Planning a Successful Mini Session
Love them or hate them, Mini Sessions are here to stay! They're a great way to offer clients a less expensive session, meet new clients, and pack a day full of sessions.
Here are 5 ways to plan a successful Mini Session:
1.Explain the value of Mini Sessions
Mini Sessions are great for both you and the client!
Your client gets your amazing talent for a lower dollar amount, and you get to charge a slightly reduced full session fee for a 15-20 minute session.
Let clients know that you'll be offering sessions well below your usual minimum rate, and that this is a great opportunity to get your talent at a much lower price point.
2.Advertise well
You should be advertising at least one month prior to your Mini Session date. I've found that 6 weeks prior to my Mini Session is the best time to begin advertising.
Your ad needs to be eye catching and clear. Be sure to have a title, the date, the price, amount of shooting time, number of photos included, and available times.
In your ad you should include a photo of the set up(s), and preferably have a model showing how the set up will look on the day of.
3.Price yourself well.
A lot of thought goes into your base Mini Session price.
To figure out a base price, look at your smallest full package and figure out how much 15-20 minutes based on that would be. This is a great starting place. Once you have the amount you can add to it to cover props.
Base price = cost of session/minutes of session, then multiply your unit price by the length of your Mini Session.
4.Have a system for initial booking and payment.
I don't book any Mini Sessions without full payment at the time of booking. My first Mini Sessions I only required a $25 deposit, and even then didn't get it from everyone (because it felt awkward to ask). I had 3 out of 8 sessions no call no show!! That cost me $225 at the time!
Since then I have required full payment to book a time slot and haven't had anyone miss their session.
My system looks like this:
- Advertise on Facebook and Instagram. When inquiries come I have them sign up on my website.
- Have a form on my website ready to receive clients that includes name, email, phone, preferred time, and a place for comments.
- Follow up every registration with an email letting them know their session is almost booked, and they just need to send their payment via Paypal or Venmo.
5.Upsell your galleries!
Don't send a family 35 photos when you only promised 7 in your ad! You're missing out on an easy source of income!
Instead, create a proof gallery with your watermark across the photos, and let the family choose their favorites. Let them know to just keep favoriting until they've picked all that they love. If they go over the allotted number that came with their Mini Session they can purchase the rest with you.
Then make an incentive to purchase more. To do this charge higher for a single photo, and then go down in per photo price in multiples of 5.
I hope this information makes you feel more confident about planning a successful Mini Session. If you have any questions feel free to reach out! I'd love to connect with you on Instagram (@jesswintersphotography).
Cheers,
Jess