Hey guys! Welcome back to the podcast. If this is the very first time you’ve listened to an episode, I’m so excited that you’re here! I hope you love it enough to subscribe. I’m here every Wednesday with new content (except for when I take time off to go to Mexico to get married haha) & there’s plenty of past episodes for you to binge on!

Life update #1: We’re married!!!

Life update #2: Flip house is 99% complete! It will go on the market THIS WEEKEND!

If you’re interested in seeing the progress & final product, I’ll be posting more this weekend & in the following weeks over on that instagram account.

Ok, enough personal stuff. Let’s get down to business!

This is definitely some unpopular advice & guess what, that’s ok. I kinda like to stir the pot anyway! Haha!

Let me preface all of this by saying that you gotta do you! You’re the only one who knows what is best for you, but I will start and end this episode by talking about fear. You can’t let fear make this decision for you, ok? We’re going to talk about niching down today. I did this way back in 2007 and it was the absolute best decision I could have ever made for my business. I never looked back once I started working with seniors. I became the senior studio in my area. I was known for it! They sought me out.

You may hear some of the things I say today & completely disagree with me. And that is 100% ok! We are all living different lives in different areas. What is perfect for me may not be for you. But I do hope you’ll hear me out because niching down to seniors is part of what has created my dream business.

I’m a simple girl. I don’t need a whole lot & I don’t like a lot going on. I thrive on grilling out in the backyard, sitting around the fire listening to music at night, weekends free on the lake, time with my family, travel. Because I know what’s important to me, I built a business to support the life I wanted.

You might say, yeah, that’s great for you, but I can’t make that work here. I’m gonna challenge you a little bit on that & may even open your eyes to see things a little differently. So hang on tight.

First let’s talk about the pros & cons of niching down first. And since this is the Senior Studio Success podcast, I will focus on seniors here. But you can apply this to just about any genre.

Bad news first, right? That’s how I like to hear it anyway. These are all things that we have to acknowledge. As a business owner you have to look at things from all angles & make the decision from there.

Cons:

Limited client base - depending on your area and how big it is, you may have to widen your marketing circle. It’s just a fact that some areas are more densely populated than others. Some have less high schools. This can easily be overcome. I market to a 2 hours radius around me, not because I have to. I want to. I love photographing kids from further away because they look at me differently. I am different than what is available to them locally.

Dependency on trends - Ok, this one seems to get harder the older I get! It’s tough to stay on top of trends & the world keeps moving faster it seems. Or maybe I’m just slowing down. I rely a lot on my seniors to keep me up to date with the latest trends. And they love sharing with me.

Competitive market - This is absolutely a competitive market. Seniors are fun! And yep, there are lots of photographers who work with seniors. But competition makes us better. It makes us more creative when we are shooting. It makes us provide a better client experience. And that is better for our clients! The photographers I see who are overly concerned with a competitive market (or oversaturated market) are the ones who aren’t charging very much. There’s a reason it’s tough to market in the middle. This is actually one of my favorite things to coach photographers on so if that sounds like you, then we need to talk!

Difficult to diversify - Once you are established as the senior photographer in your area, it can be hard to move into another genre if you want to. So if you want to focus on another area, I would recommend narrowing down to the 2 you want to work with. Think of this like your major and minor in college. A lot of my students inside Studio Secrets will focus on seniors most of the year, but do personal branding work in the winter because it can be done inside. I love personal branding! It’s like the adult version of senior pictures. If I weren’t coaching, I would definitely be doing more personal branding work.

Seasonal demand - This can be seen as both a con & a pro. For me, it’s a total pro. I love being able to take 4 months off work! Seriously, there aren’t many professions that let you do that. Photographers get so worked up & stressed out over this, but I choose to see it as a complete blessing. Work 8 months, off 4? Heck yeah! If you’re priced right & you understand how to manage your time & your money, seasonal demand can be the most amazing thing ever. If you’re not priced right & work like a dog in quarter 3, this really sucks for you. I can help you balance that schedule btw. This is what I do inside Studio Secrets - create marketing systems that will balance out your calendar.

Pros:

Specialist over a generalist - When you have a foundation issue with your home, who do you go to? A fix it all handyman? When you tear an ACL, do you go to the family general practitioner? No way! You want a specialist. And I bet you almost anything, that you understand and are willing to pay more because of their expertise.

What’s that saying? Jack of all trades, master of none? Now, before you start sending me all the nasty DMs, I’m not saying it can’t be done. But I am saying that a specialist can charge quite a bit more for being the authority in a certain field of work. And a specialist is sought out by the clients who value their experience and quality of work because they’ve honed it over the years.

When you niche down to one genre, you will get so good at what you do because that is your main focus. And because of that, you will demand more attention with your work, be able to offer a better client experience and charge more for your services.

Marketing is so much easier - When you niche down to seniors, marketing is so much easier because it is targeted. You can have one solid brand, one message, one instagram account. You aren’t waking up each morning & wondering who you should market to - brides, new moms, seniors? That’s tough. It keeps you questioning yourself & running in circles.

Word of mouth referrals - When you work with one type of client, word gets out. They talk, especially at school. And the mamas will talk too - in the salons, on the bleachers, on facebook. This alone can bring you a ton of business, especially if you have an amazing workflow that takes good care of your clients.

Repeat business with siblings - Ok, when you give a mama a good experience with one senior, she is pretty much guaranteed to come back for the rest of the kiddos. She’s familiar with you. She trusts that you will take care of her family. And she knows the process. These are the easiest clients you will book!

Simplified workflow - So back when I was photographing more than just seniors, this is one of the hardest things for me. I thrive on simplicity, right? Well, multiple workflows is not simple! There were different emails for each type of client, different session prep guides or magazines, different products. It was just tough to keep up with. Now, I have everything set up in HoneyBook & my clients are taken a lot better care of because I’m not having to keep up with so many things. It’s streamlined & those efficient systems in my business allow more time for the things I love in life.

So here’s the thing. The biggest YES for me was the time freedom that working with seniors gives me. If you are still having trouble seeing it like this, let me help you break free from some of those thoughts that may be holding you back. I help my Studio Secrets students with this all the time.

Here are some things you may have to overcome & embrace in order to niche down:

The fear of missing out on opportunities - Stop worrying about the things you could be missing out on. Instead focus on all that you can gain from choosing a different path in your business. Will you lose some clients? Yep. But that just opens up your calendar for doing more of what you are truly passionate about & making a real impact because of your passion. Remember, those clients will seek you out because of your specialty & will help you stand out in a crowded market of do it all photographers.

And this doesn’t mean you can’t have a 2nd genre. It just means that you will have a primary one that is the foundation of your business.

The fear of getting stuck in a rut -

As a new photographer, this was a major concern of mine. Creativity is a big deal, especially when you are starting out. It’s all about the art & your vision, right? Later on you figure out that yes, it’s about that, but it’s also about what will sell. Creativity doesn’t always pay the bills! But that’s a topic for another day. The truth here is that by focusing on one genre, you will begin to develop your signature style. And that is when you really stand out & get paid!

The fear of not enough clients to go around -

Maybe you think there just aren’t enough parents with seniors in your area that will book sessions with you. Let’s break those numbers down. How many do you really need? 40 at $2500 is a 6 figure business. That’s not THAT many clients over an entire year to acquire. It’s very doable. If you need help with that, I’m your girl. I have a coaching program specifically to help you build a 6 figure business.

So, we’ve talked about the pros & cons. We’ve talked about the limiting beliefs that could keep you from niching down. Let’s talk about HOW to actually make this decision.

Here’s how a true business boss would approach this decision:

1. Not from a place of fear. Faith over fear, right? If you run your business from fear, you won’t get very far.

2. Analyze the market - you need to understand your area, the number of high schools, the average income, your competition, all the things.

3. Evaluate what you like & don’t like about each genre you shoot - take your time with this decision if you haven’t really considered who you like to work with. Go through your galleries & client files to refresh your memory. You probably don’t even need to. Down deep you know what lights your soul on fire. You know the sessions that you look forward to & the ones you can’t drag yourself out of bed for.

4. Understand the numbers - You have to know your costs of doing business, your costs of goods sold for products a senior would love, how much you need to bring home vs how much you need to sell, how much of an emergency fund you need to have in place before making a big move like this. If a safety net would make you feel better, then start setting some money aside for that gap where you are transitioning. If that security will help you make the decision, then start putting it in place.

5. Get expert advice & help - Here’s where you look to someone who’s done it before you. Invest in yourself. Get a business coach that you trust & relate to. Maybe it’s me. Maybe it’s not. But here’s that fear thing again. Don’t be afraid to bet on you, to invest in you. Again, it’s not about what you could lose (a few thousand dollars maybe). It’s about what you have to gain - a business & life that you absolutely love.

6. Embrace the risk - Business is not for the faint of heart. You need to be a bit of a risk taker to see the bigger rewards. This is one thing I pride myself in. I don’t back down from a challenge. I see the risk & run towards it because I know what’s on the other side of it. If that’s you, then you are one of my people! We are the trailblazers. We are the ones who make the biggest impact. And if that’s not you, but gosh, you really wish it were. Come hang around us for a while inside Studio Secrets. You can’t even imagine what you are capable of!

This is how I’ve always done business. I jump & I figure it out along the way. My assistants love this! Haha! Seriously though, if you make decisions from fear, you’ll stay stuck exactly where you. That’s my biggest fear - not reaching my full potential. I have so much farther to go & I keep pushing the limits. I make decisions that the woman ahead of me would make. If I’m comfortable in my business, I know I’ve been in the same place for too long. I don’t allow myself to stay there long. Sure, I let my foot off the gas from time to time, but that’s what hard work over the last 18 years has given me the luxury of doing in my business. I can coast sometimes. Just last week I didn’t work at all & still booked 4 consults on vacation.

So my hope for you is that you will not see niching down as something that will confine you. Instead I hope you will see it as a pathway to freedom, to building the business you’ve always wanted.

If that’s something you are interested in doing, I have something for you. It’s my brand new 2 day mini training called Booked Solid Without The Burnout.

DM me the word BOOKED on Instagram & we’ll send it right over to you.

Ok, let me know that you were listening today. If you had any big aha moments, share them with me in my DMs or in your stories! I want to know what they were. As always, my goal is to help you & photographers just like you build more profitable, productive & purposeful businesses so that you can spend more time doing what you love with the ones you love. That begins right here on this podcast for so many, so thank you for sharing about what I do here.

Ok. Let's continue the conversation over on the Senior Studio Success Facebook Page. Or you can send me a DM over on Instagram. Have a great week y’all!