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A SIMPLE GUIDE TO MINI SESSIONS HOW TO OFFER AN INCREDIBLE MINI SESSION EXPERIE

A SIMPLE GUIDE TO MINI SESSIONS HOW TO OFFER AN INCREDIBLE MINI SESSION EXPERIENCE WHILE STAYING COMPLETELY EFFICIENT TO INCREASE PROFITS AND KEEP CLIENTS RETURNING! A SIMPLE GUIDE TO MINI SESSIONS Mini sessions are a great option for portrait photographers who want to offer something other than a full session, or wedding photographers who have limited availability for portrait sessions! These can be so prof itable if they’re done correctly! I’m sharing my secrets to have successful mini sessions and how I offer an experience that keeps clients coming back to me for years for mini sessions! Before even picking a date, it’s important to know WHO your target market is. I’ve focused on families for this, but know others who focus on couples. Both may sign up, but it’s great to have a vision so you can ad vertise most efficiently! I choose to market toward families for a few reasons. Since my full portrait sessions are 1-1.5 hours, some families with kids can’t go near that long, or want a more affordable option! So mini sessions are perfect for young families who want a shorter, more affordable option even if it means less images. WHO TO MARKET TO ADVERTISING Choose an advertisement image strategically: Be sure to make these sessions a big deal and let others know how excited you are to offer them! Create an announcement to post on your Facebook page and Instagram, and actually have the text on the image instead of just in the caption (Photoshop or InDesign are great for this!). Choose a cute family image or portrait of a child, or whomever your ideal client would be. I choose a family picture with young kids! If you’re marketing towards couples, choose a beautiful engagement portrait. After making the announcement, tag who the photo is of! I’ve strategically picked certain families for the an nouncement so I can tag them, and their friends with kids can see I’m offering this! I also believe less is more, so I just include one image on my ad so it doesn’t become too cluttered. Share on social media: Ask friends to share your post. For instance, my sister is a mom with two young kids. She’s “shared” my mini session announcement post on Facebook, and all her friends see! But also, share it on your Facebook business page, personal page, and Instagram. The reason I keep mentioning Facebook first is that my ideal clients (young moms) are very active on Facebook, so I choose to focus on that first! But Insta gram can also be very profitable. If you’re still having trouble getting word out, you can always offer a small discount if your client “shares” the Facebook announcement! I’ve done this before to build awareness and reach more people. What to include on the announcement: It’s important to include enough details, but not too many that it becomes cluttered. Include these basics: -The title mini session -Mini session date -City of mini sessions (don’t need exact location) -Email or link to contact you -How many images they’ll receive -Length of time -Price (no need to mention anything about a retainer yet, just the total price) CHOOSING A DATE I don’t offer mini sessions year round, just on specific dates I choose. Since these are only 20-30 minutes, I’d be spending more time driving there and back if I booked these year round without any other sessions around them. Also, only offering these on specific dates makes them a bigger deal! Choose a date strategically. I’ve learned around October or November is a great time since families want pictures for a Christmas card! Where I live, it gets into the mid 90’s regularly in the summer, so that might not be the best time for families! Just like a date in the middle of January might not be the best for young kids. I normally plan mine around fall when the leaves are beautiful and during the spring. LENGTH OF TI M E Mini sessions should be shorter than the regular sessions you offer. I always did 30 minutes, but recently cut it down to 20 minutes. I shoot VERY quickly, and the families at my recent mini sessions had all worked with me before so they knew the system! I’m able to get everything in that amount of time! But if you’re still working on what poses are best for families or want to take breaks between sessions and not feel rushed, I’d suggest at least 30 minutes for your first mini session day then go from there! LOCATION I keep two important things in mind when choosing a location: Shade and parking. Since I line up several mini sessions in a row, they can’t all be right at sunset when there’s a soft glow. So for me personally to keep my light and airy style, it’s important to have a place to shoot other than harsh light! I choose locations with trees or a large structure like a barn to be sure I have shade during the session. It’s also important to choose somewhere your client can easily get to. I never do these downtown since it can take 20 minutes just to find a parking spot. Choose somewhere with sufficient parking for your clients that’s easy to get to. It’s also great if there’s room for little ones to run around! PAY M ENT A ND CONTR ACT Be sure you have a contract! I attach this with their PayPal retainer invoice, and state at the end of the contract that paying the retainer is agreeing to the contract terms. I love PayPal since I can save a template instead of starting from scratch each invoice. There are also several other ways to send contracts to clients! I’d encourage including the following: Payment amount, and that the retainer is non-refundable. How many images will be given to the client. Also include that there will be an additional fee for any additional edits the client wishes to make, and that any additional photos other than the “X” amount included will also be an extra fee. Side note: I don’t actually charge if there’s an edit I missed that I should have caught, but this keeps me safe and makes up for my time if the client wants several edits made. A legal clause that you’re harmless against all liabilities, claims, expenses, etc. That you have the right to take, use, reuse, or publish any photos take of any and all subjects present. When the client will receive their online gallery, and how long you will be responsible for the images. Side note: I encourage clients to download images to multiple devices, and that I’m not responsible to keep images on file for more than 1 week after I deliver them. Rescheduling: What your policy is about rescheduling and your system if there’s inclement weather. Side note: I only reschedule if there’s inclement weather based on my availability. If there’s no availability, I refund the deposit. The client understands the number of images they are receiving, and that the photographer chooses these images, professionally edits them, and is under no obligation to deliver more images than the number agreed upon. By paying the non-refundable retainer, the client fully agrees to these terms. WH AT TO CH A R GE Be sure you’re charging the right amount for your mini sessions. I think of what my full sessions cost, and then break it down from there. For example, if you charge $200 for a 1-hour session, and mini sessions are 30 minutes, you should charge at least $100. You can also charge a little more than 50% of the full session since it’s still a cheaper option. There’s not one right amount, and it really depends on what you offer and how much your full sessions cost! S TAY OR GA NI Z ED U S I NG EXCEL I use an Excel spreadsheet to make sure I’m not double booking myself, that retainers are paid, and to keep track of email addresses! I create a column of the available times. When the client replies back with their time choice, I put their name in the next column next to their preferred time. Then I’ll put their email address to the column to the right of their name (you’ll see why this is important in the next section). Next to that I’ll put the status of the invoice. When I send it, I’ll write, “sent”, and then when it is paid I’ll change it to “paid”. I NI TI A L I NQU RY EM A I L It’s very important to respond to all inquiries via email! This allows you to be more professional, and more efficient. When I receive Facebook messages, I kindly ask them to email me or ask for their email so I can send them details! I’m able to save a lot of time with Gmail’s canned response feature! You can uploads/s3/ mini-session-guide 1 .pdf