Photography Schoolhouse

Start Planning Fall Family Portrait Promotion
2017-09-10 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
With fall fast approaching, it's time to start planning a Family Portrait special.
Depending on your location, you may want to take advantage of fall colors for special "On-Location" sessions. I usually try and gang these together about an hour apart so I don't have to make a trip on multiple occasions.
But location or studio, either way this is the time to gt your thoughts in gear.
Plan on shooting in late Sept. through early-med Nov. for holiday delivery.
Prepare 4x6 @300 dpi promo that can be printed easily at your lab (or for cheap at Costco) for hand out at your studio and other locations.
Same layout for @72 dpi for email blast to your list and again for Facebook Posting.
If you don't have your own images to start, purchase some stock images that communicate the idea, without promising a set or image you can't deliver.

Start Planning Santa's Workshop Promo
2017-10-12 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
Fill up your November shooting schedule with this unique Holiday promotion.
Plan a simple set with holiday related props like small trees, wrapped gifts, baskets, white wicker benches for children and so on. Hire a local individual to play Santa Claus. You will probably need to advertise for this, but most will already have their own outfits, and beards. Perhaps a relative can play the part.
Plan on offering this on one weekend only. Take appointments an hour apart. Some photographers have tried to do 1/2 hour appointments, however don't underestimate the amount of work these sessions will be. If you get a group of 3 kids you've got your work cut out for you.
Plan on shooting early November for deliver late November or early December in time for people to mail holiday cards.
Prepare 4x6 @300 dpi promo that can be printed easily at your lab (or for cheap at Costco) for hand out at your studio and other locations.
Same layout for @72 dpi for email blast to your list and again for Facebook Posting.
If you don't have your own images to start, purchase some stock images that communicate the idea, without promising a set or image you can't deliver.

Plan "Santa Baby" Boudoir Promo
2017-10-20 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
After Halloween is over, it's time to get promoting our Boudoir Holiday specials. So we introduce the highly salable "Santa Baby" Promotion.
This is one of out top three boudoir promotions and really brings in the customers.
There's two ways to go with this. You can build a holiday set and offer a mini-session special, or just offer your regular boudoir session at a special price. Personally, I prefer the later.
We need to start shooting this in November, so there's no time to lose. We need to design, shoot samples, get promo out and get shooting ASAP. For us, we offer albums that can take up to three weeks to get produced so to make a Christmas or Holiday delivery we have to hustle.
We call the promotion "Santa Baby" , and the slogan we use is "For the Sexiest Gift under the Tree". we obviously need images that will support that message.
Does the session have to include holiday items? Should the customer be dressed in something Santa? It's an option, but I don't think it's strictly necessary.
So lets get planning so we can shoot samples asap.

Design Boudoir Gift Special
2017-11-07
If you're running a boudoir studio, don't forget the guys in your marketing.
Here, we plan a Facebook campaign targeted towards males that would like to buy a gift certificate for their wife/girlfriend.
This should also tie into our "Santa Baby" boudoir campaign.
First we should design a hard copy professional gift certificate. Your Pro-lab probably has press printed cards complete with envelopes that you can design quickly. They probably already have a template to use.

These are some samples from a lab I use. Simply pick a shape you like and design it as a gift certificate.
You may have an image already to use, or you might have to choose an appropriate one.

I choose the pattern on the top left and design a certificate as below.

Design Boudoir Mini Session
2017-11-16 08:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Here's a great promotion you can use to drum up last minute boudoir clients.
For those clients who decide on a boudoir session for the holidays, but have waited too long to get any albums or wall portraits printed, this is a great way of offering them something and putting some cash in our hands.

This boudoir mini session only comes with 5 digital images so delivery can be instant.
And being that the sessions are only an hour long, you can book multiple clients into a single day of shooting.
Plan on using this promotion on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram, and send email to your client list.

Plan Valentine Boudoir Sale
2017-12-01 08:00 - 09:00 UTC
This is the right time to get working on your Valentine Boudoir photography to keep the studio busy during January and February.
Design new materials and price lists if needed, Shoot new samples if required.

Plan and Design Winter "Black and White" Sale
2017-12-04 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
We have to continue planning to fill the slow season with as many ideas as we can. This one, can really create some note.
Black and White portraits continue to be highly valued by the consumer and with a striking image, this can help set you apart from the competition.

Start Planning Wedding Promo
2017-12-09 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
In most communities, January marks the beginning of wedding show season. While I truly believe in meeting potential clients eye to eye, we can plan a promotion that not only suits a show, but other types of promotion as well.
For a show, we should at least have 4x6 handout cards available. This is of course in addition to other display prints and materials. The handout card is just to detail the promotion more than selling our quality as a photographer. That part is carried out by your display and your ability to talk to the customer.
But if we're designing for the show, we can leverage our efforts into other types of promotions such as social media and so on.
So now it's time to set up the details of the promo. What is the offer? What is the price? How long is it valid for?
Should it be a price discount or something free like an engagement portrait. Whatever it is, it's going to be different for every studio. It will depend on your standing in the marketplace, your skill level and other factors.
So lets get our thinking caps on.

Start Planning 2016 Super Silly Cyber Sale
2017-12-16 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
Here's a great promotion you can hold during the January slow time.
A Super Silly Sale is a kids only promotion that you can hold over the space of one or two weekends.
The idea is a free shoot of the kids as long as they purchase a discount print package. The special is "Twice the Prints".
So for instance, if they buy a $50 package they get $100 worth of prints. $25 = $50, $100 = $200 ETC.
Simply set up a few PayPal "Buy Now" Buttons on your website and get the promo out
