8 Things Newborn Photographers Can Do When Business Is Slow

Newborn photographers’ schedules are unpredictable. You never know when the next baby boom is going to be in your area. You need to always be prepared for a slow season to hit, as it could occur at any time. What are you doing to get ready for your slow season? Whenever that time comes, here are some things you can do:

1) Offer new types of sessions.

Contact past clients and promote milestone sessions. If this is not something you normally do, now is the time to start. Even if your client has already missed a few milestones, they might still be interested in doing a session at the milestone that they are currently at.

Other types of sessions you could start promoting (if you don’t already do these): maternity sessions, birth photography, Fresh48 sessions, gender reveal sessions, mommy and me mini sessions.

For the mini sessions, you can offer a discounted rate because they are shorter sessions. You can offer mommy and me mini sessions to past clients, as this may be something they would be interested in, and you already have them in your email list.

2) Use Pinterest to offer useful tips to your clients

Have your clients follow you on Pinterest so that you can provide them with good information that they may need. Create helpful pin boards for different things that your clients would be interested in. For example, Newborn Tips and Tricks for New Moms, Nursery Decor Inspiration, Baby Shower Ideas, etc. You will also want to post a board called Newborn Photography Inspiration that is filled with photos that you’ve taken from past sessions.

3) Update reviews for your company.

If you haven’t posted all of the good reviews you’ve received from clients, you need to take the time to do that. People take these reviews to heart and it can affect their decision to book with you.

If you don’t have many reviews, ask for reviews from past clients that you know had a good experience with you. You can use these reviews on Google, Facebook, and your website.

4) Update your marketing materials.

Be sure that everything is up to date with your best work and pass along these materials to places where potential clients will see them – OBGYN offices, hospital gift shops, maternity or children’s clothing boutiques, ultrasound locations, etc.

You also need to change out pictures in your welcome packet and tell your clients when they have been featured in it.

You could run a cover contest for your welcome packet. People can vote on your blog or Instagram for their choice. This will help create a buzz about your company and get past clients to share your work. The winner of cover contest not only gets to be on the cover, but you could also give them a free canvas or print or mini session. You can choose the incentive.

5) Network with other photographers.

Contact wedding photographers or other photographers that don’t shoot newborn sessions. Ask them if they would be interested in cross promoting each other. This would be a mutually beneficial deal because you would send non-newborn clients to them and they would send their newborn clients to you. Everybody wins.

Here is a sample email you can use to send out to these photographers. Make sure you replace the words in parenthesis.

Suggested Subject: Business Networking Proposal

Hi (Photographer Name)!

My name is (YourName) from (Company Name) in (city/town). I love your work! You are such an inspiration! I would love to get together and network with you. I solely shoot newborn photography and wanted to know if you’d be interested in teaming up with me since you shoot (niche). I thought we may be able to help each other out. I get a lot of inquiries for your niche and would love to refer my clients over to you since that is not my area of expertise. Maybe you could do the same for me if you get clients requesting newborn photos? Here is a link to my portfolio so you can check out my work before you make a decision. (link to portfolio)

I’d love to get together for coffee sometime and hear your networking ideas, as well.

Thank you for your time! Talk to you soon!
– (YourName)

6) Feature newborn-related companies on your blog.

Reach out to local children’s boutiques and ultrasound companies and ask them if you can feature them on your blog as a Vendor of the Week to spotlight their company.

While you are talking to them, find out if they could use updated head shots or company photos. If they do, offer to do these for them.

Here is a sample email you can use to send out to these companies. Again, be sure you replace the words in parenthesis.

Hi (Photographer Name)!

My name is (YourName) from (Company Name). I am a newborn photographer in (city/town). I have heard great things about your company and would love to feature you on my blog as my Vendor of the Week on (date). Would this be something that you would be interested in?

I think that it would be great exposure for your company, as my clients are the same type of clientele that you have. Here is a link to my blog so you can check it out. (link)

Thanks!
(Email Signature)

You can also do OBGYN and pediatrician spotlights. Find out who your past clients used and if they had a good experience with them. If they did, contact that office and tell them that your clients are raving about them and you’d like to give them a good review on your blog.

This is super helpful to your clients because a lot of them are looking for these types of doctors. It is also a great networking opportunity because if you want these offices to refer you, featuring them gets you on their radar.

Another thing you could do to get on their radar is to offer discounted mini sessions to the people to work at the doctors’ offices. This can also help you to get referrals. Most of these workers will place photos around their desk and people who are checking in or out will see these pictures and may ask who did them.

Look at a calendar and find out when nurse and secretary appreciation days are and contact the doctors’ offices a few weeks before and offer to give them free sessions to give away on this day to 2 members of their staff.

6) Catch up on your blog.

Have you blogged all of your sessions? If not, now is the time to catch up. If you are all caught up, you can re-feature past clients on your blog and social media sites to get them talking about you again and help you bring in some new clients.

You can also share these blog posts on your social media sites and tag the clients when you do so.

7) Submit photos to stock photography companies.

This is a great way to earn extra income. There are many sites that are looking for contributors, such as ShutterStock or iStockPhoto. Make sure that you have client release forms so that you are able to do this.

8) Post throwbacks of your sessions.

Post throwbacks on your clients’ birthdays. This is a good way to get images to go viral among their friends and families because everyone will be on their page to wish them a happy day. You can also post them on Thursdays with the hashtag #throwbackthursday as an easy way to re-feature clients when you don’t have any new photos to post.

>>> Another thing you can do during your slow season is to practice some of those tricky newborn poses. We have just the thing for you!Renowned newborn photographer Amy Cook has created an online workshop to help you go behind the scenes and watch how she poses newborns. We have placed it on sale today – no discount code required! Click here for more details.

>>>For more newborn products, click here.

>>> Have a question about these tips? Feel free to message me by replying to this email.

>>> What do you do during your slow season? Join the conversation over on our private Facebook group to tell us your ideas!