Have you ever called your own business phone just to make sure it’s still working? Or filled out the contact form on your website? Been there! It’s stressful when the phone isn’t ringing, right?!

The high school senior market has changed so much over the last few years! My gosh. It’s so tough to stay on top of the trends and stay relevant, right?! I’ve been photographing teens since 2005 and the mindset about senior pictures is completely different now with Generation Z than it was with Millennials!

All that said, there are definitely ways to generate consistent leads even with the seasonal senior photography business. And I believe it all comes down to 3 things: Mindset, Messaging and Marketing. So, let’s dive in.

how to get consistent senior photography leads all year long

MINDSET:

First things first, all the most amazing strategies in the world are useless if we don't have the right mindset. Let’s take diet & exercise for example. We fail. Then we fail again & again. Myself included! But why? We know all the things to do, right? So why do we fail? It's our mindset.

We have to start acting like the person WE WANT TO BE, not who we are right now in this moment.

A person who is determined to get fit and stay healthy will start thinking of herself as she already wants to be - lean, toned and at the healthy weight for her body. She tricks herself into acting like that person already even though she isn’t there yet. THAT girl wouldn’t eat a King Size pack of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, would she? Nope!

Now let’s talk about our photography businesses going down that same path.

We want leads, but we can't get results. Now, why is that? Well, it’s the same reason. We have the wrong mindset.

Our thoughts are not our reality guys. Our thoughts create emotions. And our emotions create actions. Now, those actions can be either good or bad for our businesses.

Stick with me here. Let’s look at a few different thoughts (mindsets) we could be telling ourselves:

Thought 1: I'm a highly sought after badass photographer getting $3000 sales and I'm going to book the next person who calls me. That's confidence and people are attracted to it. (confidence, not cockiness).

Thought 2: I can make a difference in a young person's life. It's selfish for me to keep the gift I've been given to myself.

Thought 3: This phone is never going to ring. The industry is changing so much. Nobody wants professional pictures anymore. There are 50 photographers in my town charging way less than I do. How can I even compete with that?

Can you see how each of those thoughts will affect you and the actions you take differently?

One will have you at the high school football games, carrying on conversations with parents & getting your face known to everyone there. One will have you showing up online consistently and engaging with your audience. And one will have you complaining in a facebook group while you're eating Double Stuffed Oreos on the couch (so I’ve heard, and btw, are you in our FB Group? Shameless plug.).

So let's talk about that negative mindset & how to change it:

Negativity and fear. We have to push past & replace all of that with something positive in order to succeed - in any area of life or business!

Maybe it’s a daily devotional, reading a book, listening to a podcast, talking to another business owner who will challenge you & lift you up. No pity parties!! The worst thing you can do is listen to that fear and let it paralyze you.

That negative mindset spirals out of control and the things you thought would happen really do. Here’s how that works:

You start thinking that you aren’t going to book any sessions, so you act like you aren’t going to. In what way? Well, you stop posting to your FB & insta. You don’t get out in front of your audience on stories. Instead you scroll Pinterest, Instagram, piddle around the house or go post a pretty image in a FB photography group to get a pat on the back. Y’all, we are not our target audience! In that same time we can create something that speaks to our real audience.

Can you see that cycle? We end up perpetuating our thoughts because we are acting on them!

When you act like the person you want to be you attract the people you want to serve.

MESSAGING:

Not all leads are equal guys. Let me go ahead and say this knowing I’m going to step on some toes.

The wrong leads are just time wasters and energy drainers.

So WHO are you talking to? On your website, on Facebook, on Instagram? And HOW are you talking to them?

Are you attracting the right leads or the wrong ones with your messaging?

Do you really know who your audience is and where they are hanging out? In my 2021 focus group those girls told me they really didn’t care that I wasn’t on Snapchat. Thank goodness! I did finally get on Tik Tok though. It’s so much fun!

The mamas are on FB. Teens are on Instagram (for now). Yes, they are on Snapchat, but I personally don’t believe that’s a place for us to be. That’s their personal space. And I’m perfectly okay with it. We can’t be everywhere!

Keeping up with all the social media platforms is tough, but copying and pasting or auto posting from one to another is a no no. Why? Because the audiences are completely different on Facebook and Instagram. You are talking to 2 different people!

We can post the same images sometimes, but a mom is going to see those images differently than her daughter. She’s on an emotional roller coaster. She’s about to have to send her baby off to college. Meanwhile her daughter is on roller coaster of her own - excited, scared, pressured by grades and peers, wanting to accepted but not stand out too much. See what I mean?! We HAVE to speak to them differently! And honestly, I would post more conservatively on Facebook and a little edgier on Instagram given the demographics.

What sort of language are you using?

“if you have time”?

“if you want to”?

These are passive statements. We have to create a sense of scarcity and urgency, giving them a reason to call and book NOW! Not in a sleazy used car salesman way, but in a way that doesn’t sound like we are asking for permission either.

What messages are you sending them?

Are you posting constant sales, specials or mini sessions?

Do you use words like photos or pics?

Wording and tactics like these will attract bargain hunters. Is that really what you want?

Most importantly . . .

Is what you are posting always about you and what you can do for them? Or how awesome your images are and why you're better than the guy down the street? Or about your fancy equipment? Or how many times you got featured?

OR are you celebrating your clients and this exciting stage of life they are in?

Are you telling stories? Because stories sell! Facts are boring, especially facts about you (sorry not sorry).

Your messaging needs to be all about them.

How are you going to make them feel better today? We need to spotlight our clients. Make them feel special. I can’t stress how important this is.

This is an emotional business guys. Tug on the heart strings and let this be all about their “baby” if you wanna sell to mama.

MARKETING:

It goes without saying that you have to set yourself apart in your local area. Don't do what everyone else is doing. Find something that is completely different and go with it! It doesn’t have to be something big. It just needs to be different.

The goal in our studio is to always be remarkable. By definition that means to be notably unusual, worthy of notice or attention. Heck yeah! That is EXACTLY what I want to be in my market!

So what are you doing that makes you worthy of notice or attention in your town?

Let me tell you a little story. I once spent $3500 to be mentored by a leader in this industry. I was told the thing to do was to "send a magazine and if they didn't respond back to my email, then they weren't worth my time". I felt so defeated when I heard that. I knew right then and there that I had wasted my hard earned money.

This business is about people and relationships.

There is nothing remarkable about sending a brochure when you get an inquiry, no matter how fancy it is. Anybody can send a brochure or a magazine.

Stepping on my soapbox here: But if we can't pick up a phone to call someone who is interested in our work, then I say we aren't worth their son or daughter's time. We have to earn their business! People want to do business with a real person. Call your leads back. Have a conversation with them. And do it in a timely manner. That is remarkable in and of itself in this day and age!

When we do something that is remarkable people will talk. And that is fantastic! That’s what we all want!

But . . . word of mouth can be inconsistent. Do you really want to rely only on that? I don't. Not completely anyway. I’ll follow up on that in just a minute :)

I once heard on a podcast (and I wish I could give this person credit but can’t remember who said it - yikes!)

“You don't need a referral program. Do something worth referring.”

What are you doing that’s worth referring? Think about that really hard for a few minutes. Make a list and keep doing those things!

While we’re on the topic of marketing, let’s talk about posting to social media and blogging. In our industry these are both vital for staying relevant, for SEO purposes, google rankings and for defining ourselves as experts in our field.

It’s simple really. To get consistent leads we have to be consistently marketing. No posting and ghosting. No posting for 3 days straight and taking 2 weeks off because you just aren’t in the mood or you got too busy. That’s what systems are for, and man do I love systems!

Now this does not mean that we need to be consistently selling. But we have to be in front of our audience daily. Even if we don't have sessions to show. Be real. Get them to like and trust you.

Let’s dive in deeper . . .

When posting there needs to be some variety. Mix things up a bit. Facebook and Instagram love that! Sneak peeks, behind the scenes video, polls, GOING LIVE on your pages, session tips about what to wear and how to prepare for senior sessions, and even sharing posts from other local businesses that your audience might be interested in too!

This keeps people interested and coming back for more. Get them talking to you! The more engagement you have with your audience, the more people will see your posts, the more leads you will generate . . .

I'm going to give you a little system (told you I loved them) that we use after every ordering appointment to constantly feed the marketing machine.

My Marketing Machine System For Every Senior Session:

Create a folder of favorite images from the session I want to share online
Rename those images something searchable (orlando-florida-senior-photographer.jpg)
Blog the session. Make it personable and fun.
Be sure your blog post is SEO friendly with your title and first few sentences using keywords and terms people would be searching for in your area.
Load those renamed images to your relevant Pinterest boards & to group boards (here’s one of mine you can join). Be sure you are using local search terms in your Pinterest description. Google likes that too :)
If you’re really wanting to get crazy with your Pinterest strategy and grow it like crazy you could join Tailwind. We have had explosive traffic results by using it. You can get one month free here!
Ok, it’s time to post to your Facebook Business Page. Just copy & paste blog post and be sure to TAG your clients and HMUA in the images!
I like to take that same Facebook Post or even just an image or two to schedule at a later date as a Throwback Thursday post. Might as well use the content we already have, right?
Once the blog post is active I’ll do a screenshot or video on my InstaStory to share with my Instagram audience that a new session is up on my blog and that they should check it out ;)
Now on to Google. This part is easy. A little more copying & pasting of that blog post into a Google Business Post and adding a few images to my Google Business Page keeps my page relevant there as well. We get lots of image clicks on our Google listing. Not many businesses add many images (other than restaurants) so I think that sets my business apart. You should totally try it ;)

Keep feeding the marketing machine.

LET’S RECAP:

MINDSET - Start acting like the business owner you want to be 5 years from now, the one with a wait list and sales that you never dreamed of before.
MESSAGING - Know who you are talking to, where to talk to them and make it all about them. Celebrate your clients!
MARKETING - Be consistent. Feed the machine with that formula I just gave you. Show up and be real with your audience.

The phones will ring y’all. This industry is not dead. We just have to adjust how we show up in it. It’s doable and we got this!

* DON’T MISS THIS! *

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The doors open November 4th for something very special for a handful of photographers who are ready to get laser focused on their businesses.

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