Today begins a series from one of our Conference 12 speakers, Olivia Renee.  Olivia runs a successful senior portrait business in Portland, Oregon and is known for her incredibly successful senior rep program.  As a preview of what you could learn from her class at Conference 12, I asked her to write a series of blog posts.  Check out the first of six all having to do with rep programs!  Thanks for sharing Olivia!!  And if you would like to join us in Scottsdale, Arizona October 22-25, 2015 for an amazing conference experience, check out www.conference12.com.  There are only a small amount of spots left before we are completely sold out!!

Ask Better Questions

When you start accepting applications for your Senior Models, what kind of questions are you asking? Asking better questions on your application will help you to find the best Senior Models for your business.

I think the most important question you can put on your Senior Model application is “Why do you want to be a Senior Model?”. Applicants who give a brief and unimaginative answer (ex: “It would be fun!”) might not be that committed to your program or know what they are signing up for. “I want to be a model” is an answer that is coming from a girl who probably cares more about getting photos for her future portfolio than she does about representing you. The biggest red flag is any applicant who says they are in it for free pictures or a discount or some other money related perk you include in your program. I would never choose someone who said they wanted to be a Senior Model for the cheap photos, they wouldn’t be committed to your studio, just to getting something for free.

In that question you can also find out which applicants would make EXCELLENT representatives. Those are the girls who go on for a paragraph about how excited they are to represent you. They know all of the great perks of being a representative for you and are dying to do it. Choose them!

This is also a great opportunity to see which applicants know about your brand and are already excited about getting their senior portraits with you regardless! The applicants who already know why you are the best make the BEST Senior Models!

Stay tuned for the next part of the Senior Rep Program process next month, The Interview!!