This is Business

Your pre-photo-shoot checklist in four easy steps - Your First Customer Series, Part 6

(Click here to visit the summary post for the Your First Customer Series!)

Booked your first shoot? Pat yourself on the back; the hardest part is done.

Truly, there’s a reason why most successful photogs will tell you professional photography is 95% business and 5% photography. Getting clients in the door is the great challenge of any new business, artistic and service-based or otherwise.

So congratulations - with your first shoot on the books, it’s time to go down your pre-shoot checklist and make sure you’ve got all your waterfowl properly aligned. Nothing will make your first and forthcoming shoots go more smoothly and comfortably than a healthy dose of preparedness.

Step 1 - Confirm the shoot

Leading up to the date of your photo shoot, contact your client a few days before to thank them for their booking and confirm the date, time, location and meeting place for your shoot.

Answer any last-minute questions they may have about wardrobe or anything else.

Give them a weather update. Visit weatherunderground.com or a similar site to see what the forecast is for the day of your shoot. Have a bad weather back-up or rescheduling plan. Set the expectation that you want your client to have. For example, I tell my clients that if the weather gets iffy the day of the shoot, I’ll call them to confirm or reschedule the shoot that morning. Then I follow-through - not knowing what should happen or is happening is a big source of stress in any situation. Always work to dissipate the chance for such stress.

As I’ve said many times, your art takes time to grow, but you can provide attentive, fantastic customer service like this starting with your very first shoot.

Step 2 - Your “Plenty of Time” Checklist

Right after you confirm the shoot is on with your client, go through your first round of preparations:

• If you haven’t picked up your camera lately, do a dry run through all the gear you’ll be using. Pop in the battery, pop in the memory card, walk around and snap some photos. Plan on using an external flash? Load the batteries and snap some test shots. This is just to make sure all the gear you intend to use is in full working condition and working the way you want it to. If you’re going to have a problem, now’s the time to have it.
• Is anything not working? Do you have backups for crucial items like batteries and memory cards? Grab a third-party backup camera battery and a cheap 1GB memory card if that’s all you can afford, but try to always have a backup. Try to have a backup camera body if you can, even if it’s just a decent point and shoot or - if necessary - a decent camera phone.
• Day by day, stay abreast of the weather situation and forecast. Assuming at this point you are shooting outdoors with no off-camera flash or strobes, you’re at the mercy of Mother Nature. Respect her.
• If time permits, do a walk through of the location you’ll be shooting at during the time of day you’ve booked to shoot. Look for cool nooks and crannies to get fun photos in. Look for attractive and evenly-lit backgrounds and foregrounds. What exactly you’re looking for will change depending on whether you’re shooting a high school senior or a newborn or a family of four. But familiarity with your location before you’re there with clients will make the experience more fluid for them and you will be more confident throughout.
• If this is truly your first time with this kind of client or location (senior in a park, 50th wedding anniversary at a church, etc.), hit your favorite photography forum and post a request for some pointers and ideas. Fellow photographers are always a deep well of great experience and fresh perspectives. Ignore any discouraging bullbutter any grognards may heap your way, and take the good stuff to heart as you plan your shoot.
• Raid the ark of inspiration that is Flickr’s talented artists. Do a search for photography in the type of location you’ll be shooting at and with the kind of people you’re shooting, such as family portraits in the park, or high school senior photos at a junk yard. Take note of anything that inspires you - analyze what you like about your favorite images and solve the puzzle of figuring out how you can make those types of images happen on your shoot. Perfection is not required, just an idea of what you’re aiming for. Start building your shot list.
• Your shot list? Ahh, here’s one that some cocky starving artists don’t care for. That’s why the poor anemic things look like they’ve been living off two Starbucks lattes a day since they hit puberty. The shot list is good stuff, and unless you’re someone who can draw upon The Muse at will and MacGyver your way through a photo shoot with just a pinhole camera and your own force of will, said shot list will give you a big boost in confidence, flow, and most importantly, salable results.

In fact, let’s give The Shot List it’s own subhead:

Step 2.5 - The Shot List

Your shot list is a collection of images, ideas, and setups you want to work your way through on your forthcoming photo shoot.

In the beginning, your shot list may take the form of a scrapbook or folder with photos, notes, printed web pages, setup diagrams, and roughly illustrated concepts. As you grow as an artist, you’ll transition from a physical shot list to a purely mental one. With enough time and experience shooting all kinds of people, styles, locations and lighting, you’ll have enough swagger to let The Muse guide you through most shoots.

But for now, let’s assume that the second you shake your client’s hand, all your intensive research and creative inspiration will transmute to grass growing in bullet time. Honestly, that’s probably what will happen. Again, good preparation can diffuse this stressful problem before it starts.

Check out my article on the top 10 money-making outdoor photos of people for a strong jumpstart to your shot list.

What you want on your shot list are enough go-to resources to keep you flowing through your photo shoot when your brain quits on you. And you want enough variety to show your client a wide range of imagery during your sales session.

It’s easier to sell a client one image each of 20 different setups than to sell three images each of only six or seven setups.

Start with some easy setups; some simple, specific poses and places that let you get into your groove and to make your subject comfortable in front of the camera. If you’re shooting a senior near a swimming pool, don’t start with the cannonball drop into the drink. Give yourself and your client some easy stuff to start with so you can both get warmed up.

Add as much fun and artistic stuff to your shot list as you like. This is where you’ll begin to develop your personal artistic style, and experiment with new looks and feelings in your images. Have a solid set of salable images you know you can pull off - then, as time permits during your shoot, try out as much fun and experimental work as strikes your fancy.

You don’t have to go through your entire shot list on every shoot. But starting with a core set of images that let you make salable art with any client, then introducing some fun and artsy stuff with flavor and impact, you’ll be able to put together a robust set of proofs to show and sell.

Your client will very rarely buy every image you shoot. But you better your odds for a happy client and a bigger sale if you give them a smooth experience and lots of variety to choose from, both of which are a direct result of having a good shot list.

Preparation = confidence.

Step 3 - Your “Day Before The Shoot” Checklist

Now that you’ve got a good sense of who, what, and where you’re shooting, let’s get into the technical stuff you’ll want to check off your to-do list the day before your shoot.

• The obvious stuff: charge your batteries (both camera and flash if you use one); dump and clear memory cards; make sure your camera settings are about right for your shoot (TV mode is prepped at a fast enough shutter speed in case you start getting motion blur / camera shake, AV mode is prepped at a wide f-stop in case of low light, Manual mode is about where you think you’ll need to shoot, and your bloody ISO isn’t set to the noisiest-possible 1600 or H setting).
• Gather and pack your gear, including bodies, lenses, batteries, cards, flashes, tripod, backups, and anything else you need for your shoot. Try to get everything you need into one camera bag so that if you remember to bring anything, you’ll have everything.
• If you’re not too familiar with where you'll be shooting, have directions in hand from someone who knows or, preferably, Google Maps. Plug the address into your GPS. Know how long it should take you to get there - then allot an extra 15-30 minutes. If there’s any chance of traffic issues, allow even more extra time.
• Go back over your notes or e-mails from talking with your client and take heed of any specific requests or information they provide. If they “have to” get a family photo in their Texas Tech Red Raiders jerseys, by all means, write this down. Be sure to proactively remind your clients of this when you meet up - they will immediately appreciate that you remembered and that you're excited about making “their” photo.
• Check the weather yet again. If you may have to deal with light drizzle, intermittent cloud cover, overcast skies, or bold cloudless sunlight, you want to at least be solving those problems in your head the night before rather than the moment of your shoot.
• Watch what you eat. A worthy mantra for anyone trying to maintain their girlish figure, this advice will also keep your intestinal issues at bay the day of your shoot. Overeating or eating abrasive food is only going to exacerbate problems the next day when your nerves go straight to your stomach as you’re driving to your shoot. Eat light, drink lots of water, stick to fruits and veggies and salads that you know are easy on your system, and by all means, have a bottle of Pepto at the ready if you need it. (This is one of those “been there, done that” real world tips you just won’t find elsewhere - there’s no BS or pretense here, this site is about really helping you do your best as a part time photographer).
• Clean your gear. Whip out those microfiber cloths that come Free With Everything and give your lenses a good wipe down. Make sure your glass is clean and your camera body looks nice.
• Set your alarm. If you’re shooting early, set your bedside alarm. If later in the day, set an alarm on your phone with time to get your gear together and get on the road. Much as you have prepared for your shoot, the moment you sit down for a second in front of Call of Duty on the Xbox or David Hasselhoff on YouTube, you will lose track of time and only realize you’re late when the phone rings, it’s your client wondering where you are, and your heart drops out of your chest.
• Plan your wardrobe. Having checked out the weather for the next day, pick out what kind of professional-but-comfortably-artistic wardrobe you want to work your shoot in. Your wardrobe style should reflect your personal style and your artistic style. Some photographers belong in turtlenecks and scarves, others in jeans and T-shirts, still others in graphic T’s and khaki shorts. But guaranteed: if you don’t plan your shooting wardrobe, you’ll awaken to realize all your good clothes are in the hamper and either show up wearing a wool sweater and gym shorts or smelling like cheese.

Preparation = confidence!

Step 4 - F8 and Be There

If you’ve done your prep work - which despite the length of this article, should only take a couple of hours total - you can arrive at your shoot with time to spare and confidence oozing from every pore.

Or at least you won’t be hyperventilating and fighting to keep your breakfast down.

Your first time, as with a few other select experiences in life, won’t be your best. But there’s no reason you have to go into your shoot blind, deaf, and dumb. Take the small amount of time needed to give yourself the best odds at having a great shoot.

If you can show up with those ducks in a row, you’re honestly doing better than many paid professional photographers. What they lack in attention to detail, complacency brought on by arrogance and boredom, you can make up for in preparation and honest caring.

Art takes time, but providing the best experience you can for your clients starts right now, this very day.

The next articles in this series will walk you through a typical location portraiture shoot, your first sales session (in person or via online album), and how to follow through with a client to guarantee referrals and a customer for life.

Next Steps

• Now that you’ve read through this article, make your own personal pre-shoot checklist that touches on the above advice in brief. Single-sentence To-Do’s should keep you on track to make the most of your shoot.
• Make an inventory of all your shooting gear, piece by piece. Are you missing anything, specifically backups for crucial pieces of kit like batteries or memory cards? A spare of either costs about a tenth of what you’ll lose if you blow a shoot for lack of backup, and a hundredth of what you’ll lose long-term from looking like an unprepared amateur. If you have the coin, hit up Amazon.com or bhphotovideo.com and get a good faith set of backups for your primary gear, even if it’s the cheapest thing you can buy. I’d rather fall back on a children’s $50 Disney Digital Camera than nothing at all.
• Brainstorm session: What’s a quirk unique to you that could affect your ability to perform at your shoot? Irritable stomach? Profuse perspiration when nervous? Need Starbucks? Affirmations? Yoga? A jog? What should you add to your pre-shoot checklist that gives you, you personally, you specifically, the best chance at having an awesome photo shoot? File this in your Brainstorms folder (and add to your checklist!).
• PartTimePhoto.com exists to provide sound, real-world advice from one photographer to another, me to you. If you like what you read here, please don’t hesitate to click the free “Subscribe” link at the top of any page of this site.
• What’s one thing that you do to prepare for a shoot that’s unique to you? Did I miss anything in the above list? Leave a comment below or drop me an e-mail.

by Outlaw Photographer James Michael Taylor

How to prepare for your first photography client's call - Your First Customer Series, Part 5

(Click here to visit the summary post for the Your First Customer Series!)

So you've got your prices set, your most salable photos picked out and practiced, and your marketing has people talking about your business.

Then the unimaginable happens - someone actually contacts you to ask about your services! Life and small business ownership are sometimes truly unpredictable.

Make no mistake - if you are practicing your art and marketing your services to your target market, you will get clients a-callin'. Let's explore how we need to prepare for this momentous, and nerve-wracking, occasion.

Your first contact

Not unlike how scientists are prepared to communicate with alien races when they come to take away all our cattle and chocolate, you want to be ready to take the questions your potential clients may have when they call and turn them into answers, education, and bookings.

Answering the phone:

• Do: Smile (people really can hear it in your voice)
• Do: "Thank you for calling James Taylor Photography, this is James, how may I help you today?"
• Do not: "Hello?"

Nothing turns me off faster than when I call a business, especially a service-based business owned and operated by an individual, that answers the phone like I just interrupted their dinner. "Hello?"

Because then I have to sound stupid and ask, "Is this James Taylor Photography?"

To which they shall then eloquently reply, "Yeah."

I'm officially done. I no longer care about whatever I called to ask about. You've lost my business and I'll probably tell everyone I know.

As a part time photographer, your business phone is probably your personal cell phone - nothing wrong with that; that's how I've handled my business for many years. But unless you know for sure the person calling is a friend or family member, always answer with your professional intro and a smile. Begin every call by giving the right impression.

Be sure you know your business, policies, and prices. Be ready to answer questions broad and specific.

The first question most contacts will ask is, "What are your prices?"

At this point, don't become a smarmy, manipulative salesman. Grognards will tell you that the first thing you do when asked this question is to deflect and say, "Well our price depends on a number of factors. Tell me what kind of photos are you looking for?"

You know what? If I call someone and ask what their price is, and their response is to not tell me: yet again, instant turn off. Don't start trying to play Salesmanship 101 with me. Tell me what I want to know, then introduce your hook.

"I charge no session fee and have no minimum order, you just buy what you love. Prints and files start at just $10..."

...then, without pause, extend the conversation...

"What kind of photography are you looking for?"

If you follow my suggested pricing structure for freshly-minted professional photographers, it would take quite a cheapskate to balk at your prices. You don't want to flatline the conversation, though, by answering their question and leaving them to come up with a response. Warmly guide them into establishing a rapport and learn about their needs so you can better help them get what they are looking for.

Remember: In all acts as a small business owner, your goal is to help your clients. Approach all contacts as an opportunity to learn their needs and help meet those needs via the best experience to be had. It is most definitely not about manipulating and milking clients for all you can get out of them.

Be ready for anything

Be sure you are knowledgeable and confident about your business:

• When someone asks your price for a 16x20 print, know it. ("16x20's go for $80. Are you looking for some wall art to go over your fireplace?")
• When someone asks if you guarantee your products, know the answer. ("Any print or product you purchase from us is 100% satisfaction guaranteed. If you purchase a digital file from us, we will give you our recommended labs to get prints from, but of course we cannot guarantee someone else’s prints. That's one of the benefits of buying directly from us. Some clients simply prefer the convenience of knowing we are handling and guaranteeing their prints.")
• When someone asks if you're available this Thursday at 2 p.m. for an outdoor shoot, know your schedule. ("I do have an opening at 2 p.m., but the light is still pretty harsh at that time of day. I would suggest shooting closer to 5 p.m. so we can catch that lovely, soft evening light. Would that work for you?")
• When someone says they had a bad experience with another local photographer, know how to respond. ("I'm sorry to hear that shoot didn't work out for you! I've always heard good things about Jane Doe Photography. We have no session fees and no minimum orders, and we guarantee complete satisfaction with all our prints and products. Tell me what went wrong with your other shoot and I'll tell you how we will prevent those problems if you decide to work with us.")
• If someone asks you for anything outside of your limits, know how you'll respond and still help them. ("No, I'm sorry, we don't shoot on family holidays like Thanksgiving. Would the day before or after work? No? Hmm, let me call a couple of other photographers I know and see if they are open that day. Could I get your phone number and call you back in about 10 minutes?")

Whether you charge $10 or $100 for an 8x10, whether you never shoot on Sundays or every Sunday, make sure you know and are confident in your policies. Some fish will swim away, and that's perfectly fine. Even just starting out, you do not have to shoot for free or jump through hoops to build your business, and you never, ever have to suffer insufferable clients. Have the confidence to say, "I don't think we are the right match for what you need, but let me recommend a couple of other local photographers I have worked with that may better be able to help you."

Answer client questions directly and honestly. If you don't know how to do something they need, or if you feel they need someone with more or different experience, don't be afraid to tell them so. Don't be afraid to tell folks that you are new to professional photography, that that is why you are such a good value, and why you're ready to work hard to ensure they have the best experience possible.

And be ready to refer out: as someone just getting started in part time professional portrait photography, taking on a big commercial contract for an architectural firm is asking for a mountain of stress and one ticked off client.

Booking the shoot

When you feel like you've answered your caller's questions and fairly educated them to your prices and policies, go ahead and ask for the booking.

"I have an opening this Friday at 6 p.m. Would that work for you guys?"

Put the ball in their court. Try to get a firm booking from them, but if they have to talk to a spouse or check their schedule, make sure their impression of you is a good one. Starting out, sometimes enthusiasm is all you’ve got - but that enthusiasm and attention can be big sellers to potential clients. They will expect, and receive, a better experience than a much larger, pick-a-number studio may provide.

If your art isn’t to the point of enamoring clients, make sure the experience you give them leaves them enamored with you as a person, photographer, and business.

When finalizing the booking, be sure to:

• Ask for the client’s phone number so you can call to confirm the shoot the week or day before the booked date (and to get a hold of them if something comes up on your end - when I came down with swine flu this year, I had to make quite a few phone calls).
• Ask for their e-mail address so you can send over a Session Prep Cheat Sheet (I’ll write about this in a future article). Ask if you can also add their address to your e-mail newsletter list. If newsletter subscribers get a little bonus like a free digital file or 8x10 with their first shoot (and they should!), be sure to mention this when asking their permission to add their address to your mailing list.
• Repeat the date and time back to them one last time. “This sounds great! I’m very excited to shoot with you guys. I’ve got you down for Sunday, Dec. 20, 5 p.m. at the City Park. We will see you then!”
• As soon as you hang up the phone - before, if you’re good at multitasking - get that booking on your own calendar in full detail. Be sure to include all the details of your conversation, your client’s needs and expectations, and their contact information. I use Microsoft Outlook, and put all this information right into the calendar; this way, when I sync my iPhone, I always have everything I need at my fingertips.
• If you said you would send a follow-up e-mail with that cheat sheet or any other information, do so immediately.

So you’ve booked your first honest client! Not your sister, or your best friend, or your coworker - your first client to learn of your business from an outside source and proactively contact you to set up a shoot. Congratulations!

Preparation is key - I’d rather be ready than lucky any day.

The next three articles will close this series with how to prepare for and perform your shoot, how to make the most of your sales session, and how to follow-up with your client.

Thank you to all those readers who have visited and referred their friends and fellow photographers to this site over the past few months. It’s been great reading your comments and sharing encouragement with one another!

Next Steps

• Review your prices, products, and policies - daily - until they are second nature to you. When a potential client calls, you want to be confident in answering their questions. Feel free to have mock conversations with family or friends, or by yourself - remember, practice how you will perform.
• Call around to your local competition. Don’t be shy in playing the part of a consumer and seeing how they respond to your questions. See if they use a soft or hard sell, see if they treat you with respect and answer your questions clearly, see what their demeanor is like on the phone. Refine the experience you provide your potential clients on the phone to meet or beat their best.
• Brainstorm session: Do you feel prepared to answer the phone when a potential client calls? What can you do to make sure you can speak with confidence and answer potential questions and curveballs? File this in your Brainstorms folder.
• Encouraging, educating, entertaining, empowering content is the bread and butter of this blog. If you like what you’ve read today, please don’t hesitate to click the “Subscribe” link at the top of any page of this site.
• What do you to prepare for incoming phone calls? What phrases and methods have helped you up your bookings over the phone? Leave a comment below, e-mail me, or call or text me at 830-688-1564.

by Outlaw Photographer James Michael Taylor