3 Simple Ideas To Make More In Your Pet Photography Business Today

So making more money in your pet photography business is actually a lot simpler than you might think.

In fact, what I am going to share can help any photographer who is new or just starting out who doesn’t currently offer IPS and they want to make more money.

None of this information is groundbreaking or original to me, but rather three simple ideas that can really make an impact in your overall earnings especially when you are first starting out.

If you’re ready to make more money in your pet photography business starting today, then keep on reading! (Or watch the full companion video to this blog post here)

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3 Simple Ideas To Make More Money In Your Pet Photography Business Today

1 Switch to a digital file model instead of charging a flat session fee with everything included

The first idea to make more money in your pet photography business is to simply stop offering a session fee with files included and switch to a digital file package model.

What that means is you can still charge a deposit or retainer to book the session, so a client reserves their date and has skin in the game. Then, that deposit can be applied as product credit towards one of your digital packages.

This does two things: it helps you increase your average sale and gives the client more flexibility and opportunity in choosing the package that works best for them!

You could have digital file packages of 5, 10, 20, or 30, something like that, which gives the client more options and helps you to upsell them on something they are likely already interested in. This not only helps you make more money in your business, but gives your client more options and serves them better, too.

For more help, be sure to check out this video all about how to price your pet photography sessions and digital packages!

2 Use a gallery application that has a connected printer to sell prints and products

The second idea is to utilize a gallery application, like Pixieset, to sell prints and other products to your client directly from their online gallery.

So, you may not currently be offering in person sales or physical products to your clients, but it’s a no-brainer to have your client galleries linked to an online storefront where they can choose to order prints, artwork, or even holiday cards from you from their session.

I like this idea for a few reasons:
1) You are making money from the cilent choosing to print the files through you, which they likely want to do anyway versus doing so through a major, commercialized printer
2) You are able to see the images prior to printing, so you can make suggestions to the client or adjust the cropping/color accordingly before sending them to be printed
3) Your client is receiving a higher quality product of prints versus ordering online from somewhere like Snapfish or another low cost, high-production printing company

You can even go in and adjust the prices of your products inside of Pixieset or whatever online gallery you are using, so you can come up with pricing that feels comfortable to you.

But please know, Pixieset, if you are on the free version, does take a significant cut from your product sales, so be sure to price accordingly. If you have the paid version like I do, though, they will only charge the credit card processing fee and cost of the goods sold along with shipping.

This can definitely help a tremendous amount when first starting your business! I always made sure to mention it to clients as an option and it definitely helped me make an extra $1K in my business last year for the few clients I had shared it with before switching to IPS.

3 Raise your session fee or package rate

The last idea to make more money in your pet photography business is to raise your session fee or your digital package rate! Most creatives I talk to you in business haven’t raised their prices in years! Conversely, if you are just starting out, it might be that you are charging way, way lower than the going market rate.

It’s important to update your pricing every year to account for, you guessed it, inflation, but also to account for added overhead, your increased expertise and experience level, and the value you provide and add to each and every client experience.

It doesn’t have to be anything excessive or gross, it could just be adding $10-15 to your session fee, your digital file package, or even the physical products you sell like prints, artwork, albums, etc. That little bit of change in pricing over the course of a year with all of your clients can really add up to quite a bit of money!

I recommend if possible to look at your pricing at the beginning of each year and update accordingly or if you feel like you are watching this video right now and you are underselling yourself or not charging enough, you could also do a price change mid year, but just make sure to let your clients and community know in advance of that price change coming soon, so they can lock in the old rate if they want.

Okay, friends! I hope these three simple ideas helped to inspire you to start making more money in your pet photography business.

Let me know in the comments below, which one you plan on starting with or what was most helpful for you! I’d love to know and also hear how you are making more money in your pet photography business this year!