Lessons
Day 1
1Introduction
20:16 2Why Bellies & Babies?
25:22 3The Baby Plan: Newborn to 1-Year
35:19 4Baby Plan Overhaul
28:52 5Creating a Marketing Calendar
18:33 6Social Media
26:50 7Facebook Campaign
06:26Community Displays
33:26 9Customer Loyalty
29:11 10The Moments We Capture
10:55 11Lighting Setup
22:12 12Live Shoot: The 5 Poses
27:06 13Recap: The 5 Poses
25:49Day 2
14Today's Goals
08:03 15Audience Q&A
05:43 16Newborn Boy with Mom (Brady)
29:49 179-month-old Girl with Backdrop (Navia)
15:02 18Newborn Boy w Wicker Basket (Brady)
07:54 19Newborn Girl w Bowl (Eliana)
18:05 20Maternity Session
21:38 214-month-old girl w Blanket (Fiona)
16:59 223-month-old Boy w Blanket (Nolan)
14:55 23Newborn Girl w Hammock (Eliana)
14:33 24Cooper
37:09 25Questions
04:31 26Creating an Efficient Studio
40:31 27Maternity Sessions
10:49 28Working with a Pregnant Body
23:30 29Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
29:22Day 3
309 month old
20:51 31Audience Q&A
17:58 32Becoming a Baby Expert
12:31 33Shy 1 Year Old
25:57 341 Year Old Girl
23:14 35The Miracle Shots
12:49 36Older Ages
21:46 37Consultations
15:16 38Pricing
54:48 39Sales
32:49 40Framing
08:21 41Workflow
15:28 42Closing the Sale
20:24 43Charitable Marketing
13:43 44Family Is...
06:49Lesson Info
Framing
Believe that frames do you have to accompany their portrait? I've done both ways and the question is going to be do you charge your prices with frames or without frames? We have done both originally portrait did not include frames than I change the prices to them, including frames, so that nothing left my studio. If it wasn't finished, then my price point got so high that adding frames put it way out into the unbelievable category, so I had to eliminate them. But it's very easy sell to update and add them after the fact because once client sees the work and you take them into the frame room and you show them it's not that hard to sell a frame, the next question is going to be, but I work out of my home and I don't know if I can, you know, how would I sell frames just like the projection attitude I have with framing now that I know what I know, I would have just got ten to twenty corners and had ten to twenty mats in a small box and as an artist, it's how you present it. If you say all ...
I have are these, you're not going to sell them if you say I have. Personally selected the most beautiful frames that compliment my work and I can assure you that we could select something here in this collection that works perfectly well with what I'm going to do you've sold afraid I promise you it's just your confidence honestly you don't need a hundred frames it's not going to make a difference to the client there really are strong flames that frames that's why we used uw molding they are the best they have beautiful frames and molding and they're an elegant elite source and it keeps us you know it gets us what we need on great customer support as well this is our frame area you could see I actually had a metal wall installed so they're all on magnets so the whole walls riveted it looks really kind of cool that's the main frame wall over there and then to the left there's actually an open metal wall that we can actually because their metallic we can put the print up on a ledge and then put the frame corner on it so I'm sorry can't show you their we do have the frame mats as well I told you that you what you show is what you sell we show big wall portrait's in our studio that's all we try to show but in the frame room we do have what we call an art product wall and that is one wall dedicated to small they're not small but they're smaller image sizes and these are some of the product lines that we've talked about like the baby steps the nine up the birthday cake siri's is they're all things that are very popular, so when a client is in the room that can actually visually see the size of that product and that it's going to work for them so again, if you work out of your home, don't panic I worked at my home to framing can be done you just have to maybe scale it back a little bit but presented as you have these exclusive frames that are perfectly matched to your work and it works just as well um these are just samples of the different frames and as end of vw's service you can get both matt and without matt it's interesting. When I started in colorado twenty years ago, matting was huge everybody wanted matted prints that's virtually unheard of any more. I mean that the collections that air multiple images or mats but very rarely does a client by a wall portrait with a mat. So my opinion is I would rather sell more inches of portraiture than a matting eso once in a while they look really artsy in and cool with the mats, but for the most part we so large wall portrait's in frames we also sell a lot of gallery wraps in middle medal's a little bit less, but we saw a lot of unique wraps, float wraps, things like that that have that required no frames at all, and those were nice as well, just to give clients variety and different looks here's a big one. If you are going to have a successful business, you have to have a payment plan period. If you want to make the kind of money that we talked about making him photography, you have tto have a payment plan just because a client, um, doesn't necessarily, uh, you may think that they can't afford you doesn't mean they can't afford a payment plan. Came employment plans, give people the opportunity, tio purchase what they want to receive their dream, but to pay it off in a reasonable rate. Now, a couple things about payment plans. You should. First of all, I'll explain how it works, but with a payment plan. The mistake I made is when I decided to go to a payment plan, but version um, I kind of did I think I bought too many furnitures because you know how they do the on ly twenty four dollars a month for the rest of your life, and with interest you paid for it sixteen times, well, our payment line doesn't have interest. So of course when I built my payment plan I sat down and did all my cool little charts and graphs and the magic charts and I figured out a plan where people could pay like fifty dollars a month or you know I made it I thought I was making do myself doing them a favour making it economical but if a client comes in on a newborn portrait session spends two thousand dollars and you charge him twenty four, ninety five a month they'll never come back to you they're going to be paying for those baby pictures for years and years and years and they can't come back to you so that was a huge mistake because if you ask people if they want to make a payment and you give them choices of what size payment they want to make which one are you gonna choose the smallest one they can especially if you don't have interest so that was my big mistake so eventually we eliminated that now this is it the actual words we say what a client's orders so look because remember the credit system and everybody that standing on the fence this is how it works at the end of the sale we are going to tell them what the cost is we are going to state that so when the end of a sale comes we proudly and confidently turned to the client and we say all right, so with everything you've ordered these beautiful collections this set we describe everything this this this and this all of this plus your bonus items it looks like your total is three thousand dollars now that basically we say it looks like a total is three thousand dollars how would you like to pay for that? And then what do you d'oh say? Nothing shut up because there is a chance that they're going to say lisa, and you're going to say cheese, um and there is also a chance that they're going to say, oh, do you have a payment plan or anything like that? Now what are you going to say you're going to say? You know what? We sure do have a payment plan? I'll tell you what? How would you like to pay half today and half next month? Some people will say great that's perfect what they say is there any way we could break it up? Two smaller payments will say alright, that's no problem, how about a thousand dollars today and then a thousand dollars each month for the next month? No problem great! Our goal is to take the number and cut it in half first, if that doesn't work for them and cut it in thirds and so on, we never say okay, what works for you they'll tell you twenty four, ninety five a month is about right so don't give them the option you just basically go with half and half isn't good enough then you can work with each individual client to make it work for you but the more money you collect, the better off you are the next question is going to be do they get to take home the pictures after they placed the order is that it didn't get it? You'll find it I promise um if that is always the question if they are on a payment plan, do they get to take home the orders? Yes, in fact they do because they signed a legal document that basically we collect their credit card and they signed a legal document that says that we could charge them each month they have the choice of the first of the fifteenth they will always choose the one that's farthest away from the current day they picked the day they want us to build them and we will build them on that day we collect two credit cards if the first credit card basically to legal doctrine that says if this card doesn't go through, we're gonna build this card if this car doesn't go through, we're going to take you to collections agency now it's just a legal document and they sign it and it's not a problem um and it works, and the question is do ever have problems with it? Absolutely not. Once in a while there, first credit card doesn't work, we build a second very rarely does a second one not work, and if it doesn't, we contact the client and they take care of it and that's the bottom line I've never had to go to collections. I'll never have to go to collections there's, a rare occasion where somebody can't pay and that's a personal issue that will work out with them, but the bottom line it works. So we do have a legal document that we actually collect, um, and they have to sign a signature and it gives us all again. I'm like a documents chick, but this is twenty four years, you know? So these are things that you can start and do. It has to have some sort of way to give your client's options. You must take credit cards as well, and with things like square now, there's no reason that everybody is not taking credit cards. People can't spend cash like they can in other years.
Class Materials
bonus material with purchase
Ratings and Reviews
a Creativelive Student
I know so many families with new babies at church and have wanted to invite them to let me create studio portraits, both for practice and for profit. You've given me so many wonderful tips and ideas for posing, shooting and marketing. I've already begun collecting appropriate props. I believe in me, but know that selling will be the hardest thing for me. Sandy makes everything look so easy! I related to her emotionalism--I'm the same way. Today at church, a visitor shared about an expectant mother in Ohio who was diagnosed with Stage 3 brain cancer. Thanks to Sandy's pregnancy portraits and the story about the beginning of Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, I emphasized to the visitor the huge importance of that family (already with 4 children) to have a family pregnancy portrait taken. It will mean so much to everyone, but especially the unborn child, who may not ever know its mother. I am also interested in exploring the Now I... training program, if our local hospital needs a special photographer. Thank you for the fantastic seminar I could attend in the comfort of my own home. Cha Ching!
Daniela Moroni
This is my first Creative Live course and I'm very happy with it. I don't have a studio but it was very helpful to understand how to begin a career as a baby photographer. I like the way Sandy explains what she does. You see that she loves her job. I'm glad to have known about Now I Lay me Down To Sleep project. I'm not an english speaker so I'd like there were english subtitles 'cause when she speaks very quickly I miss a lot of words... Thanks Creative Live team!
a Creativelive Student
Sandy is truly an inspiration! Her fantastic photography definitely urges us on to greater things, but I am most impressed by the way she connects with people. Her clients are not just $$ to her, and her job is not simply a way to make money - she feels things greatly, and it shows. This webinar causes me to not only better myself as a photographer/business owner, it inspires me to become a better person.
Student Work
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