How To Get The Most Out Of Your Photography Conference

My head was spinning.  I had so much to get done.  My eyes were tired and I felt like the world was moving faster than it really should.  My family had missed me. My kids needed me, and there was so much housework to get done.  But I had to make all of these changes and NOW!

This was my typical story after returning home from a photography conference.  I felt the need to change absolutely EVERYTHING in my business because if it worked for the speaker on stage then it had to work for me too, right?!  WRONG!  

I would frantically take notes and try to implement all of it when I got back home.  I was exhausted from chasing after success.

I’ve learned to slow down over the years, to take bits and pieces to apply to my senior photography business and to just let the rest go.  My approach to getting the most out of a photography conference has changed over the years. I’ve done it the wrong way, and I’ve learned to do it the right way.  Creating an intentional strategy around learning and getting the most out of a conference has made a huge difference for me! So I’d love to share with you guys some tips on what to expect from a photography conference and how to implement what you’ve learned when you get back home.

What To Expect From A Senior Photography Conference

Well, they are all different, especially these days with a lot of them being done virtually.  Let me start with that. Some conferences are more about lighting, some are all about portfolio building and some are more about business education.  I tend to enjoy the ones more focused on business.  

Here’s why:  Portfolio building is fun.  Really it can be a blast getting to shoot with other passionate senior photographers! Photographing new subjects styled just right can get the creativity flowing, but those images do not always fit the style of your typical clients. And hopefully this doesn’t sound too harsh, but they tend to stick out like a sore thumb on websites and social media if they aren’t the way you normally shoot.  It’s easy to see in a body of work which images are your own and which ones were created someplace else and styled by somebody else.

This next part is said in love . . . Our clients are hiring us for what we can offer them on a daily basis. So just be careful with building a portfolio of images that you cannot deliver on to the clients in your own area.  I’m not saying don’t go to those conferences or to not participate in styled shoots. Please hear me loud and clear on that! This is just some tiny advice to be careful about what you are posting vs what you can deliver.

Ok, back to it! My all time favorite senior photography conference is SYNC. And this year I just happen to be speaking at it. WHAT?!! Yep. I sure am and I couldn’t be more excited! It’s March 5th - 8th, 2021 in Destin, Florida.

You can find out more about it here and how you can either attend in person or choose the virtual option for this year.

I’ve been every single year but one (and that was only because I was on bedrest with a rough pregnancy).  Dang kids. Kidding!!! SYNC is family. It is all inclusive so you don’t have to pick and choose which classes to attend. It is 3 solid days of learning and EVERYONE is so hands on and helpful.  While it is not a portfolio building conference you can still find groups shooting every day all over the resort. Those are fun to pop in and out of. And lots of people travel in early and stay late because it is in Destin, FL! Who doesn’t love a little extra vacation time at the beach doing what we love?!

Buying the plane tickets and booking the hotel rooms aren’t the only investments we are making in our education when we decide to go to a photography conference.  Besides the money we are actually investing our time - our life really. It takes several days away from our families and business as usual, so we want to make sure we are investing wisely and getting something back that’s worth that investment.  So let’s talk about that!

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Photography Conference:

First things first . . .

If you bought virtual tickets to a conference PLEASE treat that investment the same way you would an in person conference. Block off your calendar, grab some snacks, caffeine & your notebook. Don’t put it off because you won’t come back to it. Buddy up with a few photographers online and make it a watch party! Maybe you could even create a group text to share ideas or ask questions back and forth. The worst thing you could do is say you’ll get to it soon. If you’re anything like me, you won’t.

Prepare Beforehand

Take a look at the agenda, the speakers and their topics.  Jot down some questions ahead of time about the things you are interested in so that you will specifically listen for those topics to come up.  This has been a really big help for me instead of going into a class blind.

Set Conference Goals

Understand why you are going and get intentional with your learning.  Make a list of the things you want to get out of the conference. Go ahead and have some questions written down.  You will be more intentional about who you connect with, who you sit by, who you go to lunch with, the conversations you have, whether you spend your time in small groups discussing a particular aspect of your business or going out to watch a lead photographer work with a model.  

Filter out the ideas that don’t matter as much right now in your business and life so that you can focus on the ones that do matter and will make a difference for you.

If you go into a conference with intention you are more likely to feel that it was a success afterwards and that it was worth your investment - in time and in dollars.

Creating A Note Taking System:

This is a game changer.  I use to be the crazy person frantically writing down every word and not really comprehending them.  I wasn’t present with the speakers or fully soaking their message in because I was too focused on not missing anything.  When I realized how much of a problem this was and that I was actually hindering my learning I created a note taking system for conferences.

I like to use symbols in my notes to make it easy and memorable.  This can be done digitally with emojis on your phone or you can hand write them.  I still tend to be a paper and pen kind of girl.

Using symbols in your notes will jog your memory when you go back over them later.

Let me make sure you understood this from earlier and don’t make the same mistakes I made . . . 

Do NOT write down everything.  Do NOT take pictures of every slide. 

You won’t go back to those and those images will just be taking up space on your phone.  Focus on the meat of the message instead of trying to capture every word and slide.  

Again, you want to be intentional here.  If you know why you are at the conference and what you and your business most needs right now, then you will not be overwhelmed with mountains of notes when you get back home.

Here are the symbols I use in my conference note taking and what they mean:

• Question Mark - These are questions I need to spend some time on later.  Sometimes there are deep questions that a speaker will ask that you really need to think about but don’t have time in the middle of a conference to do that.  Those questions can be powerful, and you don’t want to forget them.  

• ASAP - These are First Priority Tasks when I get back home.  These are things that I absolutely need to do RIGHT AWAY that could potentially be BIG THINGS for my business.  I want these to stand out and not get lost in all of the notes.  

• Lightbulb - These are great ideas that I want to do at some point.  You could use a star or asterisk too - whatever you want really. They’re your notes!

• Book - Speakers usually mention great books that they have read.  I am a big reader so I absolutely love when they do. I will either jot down the title and author in my notes or go ahead and add it to my Amazon cart for later.  Yep. I totally do that.

• SM - Oh my goodness, the social media ideas that come up when you’re around a bunch of creative people, right?!  If I hear something from the stage that makes me think of a great story or something I could share I will jot it down with “SM” beside it for later. 

• Brackets - If I have time right away I will write down a quick summary to share with my team members when I get home.  This isn’t always possible right after a class, but I try while it’s fresh on my mind.

What To Do After A Photography Conference:

You’re on top of the world when you leave the conference.  You are full of ideas and feel like you can take on the world!  And then you get back home to the chaos of everyone missing and needing you.  This is great, right?! Yes it is! You are LOVED! But if you don’t organize what you’ve learned immediately IT WON’T HAPPEN. 

You’ll find that notebook 4 months later and feel like a complete failure. I know. I’ve done it.

So here’s what I do.  If at all possible I will stay an extra day after the conference is over to decompress and really focus on organizing my notes.  Generally that doesn’t happen though because . . . kids. Taking advantage of the car ride or flight home has helped here though.  Whatever you do, just try really hard to find a little bit of time to organize your notes BEFORE you walk in the door at home.  

Blocking a full day off from work when you get back home instead of heading right back into it is vital too.  I know this is tough to do because voicemails, emails and client work has backed up while you were away. But it is so worth it to set that time aside to create an action plan.

Organizing & Summarizing Your Notes:

First, take pictures of your notes and store them in a notebook in Evernote (or whatever digital file system you like).  This is great for referencing later. You may not need something right now, but in 6 months you just might. I like to save these by date / conference name / speaker (ex: 030521_SYNC_SpeakerName).

Ok, now that they are saved you can dive in to create an action plan for all the things you learned!

Here’s a downloadable Conference Notes Summary Worksheet to help with that and how I use it :) 

• ASAP Column - top 10 RIGHT NOW action items to accomplish within the next month

• Next In Line - the rest of the items I’d really like to accomplish this year in my business (lightbulb notes)

• Key Ideas - the key things / big picture ideas I want to remember going forward in my business

• Inspirational Quotes - I’m a sucker for these and speakers love to share them.  I use this section to remember them, save them as a screensaver and possibly create social media posts for later.  

• Needs Research - There could be software or tools that I want to investigate.  I use this section for collecting those ideas.

Once all of this is down on paper I transfer it to my Trello Board System & Calendar.  My main focus is creating action items for those ideas in that ASAP Column.

Make a list.  Set deadlines. Then execute and make it happen. Don’t let all that knowledge go to waste!

I use Trello for just about everything in my life!  You can grab it here for free. It keeps me so organized.   

Now there’s a plan for taking those things that I’ve learned and implementing them!

Conferences Are About Networking Too:

You are going to meet so many new people!  And it’s tough to remember them all. Business cards are becoming not so popular as social media has taken over.  So whether you get a business card, jot down their info in your notebook or just follow them on Instagram, be sure you are keeping track of your new contacts in some organized way.  

Here’s how I keep track of all my new best friends!

• Bookmark one of their images and save to a new folder on Instagram with the conference name.

• Connect when I get back home with a nice little “was great to meet you” message. I love having them all in a folder so that I can quickly check in on all the cool photographers I’ve just met. It’s really neat to watch their businesses grow and celebrate with them along the way.  Having someone to bounce ideas around with who isn’t in your same area is always a bonus too, so don’t neglect the networking aspect of a photography conference. You might just meet your new best friend or business partner there ;) 

I hope this little system will help make your next photography conference a success and that you get to put all of those amazing ideas in place for your business!  

And if we just happen to be at the same conference be sure to find me and say hey!  I want to meet you! :)

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Planning Your Most Intentional Year Yet: Part Three - Planning On Purpose

There was a time when I was constantly exhausted and frazzled.  I was missing things, dropping the ball - in my business and in my personal life.  The day I forgot to send in money with my son to a reward day for his class was what broke me.  Easily recoverable, but I had had enough.

I was at my breaking point. He was so excited, and I had forgotten all about it.

I had been staying up late when everyone else had already fallen asleep to finish updating the website with model team stuff and wracking my brain trying to figure out some way to bring in clients NOW!  Sending in $5 so that he could buy all the sugary snacks and soft drinks his heart desired was not on the top of my mind. I blew it.

His teacher loaned him money that day after a frantic email by this mom of the year.  Bless her!  

Back to the point of all of this.  I don’t do that anymore. When I started implementing this system at the end of each year it all started coming together.  I was in control. I was running my business instead of letting it run me. I was able to let it go at night and be with my family.  

And I want that for you too.  So I’m going to walk you through my process that I go through every year around this time that has made a HUGE difference in my business and home.  

This takes some time, but if you are willing to invest now there are tons of payoffs later on in the year.  I set aside a solid day to get going and dive in deep with my business. Then I’ll put a few more hours over the next week or so (usually that week between Christmas and New Year’s) as I brainstorm or things come to mind.

Here we go . . . 

First off, I realize that we are all in different places.  Some of us are full-time photographers with commercial space and maybe photographing more than just seniors, some are stay at home moms or dads doing all we can to hold down the fort and run a business at the same time, and for some of us this is a little side-hustle to the 9 to 5.  I get it. I’ve been in all 3 of those scenarios. This system can work in whatever season of life you are in. You just might have to tweak it to make it work for you.  

Before we dive in here are the tools I use when planning my year:

This big blank dry erase wall calendar, my trusty Trello boards, my financials, my Yes / No List  and my goals I’ve set for the year. If you haven’t created those last two lists I would highly suggest doing that first before planning your year.  I talk about them a lot in this post and this one too. Oh and LOTS of post it notes. Here and here are my favorite sizes for this calendar. They fit perfectly.  And these dry erase markers. Ultra fine tip is the best for this purpose.

If you are wondering, all of this is synced to my Google calendar as well.  I couldn’t live without it on my phone. But I am such a visual person that seeing the whole year has been so helpful.

DOWNLOAD YOUR INTENTIONAL YEAR WORKBOOK HERE

Ok, here’s how I plan my year.  We’re going to take it one step at a time.

1. One week every month for myself

You read that right. First up on the calendar I block off an entire week each month for writing content, social media planning and working on my business.  Those are my no client weeks - no sessions, no ordering, no mentoring. It’s my hair up in a messy bun and pajama pants on if I want kind of week.  That’s my week of planning and preparing everything for the next month. You might not need that kind of time or maybe you just want to block it off and use it for catching up on editing or client orders.  I highly recommend it though, even if it’s just a few days.

2. Block personal time

Next up, I block off any personal time I need.  Yes, this sounds really uppity, but it’s not. It’s a necessity, and it’s based on my priorities.  You block your time off based on yours! I personally don’t want to work on my kids’ birthdays if at all possible.  I like to be fully present for them that morning instead of trying to get ready for a session. There may be surgeries scheduled (common in our house with one of our kiddos).  Or maybe it’s a vacation already planned. Woohoo! Those are all dates that I know are not options for clients so they are blocked off.

3. Conferences

We all love them, right?!  I try to make at least one a year and if I can only get one in, it’s going to be SYNC.  It’s my absolute favorite conference for senior photographers.

4. Sessions

From my financial goals for next year and knowing my average senior sale I know that I want to book at least 30 senior sessions next year.  I also know that I only want to shoot on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. So those are my only options for senior sessions.  Mondays and Fridays are for mentoring for senior photographers (yep, shameless plug - haha). I know that I’m probably going to be shooting more in the summer and fall, but I do not overload the calendar with available dates. Availability is based on what I can personally handle without going crazy, not based on lack of planning by others.  Sorry not sorry. That being said, I educate clients year round on when they should be booking sessions and have a tiered session fee schedule to help control the calendar. Less desirable dates have lower session fees and the busy season dates have higher session fees.

5. Consults and Session Premieres

Ok, I’m a little stingy with my mornings.  I’ll admit it. This is when I feel the most productive and creative so if I’m not shooting I am able to create in other ways - social media, Facebook Lives, blog post writing, etc.  These sorts of appointments are only scheduled after lunch and only on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays. If I shoot on any of those days, it is not considered a consult / premiere day.  I have a hard time switching gears / roles. So if I am shooting, I am not selling. Hopefully that makes sense. I like to handle the same sort of appointments back to back on the same days.  My goal is to have 2 to 3 session premieres or consults on one day.

6. Big Days For My Audience

This part takes some research, but it’s worth it.  Because my target audience is 16 -17 year old girls (and of course, their moms) in my area, I want to know what is going on in their lives!  On my calendar are all of their prom dates, church camps, homecoming, community events, big school events, exam weeks, graduations, school breaks and no school days, etc.  I want to know what is happening so that I can talk to them about what they care about! Obviously some of this information isn’t out there yet, but I do the best I can with the details I can find and fill in as dates are released.

7. Big Days For My Studio

This is going to be things like monthly admin and review days.  I always want to know what is working and what isn’t working in the studio, plus keep on top of administrative tasks that can easily fall through the cracks.  So I set aside one day towards the end of each month for a monthly review and admin morning. Ok, now that I know what is going on in my target audience’s lives, I can start planning around them and the needs in our studio. On the calendar I start adding things like a senior open house, graduation announcement sale launch, and finally start planning our biggest launch each year - our senior model team.

8. Model Team Launch

Alright, this is a big topic and not one that I can go into great detail here.  This will be a high level view, but you will get an idea about how I plan this launch out on the calendar.  Here are some important dates that need to be set:

• Model Team Launch Date

• Model Team Application Deadline

• Model Team Registration Deadline

• Model Team Shoot Dates

• Model Team Meetings

• Model Team Events, Parties, Gatherings, etc.

Now that the dates are on the calendar I can start backing into the marketing plan for our senior model team.  

Side note - I am working on an actual senior model team launch plan to release, but it’s not quite ready yet.  Be sure you are on this list below if you want to be among the first to know :)

9. Model Team Marketing Plan

Here’s the thing with building a model team for your studio.  You need a really long runway. You can’t just say “Hey, here’s my thing.  Be sure to sign up!” after being in hibernation for a few months.

The success of your model team program is determined by how you show up in the slow season. 

So don’t hide away from social media when you aren’t shooting sessions! Get creative and show your face even when you aren’t shooting that much. It has a huge payoff when it comes time to fill your senior model team for the next year.

In my studio we have a “VIP” List for teenagers who want to eventually be on our model team.  We are constantly trying to build our list, not just right before the model team launch. I believe it is my responsibility to bring in new business, not our senior models.  I do not rely on them for referrals. Is it nice when I get them? Sure! But their job is to have fun and be a kid. My job is to bring in business and I do that with that VIP List of email and cell numbers.

I use our website to collect data. I love that Photobiz is so robust with their forms and email marketing.  We also use Project Broadcast when we collect cell numbers. It’s a group texting app that allows for tagging and scheduling texts.  It works great for getting info out because we all know how well teenagers check their email. Haha! Here’s 500 free credits for Project Broadcast if you want to try them out :)

What do we do with that list?  I’m so glad you asked!

Our senior model team marketing campaign runs for at least 2 months leading up to our model team launch date. Remember that long run way I talked about earlier?  This is it. During that time I am addressing objections and concerns to the model team without my audience even knowing I’m talking about it. I write blog posts about when to book a senior session, how long senior sessions last, tips for what to wear and how many outfits to bring to their sessions, etc.  As we get closer to the launch I start talking about model team specific topics - styled shoots, new friends, fun times. It’s much lighter, and I am trying to build excitement then. So all of those ideas / blog posts / Instastories are on the calendar too. I want to know exactly what I am supposed to be talking about each day leading up to our launch and afterwards too.

Once that launch date hits I am fully present online - creating polls, asking questions, answering questions, generating as much buzz as I possibly can.  I also create videos to release to Instastories that lead up to the deadline. They sort of break down what the model team is all about and then eventually lead into a countdown for our deadline.  I create these with 2 different apps - Splice and HyperText. They take some time to create, but I think it was worth it. Those video release dates are also on the calendar. These create a lot of excitement around the new model team!

10. Seasonal Posts

All of the normal holidays we celebrate are on the calendar plus some fun ones.  I use the National Day Calendar to find some silly things to chat about on social media - national dog day, national jelly bean day, national cupcake day, etc.  These are easy to build Instastories around, and sometimes we even do fun model team shoots for them.

Besides holidays I am trying to post things proactively to get my audience thinking ahead.  In the winter I am posting about spring portraits. In the spring I am talking about summer availability.  In the summer I’m talking about fall colors. Get the picture? I am always guiding them about what they need to be thinking about next and trying to fill the calendar with sessions without sounding like a used car salesman AND especially without discounting anything.  I am a big believer that discounting services only devalues them so we never discount in our studio.

11. Client Education and Inspiration Blog Posts

We aren’t always shooting and we don’t always have a new senior session to blog about, but we do have lots of images! So use those images to spark some ideas around writing a few blog posts to educate your clients. These can be great to reference back to for frequently asked questions, showing how a certain location photographs or just giving senior session tips. Get creative and stay in front of your audience consistently to build trust with them and to set yourself up as the authority in your local area.

BONUS - Monthly Areas Of Growth

If you have followed along on this little Intentional Year Planning blog post series you know we talked about intentional growth as well.  So that is on my calendar also. I like to always be learning, growing and challenging myself. Focusing on one topic or area of my business to improve each month has been a game changer for me. Sometimes that comes in the form of a course or a book I want to dive into.

Let’s Recap Real Quick

In order get your calendar full with your ideal clients it’s going to take a lot work on the front end, and frankly, throughout the year. Gone are the days of “build it and they will come”.

• Evaluate what went right and what went wrong last year

• Dream big

• Create your Yes / No List

• Set your boundaries

• Brainstorm your goals

• Evaluate your goals

• Set your goals for the year

• Break down your goals into actionable steps

• Brainstorm intentional growth areas

• Set your intentional growth plan

• Block off time on your calendar for yourself and your business

• Add session availability to your calendar based on your financial goals and boundaries

• Add big dates to your calendar

• Set your senior model team milestone dates

• Brainstorm senior model team marketing ideas

• Create your senior model team marketing plan

• Add all of those blog posts, social media posts, email campaigns to your calendar

• Don’t forget to celebrate those fun random national holidays throughout the year

• Brainstorm some educational and inspirational blog posts

• Schedule those blog posts on your calendar

• Keep showing up ALL YEAR LONG (not just when it’s time to launch your model team)!

Be sure to download Your Intentional Year Workbook and start with this blog post.  If you haven’t gone through the last blog post which covers the first few pages - what went right, what went wrong, dreaming, setting your Yes / No List - you can find it here.  Then it’s on to brainstorming, evaluating and setting your goals for this year! And then filling up that wonderful calendar with all your amazing marketing ideas! You got this!

I’ve added a few more pages to it to include getting these important dates on your calendar for the year.  I’m so excited to see how you start planning your year. I’d love for you to share with me how your goal setting and planning goes either here, on Instagram or in my Facebook Group.

Here’s to the best year yet!  You got this!

Be sure to grab the free workbook below to go through this exercise to start planning your most intentional year for your senior photography business :)

INTENTIONAL PLANNING FOR SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

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