007 The #1 reason most creatives undercharge

11/05/24 • 13 min

Let's chat about the #1 reason creative business owners undercharge and learn a simple, proven pricing formula to boost your profitability. Perfect for photographers, copywriters, designers, and freelancers looking to optimize their pricing strategy.
Chapters:
00:00:20 - Root cause of undercharging in creative industries
00:01:00 - Pricing formula for service-based businesses
02:40 - Calculating your target revenue and client capacity
05:40 - Factoring in expenses and taxes
08:20 - Strategies for gradually raising your prices
10:40 - Accounting for "odd jobs" in your pricing structure
We're covering:

Understanding the importance of confidence in pricing
Reverse-engineering your rates based on income goals
Considering taxes, operating costs, and owner's pay
Incrementally increasing prices to build confidence
Adapting pricing for various service packages and custom projects

Ready to finally be confident in pricing your creative, 1-1 services? Get my custom pricing calculator: https://www.emilykim.co/photo-pricing-calculator
Even though it says Photography Pricing Calculator, this spreadsheet + guide works for anyone who offers a 1-1 service. Enjoy!

Thanks for listening!
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Understanding the importance of confidence in pricing
Reverse-engineering your rates based on income goals
Considering taxes, operating costs, and owner's pay
Incrementally increasing prices to build confidence
Adapting pricing for various service packages and custom projects

Previous Episode

006 Protect Your Creative Business: 5 legal and tax tips you can't ignore with Braden Drake from Not Avg Law

Get ready for a no-BS breakdown of the most important legal and tax tips for creative entrepreneurs with Braden Drake, a California licensed attorney and tax professional. In this episode, Braden and I (Emily Kim) discuss these top 5 legal + tax tips to get your creative business legally legit:

Keeping Taxes Simple – With basic bookkeeping and quarterly tax payments, Braden outlines how to avoid common tax pitfalls and streamline your finances.
Legal Layers of Protection – Braden introduces his “legal hierarchy of needs,” which is tbh, the best explanation of all things legal for a creative business owner like me who actively cringes anytime I hear anything law related.
Sole Proprietorship vs. LLC – Learn why forming an LLC can be a game-changer for protecting your personal assets from business liability.
What is an S-Corp actually, and when you should consider it – finally, understand what the heck an S-Corp actually is.
Does your tax + legal expert need to be local? – Understand when you might need a local expert versus when you can work with someone remotely.

FIND BRADEN ONLINE:

The Contract Club (affiliate link): https://www.bradendrake.com/a/2147575083/WeWgweFf

All the templates you need. All in one place. Just pay the low + affordable one-time fee, and you’re in for life.

Braden's law firm, Not Average Law: https://notavglaw.com/

Get Braden's book, Unf*ck Your Biz: https://notavglaw.com/book

Listen to the Unf*ck Your Biz Podcast:https://notavglaw.com/podcast

00:35 Who is Braden and why should you listen to him?
02:40 Tip #1: Keeping Taxes Simpler
10:44 Tip #2: Legal Layers of Protection
11:22 Tip #3: Choosing Between Sole Proprietorship and LLC
16:20 Tip #4: What is an S-Corp actually, and when you should consider it
26:56 Tip #5: Does your tax + legal expert need to be local?
36:46 How to Work with Braden and Final Takeaways

Next Episode

008 How to become the no-brainer choice as a brand photographer

In this episode of the Profitable Creatives Podcast, I'm sharing how I elevated my brand photography services from a $600 photography-only session to a $4,000 comprehensive brand experience.

We're talking about how to make this an easy YES for your clients so that you become the no-brainer choice of brand photographer.

00:40 How my pricing went from $600 to $4,000 for LESS work

01:51 Creating an elevated client experience

02:21 Success on my recent sales call

04:50 Why you should consider having a team of referrals

07:49 Building your own dream team

10:00 The Premium Pivot

Profitable Creatives Podcast - 007 The #1 reason most creatives undercharge

Transcript

00:00:40.000

Hello, and welcome back to the profitable creatives podcast. I am Emily Kim. And today we're talking about. The number one reason why most creatives undercharged for their services. You are undercharging for your photography or other creative services, because you are probably looking at what other people in your industry are doing for the answer. But looking at what other people are charging isn't necessarily the cause of undercharging. It's a symptom. The root cause