It’s January and if you’re anything like me and most typical portrait photographers, it feels like you’ve been working non-stop for 400 million years. And now that Jan is here you’re ready to chill. Relax. Catch on up all of the sleep that you missed out on while you edited until your eyes bled all of November and December. That first week of rest feels like absolute Heaven. I know. Buuut then the second week of January hits and that’s when the boredom typically starts to set in.
The boredom is often joined by her good friends anxiety and stress. What if I never get booked again. I’ll never have another good inquiry. I should lower all my prices or have a flash sale! I’m a terrible photographer. Basically I generally start to second guess every life decision I’ve ever made as I sit on the couch staring at my phone, just waiting for another inquiry to pop up. Here’s the thing though! You can actually make this off season work for you.
After being a full time photographer for over 10 years here’s some tips and tricks I’ve learned over time. Now listen friend, these probably won’t stop the harmful internal monologue you’ve got going on. But at least you can get back to being productive even if you don’t have any clients booked. This is a great start to turning around that negative talk and get yourself headed in the right direction for this new year. So without further ado, here’s my top 6 tips to keep your off season productive, and to set yourself up to have a fantastic year. These are in no particular order of importance by the way, just a list of helpful tasks to complete.
Check on your business insurance Call up your insurance agent, or pull up your online policy. Is it up to date? Are you paying an appropriate amount? Is your insurance policy actually giving you the coverage that you need for your current gear? If it’s been a while since you purchased the policy it’s a good idea to see if your particular policy needs a current list of gear and equipment. Sometimes as our business changes over time we may need to update or change a policy to get the coverage that’s appropriate for what you’re currently shooting. Check to make sure that you have a minimum of 1 million in liability insurance, and that the amount covered for gear would cover you if everything was lost.
Update your blog Okay so listen, I know this one is controversial, most experts will say that blogs are outdated and nobody reads them. I totally agree with that statement. I’ve also noticed that a lot of photographers don’t even have a blog anymore, and I totally understand why. BUT I do know that google prioritizes new content, a blog post is a simple way to get new content up for google. I don’t actually think many potential clients are reading my blogs (hey maybe I’m wrong?). However I can say anecdotally that whenever I post new blog’s I see a direct correlation in an uptick in new inquiries about 3-6 months later.
This seems to be true even for months when I would typically NOT see a lot of inquiries coming through. This is not a fast return on your time, but one that I do feel pays off in the long run. So get out your blogging skills and get to work. Set a goal for 3 a week for the whole month of Jan or more and see what it does for you! One thing I do know is that it certainly can’t hurt anything. If it results in more inquiries then it was definitely worth your time!
Get your gear cleaned and serviced This one is a must do! And one that can be a little scary. But sending your gear off to your camera’s brand headquarters for yearly maintenance and cleaning is such a big deal. Especially as we consider the longevity of your gear. I can’t speak for other camera brands, but I am a part of Canon Pro Services. https://www.usa.canon.com/pro/canon-professional-services My yearly membership entitles me to free yearly maintenance, and a discounted rate for repairs. In my case it was totally worth the investment. I sent my gear off in what felt like a nerve wracking experience (they are all my babies after all!) But Canon had my gear back to me in less than 4 days! I was truly impressed. 10/10 definitely recommend
Make a yearly marketing plan All right so I know this one sounds super intimidating, but it seriously doesn’t have to be. I’m not talking about planning out a year of social media posts…I’m not an evil madwoman. What I mean is to make a plan right now for the rest of the year. Do you love offering motherhood sessions every year? Get on your calendar and mark off the weekend near Mother’s Day that you want to do those. Then make yourself a brief little outline of what you want to include for those sessions, the price point you want to use, location, inspo, and a few notes about how you’ll market them.
I also like to make myself a calendar update for when I’ll need to start working on those things to get them done in time. Now do that for every special type of session you want to offer throughout the year. Now that you’ve done that do you notice any holes or slow months? You can start now to fill those up. Dream up a session type or special offering that you can do to entice clients to help fill up those typically slower months. Get creative!
Continuing Education Right now is the perfect time to take that workshop you’ve been thinking about. Or maybe it’s a mentorship that you’ve been dreaming about. Don’t let the slow season stop you from learning and growing. I would say that this season is the BEST time to work on increasing your skills. And don’t forget about the business end of things. As photographers we mostly want to focus on learning new photography or editing skills. I know it’s way more fun. Buuuut most of actually should be prioritizing a class or workshop that’s more focused on business, and less focused on the creative art of photography. To keep your business running, you’ve got to learn to become a savvy business owner. Since most of us are creatives that’s not the stuff that comes naturally to us. I do know one great place you can start if you’re looking for business OR photography mentorship 😉 https://nicoleratliffphotography.com/for-photographers/
Find new Inspiration When I say find new inspiration what I don’t mean, is to troll Instagram and drool over other photographers work that you love. Although that’s a fun hobby and one I can happily spend hours on, it’s not the kind of inspiration that I’m talking about here. To find true inspiration we need to get outside of our photography bubble. Watch beautiful movies. Listen to new music. Go to a concert. Paint something. Hike some new trails (and don’t bring your camera, just hike). Read a book that you’ve been meaning to read. Re-do a piece of furniture in your house. Go to a museum or 5. Do all of the things that you don’t have time for when you’re slammed with photography work. And then rest. Rest, boredom, and new inspiration are where I find all my best ideas.
Here’s an inspiration photo that I fell in love with while watching a TV show, and the resulting image that I created with that inspo photo in mind. And a pretty little watercolor rose that I painted on a dull January day, that inspired the colors of the following photo many months later.
