Seniorologie has been celebrating our SECOND BIRTHDAY all month and we want to end the month with a few more GIVEAWAYS for OUR loyal readers!! Because it is the last week of August, our birthday month, we want to end it with a bang!
So everyday this week we are featuring a top senior portrait photographer as the guest blogger of the day or Seniorologist! A Seniorologist is a photographer with extensive knowledge of senior portrait photography and someone who loves to share information about the business of senior portrait photography. Seniorologie feels that there are many photographers who have valuable information to share and that other photographers can learn from many, many sources, not just one. So we love to feature lots of different photographers to help you, our readers, gain lots of information to use in your senior portrait business.
This week is dedicated to a few of our most popular teachers that have taught either online in a Study Hall Class or at a Seniorologie Tour. Each day, a photographer will share their insight on a specific subject that they are passionate about. At the end of their guest post, they will give away ONE 1-hour mentor session to a lucky reader! A mentor session is the perfect way for you to get one-on-one time with a photographer and ask questions, talk about business or have images critiqued. It is an extremely valuable way to learn!! Check back each day to see who the Guest Photographer/Seniorologist is and enter to win that day’s Mentor Giveaway! Make sure to enter each day because the giveaways will only last until 11:59 p.m. each night. But you can enter each day for a chance to win all FIVE! 🙂 See more details and what you have to do to enter below.
Today’s Guest Photographer/Seniorologist is Amii Wroblewski. Amii is a senior photographer in Dallas, Texas and has taught online classes, mentorships and at The Seniorologie Tour. Amii is a brilliant business woman and loves to share and help other photographers learn.
As a business owner, we sometimes have the seemingly hard task of walking a fine line between making our clients happy but also staying true to our business. While it can be hard to stand firm to our policies (or know when to be flexible), it really doesn’t need to be difficult! Business owners have policies in place to protect their business and to show clients what they can expect from them. It’s know wonder that I’m really saddened each and every time I see client issues pop up (and the things they do to make the clients walk away happy) since most issues I believe are a communication/expectation failure. I always hear unhappy stories from photographers saying “but the client might be good word of mouth” or “the client might buy my biggest package if I do X, Y, or Z”, etc. and yet I have to wonder whether pushing the boundaries for certain clients really results in big spenders or great word-of-mouth….I’m guessing it doesn’t for the most part. This “backward-bending” to please the client at all costs (because of a breakdown in communication or a failure to explain the process) can be detrimental to the future clients you attract and ultimately to your bottom-line. I am ALL for making my clients happy…so long as it is within the boundaries and expectations that I have given my clients.
We are business owners. We call the shots, make the rules, come up with guidelines and set our pricing. I would say that our ultimate goal as a business owner is to attract the type of clients that we want to work with (whatever that looks like…for me, I want to photograph senior girls). So what can we do to make the client experience amazing (and keep us from pulling our hair out)? We need to manage expectations…they are our boundaries and the basis for the policies we have in place. How do we do that? Well, you need to start educating your clients before they are your clients!
When a potential client calls, you need to let them know:
-How you run your business | “I’m a natural light, on-location photographer that specializes in senior girls. I like to do an in-person consultation to share my product offerings, answer any questions, go through the process, etc. I also do in-person ordering so that I can give you personalized service and help you through the ordering process.”
-What clients can expect | “My session fee includes a make-up artist, up to 2 hours of shooting, unlimited clothing changes – as long as it is within the 2 hours – but most clients find 4-6 outfits more than enough, etc.”
-What you expect from them | “The session fee must be paid in order to book a session, all paperwork must be faxed/emailed before the session, the ordering session will be the time that ALL decision-makers must be present and it’s the only time the images will be available for purchase.”
And the list can go on and on; however, I find I like to quickly and sweetly answer the “who, what, where, when, why, and how” about my policies/expectations to a potential client, whether it is on the phone or through email. I prefer the phone since you can gauge a person’s tone (and vice versa), immediately answer any questions, get to know the client (SO important) and most times you will book clients much more easily over the phone than through email.
When a client has decided they want to book me, I always email over all the paperwork (contract, questionaire, model release, etc.), my full price list if they haven’t already gotten it and I schedule an in-person consultation. At the consultation, I will go over expectations again (more in depth) and educate them on my products, my price list (I like to go over this in person before the actual shoot ession….I want to make sure they have seen the price list, had their questions answered, etc.) and I show them a previous client’s session. By showing a previous client’s session, my new client now knows what to expect at their ordering session! I go over outfit choices and
why it is so important. I go over how they need to prep for their make-up session and I always suggest getting their hair done if they choose not to let my makeup artist (who also styles hair) do that for them. I tell that all of this create’s an incredible senior experience…very few girls, let alone women, have had their hair professionally blown out and their makeup professionally applied!!!
At the beginning of the photo session, I let my girls know that they don’t need to worry about what to do that I will guide them every step of the way. If my directions on posing are unclear, I stand next to them and show them precisely what I’m talking about. Again, they know what to expect from me. At the end of the session, I always remind them about the ordering session that will be coming up.
Once the ordering session arrives, my job is pretty much over! I’ve educated my clients throughout the entire process and now they know what to expect (and they are so much more comfortable for it) at their ordering session.
Anyhow, I can go on and on and on but you must educate your clients on expectations. It really is the number one way to help alleviate so many client issues/problems. I had a fellow photographer that asked me recently if I EVER had a bad client experience and honestly it is RARE! If it is a less than stellar experience, I can always pinpoint where the communication breakdown is on my end. This isn’t to say that no matter how hard you try to educate, communicate and manage expectations with a client that their won’t be those few clients that just aren’t on the same page as you. But overall, if you do your part as the business owner, you will have an amazing client/photographer experience almost every single time
Amii is giving away ONE 1-hour Mentor Session where one lucky reader can discuss business policies and much more with Amii! Amii will answer your questions and help you in whatever area of your business you feel you need it! To enter for the chance to win this Mentor Session, please follow the rules below. All entries must be in by 11:59 p.m. tonight, August 26, Eastern Standard Time!!
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I am a huge fan of her work! I’d love to have a mentoring session with someone so amazing!
I would love to ask her how she gets such beautiful, natural poses from her clients. I’m a newbie and I always feel like I get stuck during a session after I run through my “go to” poses.
I also need advice on how to break into the senior market and get your business out there in front of the ideal client.
What a fantastic article and giveaway! As a longtime fan and borderline stalker of Amii I couldn’t love this more!! I would love to ask Amii about how she attracts new clients especially when she was starting out.
Thank you for this opportunity! I would ask Amii how she finds her clients, or how she did initially. I am just trying to break into the high school senior market, and I am hunting for new ways to market my business and find my ideal clients.
I love Amii’s clean style and would love to hear more about her business practices/consulation.
I would talk about Marketing and Product Sales
Thank you for the give away. I think I would ask Amii about marketing!
What a wonderful giveaway!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Seniorologie!
This would be an amazing prize! I love Amii’s work 🙂 She definitely inspires me to be a better business woman, mother, and photographer.
Great post! I took Amii’s online workshop last Fall and it was awesome. I think I would ask Amii about targeting my ideal client. Thanks Leslie and Amii for this awesome giveaway!
What a great opportunity~ thank you! I have so many questions… But I think the one that is most currently pressing in my business is products & pricing. Right now my set up is dismal – but I am booking clients – so I would like to maximize what I offer and my earning potential. Again – thank you!
I could REALLY use this! I LOVE your work! And only having been in business one year, I could really use some pointers!
I love Amii’s work! I would ask what she did to really get her name out there in the beginning and for sure would ask about posing. I feel like I’m always doing the same few!!
I would love Amii to give me any advice on how to set up senior collections and how to advertise and get the seniors in my door.
I would LOVE some time to pick Amii’s brain! Particularly about selling seniors on WHY they need a custom, amazing session and experience. In our area, senior pictures is just catching on as a tradition, and many seniors and parents just don’t quite understand why they would hire an independent professional after the yearbook photos are taken.
I’m so excited about this giveaway and it would just make my day if I would win this amazing chance to learn more from such a talented photographer as Amii Wroblewski. I have so many questions I don’t even know where to begin. LOL! I’m just starting out and need help with everything from getting my name out there and pricing to tips on posing and shooting. Keeping my fingers so crossed.:)
I would totally ask how you do find those awesome locations?! Do you scout on the weekends? Drop a pin? Ask for permission or just trespass?!
Would love to win a one on one mentoring session with Amii! I know I would walk away with so much knowledge on how to run my photography business efficiently and how to give my clients the best overall experience possible. I can’t wait to get started!
How do you prepare your seniors for their session? Do you provide them with written information or send them something electronically? Thank you so very much for this awesome giveaway!
I would definitely ask Amy about posing! She has such a wonderful natural way with it! <3
My question would be about posing too. How to get the seniors to realize the posing doesn’t look as unnatural as it feels sometimes.
I’d ask how to get the clients to relax and pose naturally as well as about her go to gear and post processing.
I would love to learn more about how you attract clients!
Would love to chit chat marketing!!! What an awesome giveaway!
I would love to know how to create great senior collections and how to break into that market in a brand new town! 🙂
I LOVE Amii’s work! She is such an inspiration. I would ask her about her marketing techniques, how she got started, questions about her post-processing routine/techniques, how to develop a brand – and I’m sure I’ll come up with a million more questions if I have the chance to be mentored by her!
Just starting out in the Senior world, I would love to discuss products/packages as well as marketing.
amii’s work is beautiful! i was lucky enough to work with her at a Seniorologie shootout earlier this year. would love to pick her brain some more. 🙂
i love your posing and editing and would love help with workflow, post processing!
I have only had a few seniors and absolutely loved it but don’t even know where to get started in marketing, what to offer, or how to really dive into the senior market. I would love to be able to chat with Miss Amii!!! Love her work!
I love Amii’s work and enjoyed this post!