among photographers trying to start a business) - trying to undercut that is a recipe for disaster. Plus, you’ll get zero respect from potential clients OR other photographers.
From your site, I don’t know what kind of photographer you are. You say you’re “very confident” and your site screams it - to the point of being very off-putting (“50% Dutch, 100% Talented, one man multimedia powerhouse?”). Your portfolio doesn’t back up arrogance, and you’re new at this…of course it doesn’t.
Your pricing and business skills need improvement, but it might need to start with social skills. If you sound like a douche (whether you actually are or not), people aren’t going to work with you. Your site is working against you at every turn in this regard.