Now I don’t think this is going to happen, but let’s pretend for a few minutes that Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter and Snapchat just disappeared. Bam! Completely gone. That’s a scary thought, huh? Yeah, tell me about it!! So, here’s my question for you . . . could your business survive without those social media platforms?

While highly unlikely to happen, it is possible. We’ve all seen the censorship and hashtag searches taken away during the election. The fact is that these platforms can do anything they want really. It’s their platform, and we are just taking up space there. Just like a landlord can decide to sell his building and kick you out, these social media giants have the ability to do the same thing.

So I want you to take this possibility seriously and set yourself up for success if for some odd reason social media does disappear tomorrow. Also, it’s always good to mix up your marketing efforts and not rely on one thing ;)

“Could your business survive without social media?”

Let’s pretend that Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter and Snapchat disappeared. Bam! Completely gone. Could your business survive without those social media platforms? So I want you to take this possibility seriously and set your photography bus…

**Here are 12 ways to set your senior photography business up for success without social media:**

1. Website - Please don’t be a Facebook or Instagram photographer. If you are running a legit business you need a place online to call your own. Social media will tell the story they want to tell to whoever they choose to tell it to. You get to tell it the way you want to on your own website, to lead them through the experience and the process of booking a session. We’re lucky if 1% of our audiences even get to see our content on social media. These days you have to pay to play. And we can’t blame them really. Do yourself and your potential clients a HUGE favor and build a website to show off your work and tell your story. I love and have used Photobiz for my senior photography business for years. You can’t go wrong with this company!

2. Blogging - It’s not dead! I promise! Blogs serve a few different purposes. 1) Featuring your clients makes them feel special and adds value to their experience. They are likely to share the link with family and friends too. 2) Blogs are great for SEO and help local prospects find you online. 3) Sharing educational blog posts for your prospective clients sets you up as the authority in your area. This makes you more trustworthy in their eyes and that will only increase the odds of them booking a session.

3. Pinterest - First of all, Pinterest is not social media. Pinterest is a search engine and a great one at that! By posting your images to Pinterest from your blog and website you are again more likely to get found in search engines. Google loves keywords so be sure you are renaming your images and providing a description in your pins that includes your location and business name.

4. Collect leads - Create a system for tracking your leads and then continue to have conversations with them. This could be through an email or text list. Give people a reason to hop on your list, whether it be 10 tips on how to have a successful session or 5 of the best locations in your area for a senior session. Just give them a reason to let you contact them again. Most people will need to see your work and hear your story multiple times before taking the next step to book a session. We use HoneyBook for our client management system in the studio and Project Broadcast as an easy texting service that allows us to create tags for graduating classes and marketing campaigns by text.

5. Develop strong relationships in the community - This may be one of the most overlooked marketing strategies out there. And I’ve been guilty of putting this on the back burner at times too. We all know that people do business with people they trust. And how do we gain that trust? Yep, you guessed it - through relationships. Concentrate on your local Chamber of Commerce, local business networking groups like BNI, local charities, local businesses that serve your same target market and definitely your target schools.

6. Provide an amazing experience - This should go without saying, but I will say it anyway. People talk when you provide them with a wonderful experience with your business. The opposite is true too. They will talk when it’s not so good either. The ones who are quiet are the ones who got exactly what they expected. In order for people to sing your praises with their network of friends, you better surprise them in some way.

7. Deliver a high quality product - Way back when I had more time than money in my business I would hand deliver orders to my clients’ places of work. Why? Because I wanted to give them an amazing experience (see point #6) and because this gave them an opportunity to show off their babies (and my work) to all of their colleagues. I got a lot of referral business that way! Besides that though, you always want to be improving your craft and giving your clients your absolute best work. No matter what, please sell prints and not just digitals. Prints are handed down. Prints are hung on walls of homes and bragged about for years to neighbors, family and friends. That doesn’t happen for shoot and burn photographers.

8. Keep your Google business page active and up to date - Our friends at Google want to know that your business is active and that it is worth showing people using their search bar. Google provides us with a great free space to tell everyone about our business. Be sure your Google business listings has the most up to date information and way to contact you. Here’s something else Google gives us that I don’t see many taking advantage of - the ability to add images to our business listing. How awesome is it that people can see our work on our listing before even clicking on our website? I LOVE this feature and try to update it with recent images each month.

9. Ask for testimonials - This is vital for your business. We are not bashful in any way about asking for Google reviews. Why? It’s social proof that you do a good job, that you are a reputable business, that you are trustworthy! At the end of each session we tell our clients what will happen next. They know that they will get an email asking them to leave us a Google review and we thank them in advance for that and tell them how much it helps our small business. We just finished their session, and they are on an emotional high! This is the perfect opportunity to ask for one! I wrote another blog post about how to get killer testimonials here. This also keeps that Google business listing looking real good!!

10. Ask for referrals - Without social media it would be hard to get in front of our clients’ friends, right? What better way than to ask for referrals? A great way to do this is in the form of a gift. People love to give gifts. If this fits your business model you could create some beautiful $100 or $200 gift cards that your clients can send to friends on behalf of themselves - not you. This is really important. Your client gets credit for thinking of them and giving them a gift. You get the opportunity to get in front of more people and hopefully book those sessions!

11. Fundraisers and sponsorships - If you want to get in front of a lot of people then it’s time to give something away. Choose wisely though. Make sure anything you participate in is with your ideal client in mind. We sponsor our local high school football team because it gets us great exposure all season long. Fundraisers with different school clubs and extracurriculars can be great for getting your name out in front of your community too.

12. Go above and beyond - Take notes like you have a final exam coming up every time you talk to a client! Remember their dogs’ names, their birthdays, what colleges she’s applied to, when grandma is coming into town, the upcoming surgery - everything! And then take action. Send cards, send flowers, make calls to check in, etc. Thinking about your clients in ways they would never imagine you would sends a big message. It tells them that you care about them, not their checkbook.

I hope some of these alternate marketing ideas will help you my friends. They sure have made a big difference around here. Please let me know over on Insta or in my FaceBook Group if you’ve tried any of these!

READY TO HANDLE THIS ISSUE IN YOUR BUSINESS ONCE AND FOR ALL?

I’m hosting a 3-day business workshop for senior photographers called The Road To CEO and I want you there!

On Day One I’m going to talk about how broken the typical photography business model is today & how to turn yours into a well-oiled machine.

On Day Two I’m going to break down in detail the one system that has booked the most clients in my business.

And Day Three is all about having a CEO mindset instead of an employee mindset & how that one change can completely determine the outcome of your success.

This is completely free to you guys & I would love to have you there with me.

You can register at www.seniorstudiosuccess.com/ceo.

I can’t wait to get started. That Facebook group will open October 19th & we already have some fun stuff planned for guys there, so head on over & register to save your spot.

* DON’T MISS THIS! *

If you need somebody to come along beside you and help you do business the right way so that you can bring home a paycheck, spend more time with your family and save for retirement then you need Studio Secrets.

The doors open November 4th for something very special for a handful of photographers who are ready to get laser focused on their businesses.

Studio Secrets is a 6 month business coaching intensive where we dive deep into your business together. It’s not a DIY course on one or two topics. This is EVERYTHING you could ever need to know (and all the tools & resources) to run a senior photography business - branding, messaging, websites, pricing, sales, marketing, social media, senior model teams, systems, workflow, automation and SO MUCH MORE! And bonus - you get me to lead you through it in our hot seal calls and a private community to bounce ideas around with.

If you’re ready to turn your expensive hobby into a thriving business be sure you are on the wait list.

Plus you save $500 on launch day - November 4th. Woohoo! I can’t wait to work with you!