WHY MINI SESSIONS?
Over the years, I have come to find mini sessions as the perfect balance of value for my clients and income for me. Mini sessions are a great opportunity to give clients a high quality photo experience at a more affordable rate. They should not be your regular session at a discounted price. You are giving your clients just a little taste of what you bring to the table. Minis should benefit your clients and most of all… YOU. Clients love them for their affordability, dads love them because they are short, and photographers love them because they can be a great money maker if you do it right. I will be honest, my mini sessions weren’t successful overnight. In fact, the very first mini session I ever offered was FREE. Yes, you read that right… I made absolutely no money. I don’t want you to have to make all of the mistakes I made over the years, and trust me, I have made them all! Keep reading for 4 mini session tips to improve your business.
Mini Session Tip 1: PLANNING AND COMMUNICATION.
This is one of the top mini session tips that will set you up for the most success. A well thought out mini session not only makes things go smoothly but it also makes you look professional. Plan your location, date, times, and packages ahead of time. Be sure to send your clients emails with plenty of detail and direction so they know what to expect from you. There are so many options for online scheduling for photographers. My best advice would be to pick a client management system that has scheduling, contracts, invoice, and workflows that are automatic. Trust me, don’t do all of that manually. Something is bound to slip through the cracks. Emails are so incredibly important. Remember when I said the keys to a successful mini session are planning AND communication? Here’s where that second part comes into play. Tell your clients what to expect and what YOU expect of them.
Tip 2: UPSELL, UPSELL, UPSELL.
You don’t want to offer too little or too many images. Too many images could potentially degrade your regular sessions if you are giving the same number of images in a mini that you will in a full session. Now here’s the best part, you can offer extra images at an additional cost. Let’s say I deliver a proof gallery of 30 images. In their package, 8 images are included. The client can upgrade at $10 per image or receive all 30 edited images for an additional $175. For editing a few extra images you just made the same amount of money as you would have at another mini session. The moral of the story: pick a set number of images to include, don’t offer too many, and give the option to upgrade.
Tip 3: STAND OUT IN A SATURATED MARKET.
There are a lot of photographers, but there is only one you. Create something indisputably you. Do something no one else is doing, or maybe do something that everyone is doing and do it YOUR WAY. There are so many ways you can do this. For starters, you can offer a mini session no one else is offering. You can level up the client experience before, during, and after the session with personal touches such as offering a style guide or service to help them prepare, having bribes for kids during the session, or writing a hand written note after the session is over.
Tip 4: EMAIL MARKETING IS NOT DEAD.
If you haven’t gotten an email list going I HIGHLY suggest starting one. The thing about social media is, you don’t control it. Maybe potential clients see you one day, but the next they don’t. Sure, the algorithms are ever changing and you can manipulate it to work for you, but it’s a spotty plan at best. Clients are guaranteed to see you pop up in their email. You get to send one whenever you dang well feel like it and you know they will see it. The best part is, your email list is a compilation of people who LIKE YOU and WANT TO WORK WITH YOU. It’s not just a bunch of randos who are following you just so you’ll follow them back. If you are just getting started on your email list you may want to use a free service like Mailchimp. It’s simple to use and it gets the job done. I recently just switched over to Flodesk because of the design and advanced capabilities.
Use these 4 mini session tips to increase your bookings and your profits.
Here’s a glimpse of my mini sessions from 2021:
⭐️January- 16 sessions over 2 days
⭐️March – 12 sessions over 2 days
⭐️April – 16 sessions over 2 days
⭐️June – 9 sessions in 1 day
⭐️August – 25 sessions in 1 week
⭐️October – 26 sessions over 2 days
⭐️November – 42 sessions over 3 days
⭐️December- 10 sessions in 1 day
Total income just from 14 days of sessions: $19,885
Do you want to learn how to make mini sessions profitable? Grab my FREE MINI PRICING GUIDE HERE.
