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Off-Season Business Photography Tips

5 "to-do" action items

By Ashleigh Cropper

January 4^th, 2017

5 to-do action items for a photographer's off season

You sigh a deep breath and realize you made it to January. Your sessions are slowing down and you are able to relax a bit and not stay up until 2 am editing! I am so used to the fast-pace work day, the long loooooong hours, and meeting new couples and families. But that has stopped now and sometimes I find myself scrolling through my Facebook feed for a solid hour because that cute post about a puppy that was saved and found a forever home led me to a You Tube channel full of kids being surprised with a puppy for Christmas from their parents...and then I cry and just can't stop watching! Is this productive?! No! But can I help myself?! Not really, but I should!

So this year I am committing to doing better during my off season for photography. This is my opportunity a chance to really put some thought into what I did this past year and how to move forward. I want to share five "to-do's " on my list that may help you as well and boost your business, and yourself, into next season!

1. Set Goals

I bet you have heard this a time or two whether you still work for a company or own your own business. My goals are what drive me each year. I heard once (I wish I could remember where) to think of goals like you did when you applied for colleges in high school. You have your "low hanging fruit" that you will easily hit, then the next-tier goals that will definitely take more time and thought but there is no reason you can't make it happen. And then, the "dream schools" or in this case the "dream goals!" They may be really tough and hard, but these are the ones that when you hit them, you know you deserve a vacay to Hawaii as a bonus!

I want to add a little note here. I DID NOT meet all my year's goals. I was incredibly upset at first about this and thought, "Come on Ashleigh!" But those unmet goals are now guiding my next year's ideas for my business and where I need to improve. So treat this as a chance to find where you need to improve and take it from there!

And one last thing that is SUPER important!

Find someone to hold you accountable.

Someone who will be completely honest with you and do a quarterly check-in. For me that is my husband. We bounce ideas off one another really well and I try not to get offended if he points something out that I can work on. I hope you can find someone who can do that for you; either a friend, family member, and there are business advisers as well.

2. Business prep

At the end of the year I go through all the business details of that year. This ranges from financial, social media, business growth, networking, insurance, gear, marketing. For photographers I recommend taking this time to send in your gear and get it cleaned. You know you worked hard in this year and so did your gear.

Can we chat about insurance for a second? I know insurance sounds so boring but man, is it so important! I always call my insurance company and see if there is anything I may be missing in my coverage. If my business is heading in more of one direction over another, I update that too. If I purchased any new gear for the year, I make sure to get that gear listed under my plan as well (so important for if you damage anything or something gets stolen.)

Crunch those numbers, keep solid excel docs on everything even how many sessions you had and how much $ went in and out. I love to use Xero for my software bookkeeping system. If you are ever in search of a system, this is a great one! This prep will also guide your goals for the next year and show you any holes you need to improve on.

3. Ideal Client Profile

Each year I sit down and think about my previous year's couples. I focus mainly on my wedding couples since that is the majority of my photography work. I work best when I connect with my clients, and I believe vise versa to be true. I find that every year my interests change a bit and so I sit down and go over my ideal client profile. My ideal client profile drives my business! If you haven't done this, do it asap! Jasmine Star has so much advice to guide you in this if it is your first time. I personally think of the couple that would be "ideal" for my work and style. I ask myself questions such as: Where do they live? How old are they? What do they love to do? What are their passions? What TV shows do they watch?

This ideal client helps me to tailor and best know the wording and message I want to send out to social media, marketing, and my website. When I put any work on social media, create marketing material, focus on how I describe myself and my company, this is who I am directing it at. This will influence your goals and business prep for next year immensely.

4. Update marketing material

I know what you are thinking,

"Can't this just go in the Business Prep category?"

Sure it could, but marketing is a BIG DEAL guys! Especially for photographers and making sure you are reaching your ideal clients. I got my undergraduate degree in Marketing and let me just say this, it can be really confusing. BUT once you know the direction you are going and who you want to "talk" to indirectly, or directly, then it becomes VERY clear...very fast! So if you are not there yet, I recommend going back to number three and focus there for a bit, until you are comfortable moving forward and knowing who your client is.

Once you know what you want to say to this couple, and how you would like to say it, then you can update your website, wedding booklets, business cards, and so on.

5. Networking!

Networking needs that exclamation mark! I have had so many people ask me how I connected with Ben and Lauren from The Bachelor ABC. One word, NETWORKING! Because I reached out to a wedding coordinator, that asked me to photograph an event in downtown Boulder, that led to me meeting people from a Colorado based magazine, which needed help with their next magazine spread...that happened to be at a clothing store who styled this spread, who was working with Lauren...and they needed someone to do a collaborative shoot with Lauren Bushnell.

See how I just took you through a whirlwind of networking and opportunities that came my way? Which, I will add, I never expected would go in that direction. But, you truly never know where networking will take you. And through networking, I have met some amazing people who I can call friends. Don't be shy (I know, it can be really hard) and put yourself out there.

I am going to leave you with a challenge. If there is ONE THING you do from all this, it is to send at least three emails out to someone in your niche of this industry that would be great to network with.