Before we get started, I want to mention 2 things to you. Let’s do a little housekeeping. If you haven’t heard about Business After Hours with me then listen up! I had my very first one yesterday & it was so crazy good. Thank you to you girls who showed up. You know who are & I cannot wait to see you put into place what we talked about.

So what is Business After Hours?

Well, this is complimentary, no strings attached small group business coaching with me. And yep, it’s after business hours. These are hosted every other Monday evening for a small group of photographers who want to get a little help in their businesses. I’ll focus a lot on mindset & strategy to help you solve a small issue you might be dealing with. This is completely complementary, absolutely free, no strings attached. It’s a way for me to meet some of you guys, see what’s up in the industry and give back to my community.

So if that sounds like something you might be interested in & you’d like an invitation to grab a seat at the table, let me know at www.seniorstudiosuccess.com/afterhours.

I’m so excited to get to put faces with names & talk to y’all.

Ok, I want to brag on a few of my students inside Studio Secrets. They don’t know I’m doing this, but I am just so proud of them & the progress they are making. And it’s not just in their businesses. It’s in their personal lives too. It’s in the way they think about themselves. It’s in the way they show up in the world. It’s in the way they have started to master their minds to believe that they can actually build their dream businesses.

On Fridays I ask them to share some of their wins in our private facebook group and I want to highlight a few of those here today. We share the big stuff, little stuff, personal & business, so you’ll hear a mixture of it in these.

This stuff sets me on fire! It’s what I was meant to do & hearing all of their wins just keeps proving it to me. I love Fridays in Studio Secrets! All that hard work, all those habits, all that focused time really pays off. All of these systems they are putting in place in their businesses over the winter are about to be tested. They’re gonna hit some brick walls. They’re gonna pout & cry & maybe cuss my name under their breath a little bit. But that’s ok. That’s why I’m here - to help them through it. And that’s what is so awesome about building your business up as a group. All of those photographers are moving in the same direction. They are motivated & they are becoming disciplined business owners who are gonna prove just how capable they always have been this year.

If you want to be in a room where your success is inevitable, get inside Studio Secrets for the next round. You can join the waitlist at www.seniorstudiosuccess.com/studiosecrets.

Ok! Let’s get into today’s episode and start talking about getting ready for Quarter Two. Y’all are gonna laugh at me, but I can never remember the months for each quarter, so I have to count them down with my fingers. January, February, March. Quarter One. April, May, June. Quarter Two!

So April, May & June. A lot of us will be or should be shooting during that time as it starts to warm up, but in order to do that, we have to get our calendars full. Right?!

That doesn’t just happen mysteriously by itself. Sessions don’t miracle themselves onto our calendars. So let’s talk about a big issue I see in the photography industry - being in a reactive state instead of a proactive state in business.

Why do we do this you guys? And that’s not really a rhetorical question. I’m serious. What holds you back from filling up your calendar? Are you gonna tell me “it’s because people don’t start thinking about booking until a certain time”? Oh, I gotta come back for ya. Why not? Why aren’t they thinking about it? What are you doing to change that?

Oh I know it does, because I used to say the exact same thing!!! I had all the excuses too. So let me help you out a little bit.

Guess who has swim suits out right now? Target

Guess who has pool floaties on the end caps? Walmart

Guess who has patio furniture, tiki torches & mosquito repellant at the front door? Lowe's & Home Depot

How about the pretty magazines we get in the mail? Pottery Barn, Ballards. They've been making me want to design a new outdoor space for months!

And guess when they started planning all of that? Not yesterday. I'll tell ya that. These businesses are smart. They plan way in advance to market to us way in advance so that we can buy their products way in advance.

They don't sit back & say, well, people just don’t think about patio furniture until it warms up. I sure hope somebody asks us about a new grill. I hope they come in looking for a swim suit.

Nope. They know their customer's buying habits & they plan for it. They know that there is a short window of opportunity to get those sales & they are ready - way in advance! They educate their client base & I would even dare to say that they not only know but have formed their clients buying habits. They’ve told us when to buy with their subtle & not so subtle, right in the front door, messages.

Mindset

This isn't an easy place to get to. You have to use a lot of brain power & imagination. It's also really tough to get excited about summer sessions when you're in 3 layers of clothes, under 2 quilts & snowed in for a week. But guess who wins at this game? The ones who market the best, not the ones who take the prettiest pictures.

You can be the best photographer in the world, but if nobody knows about you then what does it matter? Or here's an even sadder story. You can be the best photographer in the world, people do know about you, but you have no systems in place so your client experience is inconsistent. That's the slow death of a business right there.

So here’s what you can do right now to get prepared for Quarter Two:

Get some boundaries in place now. Know what you are going to say yes to & what you are going to say no to in quarter two.

How much income do you need to generate? If you know your average sale, then you know how many sessions you need to book.

Set your available dates. You don’t have to have endless availability & be at the mercy of your client’s personal calendar.

Build up some buzz

Talk to people! Don’t sit back & wait for business to come to you. Get involved at the schools, with the clubs & teams.

Show up on social media, not in a salesy way. Give more than ask there.

How about putting together a Model Team? And before you ask, nope, it’s not too late. Go back to episode 024. That’s all about how to build your first one.

Do you need an early booking incentive? I’m not a fan of discounts because they devalue what we do, so I would get a little more creative here if you need to give an incentive to book early.

You’re gonna want to have some systems in place BEFORE you get those sessions on the calendar. I always preach systems before marketing in Studio Secrets. Bringing clients into a broken business is tough. You gotta have it built before you get busy. And I know that it's scary to spend money before it comes in. But that’s just an investment in you. Do you believe in you? I do.

Take a look at the email templates & the senior inquiry & prep magazine template in the shop. Those are two big things you can put in place before the season starts that is going to seriously improve your client experience & give you a whole lot more confidence going into this year.

And you’re gonna want to freshen some things up, right?

Update your website galleries & make sure your portfolio is showing the type of work you want to create & the type of client you want to attract.

Plan out some social media in advance. And write some blog posts to educate your potential clients who are gonna find you online.

It comes down to this - are you gonna sit back & wait for it to happen? Or are you gonna go out & get the business? Close your eyes for a minute (unless you're driving or running) & think about how you could get people to know you without social media. A lot of you have never done business without social media. If it all went down tomorrow, you'd be lost. I don't want that for you. I want you prepared, proactive and have people lining up to book a session with you.

On one of our recent coaching calls inside Studio Secrets, this is all we talked about. It was the most creative call I've ever experienced. I can tell you this. That group of photographers is gonna be ready for quarter two & quarter three & quarter four. They could market their rear ends off if there was no social media. Their businesses would stand. I have no doubt, because we are putting those systems in place. Can you say that about yours? If not, let's get you there. Be sure you're on the wait list for the next round of Studio Secrets.

Ok you guys. Let's get out there and get ready for Quarter Two. I wanna know what you think about today's episode. Send me a DM on Instagram. And let me know you're listening! The podcast stats are pitiful so I don't know unless you tell me. 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 links to all the things I talk about here on the podcast in the show notes at www.seniorstudiosuccess.com/podcast.

Hey if you found this episode or any of the others helpful, would you 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.

Also, if you listened to the end, you’re awesome & you are gonna be one of the only ones to know that I am gonna do some giveaways for 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!