On Price Defense
I don't blog very often. Usually, what I have to say, I can say in a quick status update over on Facebook, or an even quicker link. But... every so often, a subject comes up where I need to speak my mind a little more.
It's odd how timing works out sometimes. I've been catching up on a little something that's been happening over on Twitter concerning a professional photographer, a statement he made, and for lack of a better term, the shit storm that followed it. The odd timing bit? It rather coincides with something that happened to me very recently.
See, Scott Bourne made a controversial statement in regards to pricing out wedding photography. What it boils down to is this: you get what you pay for. There's a LOT more to those six words than most people think, and people are using the lousy economy (among other things... the economy just happens to be the most recent) to justify undercutting what should be a more competitive field. Without going into the entire thing here, I'll link you to his site, and his explaination:
http://photofocus.com/2010/01/25/and-you-call-yourself-a-professional/
Now, there was a storm that followed on Twitter (and truth told, I didn't follow it, as I don't follow Scott)... I'm not even going to touch that.
What I -am- going to do, is agree with Scott in the sense that there's a reason why I charge the prices I do, and if a client of mine wants to go cheaper, then so be it. If you're satisfied with what you get at the lower price, than more power to you.
A bit of a disclaimer here: I'm not a wedding photographer. I am a graphic designer. There are a lot of similarities in the business model, and a few places where it's not similar at all (for one thing, I don't have to worry about setting up a photoshoot. Usually.) Also, it should be noted that I work primarily in the print industry, with a printed product usually being my end result. I don't do web design, and I'm not going to even go into that particular industry sub-set.
If you look it up on the internet, you'll find that rates for freelance graphic design work varies wildly. I've seen rates go from $25/hour up to $150/hour. Of course, you can also find flat rates for different kinds of pieces too. I don't believe in charging flat rates: every project is going to be different, with different challenges. I make an estimate based on how much time I'm going to spend, and pro-rate it accordingly. I should say that when I estimate, I'm figuring on how long a job SHOULD take to run... not necessarily how long it'll end up running in the long run. In a perfect world, I could start a stopwatch at the beginning of a job, and stop it when I'm done. Alas, we're not in a perfect world, and distractions, life stuff, and computer issues happen.
A.J. Wood has a couple of good articles in regards to pricing. I wish I had seen them a couple of days ago, when I was having my discussion with my client. Ah well, so be it. But, linkage anyway, since they're so good. And so true.
http://ajwood.com/2009/01/09/how-much-are-you-worth/
http://ajwood.com/2009/01/15/but-im-an-artist-or-understanding-art-business-101/
I've been in the printing industry for over 10 years at this point. I've cringed at some of the things people have given to me to print up. Sometimes, you can throw a dime into a crowd, and you can almost guarantee that you're going to hit somebody out there with a copy of MS Publisher who calls him/herself a "Graphic Designer" who has NO CLUE about the basics of design. Nowadays, it's any schmoe with Photoshop. Sites like PhotoshopDisasters (http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/) make me laugh... and make me cry at the same time. People got PAID for this stuff.
But what really makes me sad? People with skills and talent... undercutting everyone by a downright ridiculous amount. Thanks to you folks, more and more people who DON'T know, just presume that there's a magic button. Press it and *poof* the work is done. And to the folks who are buying, it's just not worth the price.
"But you're just sitting in front of a computer... it's not like you're actually -working-"
Right. Tell that to the eye doctor I go to, from staring at the computer monitor for hours on end. Tell that to my D.O. who's treating me for back issues from sitting in a chair for that long. Someday, you'll be able to tell that to whatever doctor I go to for carpal tunnel.
Let's even talk overhead. The applications I use aren't free. The hardware I use isn't free. Both need upgrades periodically. The electricity I use to power my computer, and the lights aren't free. And then there's taxes. I'm only just touching on things.
It was brought up to me that if I were to take a 40 hour week into consideration, I'd be making a six figure salary per year (if I did what I do full time). I came back with "Yes, that would be true... if I actually charged for every hour I worked. How much of the 40 hour week is eaten up doing administration? How much of it is sales? How much of it is consulting with the client? I don't charge for those things. I'd say about about 25-30% of my time is billable. Suddenly, my salary is back to being back down to earth.
My time is worth something. If that's not something you care to pay for, then you don't need my services. And I don't need your business. I am very happy to get some time to myself. It's a rare comodity.
It's odd how timing works out sometimes. I've been catching up on a little something that's been happening over on Twitter concerning a professional photographer, a statement he made, and for lack of a better term, the shit storm that followed it. The odd timing bit? It rather coincides with something that happened to me very recently.
See, Scott Bourne made a controversial statement in regards to pricing out wedding photography. What it boils down to is this: you get what you pay for. There's a LOT more to those six words than most people think, and people are using the lousy economy (among other things... the economy just happens to be the most recent) to justify undercutting what should be a more competitive field. Without going into the entire thing here, I'll link you to his site, and his explaination:
http://photofocus.com/2010/01/25/and-you-call-yourself-a-professional/
Now, there was a storm that followed on Twitter (and truth told, I didn't follow it, as I don't follow Scott)... I'm not even going to touch that.
What I -am- going to do, is agree with Scott in the sense that there's a reason why I charge the prices I do, and if a client of mine wants to go cheaper, then so be it. If you're satisfied with what you get at the lower price, than more power to you.
A bit of a disclaimer here: I'm not a wedding photographer. I am a graphic designer. There are a lot of similarities in the business model, and a few places where it's not similar at all (for one thing, I don't have to worry about setting up a photoshoot. Usually.) Also, it should be noted that I work primarily in the print industry, with a printed product usually being my end result. I don't do web design, and I'm not going to even go into that particular industry sub-set.
If you look it up on the internet, you'll find that rates for freelance graphic design work varies wildly. I've seen rates go from $25/hour up to $150/hour. Of course, you can also find flat rates for different kinds of pieces too. I don't believe in charging flat rates: every project is going to be different, with different challenges. I make an estimate based on how much time I'm going to spend, and pro-rate it accordingly. I should say that when I estimate, I'm figuring on how long a job SHOULD take to run... not necessarily how long it'll end up running in the long run. In a perfect world, I could start a stopwatch at the beginning of a job, and stop it when I'm done. Alas, we're not in a perfect world, and distractions, life stuff, and computer issues happen.
A.J. Wood has a couple of good articles in regards to pricing. I wish I had seen them a couple of days ago, when I was having my discussion with my client. Ah well, so be it. But, linkage anyway, since they're so good. And so true.
http://ajwood.com/2009/01/09/how-much-are-you-worth/
http://ajwood.com/2009/01/15/but-im-an-artist-or-understanding-art-business-101/
I've been in the printing industry for over 10 years at this point. I've cringed at some of the things people have given to me to print up. Sometimes, you can throw a dime into a crowd, and you can almost guarantee that you're going to hit somebody out there with a copy of MS Publisher who calls him/herself a "Graphic Designer" who has NO CLUE about the basics of design. Nowadays, it's any schmoe with Photoshop. Sites like PhotoshopDisasters (http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/) make me laugh... and make me cry at the same time. People got PAID for this stuff.
But what really makes me sad? People with skills and talent... undercutting everyone by a downright ridiculous amount. Thanks to you folks, more and more people who DON'T know, just presume that there's a magic button. Press it and *poof* the work is done. And to the folks who are buying, it's just not worth the price.
"But you're just sitting in front of a computer... it's not like you're actually -working-"
Right. Tell that to the eye doctor I go to, from staring at the computer monitor for hours on end. Tell that to my D.O. who's treating me for back issues from sitting in a chair for that long. Someday, you'll be able to tell that to whatever doctor I go to for carpal tunnel.
Let's even talk overhead. The applications I use aren't free. The hardware I use isn't free. Both need upgrades periodically. The electricity I use to power my computer, and the lights aren't free. And then there's taxes. I'm only just touching on things.
It was brought up to me that if I were to take a 40 hour week into consideration, I'd be making a six figure salary per year (if I did what I do full time). I came back with "Yes, that would be true... if I actually charged for every hour I worked. How much of the 40 hour week is eaten up doing administration? How much of it is sales? How much of it is consulting with the client? I don't charge for those things. I'd say about about 25-30% of my time is billable. Suddenly, my salary is back to being back down to earth.
My time is worth something. If that's not something you care to pay for, then you don't need my services. And I don't need your business. I am very happy to get some time to myself. It's a rare comodity.
Labels: freelance, graphic design, pricing
posted by Phrogie at
8:03 PM
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