We were asked by a photographer if he should raise his prices or not.  My knee jerk response straight from the textbook was, “If the demand for your services is greater than what you can supply, then yes.”  But this is quite vague.  Here’s the litmus test we came up with that is now used by many successful trend setters:

1. Get an 18 month calendar.  If you regularly book weddings out further, then a 24 or 36 month calendar might be necessary for you.

2. When a certain date is fully booked, mark an X on that day.  This could be one wedding or 4 portrait sessions, etc.

3. Continue to make slashes in the “asked about” dates.  So even when you pick up the phone and have to say, “I’m sorry, that date is already booked.”, be sure to put a slash on that date every time.

4. Review the slashes when you get the urge to make pricing changes.  Instead of thinking, “That last weekend in July is soooo busy, I should charge more that weekend.”  You can analyze it and make a more rash decision.

On a side note, I have to mention here that the classic micro-economic graph Higher Prices = Less Sales and Lower prices =  More Sales does not always ring true in the photography industry.  If you are slumping in sales, you might even want to raise your rates, creating a perceived value for your service.  When you deliver on that value, you will create a customer for life.