Podcast Episode 351 - How do you know when to raise your prices?

Are you charging what you're worth, or are your prices making you resent your clients? In this episode of the Flourish Academy Podcast, we dive into the real reasons you should raise your prices—and it’s not just about profitability.

Heather Lahtinen explains how resentment is often a sign that it’s time for a change and why shifting your thoughts around pricing is just as important as raising your rates. If you’ve ever felt underappreciated, undervalued, or frustrated with your pricing, this episode is for you.

Show Notes:

• The biggest reasons to raise your prices (it’s not just about profit).
• The #1 mistake photographers make when setting their prices.
• Breaking down toxic thoughts that keep you stuck at low prices.
• How to shift your mindset around pricing and value.
• 10 powerful thoughts to replace resentment with confidence.
• Where to go for coaching & deeper support.

How to Support the Podcast:

• Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. Please like, share, and leave a review.
• If you like the content, please share with your friends by posting on social media so that we can reach and impact more people.

Connect:

Heather Lahtinen: Website, Facebook, Instagram

TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to the Flourish Academy podcast and today we are talking about

pricing. My name is Heather Lahtinen and I'm a photographer, educator and entrepreneur

and I founded the Flourish Academy as a resource for photographers of all levels.

We want to help you pursue your passion on your own terms because we believe there

is room for everyone. In this podcast, we focus on creating breakthroughs with your

mindset to discover the things that are really holding you back in business and

life. If you've ever felt stuck in your business and you're not sure why, this is

your chance to experience coaching firsthand. Head over to www .getcoachedbyheather .com

to sign up for our next complimentary coaching workshop. I'm often asked by

photographers, When should I raise my prices? And I have a training inside of

Elevate and one of our pricing courses around this, but at a high level, one of

the reasons you would raise your prices seems so obvious. If you're not profitable,

raise your prices and you can look at the equations and the math to figure that

out. The second reason could be when it scares you, you might need to raise your

prices because it feels a little bit uncomfortable, but really one of the biggest

reasons to raise your prices beyond profitability, because that is number one, is are

you busier than you want to be? Because then it just becomes a really simple supply

-demand model and it's just really not up to you. If you have more clients than you

can currently manage, then the prices need to go up, period. Here is what not to

ask yourself. Is my work good enough for this pricing? Well, let me ask you this.

Who decides if the value is there? Is it you? No, of course not. It's the client.

So that's not a good question to ask. But another reason, and the one I wanna

focus on today, to raise your prices is when you start to resent your clients or

you have some type of unpleasant feeling when you are either dealing with your

clients, photographing, et cetera. This came up recently when I was working with one

of my one on one clients, but it's not, it's not just her. So if she's listening

to this, please know that this comes up all the time in conversations about pricing.

And it was so funny, her and I were talking about this, and then it was either

that evening or the next day. I read in one of my millions of books that I'm

reading that there is no such thing as a justified resentment.

And I just thought that was interesting, quite the coincidence. Here are some

possible thoughts that could be leading photographers to feel resentment toward their

clients. They don't appreciate how much effort I put in. I'm not getting paid what

I'm worth. They expect too much for what they paid. I went above and beyond and

they didn't even say thank you. If I don't do this, then they won't book me again.

Other photographers charge more and people still book them, why not me?

Clients don't understand how much work goes into this. So let's break this down

clearly. Resentment is not caused by the clients or the pricing.

It's caused by your thoughts about these things. And this is key because that means

we are generating our own resentment. Circumstances are neutral.

If a photographer offers a session at a lower price, then that's just a fact.

If a client asks for extra edits, also a fact. If a client doesn't say thank you,

again, it's just a fact. Thoughts about those circumstances create resentment.

They don't appreciate me, leads to a feeling of resentment. I'm being taken advantage

of, again, resentment, or I should be paid more for this, resentment. But another

photographer in the exact same situation might think, I chose this price and I can

choose to change it. And then they might feel empowered. They could also think it's

up to me to set boundaries on edits, which leads to feeling confident. They could

also be thinking not everyone expresses gratitude the same way, and that's okay. And

then they would feel at peace. Resentment is an emotion created by unexamined

thoughts. Photographers often believe that the client is making them feel resentful,

but it isn't true. A client cannot put resentment in their body and then transfer

it somehow magically to you. Only your thoughts can create resentment.

In changing the circumstance does not solve resentment necessarily.

Raising prices doesn't remove resentment if you are still thinking people always want

more than they pay for. Getting "better clients" won't help if you still believe

that people don't appreciate us as photographers. Without changing the thoughts,

resentment will follow you even at higher prices with different clients in different

situations because of the way you are thinking. The work here isn't about controlling

clients, it's about noticing, questioning, and changing the thoughts that are creating

resentment in the first place. So even though I said at the beginning of this

episode, one of the reasons to raise your pricing could be because you are feeling

resentment towards your clients, well, maybe, but maybe not because it depends on

exactly where the resentment is coming from, but it's not coming from the dollar

figure that you charge. So what I did was I took the thoughts that I gave you

earlier and I broke them down in the style of the model. If you aren't familiar

with the model, it just says that our thoughts create our feelings, which lead to

our actions and therefore produce our results. For example, if you are thinking they

don't appreciate how much effort I put in, you could be feeling unappreciated.

And then you might withdraw, avoid engaging with clients, over -explain the value or

complain to others. And then the result is that this This creates distance and

negative energy between you and your clients. Another example,

if you're thinking I'm not getting paid for what I'm worth, this could lead to the

feeling of undervalued. And then you might deliver the work begrudgingly,

hesitate to raise your prices, and then feel stuck in low -paying jobs. And the

result is you reinforce the belief that you are undervalued by continuing to accept

lower prices and undervalue yourself. If you think they expect too much for what

they paid, you might feel taken advantage of. And then you would avoid clear

communication, feel resentment during sessions, and deliver work with frustration.

And the result might be that clients sense that frustration leading to a negative

experience on both ends. If you think I went above and beyond and they didn't even

say thank you, you would probably feel unrecognized. So you might stop or hesitate

going the extra mile. You might feel reluctant to give your best and and ruminate

on this perceived slight. And then the result is you create a self -fulfilling cycle

where you feel unseen and unappreciated. If you think, if I don't do this,

they won't book again, then you might feel fearful or trapped.

And then you might overextend yourself, say yes when you actually want to say no

and set poor boundaries. And the result is you make it harder for yourself to

enforce healthy pricing and boundaries. If you think other photographers charge more

and people still book them, why not me? You might feel frustrated or envious.

And then you compare yourself to others, you focus on what's missing and you

question your own worth. And the result is you prevent yourself from confidently

raising your prices or marketing effectively. If you think clients don't understand

how much work goes into this, you're going to feel annoyed. And then you work with

a chip on your shoulder, you vent frustration and you assume that clients are being

intentionally difficult. then the result is the client remains unaware and you don't

communicate your value effectively. I wanted to share those models because thinking

these thoughts is not just a bad idea, actually deadly to your business.

Okay, I'm being dramatic, but I wanted to show you that there is a result you are

creating with those thoughts that I promise you, you do not want. And by the way,

I hope everyone listening is making a parallel to resentment that they are feeling

possibly to a friend or a family member or something, some personal event in their

lives. It's funny because I'm reading Ian Morgan Cron's new book.

It's called the fix. He's the Enneagram guy. And it's about the 12 steps in

alcoholics anonymous, but he applies it to all different areas of your life. And in

one of the steps, forgive me, I'm just learning this, it's early on, you make a

list of resentments that you feel and you address them. It's just ironic that I

would read that at the same time I was putting this together. Okay, Well, now we

know that resentment is a self -generated emotion because of the thoughts you are

thinking. It's good to recognize. So what thoughts might serve you better?

So I came up with 10 of them. So you can choose to hang on to the thoughts that

you've had previously that are generating resentment. Hey, that's your choice. Or you

can think these thoughts. Number one, I set my prices based on my value, not on

what others expect. Number two, my clients don't have to understand everything I do

in order for me to feel valued. Number three, it's my responsibility to communicate

my worth and I can do that clearly and confidently. Number four,

going above and beyond is a choice, not an obligation. I get to decide what I

offer. Number five, I attract clients who respect and appreciate my work.

Number six, the right clients are happy to pay my prices and I don't have to

convince anyone. Number seven, I have full control over my business and how I run

it. Number eight, every experience is teaching me something valuable about how I want

to work. Number nine, when I feel resentment, it's a sign that I need to adjust my

boundaries, not blame my clients. And number ten, I can create a business that feels

good, pays well, and supports me fully. And by the way, if you like these thoughts

and you wanted to think them or maybe print them so that you could read them to

yourself periodically. If you go to flourish .academy and visit the podcast section,

the transcript of all of the episodes are shared on each one of those posts.

So you could just copy it, paste it, print it, and choose to think these thoughts

or practice thinking them until they become more natural for you. If this resonated

with you or you enjoyed this material, you are gonna love Elevate. We take this

work and we put it into practice to grow your photography business. The link is

also in the show notes and don't forget to visit www .getcoachedbyheather .com to

register for our next complimentary coaching or workshop. I hope that you found this

useful. I'll see you in the next episode.