Our latest article in the Seniors Ignite series with Jen Basford from 3 girls photography covers how to create a year round senior business. Jen has created a studio that doesn’t slow down in the off months. Instead, she is constantly building her portfolio and generating revenue. How does she does do this? In this article, we dive into the four things that have helped Jen create a year-round business.
Senior Model Photo Shoot. Most of us of believe that our senior model shoot should be one large shoot and happen before senior season is in full swing. Not necessarily. Instead of doing one large shoot a year, Jen suggests breaking up your model shoots up throughout the year or over a couple of months. You still want to introduce all of your models, but you could do this over the course of a couple months. This gives you constant new material and keeps your marketing fresh and working year-round. It isn’t necessary to have one shoot with all your models, so consider a difference approach. Shoot a couple smaller groups and do something unique and special for each group. This will give you more images for your portfolio and show diversity in styling.
Seasonal Photo Shoots. In order to get seniors excited in the off months, schedule seasonal shoots throughout the year. Schedule a winter themed shoot on a snow day or a spring shoot when the flowers start to bloom. These seasonal shoots generate excitement among your senior models which will have them tweeting and instagramming pictures and bragging about you.
Model Investment. We covered this in a prior article; however, it is an important aspect to generating income during the slow season. There is more than one way to ask for money upfront from your models. They can invest in a future print collection or pay their session fee upfront. The important thing is that this upfront investment will come back to them when they schedule their individual senior session. It merely acts as a credit they can use when they are ready to schedule a session or print products. It will also show how serious they are about your program. If they aren’t willing to make an investment upfront, they may not be excited enough to be apart of your program. This upfront investment will pad your bank account during the slow season and give your models a credit to apply later.
Exclusive Model Benefits. Do you have a couple months out of the year that are slow for bookings? These months are great to offer your models exclusive benefits. Offer a free friends session or a free family session. This is something great to announce during your first model meeting. In order to keep your exclusivity, only offer a set number of free or discounted sessions in that month(s). This gives your models a call to action. Jen suggests offering only the session for free, your clients will still order collections and products at regular price.
Our next article with Jen we talk about how and when to implement your program. It is never too late to start a senior model program. Stay tuned!
Jen Basford/3girls | Seniors Ignite | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | SnapChat: jenbasford
