Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] You're listening to Sustainable Photography. I'm Ingrid Colness, and this is episode 162.
[00:00:08] I'm planning on making this podcast a seasonal podcast, so there might be a bit of a gap at some point, but I'm really excited about that. I think that is good. And it's nice to try something new, which I hope you do too, sometimes. And in a way that kind of fits in with what we're talking about today, because we might experience a bit of a slow season, feel a bit discouraged, and trying something new can be a great strategy to deal with that. Sometimes I get DMs from photographers telling me that they're not booking as much as they want to. And that's why I can say that if you're feeling like that sometimes too, you are definitely not alone. And, of course, I've felt that way many times myself. It's completely normal. It's. I would say it's also part of having a creative business for most of us because we don't work with hundreds and hundreds of people every year.
[00:01:14] Most of us work with a few handfuls of people, so we don't need hundreds and thousands of inquiries. So, of course it will fluctuate when people get in touch, when they need or want our services. It's completely normal.
[00:01:33] Sometimes it's seasonal, like if you're a wedding photographer, you might know when to expect bookings, and other times you might not expect it. It just might get quiet.
[00:01:48] And actually, I would love to know when the last time you had a slow season was and how it made you feel.
[00:01:58] You can DM me on Instagram. You'll find me at Ingville Kolness. That's ingv I L D K O L N E S Sometimes when it happens, when things are feeling slow, that no one wants to book you, that your prices are too high. Because that's always where my go first, isn't it? Well, my prices are too high. It's my prices. But I think knowing that this happens to everyone and you should expect it might help.
[00:02:26] I also hope that when you do have a slower season, that you can see it as an opportunity, an opportunity to try new things, an opportunity to take some time off, an opportunity to improve things behind the scenes, to plan out your marketing, to plan out your year, to set new goals and to grow. And I also know that for many photographers, when the quiet season hits, it becomes very demotivating. It becomes like, why am I doing this? No one wants to book me. I don't know what I'M doing, my prices are too high. It's not going to work.
[00:03:05] And I just think it's really important to know that, that if you're always relying on your motivation to be there, to be on top, then you're probably going to struggle a lot. But if you create a plan, if you create tasks for yourself, if you know what to do, if bookings aren't coming in all the time, then I think you're going to be so much better off.
[00:03:33] And to kind of get up and go to work regardless of how you feel can be a good strategy for some of us.
[00:03:44] I'm definitely not saying don't take time off. Take a lot of time off for sure, but don't always rely on wanting to do the tasks and wanting to work even when there's not a client standing over you. You have to keep your business afloat. That is really, really important.
[00:04:05] But in terms of the practical stuff, what you can do when you're not really getting any bookings, I would definitely work on refreshing your website, your portfolio, posting on social media. A lot of times I hear that, oh, but I've posted everything already. But you can post things again. You can post similar photos, you can post it in a new way, you can post reviews and behind the scenes and work that you did three years ago, it's completely fine. No one has seen everything you've done anyway. And I don't know how many times I've posted old stuff that I felt was like really obvious that I wasn't doing it at that time. And people are telling me like, oh, I saw you travel to this place or I saw you just did this work and it's like, what? That was years ago. I'm just reposting it.
[00:04:57] So you, you don't know how other people see it. And just remember, you are not posting for your old clients. You're posting for your other photographer colleague friends. You're posting for new clients, people who either haven't found you before or haven't been ready to book. You have to be posting to be top of mind.
[00:05:21] If you don't have reviews from clients, you need to reach out because those things that past clients have told you that needs to be shown to new clients, to potential clients on your website, on your social media. It's really important.
[00:05:39] Sometimes when photographers want to get booked, they spend a lot of time posting offers like mini sessions and good deals and discounts and all the things, and they often get booked doing it.
[00:05:56] But what if you would spend that same amount of Time posting without there being a discount involved, without there being a special offer where you don't make as much money because oftentimes it's easier or it feels easier to post when there's potential for clients to save money. But I am sure that if you spend the same amount of energy posting without focusing on saving money, that you would still get bookings and you would need fewer bookings because you would make more per session.
[00:06:35] Other times it might be right to do a promotion, but I would urge you not to do monetary discount or anything like that, but instead maybe offer something you don't normally do or maybe add something extra on, but stick to your prices. I also want to urge you to connect with other photographers and other creatives, do projects together, just brainstorm and see what you can do. If you can come up with something new and fun, you can do, go to events and workshops, do more stuff, more creative things. Get more input from people about what you can do to to get back into the flow. Because oftentimes when we're not getting as many inquiries, it's because we are quieter. We are not showcasing our work in the same way. Maybe we are getting a bit bored. So kind of fueling that creative creativity can mean such a big difference.
[00:07:36] The slow season can also be a great time to follow up with inquiries, to follow up with past clients and see if they want to book again. Maybe you can spend some time automating or streamlining your systems and your, your booking process, your workflows. All of that stuff is going to save you a lot of time and energy when things get busier.
[00:08:01] Because that's actually one of the most important things, that you don't lose faith and you don't give up. As soon as you give up, then that's it. You decide when it when it's not working anymore. And as long as you haven't decided that as long as you keep going, then it's fine, it's going to pick back up. But you have to do the work. You can't expect someone to find you if you're not doing anything about it.
[00:08:30] And you have to stop, please, you have to stop looking at other photographers on Instagram and believe them when they're saying that they're fully booked. And even if it's true that they're fully booked, it has nothing to do with you. You just stay in your lane and do what you do best and don't even worry about what happens to other photographers. You're you and your business should be the only One that matters to you. Gather all the inspiration you need from, from being on social media, but definitely close your eyes to other people's business for the future.
[00:09:14] I would definitely set up some kind of a financial buffer for the slow seasons. Make sure that you don't pay yourself more than what you think you can do for the year as a whole. Instead of just paying yourself a lot in the busy seasons and then nothing in the slow seasons. And when you start paying attention to when the slower seasons might hit, then you can be proactive and do more marketing ahead of those times so that you get more work when you need it.
[00:09:46] Remember that a lot of marketing like blogging and building out your website are longer term strategies than just posting on Instagram. And you want to probably have a bit of both. You want to have some long term strategies that don't require as much of you. And then you can kind of sprinkle on some short term stuff like boosting some posts or even posting on social media or doing Google Ads. There's so much you can do depending on what you need. Just remember that we all have slow seasons. It's completely fine, it's completely normal, and it does not define you as a photographer. It's just part of how it works.
[00:10:31] I also want to give you a challenge. I want you to pick one thing that you can do right now to boost how you're feeling or to boost your marketing and then to act on it. So if you're listening to this and you're thinking, okay, I guess it's not that strange that I'm not getting any bookings. I haven't posted on Instagram for a month and that's usually how I get my bookings. Then I want you to post on Instagram like every day for a week. If you are feeling a bit stuck and you don't know what to do and you're feeling a bit defeated and maybe even bored, I want you to get in touch with a photographer friend or another creative friend and do something fun together. You pick what you want to do, but I love to know what you've decided to do. So DM me on Instagram. You'll find me Nguylkolness. That's INGV I L D K O L N E S and let me know. And I'd love to know how it worked for you as well. You'll hear from me again next week. But just wanted to remind you that this podcast is moving away from a serial format to a seasonal format, meaning that there might be a gap in the podcast at some point, and if you want to learn from me now or later, definitely reach out to me. You can find all the links in the show notes, but I'd love to help you out. So let me know what you need help with and we can talk some more. See you next week.
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