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How to Launch Your Baby Plan

It's one thing, teo actually get things done internally in your studio and get it ready to go and it's another thing to put it out there in the world, right? So they're too they are too different realms of what you need to do and in any product line your business, you have to get things set up internally first and then you launch it ok? And so many photographers are guilty of just hanging there shingle out and going okay, I'm in business without putting the internal structure in place before they do that most businesses outside of our industry wouldn't even dream of doing that, okay, uh, cos like tesla or nike or even just a small business down the street retail industry would never even dream of trying to open up shop without first preparing the the inside right? And because we're a service industry photographers can kind of get away with that, but it ends up biting you in the bottom later because then you end up being disorganized, you're not making money, you haven't looked at your ...

numbers, you haven't assessed your business and profitability and you end up being feeling really down because you know it's not working and you don't know why, so I'm going to really encourage you before we talk about launching, promoting, we're going to go back and review the seven steps to a successful baby plan and I want you to focus on the first six before you even touch the seventh and I know that sounds daunting and overwhelming, but if you get everything done internally and have it set and ready to go launching in promoting and marketing it will not seem like such a huge ordeal and you'll be ready okay? So we've discussed structuring your plan we've discussed developing your product line thinking in that annual mindset we've talked about pricing your product line and packaging things and what strategies you ca in use for that and we've discussed systems we've shot here three different sessions times of all the different ages and stages had a lot of fun there and I hope I've given you some ideas on how to create shooting systems too, but we've done kind of non artistic systems as well those are super important to get in place and we've created policies and talked a lot about customer service systems and client management systems and then the last segment we've been talking about creating collateral marketing materials that you're going to get set to launch okay, so finally the very end once those first six steps or complete then you can go ahead and say, okay, how am I going to tell the world about my baby plan? Okay, so what you're gonna learn in the segment is when the launch how to launch what works in acquiring baby playing clients pre qualifying a potential baby plan client and where to promote where should you go to promote your baby plan and efficient promotion? Of course on a shoestring budget I'm a cheapskate you all know that I don't like to spend a lot of money and marketing I spent about five percent of my budget annually of my grocer every budget on marketing, sometimes less than that um so I'm going to try to teach you some ways to get get the word out that you have this baby plan in ways that are are cost effective but also client acquisition aly if that's a word effective okay, they actually do bring in people through your door so launching when should you actually launch your baby plan? Well, number one, make sure you're prepared, okay? Your interior planning systems and structure should be ready don't do it if you're not if you know if you haven't got your ducks in a row, marking materials should be printed and ready to distribute, not just designed I want everything done both digital and printed marketing materials should be ready and in your hand product samples should be made this is huge so many photographers try to do these sessions without having product samples first and a couple days ago or was it yesterday I saw on our facebook group ah girl was very stressed about oh my gosh, I haven't had the big kind plants how do I create products and samples if I don't have the images that's if I can't wait a whole year to get samples from one baby and I said yeah, you're absolutely right so there's a couple ways around that you can take one one year old or ten month old who's standing puts them on their belly a tummy time in a set up, set them up and show them standing so it's the same child and yes they're the same age but you could at least at least show the stages of each age and it's the same child. The other thing that you could do is get three different children of different ages they don't have toe look exactly the same they could even be wildly different that's fine, I would either make them love look very much similar like do a model call so you can see similar looking babies or make them so wildly different that you would know they're not the same baby but style the session as if style each of those sessions as if it was an annual product plan and that will give you at least aways to display and then you said and then I have people say to me, yeah, but doesn't that mean that I have no experience with this no, not at all. What it means is you're just launching your annual product line, it's a new thing in your studio that clients can get super excited about as something new and exciting to produce for them. That's how you spin it and market it, you don't say, oh, I'm just starting out that's, why I don't have images that white doesn't know that, so why would you spin it that way? Okay, the client has no idea that you don't have experience with this age, you're not going to let him know either you're just going to say product is brand new and we're doing something unique that no one else is doing in our market. So that's what? And we haven't done it over the span of a year yet, so we don't have the images to put into it, but we at least wanted to show you what the product would look like, so make sure you have product samples you cannot sell what you cannot show it's just a fact of life. The minute I started getting quality product samples in my studio, sales went through the roof like we had so much, and not only that, more importantly, clients were excited to spend like I saw a confidence develop in the money they were spending. Because they knew it was gonna look good because they could see it if they have to imagine anything you're not giving good customer service. Okay, so think about that website updated make sure your website is shows these images I hate to say it, but mine doesn't and I need to get that done so yeah, not always perfect, but anyway props and background stopped if you're going to start a new look or a style and you want teo show that in your baby plan to make sure you have the props and backgrounds ready to go so that you can produce this kind of imagery for these clients. So when the launch launching you can launch really at any time of year, but you may want to consider launching as a new service at the beginning of the year, so you don't you can wait or not it's really it's six on one side half doesn't another it doesn't really matter, but if you started at the beginning of the year kind of hypes it up a little bit kind of how these new things coming in two thousand sixteen and you kind of amped on ramp it up the most successful promotions usually are the kind of thing that are teased first, like you tease what's coming in the future and that kind of gets claims excited and curious about it they're waiting for more information so that's a really good strategy to use the other strategy might be right before you're busy season, which I know people think I'm crazy for suggesting that, but right before you're busy season to gain momentum on the interest you already have in your studio. So as you know, the holidays are usually best for portrait's, right? You're going to be gaining more interest that time of year anyway, and so you can capitalize on that interest by promoting the baby plan are launching it right when those people are starting to look atyou now without make your busy season even crazier. Probably some people wouldn't complain about that. So assess your own situation, see what works for you and launch when you're ready, okay, but just be strategic and you're launching and I think that's the biggest take home I want you to get from this it's be strategic and don't just launch it. Think about when the best time would be toe launch. Okay, so how should you launch? Well, there's a couple different ways to do it me and screamed for the tops way baby plan is fantastic. Well, you want to feature it on your website, right, so you probably want to show it fronts front and center when you initially launch it. You want to do at least one block post if not multiple and you can say it in different subjects you can talk about your product line on one you could maybe interview one of your first baby playing clients and talk about asked them about what they love and what they're looking forward to most that kind of thing make it newsy make it featuring make it feel like it's I'm in for it like a like exciting thing happening your studio and the other way to do it with a blocked hostesses do it informative lee and talk about the ages and stages and what's so important about each state agent stage developmentally with a child so the new mother who has no idea can read your block post and oh yeah they are going to be changing so much and this is what's going to be happening talked to a couple of experts in your community a doctor a pediatrician who could kind of give that formal authoritative voice ice on the ages and stages that's a great idea okay social media blitz how many of you are posting your facebook page daily daily you've gotta feed the beast facebook is a beast if you don't post daily facebook starts to ignore you so when you do post your audience doesn't see it did you know that so the less you post the more facebook thinks your page is an interesting because people aren't engaging and so when you do post something, it doesn't show it to many of your liked people because it's goes, oh, you're not very interesting, so you have to post every day multiple times a day if you can't keep that engagement going, I actually ended up hiring steri a lot of you know that that I heard her about two years ago on our facebook pages exploded since I did that, but she's in there everyday posting, and I just can't keep up with it. I can only keep up with a couple things on social media, instagram, twitter, here and there, but she handles our pantry and I do. I do pinterest and instagram for the most part, but I like it, I enjoy it, she does facebook and twitter for me and she posts on my block, and that has been a godsend because now I've kind of resource that out. I know it's getting done all I have to worry about getting her images, and she produces the content, she writes that she doesn't, and it is some of the best money I've ever spent, because now all of a sudden, because my organic reaches that like fifteen percent engagement and organic engagement is that like fifteen percent, which is huge, and facebook right now, most people have to do paid reach because facebook has switched over to this advertising thing where they want youto pay for reach to get to your clients so a fifteen percent organic engagement number is actually pretty darn good it sounds like it's not very good but it isthe so and that's because she's in there posting every day engaging interesting content that people want to look at and like and comment on and so when that happens when we do launch something new facebook will put it into my client's feeds if I'm not posting every day that's not gonna happen so you have to build that up but I know it's such a pain but you know I spent a decent chunk of money with sarah every month and it is so worth it because now my client's going I see you everywhere I just see you everywhere you're like you're like the only big star in town or you know a lot but they think I am because I'm all over social media okay because we bait we baby sit that and feed that beast on a daily basis so do a social media blitz okay on all channels but keep up with those channels and if you don't engage with them now start now on a daily basis that when you are ready to launch your baby plan you'll actually get interested in email campaigns if you'd given me you have an email list for your client's good do email often I'm really bad about it I don't I'm super inconsistent about maybe twice in here three times a year and it's so bad that's like one of my new year's resolutions a swells to get good at it email blitzing and sara's offered to take it over but I'm just like I got a part of me is like a control thing like I really want to try to do it like I wanted change my bad habits like all motivated like I could do it's like trying to go exercise I shouldn't be alarmed we have a five a m I can't I I should just give up and let her do it anyway and then try doing things like a launch party and your studio and find all your clients if you have these beautiful samples up and you've got babies I mean you know if you have newborn clients who are now babies have a launch party and offer to do a little you know, free facebook quickie with the kids you know one little shop kind of thing for twenty five bucks that goes to a charity of your choice make a different show mom's thatyou're that you have a cause that helps their child do things like that and that baby plan okay there's all kinds of things that you could do to create buzz and interests in what you're doing that's a new product do a pr campaign benefiting charity write a press release and send it out to your local news media, local newspaper and talk about how you're doing this little party that will take photographs of babies all over your town to benefit the such and such. Charity. Okay, that's, good news, that's stuff that the news stations will cover on easy, cheap, free media advertising. Okay.