I have a secret to tell you. I made a big decision & surprised all my students inside Studio Secrets with this news a few weeks ago. To say they were excited is an understatement. Here goes . . .

Studio Secrets is now a 12 month business coaching program. They bought in as a 6 month program & now they get to hang out with me for a little while longer. So, I’ll now be opening the doors twice a year. Get ready. Open enrollment for the next round of Studio Secrets will be May 17th - May 26th.

If you regret missing the opportunity to join us last November & thought you had to wait a whole year, well surprise. Now you don’t! I am going to limit the seats this time so if you are ready to grow your business, but want to make sure you are a good fit for Studio Secrets, let’s book a clarity call. If you’re good to go, you can go ahead & claim your seat & get early access. Or you can wait until doors open & see how many seats are left. There is a link to book a call on the Studio Secrets wait list page. You can do that at www.seniorstudiosuccess.com/studiosecrets.

Let me tell you about what happens in there for a minute. Here’s some of the latest wins from inside our Facebook group. You can see the actual screenshots & any of the links I mention in the show in the show notes at www.seniorstudiosuccess.com/podcast.

Thank you Jessica! These magazines really do come in handy, not only with preparing your seniors & models for their sessions, but also for helping to close the deal. You can check them out in the shop if you need that type of tool in your business.

We work on boundaries a lot! And this was a big one for Annie. When you’re confident about running your business, clients will respect that. Run your business you guys. Don’t let it run you. Great job Annie!

Gotta love when those rewards for all the hard work starts rolling in!

I mentioned Julie’s big sale in last week’s episode briefly, but I didn’t have all the details then. I love hearing these big wins. Julie started off as all inclusive at 3 digits & look what she’s done in just a little over a year. She’s on fire!

I love all of these! If you want wins just like these, get in this room, fix & grow your business with the biggest group of cheerleaders you will ever have beside you!

Ok, let’s get to today’s topic - batching social media. Or actually, not batching it.

Benefits of batching your social media content:

It saves so much time. I think most of us can agree that the most obvious benefits of batching social media content is the amount of time it saves. Starting & stopping an activity over & over again takes up a lot of your time. But setting aside a chunk of time to do that same activity continuously takes out all that starting & stopping.
It also saves a lot of emotional & mental energy. We aren’t always feeling creative. And to do an activity, like posting to instagram, just because we think we have to, can be draining.
It’s a big accomplishment each week. It may sound silly, but creating all of your social media content for the week & checking that box is a big productivity accomplishment. Talk about walking into the week like a boss! It feels awesome to have it all ready to go on Monday morning.
Less decision fatigue. This is the one that is actually the most exciting one to me. Running a business can be exhausting most days. There are so many daily decisions to make. The last thing we want to do midday or in the evening is decide what to post for the day. Batching your content frees you up from that! You can make all of your decisions at one time while you are rested, focused & in the right mindset for your clients & your business.

If being on social media feels like a burden to you, hopefully I’ve convinced you to give batching a try. Let’s talk about why you might not be doing it right now or why you might not be doing it very well.

Why you aren’t batching your social media content:

You don't have or understand your one client. This causes scattered messaging and confusion. If you are trying to “specialize” in every area of photography, you will not have a cohesive message to put out into the world. This can be so confusing & paralyzing when you don’t know what to say or post.
You don't have a plan or understand how to create one. If you’re a fly by the seat of your pants kinda girl or guy, this may not come very natural to you. Or maybe you only like to post when inspiration strikes so that it feels more authentic. Let me tell you something though. Whether it comes natural or not, whether it is inspired in the moment or not, does not matter. That is not sustainable, and it’s not how you run a business. Not successfully, at least. You have to put a plan in place as a business owner. I know. You’re a creative & you want to do all the pretty, fun things. But business is business & sometimes we gotta do things we don’t necessarily love for the good of the business.
You let excuses get in your way. Does it really have to be perfect? Will they honestly know? Or is that your way of avoiding putting yourself out there? Is there really not enough time? Or did you choose to watch a few more episodes of Schitt’s Creek or Yellowstone? If you are avoiding the work, get curious & dig deep. What is really holding you back? Keep asking why & what if & so what until you get to the real answer. Then do the work on yourself to change those lies in your head. You have to get that trash talk gone. Those stories you keep telling yourself will eventually become your reality. So, like I’ve said one hundred times before, it’s time to rewrite your story.

Ok, I got you right. You know why you aren’t batching. You know why you should be batching. But how in the world do you even start this whole process? Well, I got you there too.

How to get started batching your social media content:

First decide on your main platforms. You can’t be everywhere! Well, you could try, but then you’d be back right where you started. If you are a senior photographer, I would start with one for the teens and one for the parents. This typically means instagram and facebook. Yes, you will get crossover. That’s to be expected. The point is to try to reach them both.
Set some realistic goals. Don’t overcommit or you will be setting yourself up for failure.
- How many times will you post to your instagram feed each week?
- How many reels will you create?
- How many times will you post to your facebook business page?
Decide on your planning tool of choice. There are so many options. My favorite planners are Trello & Planoly. But you can easily plan your social media content in a paper planner too. The key there is to actually do it so there’s not alot of erasing & rewriting.
Decide what you want to talk about that week. Have a topic or theme for each post, story or reel. Sometimes the image will lead the caption. Sometimes the caption will determine the image. Don’t get caught up on writing captions just for images. Find your voice & then find the images or create the reels & stories to go with it.
Block off time on your calendar to not only plan but to create the content as well. Planning is great, but you have to execute. I’ve fallen prey to this big mistake. I like to plan.
Remind yourself of why you are doing this when you don’t feel like it in the moment.

Alright, I hope you guys are gonna blow up my instagram feed next week! I wanna see some good stuff from you. Send me a DM & let me know how your first batch planning session went. Or just let me know you're listening! Take a screenshot, post it & tag me in your stories so we can connect!

And if you really wanna connect, join me in the next Business After Hours. You can find the links to all the things I talk about here on the podcast in the show notes at www.seniorstudiosuccess.com/podcast.

If you’ve found this podcast helpful for your business, would you hit pause & take 2 minutes to leave a rating & review wherever you listen? It helps so much with getting the word out about what we are trying to do here - create a better situation for all of us, pushing you to build a more profitable, productive & purposeful business so that you can spend more time doing what you love with the ones you love.

Because you guys are so awesome, I’m going to be doing some giveaways for those reviews left in March & April. Is it gonna be you? I sure hope so!

Ok. let’s continue the conversation over in the Senior Studio Success Facebook Group. I’m always up for a good business chat. Or you can find me over on Instagram. Send me a DM there. Have a great week y’all!