Lessons

Lesson Info

Segment 32 - What Makes a Great Senior Rep & Rep Marketing

So what makes a great rep? This is really important, because again you're representing your brand. You need them to be outgoing. They got to talk to people, right? A shy person is not gonna be able to go up to somebody say, Hey, have you heard about this photographer? Did you see messing your photos? So they need to be outgoing. They need to be friendly, to be able to talk to people, right? You don't want anybody. That's a mean girl representing your brand or mean guy or whatever on guys could be reps to. I don't have them that you could have them there. I know people that have guy reps that's totally buying treatment the same way. Give them the same experience and you have them work toward the same goals. They need to be fun because that's part of my brand. We have a good time. I want the reps toe have a good time. I want to talk about the fact that they have fun on this on this awesome session, so that's important. They need to be involved in school or church or community or somethin...

g like that, because you want them to be able to have a bunch of different areas that they could potentially refer. You are talking about you, too, so that's important. Um, I like for them to appreciate photography and fashion because I want him to understand that, you know, this is an experience and and photos are an important thing to document this time in your life. So I want them to understand that because I feel like they'll be able to tell other people why you should go have your senior portrait's taken if they actually appreciate that, and because our our shoots or generally around fashion or something like that, having people that love Teoh dress up or do whatever is definitely a benefit. I wouldn't say it's a must, but I would say it's a benefit for sure they're willing to work. You do not want somebody that is maybe been handed everything forever because they might not work as hard. So just you know anybody that's willing to work or do the process to be a part of the process. So that's important, and then we'll take it seriously. This is not just some mean it is fun, but it's not just something that you can just not think about. There are things that you need to do, and they need to understand that it's not quite a stress was job. But I mean, it is something they have to do. And if they're signing up for, they have to do certain things. Don't make him do a lot of crazy things. There are a lot of stuff in general because I know they're busy, but they do have to do the few things that I require them today s. So how do you find these qualifications? First Way is a single model application, just like your questionnaire that you send. All your clients have the people that want to be in the program fill out a questionnaire so you can take that first step into getting to know them. Um, and then the other way is through a model meeting and interviews. So those are the two ways you can sort of start to see if these girls that are applying have the qualifications that you are looking for. So let's talk about the, uh, application first. What questions do we ask? Obviously, you need to know the basics, the name, the email The high school. They go to all of that good stuff. How? How to best communicate with them, What their numbers are there, email, All that good stuff, Um, and then their social media links. You want to check out how they are acting on social media before you decide if they're going to be a rep for not make sure they have a good, good voice, that kind voice own on social media there not. You haven't forbid bullying. I mean, that happens in high school. I mean, you probably see that through your high school to make sure they're not one of those people because you do not want, um that representing your brands follow them, even if you're not picking them as a final model so that you can know and educate yourself on whether they have the right qualifications. Um also describe themselves. You want to hear their voice of who they are, because I think that tells you a lot. So have them tell you who they are in so many words, or have them just write a paragraph about who they are. So you can really start to take some insight into what they're saying so that's important. Hobbies and interests. What their hobbies and interest that helps. Because again, you can get to know who they are. You could see what kinds of things they're they're interested in. What are they super busy with extracurricular activities and won't have time to do what you need them to do? All of those things can come from that question personal style. That's just one. I ask this because again it goes with my brand. I want everybody to feel comfortable on clothes. And, you know, I might not want, uh, somebody that super tomboyish because maybe that wouldn't that my brand. So I want to know about their their style, right? I want them to be comfortable in whatever we decide to do for the for the model shoot. Um, also, I asked him what their dream photo shoot is. I think this is a good opportunity to maybe even come up with some ideas for your model shoots. That's kind of why I ask that because teenagers have great ideas, they have great ideas that you might could incorporate. They are the market you're trying to reach that they come up with some idea. And most likely they're friends are gonna like it, too. So, uh, why do they want to be a model? I asked them that because I I want to hear, in their own words, what they think this is about and why they want to be a part of it. Also, how did they hear about my photography business? You want to know that just just for any general idea of where people are coming from to come to you, you want to know that? So I asked them how they heard about it, how they hear about spokesman Progress program. Maybe it's a past model, so that's a good thing to know about. Maybe they saw it on Facebook, so I'll know whether my Facebook post were working or not. Instagram, whatever. However, they I found out about it. That's what you want. A net. And then I also asked him to suggest other possible rips. Do they have a friend that might also be interested? That has heard about it yet? Because you want to try to get some people involved? Do you want to try to get more people to know about it? So I asked them to you suggest somebody that might be a good, good rip. Maybe they would feel more comfortable if the friend was doing it to you. Never know. So after and then you can contact those people and say, Hey, have you heard we have this? Do you want to apply kind of thing and then also include a parent section in your questionnaire? Because you want to know whether the parent knows that their child is doing this. You do not want them to find out after the fact and be like, No, you can't do this. What are you talking about? To make sure you ask that question as well. Um And then the weird opposed the application Okay. Posted on Facebook, posted on your block posted on your website. You can do this, and that way everybody will see it. You can then do a photo of the application or past rip and say, you know, announcing now taking 2015 rips and put it on instagram and link it to the to your site where the application is. So put it everywhere so everybody can see it. So you get tons of applications or, as much as many applications as you could possibly get. And now who applies? Rising seniors. Obviously, suggestions from other seniors past rips ones applying. Now those are who apply. And then you can even stand out and have junior reps. You don't have to Onley have seniors. Maybe you want to read. That goes two years or, you know there's nothing wrong with that so you can stand out and be different. And most people only do seniors that maybe you want to branch out to some juniors or at least start talking to them about it. There's no reason you can't do that so that when they are senior, you've got them interested, and you already know them a little bit and maybe choose them for that, Um, and when to apply, Um, really a rep program again. It is for you to decide, but most often you want them to apply in. Maybe the late fall winter is timeframe. So then you can get that, um, application process in. You can start to look at them. I generally do the big shoot sometime early spring, so I have new spring marketing material to showcase and those juniors because Technically, they're still juniors at that point. When they have their actual model shoot, they can start talking to their classmates before they get out of school. Because I know that your book photo is in summer before their senior year and all of that stuff. So if I start marketing, marketing it, then that I've got people to know about my name before they go in for that yearbook photo, Um, plus one school is out a little bit harder for them to. I mean, they do still see their friends. But summer's just a whole different ballgame. So get him stuff before the school year. They'll probably do a little bit more than maybe there'll be a load or in the summer that maybe they'll pick back up in the fall when they actually go to school and start school for their senior year. So so that Is that Okay, So senior model meeting, that is the next chance you get Teoh really get to know them. Find out if they have those qualifications that you are looking for. I do a, um, welcome packet to all the girls that have applied that night at the model meeting So what I do is I take all these applications. Everybody that applied is invited to this model meeting. If you can't come to that model meeting, you are automatically no longer considered to be a rep. Because I figure if you can't make the time to come to the model meeting, maybe you won't make the time to do some other stuff. Plus, that's an easy way to say no without being mean. I hate thing. No, I hate telling girls know that they didn't make it as a program. So it's easy. It's easier for me to say, Well, you know, you can't make it so thank you so much for applying. But all those that couldn't make it are no longer be considered because we have a lot that could make it. And it's hard enough decision and you know all that good stuff. So So they come. They come to this model meeting, the Apple hits come I invite past models to come, and then I invite at least one Parents of the parents are on board with this program, Um, and then that's who to invite. And obviously that has been reversed. Their So what to include is this bottom bullet point anyway? So what? What to include? You want to make sure you include tons of information. That is what the point of the model meeting is. You want to be able to explain from start to finish what this is what they're gonna have to do everything you want to educate them during this model meeting. And if at the time they hear all this and does that, it's not for them. You want to know that, too, so you can choose somebody else. So you want to include a welcome packet. That's what I give every single girl that comes, whether they end up being a rep or not, because I want to further educate them. And that's what this is again. I used the same folders Welcome packet for clients, but in there is a magazine through three Mad Cloud. A spokesmodel agreement. I don't really call it a contract because I think that scares teenagers off. It's more of a permission form from a parent saying that your daughter can do this. Um, obviously, my business card. I include this cute little car that just is welcome. It's just got cute little something for me. Just saying I'm so glad you applied. I go ahead and include the calendar so they can see month by month. I've got to do this, this, this and that. So I know I had a time what I'm getting myself into. And then I include the quick referral guide so they know immediately what they get on. Do you know? I'm telling them in the model meeting all this information that now they have something to actually look at and read about when they get home. If they had questions, it's most likely in here. So that's what I include there also I gave them. You can see these air photo, small photos, but everybody that came to the model meeting got a gift. I found the, you know, the eat e Aussie us Chapstick. I found him in my colors, put him in clear self and gift bags, tied him with ribbon, stuck some, you know, that shredded paper stuff in there and everybody got that and they loved it. They thought it was so nice. So whether they whether they ended up being a rep or not, that was my little thank you for coming and taking time to learn about my program and applying to it. I had food as you can see, their lemonade. Trader Joe's pink lemonade looks fancy in the bottle. So I served that every time I have anything on. And then I had these little macaroons. Thank you. That also came from Trader Joe's. So, and rarely do they eat anything. But it seems like a cute little party and they, you know, like that. And then obviously the welcome packet right there. So that is what I include for the model meeting. OK, so then I g o after I have the whole group and everybody listen to me in the spill and I've given out the welcome packets. I then take each one of the girls into a separate room and interview them for about 5 10 minutes really Doesn't take that long to really get a sense of who they are. And if they're excited about it, they're taking it seriously. And while I'm interviewing them, my past reps are in the other room talking to the ones that are waiting, which is a great way to get them all excited because they're like, Oh, did you have fun? And And I'm not in there so the girls can answer honestly and everybody get some information. And so it's continuing to educate. So that was a really great thing to do. Um, what inner interviews help with? They help you determine right off the bat who's serious and who's not. They help you determine if somebody's just really after free pictures or not, because probably not your best grip in the world. They hope you gauge true personalities. Somebody that meshes well with you don't really want somebody that that doesn't fit in well with your personality. You don't want somebody like that representing your brand. Um, you, um, can get a fill the fashion and style. Obviously, all the girls that came to my model meetings, you know, dress cute, and I could see that they were really into it. And that really helped matters just because they're gonna have to be modeling clothes because I knew I was working with the boutique, so that was interesting. Onda helpful. You can see how well they interact with each other. You know, it's a big group from all different high schools, so you can see if they're, like, off to the side with just their one friend and not mingling. Or you can see if there mingling that helps you decide who you might want. You might not. One year I did have two girls that were friends, and they really did not really talk to anybody else. And I realized that's probably not the best thing to do. So I look for that now. So you live and you learn and you look for different things at work. So that's important. See how well they interact? And then you just start if they're a good fit for me or not. Um, you know, we all have personality traits that mesh with others better than than others. So you want to make sure your girls are gonna be somebody that you, you know I can get along with. I mean, they could get along with you, can get along with them. It's super important because you are going to spend a lot of time with them through the course of their senior year. So okay, so choosing the models now, this parts hard because, you know, again, I don't want they note anybody and, um, I definitely appreciate the fact that they came, but the bottom line is I choose models that really meshed well with me in that model meeting. And I also a big important thing at the model meeting is to make sure you clarify that not everyone that came will make the model program. So then they're not surprised if they don't make it, so make sure you educate them Now, maybe you want to build yours to where everybody makes it, But the bigger it gets, the more girls are going to apply, The more expensive gonna be so that might deter you from letting everybody in. So that's a big thing. I usually keep mine around 12 or under. I don't I don't really want more than 12 girls. Um, if I start to get more than that and I started getting more too many at one high school I started have to spend too much money. Um and then I'm also keeping potential people from coming to me as a client if you start to get I mean, if you had 20 senior reps and that's 20 people that were your clients, right? So and you're not making as much money honest in your rep. Your that's not the point of it. So I don't want too many of them. Plus, it's overwhelming to have to photograph that many in a group. So things to be a good number. I can do 12 in one shooter. I could split it six and six in it. And it works well for me. So the number is a is a big thing, but really, you're just looking for models that fit your brand and that you think will do the work. And then you just got to trust your instincts from there. Um, you know, go with your instinct and, well, how you felt in that model meeting. Um, you know, maybe you don't want to choose somebody that, like I say, is Onley after it because they want free photos, you can get a sense of somebody. Also, the model meeting is really good, because you can kind of see if they match up to what they wrote. Because it's a lot easier to make yourself a really good when you typing it out on the Internet. Right on, Ben, See if you really match that in person. So again, I choose about my most popular high school. I have four girls from and it's because I It is my most popular high school for clients, period. Um, four might be a bit much for one high school because they do sort of overlap. But I absolutely fell in love those four girls and I wanted them to rip so but four is probably the absolute maximum that I would have ever have it. One school again. Dallas. You could probably have 10 and never reach all those kids because the high school there so big. But think about how many you want from each school. Some schools only have to. Some schools only have one, you know, just fit. Been in there with what you want to do. Also know how many different schools are in your area, so you can try to get reps from all the ones that you want to market to. Yeah, when you first started, like before, anybody applied and I mean, nobody knew. Well, the first year I did one. I simply called a friend of mine who, actually who had a son that ran on the track team and he was in seventh grade. But he ran on high school track team and I said same. Same way I got that first portfolio building shoot I did. I called and said, Hey, do you know anybody? She gave me maybe one name. I called that girl and said, Hey, do you have to friends? And that's that's how I started. And then those girls then gave me names for the next year because the next year it still wasn't really all that well known aan den. So I got a few names from there. And then actually, that year I called a cheerleading coach and said, Hey, do you have a deserving girl on your squad? That might be a good rib. And so she gave me Jonah, who was absolutely fabulous. So then, by that point, people are starting to see this. So it was about two years in when people are starting to see it and hear about it and things like that. And then I started getting the application. So yeah, just asking people if they know anybody that can, you know, that might be interested, that kind of thing. No. Okay. Marketing pieces. What do you give them that can showcase your You know, the photos that you've taken at the shoot. You definitely want to create eye catching visuals that are gonna, you know, make a statement so that when they're handing, you know, a rep card out or whatever the traditional rep card of those tiny little things. You know what I'm talking about? They're, like, really tiny and skinny to meet. This don't make an impact, do they? Not really. They throw on the way they stick him in the bottom of the purse or whatever. So I think of bigger things that can have more information on it that are pictures, bigger pictures to start to really showcase and stand out Facebook timeline covers are also a great thing to give because everybody visiting their page will see your photos. So I designed a Facebook timeline cover for for that years reps and they all are required to post it. That's one of the requirements they have to post the Facebook timeline photo that I give them. So that's another way Teoh advertise ads with photos for them to share. In other words, if I am maybe doing a back to school special. I'll use a photo from the Rep shoot and then give it to all the reps and say, I need you to post this and they don't mind because got their their their photo on its maybe the group photo or the whatever. So that's something you can use for marketing, Um, the magazine that in here that the next years girls yet to kind of see what we did the year before. Those photos are in here, so they're excited about that. Also, you could Dio magazine that was just simply photos of that year's reps. Shooted. It doesn't have to be this one's Maura about like what the program is and more educational. But I could simply have a magazine that just had picture after picture after picture and give them to each of the reps, and they would think that was so cool to share with their friends. So that's something you can consider that would make more of an impact than you know, a tiny little red card on then the sticky album. This Dickie album is big for reps because they always have their phones with them. It is the digital version of that rep card. They may leave those cards at home, but I promise you they got their phone with them. So having that sticky album to be able to say, Oh, hey, guys, let me show you, show you my cool photos or they can hit the share button and send it to their friends. And then those friends can click on a button right then and contact me right away is important. Make sure you include a flied in that sticky album that says a special Or give them some sort of called action. So when you know, let's say I'm showing my friend Sally my sticky album and I'm thumbing through the photos and we come to the slide that says, Oh, yeah, if you mention my name, you get such and such That's a great tool. So that is good for that. And then, obviously, you're you're rapper model cards, but I would think about those in different terms than those traditional skinny ones. I've done a tri fold. Um, I actually brought something with me that I meant to bring out here. The tear off path Modern collective is a great resource for templates and they created these templates for a tear off pad that you can order on DSO. It literally is like a note pad, but you print every picture to where it looks like a rep card. So then they just tear it off, hand it over. I don't think I have wanted, you know, but I'll get it for you guys. It's here in the building of anyway, so they can tear it off. They use those red cards instead of those traditional red cards. I've used a trifle before because it allows me to put mawr photos and more information. It makes a bigger impact. So those air good. But I absolutely love the tear off sheets because I think to pads are like $18 so it's cheaper or maybe even $16 somewhere around in there. So they get a lot more for cheaper than ordering a trifle trifle get expensive eso and that note pad that is the tear off rep cards make more of an impact than the little tiny cards that you might could get inexpensively. So those are awesome. Check out modern collective for those templates because they're they're super awesome. So what? What do I include in the senior Model magazine? I can pass it around to you guys so you can see it, but basically is just uninformative magazine. Just like your welcome guy that you're sending to your seniors. You wanna put everything in here that will possibly answer their question on seeking? Educate them? What is a spokesmodel? What are the requirements? Photos that they can see past ones would have benefits. What are the rewards? Um, all of that stuff is in here. More photos, fax, maybe questions that you might can anticipate that they might ask that you can answer a quote from a past rip about her experience. Those air important. Another one. Um, so yeah, and that's it. It's like 20 pages. That's it from back super easy. But it really gives them the information they need. So I give them that. These are the tear off cards from modern Collective. This is this year's rip, Caroline. And so she's got this entire pad. They're all the same that she tear it off in hand. It tear it often handed. And one of my girls, Caitlin, this year tore him off this all on her own she tore one off, attached a little slip of paper that said a little note from her and then put it in the mail to all her friends. And she, of course, has gotten the most the most so far and hasn't even had that long. So yeah, I mean, you know, you just simply tear it off, and they're they're nice. They're not flimsy. As you might think notebook paper would be, They're a little start here. So these air awesome to give away on, and that makes more of an impact. And then I include on every single one of my marketing pieces, um, some sort of incentive for the person they're actually handing this to. Because in my mind, a rep can only do so much. She can talk about me too. She's blue in the face. She is not gonna force somebody to call me. So what can I do to further help her get that referral and get me a client? So I give a $50 order credit. So if the person that received this calls me up and says, I'm gonna book with you. I got your name from Caroline. I have this card she gave me. Then I'm immediately gonna give Caroline the referral. And I know that when this new client comes, I'm gonna give her $50 print or order credit. Um, the first year I did this, I did free hair and makeup, and that got expensive for me. Um, And then one year I did $50 off the session fee, and that kind of got expensive for me or I lost a little bit of money. That way. I don't necessarily pay for anything, but I lost money. Where is this? A $50 credit isn't really $50 because, you know, your cost of goods is not $50 so that works a little bit better. But you, of course, can give anything you want. But that, to me, helps my reps out, too, because I want them to be successful to. I don't want him to have a hard time referring me, you know, So that is something you can include on the note pad or if you choose to do a tri fold or whatever you choose to do. And again, the sticky album that same. There's a slide in there that says that same thing. If you book and you mentioned my name, you get $50 credit, so that's in there, too. So if they're using their digital rep Cardiff, they're using their actual rip card. That incentive is on there. Um, and I should have gone to the slide. But that's by the modern collectives. You can see that, Adam, if you're watching and shout out Adam, he designed some great stuff, so he has a lot of stuff. In addition to these templates are these specific templates on there you can see the sticky album we touched on that a little bit. Also, Nate happens to be the guy that is head of sticky albums happens to these. An ISIS guy ever said that. Awesome. So it's a great idea, because again, they all have their phones with them. Nobody does not have their phone these days, and this way they don't have to have this, and they can still refer you. So it's super important, and I just kind of make one for each girl. So I include that girls photos and the group photos in her sticky album, so she's not thumbing through somebody else's photos. It does take a little bit of time because you've got to create each rip a album. But to me it's worth it, because I feel like they're more inclined to share. The great thing about this is you can go into your account and see how many times has been clicked on how many times has been shared so you can keep track of what rep is doing a better job than another job. You know that another rep and how many times they're sharing it. So that's awesome. Yeah, just to clarify, because there are people asking who maybe weren't with us earlier. But Sticky Album is a product that you can go and buy. It's an app. You're not actually developing this. No, no, no, no, no, it's Yeah, Nate Sticky albums. Dickie albums dot com on DIT is a yearly subscription toe. Have access to be able to create these albums. I think there's maybe the $19 a month maybe just check it out. There's there's a couple of different I know there's a couple of different options. Ones may be more expensive than another, but it is you just You purchased the yearly subscription and then you have access to create as many as you want. So then again, it comes in handy when you're offering maybe in your collections, because you've only really paid this one price for the year for access, and you could make unlimited amount of albums. So that's why it's beneficial to get as much bang for your buck out of that and use it for your reps and use it for your product, etcetera. And I would say we've got a website to see what devices it's on, somebody asking, Is it on Android? And you know, and I think that it is owned both, but yeah, I mean, I have an IPhone, and I know it works for that. The definitely go to the website to check to make sure thank you that it works for your device. Okay, And then what else do you do to keep those reps go? Would stay connected? Definitely stay connected, Azi. You can see these are photos of me and my reps doing all kinds of crazy stuff. I go to every one of their pageants, so that is me with Hannah. She's Hannah. But there, too. Hunter. That was hunters graduation party at her house. Caitlin up here at the top is a cheerleader, and I help my My husband has used football team, so I teach the cheerleaders. So I had Caitlyn come over to my house one day and refresh my memory on cheers since has been a long time. So we were hanging out. We have a Christmas party for the reps we have. This is the actual rep shoot day, so just little things you can do to keep them motivated and and happy throughout the year again, it goes back to the same thing. We've been talking about this entire process. You want a relationship with your reps just like you want a relationship with your clients because they're gonna be more inclined to refer you for sure I would. Highly, I would much rather refer somebody that took the time to get to know me and hang out with me. That somebody that just said, Hey, I want to be around here is using photos, right? So yeah, private Facebook group is also how I communicate with them. I'd tell them that when they signed up to be a rip, you got to make sure you check this Facebook group because it's easy for me to be able to post photos in there that they can then share that way. I'm not e mailing photos. I'm not giving him a CD of photos, and I having a loadem, Dropbox or anything like that opposed him in the private Facebook group. So each year I have a new year private Facebook group for those reps posted, opposed to suggested Facebook status. And then they can then take that into good. Put it on Instagram and all the other social media aspects. Any time we have something new coming up, I posted and they're like a couple weeks ago, that fashion show I think I mentioned may be on the first day I just posted in there and said, Hey, girls, I need 10 models. Which 10 of you could do it on this night? Let me know. That same store did a bit on the local news, and they needed to models posted in the Facebook group, so it's not always about things they could do for May. Sometimes the things that they can do in the community that I want them to get involved in, and I'll post it in that Facebook group to communicate with them, posting graphics that they can share. Just put him in that private Facebook group and say, Hey, girls, check in with them, you know, maybe even update them on how many referrals people are getting, because that will be, oh, so and so it's got that many. I got up my game kind of thing. I just use that fat, private Facebook group to really communicate with them. Of course, you can always text them to, but like I say, Facebook is really kind of easy for me. Teoh be able to communicate with them that way. Plan fun outings on, then, also in the Facebook group. I posted the little thing that Caitlyn did, where she mailed him out and attached that I took a picture of it and I posted it in the Facebook group and I said, Oh my God, Caitlyn, what a great job. This is awesome. Anybody else that I can think of something fun, you know, do that? Then I even had them come up with a T shirt ideas. I asked him in the private Facebook Group A. Did you have any ideas for what we can do. T shirt wise because I want to give them T shirts is being a rep that they can wear to school. They helped me create them. They help me think of wording, and then we voted on. So I kind of narrowed it down to what the girls put in there. And then they you can put poles on Facebook, so I just a little poll and they all voted on it. So different things that you can constantly be talking to them about. Um, OK, so this is a major important. A senior rapper model program works on Lee. If you work the program, you cannot expect a 17 year old do all this without your help, your guidance and your work. So you can't expect anybody to work for you if you're not willing to do the work. Okay, that's the major thing I want anybody to remember about. A red program is, it's not just handing somebody this ability to be a part of a group. It's actually working and helping and staying connected and giving them an amazing experience and building the building a relationship and a red program is work. It is not easy. It's time consuming, but it's worth it. In the end. If you if you work the program and it works, it will work in return.