I've had several commercial shoots for products, and I typically make about $900/day or $500/half day. Unfortunately, i don't work every day
However, I have had several people ask me to photograph their families. I've looked at pricing and talked to some people to see how much they'd be willing to spend. It seems that, at least from who I've talked to, families don't want to spend nearly as much as a company.
There are a lot of studios out there that have coupons for free sitting fees and/or a free 8x10. I've taken advantage of some and come out paying no more than $20 some times.
So how do you actually make enough money to support a studio, let alone, a family? Do most people just use the family shoots as lunch money and just hope for the big spenders to hopfully come in or what?