How to Make the Most out of a Mini Session
Mini Sessions are the bread and butter for many professional photographers and knowing how to make the most out of a mini session can mean the difference between building up your portfolio and having a great year versus struggling to find new clients on a regular basis.
Fortunately, there are a few tips and tricks that you can use to make the most out of a mini session, and so in this article, we will go over everything you need to know to make your mini sessions the best they can be.
What is a mini session?
Mini sessions are short photoshoots, typically family photo sessions, that normally run under 30 minutes. Most photographers plan out specific days for mini sessions so that they can maximize the number of sessions in a day. Generally speaking, the majority of mini sessions are holiday family portraits and things like that.
Although they often don’t pay the most, mini sessions are a great way to attract new clients, upsell your other more profitable services, and earn some supplemental income at a slow time of year. Therefore, knowing how to make the most of mini sessions is a good skill to have for any professional photographer.
1. Dedicate specific days for mini sessions
Perhaps the best tip when it comes to mini sessions is to plan out your schedule in advance so that you know exactly which days you'll be dedicating to mini sessions. The last thing you want is to have a mini session run long and end up costing you a professional photoshoot client because you were late getting to the set. It happens, and it's not a good feeling. So, by planning out your mini sessions in advance, you'll be able to let customers who are interested in this service know when you'll be available, and then you can book their session accordingly.
2. Maximize your number of sessions
This really goes hand in hand with the first tip, but you want to maximize your number of mini sessions on any given day. Although mini sessions don't pay a ton of money, they are short, so if you are able to schedule four to six mini sessions in a day, then you can actually do really well.
This is especially true over the holidays when there isn't typically a huge demand for photographers apart from holiday photo shoots. Knowing how to supplement your income during the slow periods of the year is a critical skill to have for any photographer, and mini sessions are one of the very best ways for you to do just that.
3. Choose a great location
Another great tip when it comes to mini sessions is to make sure that you have a great location available for shooting your sessions. Now, if you happen to have a professional studio, then problem solved, but if not, then you might want to consider renting a venue for the day. That said, renting photoshoot venues can be expensive, so you'll want to make sure that you have enough mini sessions booked to justify the cost.
Once you know that you'll have enough clients to book the venue and still make a healthy profit for the day, you can go ahead and reach out to your clients by email to let them know where the shoot will be occurring, what time they should show up for their photo session and explain everything else that they'll need to know about the process on photo day.
4. Create a theme for the session
One of the best ways to make your mini sessions more professional is to have a theme for the day. As mini sessions are most common over the holidays, some themes that work really well are Winter Wonderland, the North Pole, Santa's Workshop, etc. Really anything holiday themed is sure to be a hit with most families, especially those with small children.
That said, you can always feel free to get creative and base your theme around the venue you'll be shooting at, as this can help you get the most for your money in terms of the fee that you pay to the venue.
5. Have a promotional offer
One of the best ways to attract new clients to your mini sessions is by having a great promotional offer. Professional photography can at times be very expensive and is often out of reach for most people. Mini sessions, on the other hand, are an excellent way to attract customers who may not have the budget for a full-fledged photoshoot. For example, you could advertise a discount on print items from the mini session. Our Canvas Wrap PRO prints are a great option for clients to display your photos in their home.
The trick to this is to promote your mini sessions in the local community. In other words, you want to let people know that they can come in on a specific day at a certain time and get a professional family portrait done at a greatly reduced price.
6. Leverage email marketing
Email marketing is one of the best ways to promote any product or service online, and that is definitely true of photography as well. There are a number of ways to build up your email contact list, and this is definitely a worthwhile endeavor. By emailing people directly and letting them know about the special price that you are offering for mini-sessions on a certain day, you'll be able to reach way more people than you would by posting flyers or relying on word of mouth, which is not a very effective way of advertising anymore.
To make the most of this strategy, you'll want to include a link within the email so that people can directly book a time slot on that day. Not only will this help guarantee that they take action immediately, but it will also inform your schedule so that you can mark your calendar accordingly. If the campaign goes really well, then you may want to consider running mini sessions for a few days or even a full week, as this can be just as profitable as a normal week with a few professional photoshoots.
7. Take advantage of social media
Another excellent way of promoting your mini sessions is by leveraging the power of social media. Without a doubt, social media is the king when it comes to promoting products and services online these days. The trick here is to craft an excellent social media post that has the potential of being shared by people, so you'll want to have a great promotional offer and include some examples of your best photos from previous mini sessions.
Depending on the type of photography that you specialize in, you may want to post your social media campaign on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. However, if the age demographic is not the most important thing for you, then posting your promotion on all of these sites will likely get you the greatest response. That said, the majority of people who are likely to book a mini session over the holidays are families with small children and so sticking to Facebook is a safe strategy that you can't really go wrong with.
8. Upsell as much as possible
Upselling is the name of the game when it comes to mini sessions, and you want to take advantage of every opportunity that you have to let people know that you offer a ton of other services that they may be interested in. Remember, mini sessions are about getting people through the door, but once they are there, the ball is in your court.
Be sure to let people know what you specialize in and hand out business cards to everyone. People who have a wedding coming up in the spring might be looking for a wedding photographer, or they could have a baby on the way and be in need of a newborn photographer. You never know who will walk through the door for a mini session; it might just be one of your best new clients.
9. Set time limits and stick to them
Mini sessions can sometimes be fun, especially if the people involved are pleasant to be around and you enjoy their company. However, business is business, and to be profitable on mini session days, you need to stick to a tight schedule.
Therefore, if people show up late for their mini session, then you need to inform them that you will still be sticking to the agreed-upon timeframe. One great way to avoid this problem is by sending out an email reminder to people a few days in advance, letting them know that their mini session is coming up and reiterating the details of their appointment.
Summary
Mini sessions are a great way of attracting new clients to your photography business, and although they don’t always pay the most, you can make the most of them by following the tips and tricks highlighted in this article. Remember, you never know who you’ll meet at a mini session, so always do your best work, and good things will come your way.
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