If you haven’t heard about The Road To CEO, my 3 part business workshop for senior photographers, I’m about to shamelessly plug it. Cause I have the mic & I can. Haha! Seriously though, as photographers we are great at the creative side, right? It’s the business side where I see photographers struggle the most, and I want to help. The Road To CEO starts October 19th and this is something you definitely want to be a part of if you are ready to get serious about your senior photography business.

Day one is The Broken Business Model To The Well-Oiled Machine.

Day two is The One System That Has Booked Me The Most Sessions In My Senior Photography Business.

And Day three is The CEO vs The Employee Mindset.

You’ll hear a little more about it at the end of this podcast, but if you wanted to pause right now to go register, that would be a fantastic idea. You can do that at www.seniorstudiosuccess.com/ceo. I can’t wait to go on this little adventure with you guys!

Ok, let’s get into today’s episode.

I have a few different Facebook groups (the free one - Senior Studio Success, and a few for business coaching), so I gathered some recent questions from senior photographers in all of those groups to give you some quick tips for your senior photography business and a glimpse of my coaching style here in this blog post.

We cover topics like text marketing for your senior photography business, senior model team scheduling, hashtag strategy, getting featured and setting up an ideal work day schedule. Have more questions for me? Come join us in the Senior Studio Success Facebook Group!

Ok, let’s start off with a marketing question.

Q: Who uses text marketing and what is your favorite platform to use?

A: Me I’ve used Project Broadcast for about 3-4 years now.

Here’s how I use it: In my senior photography studio I am always wanting to keep our pipeline of new potential clients full. One way I do that is by keeping a wait list of younger teens who will need senior pictures in the next few years. With Project Broadcast I have keywords set up for each graduating class year. I mention it every so often on Instagram to keep my list fresh and I have a marketing campaign designed for each list as they get closer to their time for senior portraits. This is something we build together inside Studio Secrets so that you are always nurturing your list & have that consistent flow of inquiries. I’ll include a link in the show notes if you want to try out Project Broadcast. You’ll get 500 free credits with that link if you want to give it a go on your own.

Q: My 13.5 year old would be an amazing photo assistant for senior shoots. However, I think I’d be nervous at what my high end clients would think of this arrangement. As an introvert, I work really hard at asking questions and making everyone comfortable. I wouldn’t want to appear to be ignoring my daughter, but I worry it would end up looking that way as I’d mostly pay attention to the clients. Anyone have experience with this? Did you ask your client if it was ok for them to join in/assist? I am an over-thinker for sure.

A: Don't worry too much over this. My kids have helped me with senior sessions before. Just do your thing! Your clients will be even more impressed when you show them the beautiful images your awesome little assistant helped you create! And remember that your clients are moms too. They will completely understand and probably think more highly of you for involving your kiddo as an assistant. I would! Lots of other photographers chimed in saying the same things. As moms, we just get it. Don’t overthink these things or let what others “might” think worry you out of making good decisions for your business & family.

Q: I’m looking for the best way to schedule my senior models to come in for hair and makeup on their big model team shoot. I need to allow 4 spots at the beginning of each hour. Is there a way to do this in Calendly?

A: Yep. You can create group or individual events in Calendly and set the maximum number of invitees in each time slot. This works great for styled model team shoots! I love Calendly as a scheduling tool. We use it for scheduling all of our appointments in the studio.

Q: So now that I’m being forced to slow down (literally forced lol, I had emergency surgery last week so nothing for 6 weeks ), I’m getting the time to focus on my schedule for my next senior season.

Here’s my situation: I’ve always shot in the late afternoon/ evenings because of lighting. Now that I’m confident with Off Camera Flash, I really want to shoot earlier in the day so I can be with my family. I’m only working one weekend a month in the evenings. That’s set. My question is for those of you that shoot seniors in the daytime, namely Jena Golden, what does your schedule look like? What days / times do you find work best? Mostly I need help with the time frame. Like do you bring them in at 8am for hair and makeup and wrap up around noon??

I’m struggling with keeping my workout schedule from 8am-10am and still not shooting in the evenings, but I know I’ll have to bend somewhere.

A: Here’s my schedule. I love shooting in the mornings & having the rest of the day for myself.

I only shoot 2 sessions a week, sometimes 3 if I have rain reschedules or put an extra day in so I can take a vacation, etc.

I only work with photography clients Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursdays. Mondays & Fridays are for my coaching students. Every now & then I have no choice but to shoot other days, but those are few & far between.

I do only shoot in the mornings. My hair & makeup artist arrives at 7:30am. Clients arrive at 7:45am. Sessions start around 9:15am or 9:30am. That depends on how difficult the hair is and our session location.

I finished shooting at 11:30am.

Then it’s home to eat, shower & get ready for afternoon meetings. I leave those same afternoons open for client meetings (either consults or session premieres). That availability is from 2:00-6:00pm. That’s in Calendly which means the last 30 minute meeting has to be by 5:30pm & the last session premiere is at 4:00pm.

I do work with a personal trainer twice a week so I block that time as busy & it does cut into availability, once on a weekday afternoon and once on Saturday morning. If I don’t have a session I am on the treadmill on the mornings that I don’t work out with my personal trainer, so usually at least twice a week. That gets 4 solid workouts in a week and I am good with that!

Editing is outsourced & the product ordering is pretty easy because of my simplified product line.

Calendly does all the reminders & I have an assistant who culls images for the session premiere & another who helps with client communication. That helps tremendously for keeping this schedule.

Mondays & Fridays are for my senior photography mentoring clients, running errands, other business stuff and my kiddos.

The only time I will work a Saturday or Sunday is for my senior model team, again very rare because I keep that pretty simple too.

Please let me know if you need anything. Praying for you 💗

This is a discussion that I have over and over again with mom photographers. There are generally 2 different situations.

One is the mom of young kiddos, not yet in school. They are with the babies all day long, frazzled & tired by the end of the day. Then hand the kids off to a sitter or dad so that they can put on their professional hat for clients until the sun goes down. Head home exhausted to put the kids to bed & wake up the next morning to do it all over again. That’s a long day y’all.

The other mom has kiddos in school so she has free time, but that afternoon rush kills her because she’s juggling the carpool lane or bus drop off. Then she has to get the kids settled, fed & happy. Then get herself together for clients, try not to forget her camera & seem 100% put together for her clients. Again, working until the sun goes down & hardly ever getting that evening family time.

Who said we have to work at night because we are senior photographers?!!

I’m about to get on my soapbox. We are professionals. We are moms and dads. Our children deserve to spend evenings & weekends with us too, just like any other parent. There is no reason important enough (unless you absolutely want to & it works for your schedule) to give up those hours with your family. Now, if it works for you guys, then go for it! But if you are in a season where you feel like that schedule is getting out of control or you want to change it before your kids go to school, I promise it can be changed.

A lot of this stuff is just our minds telling us to play it safe, keep our clients happy or they won’t work with us if they have to miss school. Yes they will. Yes they will. Yes they will.

Ok, I’m gonna hop down from this soapbox before I get too worked up. Haha!

Q: What am I doing wrong with hashtags?? I used to get featured all the time and now nothing. Like never. Either I suck or I’m doing something wrong. I hope it’s the latter.

A: Ego needs to go y’all. Love ya! But this business isn’t about us getting featured. It’s about our clients & taking care of them. That’s how you get successful. Keep your blinders on & focus on what’s important

You can probably tell that this one was from straight inside the Studio Secrets FB Group. I have the luxury of being a little more short & to the point with them because we all know each other so well. They come get what they need & I send them on their merry way! Haha!

Q: I saw one of your BTS Instagram reels or maybe it was an instastory today where it appeared that the mother of the senior girl was holding your light. I was wondering to what degree do you involve the mother during the senior session? Do you find that you have higher sales / more buying when you give the mother a job such as holding a reflector or light? Just curious, what other ways do you involve the mom during the session?

A: Oh gosh. Who knows who was holding my light! If somebody is standing nearby and I need help during a session I’m gonna ask for it!

Ideally I do not put the mom to work, but they are always happy to help if I ask.

I like for the mom to just be able to experience their kid’s senior session and not be working. But there are times when my assistant might run to the car to grab something or step away from the light to do video. I’ll ask mom to watch it for me if the wind is up.

If my assistant can’t be there that day I will hire my makeup artist to stay on longer to help too. But sometimes it’s just me & that’s ok. That’s how I started & it’s totally doable, even with off camera flash. I am definitely more tired on those days, but I just count it as one of my workouts ;)

Q: I’m feeling rather frustrated that I had 4 inquiries this week and no bookings. Maybe it’s because they don’t really want an experience, and they are just desperate for a quick fix. But, either way, it leaves me feeling disappointed.

A: They weren't looking for you. They were looking to check a box. Dust yourself off girl.

It’s so easy to get frustrated by price shoppers and not take the rejection personally. In the senior photography industry, the most common times this happens is at the end of one graduating year and the beginning of the next graduating year. That’s just a generality. Most last minute senior parents are not wanting the full experience. They are looking to get senior pictures done quickly. Personally, these have been my best paying jobs and worst paying jobs. It’s really hit and miss. Spring sessions are very unpredictable in our studio.

At the beginning of our senior portrait season we get a lot of inquiries from first time senior parents. They honestly don’t know what to expect, and there’s nothing wrong with that! They are doing their research & trying to figure out which photographer will fit their lifestyle and needs. What we have to constantly remind ourselves is that the right ones will come along. As you raise your prices there will usually be more no’s than yesses. But those yes clients are amazing to work with! So keep your chin up you guys. A no is just making room for a yes :)

Now inside Studio Secrets we track leads, consults, bookings & we evaluate those consults. We see where the weak spots are and then we go to work to fix them. I added some new tools for this next round of Studio Secrets & I can’t wait to share them with you guys. You know who I’m talking to if you’re listening ;)

That’s it for now my sweet photographer friends. I hope you enjoyed that Q & A session with me. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a straight shooter, no fluff kinda girl. And that’s exactly how I coach my senior photographer students inside my courses. My goal is for my students to find success, whatever that looks like for them.

I know running this business can be overwhelming (especially if you’re a parent trying to juggle it all), but it doesn’t have to be. I wanna help you with your business if you’re ready. Let’s start here. Come join me in this 3 part workshop called The Road To CEO. You can register over at www.seniorstudiosuccess.com/ceo.

We’re gonna talk about the broken pieces in your business. We’re gonna talk about getting systems in place in your business, and we’re gonna talk about mindset so that you can show up like the boss that I know you are. Come hang out with me and let’s talk about this some more during The Road To CEO workshop.

And if you happen to hear this after that workshop has long passed, I’m still here. You can work with me one on one for business coaching or you can join Studio Secrets, my 6 month business coaching program. Either way, I’d love to help you.

Thanks for hanging out with me today my friend. Come say hey over in the facebook group or over on Instagram!

Until next time, take care!

Jena

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