2019 Pricing Announcement
After two fabulous years running Sekushi Studios full-time, I’m giving my price list a make over up with these changes coming applicable to all shoots booked after 1 July 2019. On the face of it, it will appear that my prices are going up. However, by taking advantage of a new early bird discount, the rate rise is quite small. Also, I’m bringing more giveaways this year together with, loyalty rewards and more! You can see my new rates here, but please do read the rest of this announcement first, where I explain the reasons for the price changes, and as always, happy to hear your thoughts on these changes, if you have any :)
The Changes
There are three main changes to my pricing. The most obvious change is to my rates. There are two main reasons for raising my rates which I explain in great detail below. However, to offset the rate rises, I am also announcing a significant 20% early bird discount for shoots confirmed with a deposit paid at least 1 month prior to the shoot. So, with the discount applied to a $800 Standard Photo Collaboration, the rate will be reduced to $640, which is an increase of only $40 from my old rate. I’m hoping this will encourage you to book early and plan early. I often want to give discounts last minute before a tour to see them fill up, but instead will be rewarding those of you who book and plan in advance. This will provide me with greater financial security and reduces my outgoings, as I should be able to book flights and locations earlier. I’ll also be planning tours even earlier, and informing you of them through my monthly newsletter, to give you the best possible chance to make the most of the discount.
After two years of full-time business, I feel like I am more in touch with the needs of my clients than ever. This year, I’ll be introducing a comprehensive new package especially catered to many of my clients who are new to the industry, and looking to create their online advertising profile. The new Complete Photo Collaboration package will include 16 final images, the maximum number needed for a Scarletblue profile. It also includes a free sekushigram shoot, with 3 final images, usable within 6 months of the main shoot, to give these clients fresh new content down the track.
The last significant change is to the Sekushigram Shoot. The shoot time will now be reduced to 30 minutes from 1 hour, though the price remains the same at $200. The original purpose of this package was to create a very small amount of content, quickly and easily, in particular promoting one specific service like social dates, or a unique selling points specific to any brand. Due to the length of the shoot, sekushigrams haven’t always been used this way, so for those looking for a more of a portfolio update, consisting of more than 3 images, the new Mini Photo Collaboration shoot package is better suited for that purpose.
But why?
So those are the main changes, and there are two main reasons behind those changes which I’ll now explain in more detail. It definitely hasn’t been an easy decision to raise my rates and implement these changes, and is something I’ve been thinking carefully about for about six months. It’s been difficult because I’m incredibly grateful for the continuing business and support I receive from you and this industry I have the privilege of serving, and so I’m also very conscious of whether my prices will be perceived as reasonable.
The first reason is that after working with hundreds of you, my skills and my understanding of your businesses and needs has progressed. I can now confidently call myself an expert at my trade, and a leader in this area of photography. From the feedback I’ve received over the last two years, collaborations with you have resulted in you booking more of work, and importantly, more of the work that you want or enjoy. At the end of the day, these commercial successes are highly valuable, and as long as you continue to be successful, I feel rate rises within reason can be justified.
Secondly, after life changing events in the past 12 months, particularly welcoming a second child into our family (the effect of which I totally underestimated), time has become a more limited resource for me. Being time poorer, restricts my ability to give you the best possible service I can, including my ability to deliver services within my advertised turnaround times and to spend enough time with you planning before our shoots. Over the past few months, I have constantly found myself apologizing to some of you, for missing these deadlines. While many of you have been so understanding and patient, its just something I don’t want to become the norm. Rather than extending my turnaround times any further, I see the answer to this problem being rates that better reflect the more limited nature of time for me.
So while my rates are going up its definitely not because I want to be making more money from you. I have been very happy with my rates for the last two years and it has paid me well enough to be in a position to give a little back which is why I throw my Christmas party for my clients every year and run gift voucher giveaways here and there. However, in order to strike a happy balance between work and my new family commitments, I’m hoping to work a little less, to ensure I serve both my family and you, as best I can, with the time I have. I’m hoping the net result of these changes will result in my life being a little less hectic and a little more enjoyable again, which will ensure that I’ll be happy to continue serving you as best I can, long into the future.
Giving a little back
With that said, I have always struggled with the idea of raising my rates, because I’ve always wanted to be accessible to as many of you as possible, whether you can charge a thousand an hour for your time, or a hundred. It’s the same reason why I provide priority edits on a needs basis, rather than for an additional fee. It keeps everything on an even keel. So for those who I might now have become unaffordable, there are a few things I’ve arranged to hopefully keep my services within your budgets.
Firstly, as mentioned above, bookings confirmed with a deposit paid at least a month in advance of any shoots will receive 20% discounts. Secondly, I’ll be giving away 3 x Standard Photo Collaboration vouchers throughout the financial year to someone I trust in several sex worker networks. The recipients of these vouchers will be selected at random from a pool determined by a process of peer nomination. I’m also committed to running at least 3 gift voucher giveaways a year, rather than only on my business’ anniversary, to help reduce my shoot fees. And lastly, I’ll be creating a rewards program to thank my repeat clients with discounts, to keep them as regular as they have been. However, this is something I will still be working on, so watch out for updates on this in the near future.
I’ve always been receptive of constructive feedback and as mentioned earlier a very conscious of what you might think or feel about my new pricing. If you have any thoughts, questions or suggestions please feel free to contact me as I’ll be happy to discuss those things with you. Otherwise, I hope to work with you again or for the first time, sometime in the next financial year!