← Book More Photography Clients Podcast | Photography Business, Photography Leads, Marketing
Book More Photography Clients Podcast | Photography Business, Photography Leads, Marketing
How to Turn One Photography Session Into a Week's Worth of Content
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Welcome to the Book More Clients Photography Podcast. You can stop spending hours on Google and YouTube because you just found your number one resource for growing a profitable and sustainable photography business. Hi, I'm Brooke Jefferson. I'm a believer wife, mama to two and Oklahoma family photographer. I left the classroom in 2018 to pursue my photography career full time. Now I'm here to help you do the same. In this podcast we're covering the most asked about topics including pricing, marketing, client experience, and all things systems and workflows. You won't find any fluff or BS here. Just tried and true strategy. Are you ready? Grab your kids some snacks and charge those camera batteries. It's time to jump in. Foreign if I had a dollar for every time a photographer told me that they don't have enough content to post, I might just be a millionaire. It's the most common thing I hear when I talk about marketing and I understand why they feel that way. But I want to make the case today that you actually have more than enough pictures to create content with. In today's episode, I'm going to walk you through how to take one photography session and pull different pieces of content out of it enough to post every single day for a week. Because the truth is, you already have the content. You just need a mindset shift to see it. Before we get into the seven ideas, there's a mindset piece that we need to address because without it, none of this will actually stick. Most photographers think about sessions in terms of galleries. You shoot, you edit, you deliver, you make one post about it and then you move on. Most photographers think that that's all there is to it. But in order for you to truly market your business, it's going to require you to think like a content creator and a photographer at the same time. The photographers who are consistently showing up online and consistently booking out their calendars are the ones who have learned to see their sessions as more than just a one time post. They understand how to stretch their content out. Every session you shoot is giving you behind the scenes moments, finished work, a client story, an emotional image, an educational opportunity. And right now most of that is sitting unused. So let's learn how to use it. If you're at home when you're listening to this, I want you to pull up one of your most recent sessions. Because by the time we're done with this, you're going to have a full week of content mapped out before you even finish listening to this episode. So if you're ready, let's dive in. All Right. The first piece of content is a behind the scenes reel. Behind the scenes content is the most underutilized tool that photographers have and it's also one of the most powerful pieces of content. People don't just hire a photographer because of their work. They hire someone that they feel connected to, someone whose energy they trust. Someone they can picture themselves actually spending time with during a session. And we've talked a lot about this on the February episodes this month. Your finished images show people what you're capable of, but your behind the scenes content shows people who you are. Even three to five short clips, maybe you walking to a location or you giving clients direction or a genuine moment between your clients, that is going to give people a window into the experience of what it's like working with you. That's what builds the know like and trust factor that eventually turns your followers into clients clients. So if you're not recording these on your phone during your sessions or bringing someone along to do it for you, I really want to encourage you to start getting a few behind the scenes clips at every single one of your sessions. I bring my 12 year old daughter to about 60% of my sessions and so most of that behind the scenes content that you're seeing on my Instagram and in my content, that's where that's coming from. So get creative, think outside the box and start, start getting behind the scenes content. The second content that I want you to start doing is what I'm calling a favorite five carousel. So I want you to take your top five images from that session and I want you to put them in a carousel post. The images alone are only half of the post. The caption is where the real work happens. I want you to use that caption to tell the story of the session. Who are these people? What brought them to you? What was the feeling on that session day when someone reads a caption about a mom who booked a session because she realized her kids were only going to be this age once and that she didn't want to forget it. That lands way differently than a caption that just lists your booking link or a one liner quote. People make emotional decisions and then they justify them logically. So give them that emotion that they're looking for. The third piece of content is a before and after editing post this one again. Another. I see this one really underused and I think it's because we used to think that this was like really trendy back in the day. But this is one trend that will never die. People want to see how you edit. So take a couple images from the session and show the RAW files alongside the finished edits. You can do this as a carousel where they're sliding through. And my tip to you on this is you're actually going to start with the finished picture first so that when it sits in your grid, it is still consistent and cohesive. You don't want to start with the straight out of the camera shot and then you can go from the the final edit. Then you can go to the straight out of the camera. If you want to show like the complete finish to where they' just seeing before, after, before, after, before, after, you can do that. But also you could even show like straight out of the camera. You know, here's what it looks like in the beginning when I adjust a few things, and then here's the progression of what it looks like all the way to the end. So that's how you're showing your before and after. What this does is it educates your audience on the actual craft and labor that goes into what they're paying for. Most people, they just genuinely don't understand the amount of work that goes into their finalized gallery. And so this is a great way to show to like showcase everything that goes into your editing without having to explain your pricing or defend your rates. It shows your value instead of just stating it. And that is always, always, always more convincing. In the caption. You can talk about the steps you take without giving away the whole editing strategy. For example, you can talk about the things that you adjust versus don't without a request. You could talk about how much time it takes on one photo or how long it takes for you to edit a whole gallery. And that is going to put this in perspective for people who may not really understand all the work and skill that goes into your editing style. Content Piece number four. This is taking an amazing image that is very emotional or just stunning and showcasing this. Every session has that one image that makes you stop when you're calling. It's that image that you're so excited about before you have even touched it in editing. That image deserves its own post. It doesn't need to be the third or fourth slide in a carousel. It doesn't need to be grouped in with other pictures. It needs to stand alone and it needs to be seen. So write a caption that leans into the emotion of it. Don't describe what's happening in the frame, describe what it feels like or tell them behind the scenes. What did you tell the clients to do that made it happen. Speak directly to the person that needs to see that image today. The one who keeps meaning to book a session, but they keep talking themselves out of it. A single strong image paired with the right words is often one of your most powerful pieces of content and it could be your best booking driver. So don't be scared to do a single image post. I know that Instagram and TikTok have made us think that video is the only option, but I just want to remind you that it's not. I do think that it is important and, and it has a place and it should be mixed in your strategy. But let's not overlook the single image post. That is enough to make someone stop and book you right then and there. Content piece number five. This one is, we're taking it off the feed and we're going into your stories. This one is simple, but it should not be skipped. I want you to take one of the portrait vertical images from your session. Simply use it as the background of your stories. And then I want you to have a simple text overlay, which just means you're typing out your session availability on top. I know it's straightforward, I know it is simple, but this is going to let people know that you have spots open and it's also going to stop their tapping through stories. So they're actually going to stop, kind of look at the image and then read what is on top. This works better than a Canva graphic because it's warm, it's real, it's stunning. It's not a graphic where people just, they don't let it really like marinate in their brain. It's something that's going to make them slow down and pay attention. Plus, more people watch your stories than see your feed post. Did you know that? So don't skip on your stories. Content piece number six is all about a client's story spotlight. This is very, very effective and I want you to use it because it leverages the power of storytelling to attract your ideal client. So share a little bit about who your client was or is and what brought them to book. Not in a way that talks about their personal life, but enough to paint a picture that someone else can see themselves in. So here's what I mean. Here's some examples. A grandmother who finally booked the family session that she had been putting off for years. A couple who wanted to document their relationship before a big life change. A senior whose parents wanted to mark the end of an era. When people read these stories, they don't just see your work, they see a reason to book with you. Your clients are some of your most compelling marketing material and most of you are not using them enough. You can always add pieces of their review here too. So if they in their review, if they say something specific to, you know, maybe something they were worried about or you know, why they're so excited they finally did it, use their words wrapped up in this client story. Don't overthink these things. I give a lot of these examples inside of the marketing membership too, because I know it's hard to come up with these on your own. Okay, the last piece of content is an educational post using those session images. So this is your opportunity to position yourself as an expert while also showing off your work. Two things happening in one piece of content. So take an image or take a couple of images from the session and then use it as an opportunity to write an educational caption. Or you could also take a handful of images and you can turn this idea into a reel. Talk about what to wear for a session, how to prepare kids for the session, what time of day produces the best light, why location matters, how you prep your clients, whatever is most relevant to the clients that you are trying to attract. This type of content serves people who aren't ready to book just yet, and it keeps them following you until they are. So it helps build you up as the go to. It demonstrates your skills and expertise and it gives people a reason to trust you before they even inquire with you. So that is the long game of content marketing and I promise you, it pays off every single time. When photographers tell me that they don't have enough content, what's actually true is that they don't have a system for seeing the content that's already there. You already have the sessions, you've edited the images, the stories have happened, you have the real footage on your phone. None of it has gone anywhere. It's just been waiting for you to see it differently and pick it up again and post it. So everything I walked you through today can be applied to sessions that you shot months ago. You don't need a new session, you don't need any new gear, and you do not need to do anything differently behind the camera except maybe grab some behind the scenes video. If you're not doing that, you just need to change what happens after you deliver someone's gallery. One session seven Post one full week of content. And once you make this a habit, you will find that it's not a content problem, it was just a system problem. And if what we talked about today resonated with you and you're realizing that what you've been missing isn't necessarily content ideas, but a consistent system and a strategy behind your marketing, then I want you to come join the market like a Tog membership. This is exactly the kind of thinking we work through together every single month. And rather than starting from scratch every time you sit down to post, you're getting a done for you marketing plan each month. The content direction, the strategy, the framework so that you can stop guessing and you can start showing up with intention marketing. Your business does not have to feel like something you're always behind on. Can I get an Amen? That's exactly why I designed Market like a Toggle. You can check all of the details out and come join us over@brookejefferson.com membership. We would love to have you. We are about 20 photographers strong right now, which is super intimate and I love it being that size just because there's so many different niches and we're all learning from one another and the coaching calls are so much fun. So to recap, one session gives you a behind the scenes reel, a favorite five carousel, a before and after editing post, your favorite image, a stories availability post, a client spotlight, and an educational tip post that is a full week of content from work you've already done. I hope this episode was helpful. Go repurpose one of your sessions and I'll see you on the next episode. Sam.