Is six figures a goal for your wedding photography business? Or maybe you haven’t taken the leap to start your photography business yet and you want to know how you could make more than you’re making now in your current job.
If there is one number I hear more than anything else inside of our Roadmap to Booked community, it’s the six-figure mark…and I totally get it. It’s a really great goal to have, however sometimes it can be hard to visualize how to make that happen. It might feel like it’s a far-off dream rather than something that is completely attainable.
Now, to reach six figures it’s not about adding on MORE. This is a common misconception and typically what keeps photographers stuck. The way to a truly sustainable business model is by focusing on less and being excellent at it. I want you to look at what’s already working for your business, and drown out the noise of everything else you COULD be doing in favor of dialing down on what you see is working for you right now.
Today, I want to talk about 3 proven paths for wedding photographers to make a six-figure income, break down the math, and show you what’s possible when you take a seemingly big number and work backward. I hope this feels really exciting to you to know that there are multiple pathways for wedding photographers to hit that six-figure mark.
Let’s get into the math.
1. Pathway One – Luxury Wedding Photography – 10 weddings at $10,000
This is the easiest and most clear-cut path. If you booked only ten weddings at $10,000 you will have reached a six-figure year. Now the common mistake that people make is by looking at that number and thinking they could never charge that…but here’s the truth, there are thousands of photographers who are charging this right now. Both wedding photographers you probably look up to and wedding photographers you have never heard of in your life and will never hear of because they are completely under the radar on social media.
This is something some people will have to work up to, however, this is something that many photographers can start charging much sooner than they think with the right positioning, brand, and marketing.
2. Pathway Two – Baby Luxury Wedding Photography – 20 weddings at $5,000
I love this approach because $5,000 is sort of that median price point between $10k in photography and a complete beginner. I reached $5k within a couple of years and honestly found that it was easier to jump from $3k to $5k, after trying to charge in the $4k.
Furthermore, I personally don’t ever want to suggest doing more than 20 weddings a year, though obviously, everybody is different but for my lifestyle with my family and how much time I want within my year…I capped weddings early on in my career at 20 max. Now to do the math for you…$5,000 multiple by 20 is $100,000
Now, that isn’t even factoring in things like portrait sessions, extra engagement sessions, higher collection purchases, and products. I mean the options really are endless, but at its base – 20 weddings will get you there.
3. Pathway Three – Weddings and Print Sales – 20 weddings at $3,500, sell an extra $1,000 in print/albums to 20 and 25 portrait sessions at $400
I love this because this is likely what most photographers are charging now, or something close to this.
Now with this, I still want to make sure you aren’t doing more than 20 weddings in a year. What we are going to leverage now, is offering a print experience to your service. This could be photo prints, albums, gifts for family members – whatever that may be, adding a print option to each couple you work with.
Now you could add $1,000 in print products to each wedding in multiple ways and the beautiful thing is it adds to your bottom line, but it also gives the client what they REALLY want…which isn’t just their photos taken, they want prints, albums and frames hanging in their home. It’s really adding to that client experience to walk people through what their options are and help people choose the best piece for them.
Doesn’t that feel amazing?
Concrete numbers to actually get you to that goal.
Now, we’ve just covered 3 ways to reach six figures as a wedding photographer. After breaking down the numbers, I hope you see that it really isn’t magical, it’s simple math. It’s so fun to play with the math and see what’s possible (and totally attainable) for your own photography business.
Now I want to know…Which of these is something you’re going to work towards in the next 90 days? Let me know in the comments.
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