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Book More Photography Clients Podcast | Photography Business, Photography Leads, Marketing
Is Your Photography Business Feeling Slow? 4 Ways to Increase Your Bookings Right Now (Re-cast)
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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. Hey. Hey. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. Whether this is your very first episode you've ever listened to or you are a loyal podcast listener and have been around for a really long time, I want to say thank you for being here. And I am so blessed with the podcast community that I have. In fact, we are celebrating. If you're listening to this in real time, we are celebrating. Crossing 400,000 downloads is such an incredible milestone. We are so close to half a million downloads. That is insane to me. When I first started this podcast four years ago, I had one mission in mind, and that was I just wanted to reach my hand out to another photographer and share my best tips, advice, strategies, et cetera, to help them also grow their business. And that's you. And you're still the same photographer that I've wanted to serve since day one. So thank you for being here. Those downloads are all you. I do not sit here and listen to my show. That would be a little weird. So it is all you. So thank you, thank you, thank you. On another note, if I sound a little bit different or the audio sounds different than some of the previous episodes, my podcast microphone broke, so I have to order a new one. So I'm recording from my handy Dandy voice memo app on my iPhone. So you don't have to be fancy to have a podcast, which is great news for me. So it is just one person chatting to another. I'm actually in my bedroom just reflecting on this particular episode topic and also just to paint a picture for you that I struggle in business too. You know, it's not always rainbows and butterflies all of the time. Business is very much a roller coaster. You're going to have ups, you're going to have downs, you are going to have fantastic months and hit sales goals and feel like you're on top of a mountain. And in the very next month could be the worst month you've ever seen. And now you're doubting yourself and questioning your business. And it's just a constant roller coaster. So I want you to know that owning your own business, especially a photography business, it is going to feel like a roller coaster. It's not for the faint of heart. And I really want to encourage you. Something else I have really been just going through the loop on, it feels like is I found myself just in a. Just in this funk. Like, I just wanted to crawl in bed and binge a bunch of TV shows, a bunch of Netflix, a bunch of Hulu, and just like, not even tend to any of the responsibilities. I didn't want to clean my house. I didn't want to catch up on laundry. I didn't really want to interact or take care of my husband and kids. I didn't want to work on my business. I say all of this to say that I am finally getting out of this little weird funk that's been going on for a couple of days. And I am so glad because that is not like me. But again, you know, it's life. And, and we come into these situations and I really sat down with today's topic and thought, what. What do I want to say to the photographer right now? And I. And there's several of you that are coming to mind because we have had this side conversation or I have seen you post this either in my Facebook group or another Facebook group, and you're just feeling really discouraged, was just thinking, like, what. What kind of conversation would I have if you were sitting here across from me? And that is why I want today's topic. I really just want to address again that just because business is slow doesn't mean that you're doing something wrong. It is a normal part of business. And we also have to take a real look. And you guys have heard me, you know, pull back the curtain a lot on this ever since we went through a pandemic, you know, we have to look at the economy, if you will. Right? Because what's happening in the outside world is absolutely affecting your business 100%. Like, we, we have to be realistic. I, I definitely. This is, I'm. I'm known for being no bs, right? And so I just want to encourage you that it's okay that business is slow, but I also know that that doesn't mean that we just have to sit in it and do nothing. Right? And so one of the things that I really try to do, especially in my blueprint program, is when we are going through different economic shifts or we're going through seasons where it's a little more slow. I am trying to always be two steps ahead of the game and come up with fresh ideas, marketing strategies, all of the things so that those photographers, just because it's slower doesn't mean that their bookings have to come to a halt. And so I'm, you know, brainstorming and giving them new strategies. And. And that's just me and it. And I always will. And so I want to give you just a little taste into some of the advice that I've been giving them that I also want to give you. And if you're looking for that encouraging place that's full of real strategy that will absolutely give you real results in your photography business, regardless of what's going on out there in the world, then you need to be inside the blueprint program. This program is backed by over 200 photographers that have been through it. And I asked them the other day because I was really curious to hear, you know, what were your hesitations? And a lot of them kept saying it just sounded too good to be true. It just. I don't know, like, I thought maybe it was a scam or it was just going to be another course or another program that I invest in that I don't get a lot of return on. And then I asked them, but how do you feel about your decision? I had students that have been in there since 2020, and I've had students who have been in there for, like, two or three weeks. And they all answered, and each of them said, oh, no, like, hands down, best decision ever. The fact that I can ask my questions and you are answering in real time inside of the Facebook group is amazing. The fact that you have coaching calls I can go back and listen to is so helpful. What you teach inside of the blueprint is actual real strategy. There's no fluff. When I implement something, I immediately see, you know, how it is helping or improving or increasing my bookings. And so if you're on the fence, I just want you to know everyone's been there. I've been there. I continue to invest in myself, my education, my coaching, and every single time, it just feels scary. It's just that unknown. So, anyway, let's get into this. But I just want you to know, if you're on the fence, you're welcome to send me a message and I will flat out tell you if I think it's going to Help you if I think you're not a good fit. I've actually told a couple of people that I didn't think that their businesses were the best fit for the blueprint right now or ever. There's a couple of people that I just felt like their industry was a little bit outside of my expertise and I felt like they would, they would definitely have a better return with someone else that teaches that particular thing. So just know that you can email me, message me anytime. I'd love to answer any questions that you have about the program. But right now let's enter your curiosity of what are the four ways to drive bookings in my photography business when things are just slow right now? So number one, add a smaller version of something that you are currently doing right now, something that you're already offering. Okay, so here's the mistake that I'm seeing photographers make and I don't want you to be one of them. So if you're doing this, stop doing this, okay? Immediately, out of fear and desperation, we want to just go slash our prices. We want to just give discounts left and right, throw them out, all the things. Sometimes a discount is fine, right? Like right now we're celebrating 400,000 downloads. And so in order to say thank you, I had some discounts going on, right? Some sales, some specials going on. That's okay to do. You decide when you want to do that. But if you're doing that all of the time, then you're training your people to wait until you slash your prices to invest in you and it's going to be that much harder getting people to pay full price. Don't be a Bath and Body works. Okay, I've used that analogy before and I'll continue to use it because it's such a good one. What I would, what I would try in your business, if you're absolutely just having a rough time getting people to book your regular price sessions, then something that I would consider doing is how can you offer a bite sized version of that or a portion of that session at maybe a lower price, less time, less effort type thing. This doesn't necessarily have to be a mini session. It could, it could come in the form of that. But right now it can't be this fluffy mini session ideas. So what I mean is if it's a nice to have, right? Oh, that's cute. But right now we don't have the money for that and I'll just wait, I can just wait if your client is able to say that, oh, I'll just wait. There's not enough urgency behind it and it's probably not a great idea for you. What I'm talking about is my example here is instead of offering your normal two to three hour newborn session, can you consider offering a smaller version? Maybe you call it a newborn petite session and you can take three newborn sessions in one weekend or one day or whatever that looks like for you. It comes with fewer images and it takes a quarter of the time. Or maybe it's one hour instead of three, or it's two sets instead of four. Right? So consider adding a smaller version of something you offer. Right now. This works for senior photography, family photography, newborn photography. This could work for elopements. This could literally, whatever your industry is, you can do this. Okay, Number two, you need to be adding urgency to your post now. This is something that you should be doing all of the time anyway. But right now, your generic captions and just, yeah, just if you're being generic in what you're saying or you're posting like just client testimonials and that's really it. It's not enough. It's not enough to get someone to say, yes, I need to book this, right? So your I have five dates left for April is not enough right now to persuade someone to book you. You need to get more creative. So I have a couple of content topic ideas that I'm going to give you. Take it or leave it, your choice. But here they are. So pretend right now that when you're creating content and you're sharing images and you're writing blog posts, all the things, okay, Pretend that everyone who comes across that piece of content, whether they watch a video or they're reading your caption or whatever, pretend that they're going to book you, that it's already a booked client. What do they need to know? What do they want to know? How can you prep them to be able to work with you? Or how can you prep them for their session? How can you show the importance of doing this particular session? What makes booking you right now different than any other time of the year? Because again, if that client in their minds can say, oh, I really like that, but I'll just wait, right? If they say I'll just wait, then at that point they're probably going to pass the opportunity by. So again, look for ways. Is there a particular field that's only in bloom right now during this season? Is there a way that you can drive urgency toward a holiday? Is there a way that you could show them that it's not just pretty pictures that they're going to get, but they're also going to walk away with something tangible. For. There's just so, guys, there's just so many things that you can think of. So what is the urgency? Is there a true cutoff date? Right. We're not creating fake urgency. Please don't do that. Okay? Don't say you only have five spots. If you really have 15 days that you're trying to book, don't do that. Real urgency. Right? Real urgency. So the one question that I really want you to sit on today is, again, what makes booking you and this type of session right now different than any other time of the year? All right, number three, try marketing in a way that you have not before. So if you are. If you've been doing the same thing for the last 6 months, 12 months, 18 months in your business, and you haven't hardly changed anything or any platforms at all, and you're not loving the results you're getting, then you need to do something different. Nothing changes if nothing changes. One of my favorite quotes, because it's true, right? I can sit here and want to feel stronger and want to feel better about my body, but if I don't get my butt up and actually go work out, which I'm coaching myself right now, then nothing's going to change. Absolutely nothing is going to change. So a couple of things here. If you're only posting on Instagram and then you're occasionally sharing your post to your Facebook page, it's time to try something new that's clearly not working for you. Right? So get started with email marketing. Try it out. Create a Facebook group. Find someone to collaborate with in your community. Try a new local advertising option. Can you drop your business cards off in a new place? Can you put together brochures that someone will let you display? Can you take your work and display it in a business? Can you sign up for an event and get yourself out there? Can you go to a networking meetup? Can you offer to volunteer somewhere? You see what I'm saying? You got to do something different. Try Pinterest marketing. There's so many things that you guys can be doing, and a lot of times you're just trying to do the bare minimum. And I will always be here to tell you that the bare minimum just doesn't cut it. It just doesn't cut it. Now, I'm not asking you to do all of these things. I'm just asking you to pick one, one new thing and try that for A little bit. Again, nothing changes if nothing changes. And finally, number four, this strategy right here is one that everybody can put into practice and that is growing your audience so that you have new people and new eyeballs on your business. A lot of photographers will come to me and they will say, I am doing marketing strategies and they're not working. I am posting on Instagram three days a week and it's not working. And so my question is, okay, great, like let me take a look. So I look and you know, the content, it's pretty good. You know, there's nothing majorly wrong with it and they truly have been consistent and they're showing up in their stories and they're giving it a good go. So I take a look at their audience and regardless of how many followers are there, most of the time it's definitely a smaller audience. But the first thing I do is I click on the followers and I look to see who's following their profile. It's usually industry peers. It's all of you. It's photographers following photographers. And that's all it is. And I am all here for community over competition. Believe me, I will lead that. I will. Yes, I will lead this parade until the end of time. But there is such a thing as having way too many industry peers in your following and not enough people who are actually interested in what you have. So go take a good look at who is even in my audience. Do I even have ideal clients? Do I have local people? Do I have the right local people following me or do I need to do something about it? And 95% of the time you're speaking to the same people. And I love asking this question, when's the last time you grew your audience? Are you growing? Are you adding new people to your world every single day? And it's usually a no. And I know cause it's not fun. This is the non sexy side of growing a business. And so you have to manually go put yourself out there. And I teach all of these strategies in the blueprint. I'm happy to give you a personalized strategy as well if you join us in there. And you have to grow your audience again. Nothing changes if nothing changes. And if you keep speaking to the same people, you're going to keep seeing the same results. So quick recap. All right, four ways to drive bookings. If your business is a little slow right now, Number one, add a smaller version of a package that you currently offer right now. Number two, add real urgency to your post. Again, what makes someone booking you right now different than any other time of the year. Number three, try marketing in a new way that you've never tried before. Number four, grow your audience with real local people who are going to be your target market. That will actually result in bookings for you. So those are my four tips for you today. At least take one of those strategies, try it out, and I will see you guys on the next episode. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Book More Clients Photography Podcast. If you're loving the content, can you take just two minutes and do me the biggest favorite? Share your love for the show by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or take a screenshot and share the show to your social media. I'm on a mission to transform our photography industry and the best way to reach others is to share the show. I'll catch you on the next episode.