There was a time when I was constantly exhausted and frazzled. I was missing things, dropping the ball - in my business and in my personal life. The day I forgot to send in money with my son to a reward day for his class was what broke me. Easily recoverable, but I had had enough.

I was at my breaking point. He was so excited, and I had forgotten all about it.

I had been staying up late when everyone else had already fallen asleep to finish updating the website with model team stuff and wracking my brain trying to figure out some way to bring in clients NOW! Sending in $5 so that he could buy all the sugary snacks and soft drinks his heart desired was not on the top of my mind. I blew it.

His teacher loaned him money that day after a frantic email by this mom of the year. Bless her!

Back to the point of all of this. I don’t do that anymore. When I started implementing this system at the end of each year it all started coming together. I was in control. I was running my business instead of letting it run me. I was able to let it go at night and be with my family.

And I want that for you too. So I’m going to walk you through my process that I go through every year around this time that has made a HUGE difference in my business and home.

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This takes some time, but if you are willing to invest now there are tons of payoffs later on in the year. I set aside a solid day to get going and dive in deep with my business. Then I’ll put a few more hours over the next week or so (usually that week between Christmas and New Year’s) as I brainstorm or things come to mind.

Here we go . . .

First off, I realize that we are all in different places. Some of us are full-time photographers with commercial space and maybe photographing more than just seniors, some are stay at home moms or dads doing all we can to hold down the fort and run a business at the same time, and for some of us this is a little side-hustle to the 9 to 5. I get it. I’ve been in all 3 of those scenarios. This system can work in whatever season of life you are in. You just might have to tweak it to make it work for you.

Before we dive in here are the tools I use when planning my year:

This big blank dry erase wall calendar, my trusty Trello boards, my financials, my Yes / No List and my goals I’ve set for the year. If you haven’t created those last two lists I would highly suggest doing that first before planning your year. I talk about them a lot in this post and this one too. Oh and LOTS of post it notes. Here and here are my favorite sizes for this calendar. They fit perfectly. And these dry erase markers. Ultra fine tip is the best for this purpose.

If you are wondering, all of this is synced to my Google calendar as well. I couldn’t live without it on my phone. But I am such a visual person that seeing the whole year has been so helpful.

DOWNLOAD YOUR INTENTIONAL YEAR WORKBOOK HERE

Ok, here’s how I plan my year. We’re going to take it one step at a time.

1. One week every month for myself

You read that right. First up on the calendar I block off an entire week each month for writing content, social media planning and working on my business. Those are my no client weeks - no sessions, no ordering, no mentoring. It’s my hair up in a messy bun and pajama pants on if I want kind of week. That’s my week of planning and preparing everything for the next month. You might not need that kind of time or maybe you just want to block it off and use it for catching up on editing or client orders. I highly recommend it though, even if it’s just a few days.

2. Block personal time

Next up, I block off any personal time I need. Yes, this sounds really uppity, but it’s not. It’s a necessity, and it’s based on my priorities. You block your time off based on yours! I personally don’t want to work on my kids’ birthdays if at all possible. I like to be fully present for them that morning instead of trying to get ready for a session. There may be surgeries scheduled (common in our house with one of our kiddos). Or maybe it’s a vacation already planned. Woohoo! Those are all dates that I know are not options for clients so they are blocked off.

3. Conferences

We all love them, right?! I try to make at least one a year and if I can only get one in, it’s going to be SYNC. It’s my absolute favorite conference for senior photographers.

4. Sessions

From my financial goals for next year and knowing my average senior sale I know that I want to book at least 30 senior sessions next year. I also know that I only want to shoot on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. So those are my only options for senior sessions. Mondays and Fridays are for mentoring for senior photographers (yep, shameless plug - haha). I know that I’m probably going to be shooting more in the summer and fall, but I do not overload the calendar with available dates. Availability is based on what I can personally handle without going crazy, not based on lack of planning by others. Sorry not sorry. That being said, I educate clients year round on when they should be booking sessions and have a tiered session fee schedule to help control the calendar. Less desirable dates have lower session fees and the busy season dates have higher session fees.

5. Consults and Session Premieres

Ok, I’m a little stingy with my mornings. I’ll admit it. This is when I feel the most productive and creative so if I’m not shooting I am able to create in other ways - social media, Facebook Lives, blog post writing, etc. These sorts of appointments are only scheduled after lunch and only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. If I shoot on any of those days, it is not considered a consult / premiere day. I have a hard time switching gears / roles. So if I am shooting, I am not selling. Hopefully that makes sense. I like to handle the same sort of appointments back to back on the same days. My goal is to have 2 to 3 session premieres or consults on one day.

6. Big Days For My Audience

This part takes some research, but it’s worth it. Because my target audience is 16 -17 year old girls (and of course, their moms) in my area, I want to know what is going on in their lives! On my calendar are all of their prom dates, church camps, homecoming, community events, big school events, exam weeks, graduations, school breaks and no school days, etc. I want to know what is happening so that I can talk to them about what they care about! Obviously some of this information isn’t out there yet, but I do the best I can with the details I can find and fill in as dates are released.

7. Big Days For My Studio

This is going to be things like monthly admin and review days. I always want to know what is working and what isn’t working in the studio, plus keep on top of administrative tasks that can easily fall through the cracks. So I set aside one day towards the end of each month for a monthly review and admin morning. Ok, now that I know what is going on in my target audience’s lives, I can start planning around them and the needs in our studio. On the calendar I start adding things like a senior open house, graduation announcement sale launch, and finally start planning our biggest launch each year - our senior model team.

8. Model Team Launch

Alright, this is a big topic and not one that I can go into great detail here. This will be a high level view, but you will get an idea about how I plan this launch out on the calendar. Here are some important dates that need to be set:

Model Team Launch Date
Model Team Application Deadline
Model Team Registration Deadline
Model Team Shoot Dates
Model Team Meetings
Model Team Events, Parties, Gatherings, etc.

Now that the dates are on the calendar I can start backing into the marketing plan for our senior model team.

Side note - I am working on an actual senior model team launch plan to release, but it’s not quite ready yet. Be sure you are on this list below if you want to be among the first to know :)

9. Model Team Marketing Plan

Here’s the thing with building a model team for your studio. You need a really long runway. You can’t just say “Hey, here’s my thing. Be sure to sign up!” after being in hibernation for a few months.

The success of your model team program is determined by how you show up in the slow season.

So don’t hide away from social media when you aren’t shooting sessions! Get creative and show your face even when you aren’t shooting that much. It has a huge payoff when it comes time to fill your senior model team for the next year.

In my studio we have a “VIP” List for teenagers who want to eventually be on our model team. We are constantly trying to build our list, not just right before the model team launch. I believe it is my responsibility to bring in new business, not our senior models. I do not rely on them for referrals. Is it nice when I get them? Sure! But their job is to have fun and be a kid. My job is to bring in business and I do that with that VIP List of email and cell numbers.

I use our website to collect data. I love that Photobiz is so robust with their forms and email marketing. We also use Project Broadcast when we collect cell numbers. It’s a group texting app that allows for tagging and scheduling texts. It works great for getting info out because we all know how well teenagers check their email. Haha! Here’s 500 free credits for Project Broadcast if you want to try them out :)

What do we do with that list? I’m so glad you asked!

Our senior model team marketing campaign runs for at least 2 months leading up to our model team launch date. Remember that long run way I talked about earlier? This is it. During that time I am addressing objections and concerns to the model team without my audience even knowing I’m talking about it. I write blog posts about when to book a senior session, how long senior sessions last, tips for what to wear and how many outfits to bring to their sessions, etc. As we get closer to the launch I start talking about model team specific topics - styled shoots, new friends, fun times. It’s much lighter, and I am trying to build excitement then. So all of those ideas / blog posts / Instastories are on the calendar too. I want to know exactly what I am supposed to be talking about each day leading up to our launch and afterwards too.

Once that launch date hits I am fully present online - creating polls, asking questions, answering questions, generating as much buzz as I possibly can. I also create videos to release to Instastories that lead up to the deadline. They sort of break down what the model team is all about and then eventually lead into a countdown for our deadline. I create these with 2 different apps - Splice and HyperText. They take some time to create, but I think it was worth it. Those video release dates are also on the calendar. These create a lot of excitement around the new model team!

10. Seasonal Posts

All of the normal holidays we celebrate are on the calendar plus some fun ones. I use the National Day Calendar to find some silly things to chat about on social media - national dog day, national jelly bean day, national cupcake day, etc. These are easy to build Instastories around, and sometimes we even do fun model team shoots for them.

Besides holidays I am trying to post things proactively to get my audience thinking ahead. In the winter I am posting about spring portraits. In the spring I am talking about summer availability. In the summer I’m talking about fall colors. Get the picture? I am always guiding them about what they need to be thinking about next and trying to fill the calendar with sessions without sounding like a used car salesman AND especially without discounting anything. I am a big believer that discounting services only devalues them so we never discount in our studio.

11. Client Education and Inspiration Blog Posts

We aren’t always shooting and we don’t always have a new senior session to blog about, but we do have lots of images! So use those images to spark some ideas around writing a few blog posts to educate your clients. These can be great to reference back to for frequently asked questions, showing how a certain location photographs or just giving senior session tips. Get creative and stay in front of your audience consistently to build trust with them and to set yourself up as the authority in your local area.

BONUS - Monthly Areas Of Growth

If you have followed along on this little Intentional Year Planning blog post series you know we talked about intentional growth as well. So that is on my calendar also. I like to always be learning, growing and challenging myself. Focusing on one topic or area of my business to improve each month has been a game changer for me. Sometimes that comes in the form of a course or a book I want to dive into.

Let’s Recap Real Quick

In order get your calendar full with your ideal clients it’s going to take a lot work on the front end, and frankly, throughout the year. Gone are the days of “build it and they will come”.

Evaluate what went right and what went wrong last year
Dream big
Create your Yes / No List
Set your boundaries
Brainstorm your goals
Evaluate your goals
Set your goals for the year
Break down your goals into actionable steps
Brainstorm intentional growth areas
Set your intentional growth plan
Block off time on your calendar for yourself and your business
Add session availability to your calendar based on your financial goals and boundaries
Add big dates to your calendar
Set your senior model team milestone dates
Brainstorm senior model team marketing ideas
Create your senior model team marketing plan
Add all of those blog posts, social media posts, email campaigns to your calendar
Don’t forget to celebrate those fun random national holidays throughout the year
Brainstorm some educational and inspirational blog posts
Schedule those blog posts on your calendar
Keep showing up ALL YEAR LONG (not just when it’s time to launch your model team)!

Be sure to download Your Intentional Year Workbook and start with this blog post. If you haven’t gone through the last blog post which covers the first few pages - what went right, what went wrong, dreaming, setting your Yes / No List - you can find it here. Then it’s on to brainstorming, evaluating and setting your goals for this year! And then filling up that wonderful calendar with all your amazing marketing ideas! You got this!

I’ve added a few more pages to it to include getting these important dates on your calendar for the year. I’m so excited to see how you start planning your year. I’d love for you to share with me how your goal setting and planning goes either here, on Instagram or in my Facebook Group.

Here’s to the best year yet! You got this!

Be sure to grab the free workbook below to go through this exercise to start planning your most intentional year for your senior photography business :)