101: The Six-Week Booking Sprint for Spring

90 Minute Marketing Intensive

I lay out a six-week booking sprint for family photographers who look at their spring calendar and feel that sinking “uh oh” moment. We also dig into the debate about showing kids’ faces online and why fear-based, black-and-white rules can hurt photographers and families when the real issue is nuance and privacy.
• spring booking sprint built around visibility, trust, and ease of booking
• why we avoid rebranding, website overhauls, and portfolio spirals during slow season
• the kids’ faces online debate, AI fears, and the difference between identity-based exposure and anonymous portfolio work
• one offer only and one clear booking path to reduce confusion and increase conversions
• week one foundation: clear page, simple pricing, examples, and fast inquiry replies
• week two visibility push with local tags, storytelling, and direct invites to book
• week three trust builders: testimonials, FAQs, and a simple booking walk-through video
• week four urgency: scarcity language, availability posts, and reminders without shame
• week five follow-up: tracking leads and converting fence sitters
• week six evaluate: double down on what works, pivot if needed, keep momentum
If you need help with this, you can join the membership. If you want to get my eyes on your business to help you decide what that offer and that booking path will be, you can book a one-on-one intensive.

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Transcript

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Late Start And Real Life

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello everyone. Sorry I'm one day late. I push my whole week back one day because I was watching my baby niece on Monday morning. So then I pushed my marketing to Tuesday morning. So then that pushed the podcast to

The Six-Week Booking Sprint

SPEAKER_00 0:13

today. Okay, so this episode is called the six-week booking sprint. And I really want this episode to be for people who are looking at their spring calendar and they're like, ooh, ooh, no. Okay. Relatable situation. I would say that the majority of family photographers I work with are in this position. Um, and I want that to be known and clear. Even people who have a lot of followers, even people who post a lot. Um, everyone is in this struggle bus because we have a couple things going on with just the economy and um the war. Just no limit of things that are distracting people and making family photographers feel a little bit insecure about uh their marketing.

Kids Faces Online Needs Nuance

SPEAKER_00 1:06

One thing I want to touch on that is also controversial because I just always want to kind of I just suss out my own opinion on things and then try to formulate how I really think um myself with with the reality instead of um sort of falling in line because of fear. And so this issue, I kind of for the first time really this week started talking a little bit more publicly about it. This idea of the history of this movement, I call it a movement because that's what it feels like it is, that started kind of in the TikTok world where you had influencers who were showcasing every detail of their kids' lives, putting their kids, I mean, any intimate moment, every um like their punishments, their happy moments, every single moment of a child's life up for consumption, of course, attached to that child's identity. And so there's a lot of pushback about this because of AI and just sort of this nefarious threat of exposure of these kids, right? Um, and somehow that has trickled down into our world to where it is now becoming almost an expectation that you that children's faces are to never be seen. And this came up on a forum post, and I I just um how my brain works, like when something like that happens, first of all, that is a that has a huge massive effect on our industry, and the fact that um that that part is kind of brushed under the rug, and I see people already popping out of the woodwork and trying to be like, I'll show you the way to build this type of business. And so, first of all, every photographer's choice, no matter how you handle this issue, is valid. So you are allowed to choose to do whatever you want with your business. Um, but I don't love the holier than thou sort of if you, if I as a photography business, um are still showing children's faces, if you if that becomes something that I'm judged for or ashamed for. And the reason that I think that this conversation is nuanced and not black and white, is because the way, going back to the way my brain thinks, I think like, okay, let's take the thought of children should never be seen on the internet, which is what it feels like. The the push is because if if I who don't I don't tag my clients, I don't use client file names like in their I don't use their name in the file name. So the idea is like the kids who end up on my photography account are just random kids. They're not, I'm not saying this is Johnny Smith. He lives in Seattle. Do you know what I mean? So like the identity is not attached. So that's where for the influencer, the identity is attached, or you personally sharing your own kids online, whether whatever you choose to do there, your identity is attached to those photos. So it's comparing two things to me that are pretty different. Um, and somehow it watered down into now we can't see children, like no children should be seen at all. Okay, so my brain thinks like, well, what does that look like then if we're not allowed to ever see children's faces? Because if if you're gonna make a make it black and white and it's not nuanced, then that's what you're looking at. Um, so like for example, this weekend I partnered with a kids modeling agency and in a kids' clothing boutique um for a shoot in my studio. So according to this black and white philosophy or movement, this kids' modeling agency shouldn't be seen. And so I was talking to her about that, and she was like, Well, uh, brands, if they don't use uh if they use faceless images of children, then that work, because it is it is work, kids who are in, who are actors, who are singers, who are in plays, all of those things, like obviously the community play is something different, but there are children who are paid for their work in advertising. They do not get paid anything really if they're if it's not a f their face, because that is the thing that is unique and that's what draws people into the image, right? If it's just uh the back of a child's head, you can still showcase clothes. Um, you can showcase the back of clothes or the side of clothes, but it's but I think it's kind of we're not really thinking about it in a nuanced way. Um, what does that mean for a child who is is in a community play and they put out like to I was in Starbucks the other day and there's they're putting on the cat the play of Frozen. And so they had on the community board this photo of the cast. Is that are we saying that like that is also included? So it's that type of thing that I want I want it to be a nuanced discussion for me. Sorry, my phone's beeping. For me, it feels like we okay, so this is a hard conversation to have because I know that some of you were already disagreeing with me, and it's okay. I want I want you to know that like I'm a person who is very comfortable with people being uncomfortable with things that I say. I am out there with a lot of my beliefs, I'm very centered. So it took a while for me to look at this objectively and make a decision. So for me, one, I feel like it's just a fear-based movement where it's like this nefarious threat is out there and it's searching for children's faces. And I get that, I understand that. However, any AI can create an image of any child of made up of its own robotic brain in five seconds. I did it in Chat GPT because I was like, let's see what it comes up with. So I said, Can you create a realistic photo of a child? And it created this very realistic photo of this little blonde child. Um, so AI or someone using a photo of my client running around on a mountaintop using that child's face, I feel like that risk is low compared to the societal change of never seeing children. And then because I know we're in a patriarchy, I get nervous of how close that is to the line of well, let's not let's not see children then. Let's not ever see them. And who's with children? Let's keep all the children out, let's keep them safe. So we're trading safety for freedom, which is always like a very tricky balance, right? Because you're like, if you want to keep a child 100% safe, then you better move to the middle of the woods. And even then, you're risking their brain not properly developing because of lack of social interaction. So it's almost impossible to reach full safety. Um, but we've decided that this is a black and white, this is the way we do it thing without really thinking in a nuanced way about it. And so I'm always when when you have what the fear is, what the fear of, so then anyway, going back to this thread, there was a person who works in cybersecurity, and she was like, the danger is tying your child's image to your identity and giving details about that child, where they go to school, what their schedule is, um, where they are living, when you're going on vacation, those are actual true threats. But somehow those things have morphed into children can never be seen. So, according to this black and white movement, these children that are in the play frozen, for the play poster, all their pay all their faces should be blurred. So I just want I want the conversation to be nuanced. Um, I get very uncomfortable when there is a black and white judgment, and I I feel this from some photographers. And if you're in this, if you're in this camp and you are truly terrified of this issue, like it really terrifies you, I understand, but you cannot make it so that you are throwing other photographers into a black and white bucket when the issue is nuanced. So I've I I have a good friend in the photography industry that I probably talk to the most, and we've been chatting back and forth with this, and we've been watching it kind of evolve. And like, for example, I did one of my winter beach sessions beach sessions, and one of my favorite images is like the brother, it's a brother-sister sibling duo, and the mom said that they're not like that snugly together, right? So, like, I got this picture of him coming up and hugging her from behind, and it was like really cute and snugly. And so that is my expertise being shown in my portfolio. Like, I part of my expertise is getting kids to play games and relax enough for that emotion to be seen. So, the alternative for me, if if this is your black and white rule now for the world of family photography, is I is like that part of my expertise can't be shown very well. And of course, there's ways to show faceless images, and I've seen photographers who are like blurring out faces or putting color over faces. Um, and I just want I want us to all just take a breath for a second. And if you're again, if you're like Fiona, you're you're wrong on this, then it's okay because I actually I feel I I consider myself a highly critical thinker. I'm I'm not, you will never find me as someone who learns about something, someone tells me this is the black and white way it has to be, and I say, Okay, sounds good, I'll fall in line. That's just not how my brain has ever worked. That's why I got kicked out of a religious camp when I was seven, because I was like, Wait, what? What's the what are we talking about here? And they're like, No, you have to leave. So that's my brain. And and I feel like I'm very kind and I'm very open, and I've had a million hard discussions with people, and I'm not as scared of a black and white judgment um confronting it when I think it needs to be a nuanced discussion. And that's true for like many, many issues. So sorry, that was a complete side rant, but it's been weighing on me, and I wanted to let my position um be known because I feel like right now a lot of photographers are really confused and they're feeling judged and they're feeling like they're doing something wrong. Um, and if we look at the picture as a broad, if we if you want to make it black and white, if someone out there wants to make it black and white, then child actors can't exist anymore. Like that's just the bottom line of the issue. Like if you're saying that means that if there was a a child in my town who wrote an amazing poem at age seven, we can never see her. So I like she could never be interviewed. So I just want it to, I'd want it to be brought out of the black and white, which is usually hardly anything in this world is black and white because there's a million different thoughts and there's a million different ways people are thinking about things, and there's a million different backgrounds that people have, right? So I just want everyone to take a breath. And if you're someone who is deciding that it's uh gonna feel really good for you to be like, I'm on the right side of this black and white issue, and I'm gonna shame other photographers who haven't joined me on the side that I want them on, please stop because it's not helpful. Um, we don't want to arrive at massive industry-changing decisions out of fear and judgment. Instead, it needs to be nuanced personal decisions. There are going to be photographers who run their businesses as faceless and they're going to attract people who have a like-minded viewpoint. And those people will be fine. And then there are photographers like me who, in in on in in my honest heart, the thought of my job turning into something where every single beautiful image that I've created of a family has a blurred-out child, that feels like literally dystopian to me. And I'm not quite interested in that. And it's not because I it's not because of my own ego, but it is because like I need to be able to showcase the emotion that I capture in families. That is part of my brand. Um, and yes, I could, I could, you know, then it gets to this conver like crazy conversation that I've seen it go to where I someone said, like, yeah, I really want to still be able to showcase um that. So I've been using model call families that are still open to having their kids' faces shown. And then I've seen photographers say, even that is wrong. You're doing it wrong, it's black and white. And I just it makes me feel I just hate that. I hate the black and white judgment. It's a nuanced conversation. Just because you as a photographer have decided that it makes you nervous, that is a personal decision. And you do not get to decide for every single family photographer because AI is possibly going to take that image and use it. And in if you want, if you if that's if it's truly black and white, then I hope there's a way you're hiding from every camera that exists in the world. I hope that you know, when when you're out and there's a million eyes on you that are digital, I just feel like it's a tough conversation. So I wanted to say how I feel about it. I feel like it's it's um fear-based, it's and and black and white when in fact it's nuanced. So that's I just took up a bunch of time ranting about this, but I have had quite a few questions come up about it. I've been nervous to say how I feel because this judgment that is coming from the black and white decision people is harsh and unkind. And it's very, very like you are doing this wrong. Um, and I can't really conceptualize um how the conversation went from like, for example, I get really uncomfortable. I just saw a video like this on TikTok where there was a child and she had been bullying kids at school, and the dad went wearing metaglasses to pick her up from school and filmed the meeting with the principal about her his daughter bullying these kids, and then them leaving, and she was crying, and and then he he kept it was like a whole series with his daughter's name and face shown in this series about how she's a bully. Extremely damaging. Nobody can say that that is that like that is not the same as a family snuggling on a beach that is completely unidentified. So anyway, I just just rant. I'm I'm being brave and saying how I feel, and you know, you can send me hate mail and I'm just gonna talk to you about it. Like, I'm not gonna buy into the black and white, and I'm not into shaming. I'm not into shaming when it's not a clear, like, yes, shame that father. If you want to get your shame pants on, put your put your shame towards families who exploit their known child's identities, lives for profit. That is not this. So, anyway, that's how

One Offer One Booking Path

SPEAKER_00 16:52

I feel about it. Back to the six-week, back to the six-week bookings, brand. Okay, so here you are, you've looked at your calendar, you're like, oh my gosh, I don't have a lot booked. What am I gonna do? This is what I would do. First of all, here's what you're not gonna do. You're not rebranding. Okay, you're not like, you know what I need? I need a better logo. No, we're not doing that. You're not doing a full website overhaul. You're not saying like everything from the core of who I am needs to change right now. Okay, so here are kind of the rules for this marketing sprint. So, what it is is one offer only, one clear booking path. Because I keep talking about this in the membership and on my one-on-ones, and it's clear that the majority of family photographers, minus a few that I've talked to that are uh like marketing machines, like they're like, I tried this, I tried this, it was great, I ran an ad. I'm doing in-person marketing. I'm like, I'm like, okay, you're like the 2%, but the vast majority of family photographers can't handle much more than one offer and one booking path. So in this particular sprint, we're not overthinking branding, like I said, we're not overthinking gear, and we're not overthinking our portfolios. So you're not saying like the reason my spring it doesn't have enough bookings is because I'm not editing my grains correctly. Okay, we're not doing that because we don't have the we don't have the bandwidth to take that on in turn in in addition to everything else. So the the goal here is visibility, trust, and ease of booking. That's what we're going for. Those three things. People to see us, we want people to trust us, we want people to book us. That's like the booking path. For the majority of the last session I booked, it was a woman. She wrote in, she said, I have extended family coming into town. We would love to do a session with you. I don't normally do extended family unless it's in like a slower season, which spring is for me. So I said, sweet. She said the day they're in town. So I immediately created dates on my calendar on my online booking for her. And I added three possible morning slots in there: seven, eight, and nine. It was a morning session. And I said, I would love to do this, sounds so fun. This is my extended family rate. I created an I created the on your the day you want, I added three different possible start times so you can talk to everyone and see what works best according. We want to stay in the morning so we can get better light. I can help with styling after you book. Let me know if you have any other questions. She I I always respond to my inquiries right away. If you're getting this advice that you should wait to like make people think you're cool, um, no. Rope respond as fast as possible, especially in slow season. Okay, so if you're in slower season, you better be on it because there's a chance she sent that same email to three other photographers. So this booking sounds fun. She said, I love your playful vibe. So I'm like, okay, we're on the same path here. I don't want an extended family where they're expecting superposed portraits. She immediately let me know that was not them. So sent her back that email. She said, Great, let me talk to everybody about the time that works. I woke up this morning, they had booked online. So what happened there? Visibility. She found me, I'm guessing, on Google or maybe from a friend. Trust. She went to my website. They wanted playful photos. Guess what's on my website? Super playful photos. And bam, she she wasn't sure if I did extended family, because I don't explicitly say it, reached out to me. I said, I'll create an appointment. You can book when you're ready. And she did. That's what we want. Okay. So it none of that included me going on to my website and creating an extended families page and deciding I'm going to now rebrand to extended families. This is just my effort that was put in made it easy for her. Okay, so you're not trying to do everything. You're not trying to change everything, you're not trying to re-rehaul the whole system. You're just creating momentum and visibility around one focus offer. That is your job for the next six weeks. So, first thing you got to do is choose what the offer is: spring family sessions, in-home newborn sessions, spring studio minutes, minis, last-minute summer sessions, last-minute spring sessions, whatever it is, pick it. Pick the thing. And the thing is, is like you will never know what it will look like if you had picked a different thing. So you never will know that. So you can just pick the thing you want that sounds the most fun to market and go with it. Like just make a decision. Do not spend 10 hours swirling around in this decision. Just pick something and go. Define who it's for, what it is, and when it is. So those are easy problems to solve. Spring sessions in these locations on these dates. That's what it is. If we can hold the thing in our hand, it would look like a little swirling ball of spring sessions for families on these dates at these locations. So we can now throw it at someone because it's like a con it's like a thing. It's like a uh you wish you could see what I'm doing with my hand. I'm making like a claw. Okay. So if someone landed on your page after you've made this decision on your website or your Instagram, would they immediately know what this offer was and how to book it? If you listen to the Spring Marketing Reviews, you would know that the resounding answer to that is most likely not, because that was. The case. Okay, so week one, we're gonna go week

Week One Build Booking Foundation

SPEAKER_00 22:03

by week here. Build the booking foundation. So make it easy to say yes. Clear headline with the location and the offer. What is it? Who's it for? Where is it taking place? Have simple pricing for this. Just if you have complicated pricing, no, you don't for the next six weeks just for this one thing. This is a holy poo, we gotta get stuff booked situation. Okay, so we're not creating complication, even if you have complication in your other in your other offers. We're this is a test, this is a marketing test. So we're doing simple pricing. You're gonna let people know on the info page you needed their info page or a blog post about just this offer, exactly what to expect, exactly how you're gonna help them. If you have examples, photos, obviously we want those in there. And then it's going to have a way to easily get on the calendar. So you're going to create content in week one that introduces the offer, explains the experience, and then posts, reels, or blog posts, however you're marketing, whatever the marketing channel that you've decided that shows behind the seas behind the scenes past sessions, and you'll be sending in this week an email to your past clients that says, I'm opening spots for a special offer, that type of like we want a little bit of salesy language in there. You can't just be like, Hi, I hope you like me. Like you need to use a little bit of salesy language in these emails because this is your this is your shot. This is your spring shot. Like you are putting a lot of effort into this. We are not tweaking fonts, galleries, logos, stuff. Just make a clear page. You know how to write a good blog post, you know how to write an info page. If you want an example of an info page, I have info pages for all of my sessions on my website. You are welcome to look at them.

Week Two Visibility And Local SEO

SPEAKER_00 23:49

Week two is the visibility push. So the goal is to get these sessions seen locally. So we're gonna do a day in the life, we're gonna do a come with me, we're gonna have a storytelling moment, and we're gonna have a direct invitation to book in whatever marketing you're doing. The marketing is gonna focus on what families might worry about, what the session feels like, what they can do with the photos, anything that is in the realm of this offer. We're going to use location tags intentionally. We're going to tag and mention specific neighborhoods, parks, local lifestyle details that tie our marketing to our town. The email that goes out this week could be like, here's what this session looks like. Super simple. Posting pretty photos without context or invitation to book is not the plan. This is a sales system, a little six-week sales system

Week Three Trust With Testimonials

SPEAKER_00 24:44

we're doing, okay? Week three, we're building trust, so we're moving hesitation. So this year, content focus on testimonials, another what to expect, common concerns, a personalized short video of you walking through, like a good video to do would be you making a video. Like you can go on to social media. I never see people do green screen videos through their booking process, but it's uh but it's really helpful. So you could use a green screen video. If you don't know how to do that, you go to like I always make my videos and edits, but Cap Cuts, same thing. People get confused on how to do a green screen. But what you do is you open up the camera, not the gallery. You open up the camera first, there's just your face and regular background, and then there's a green screen button. You click the green screen button, and then you can, if you've done a little video of you just scrolling through your page, through the info page, and then how to book, you just have your face there explaining the process. That is a very helpful video that I hardly see anyone doing. You can also do a loom video of you walking through this offer as compared to other offers. There's a million things you can do. That's this is the week three, is we're trying to build local trust. So you're answering FAQs, you're sharing client experiences. The email that could go out this week would be what families have said after their photography session with me. And then you're showcasing testimonials. Okay, so you're saying, like, look, these people like me, you should like me too. We're again, we're we're doing a little bit of salesy stuff here. We're not just, you know, sitting there in the corner looking cute, hoping people look at us. We are trying to get people to look at what

Week Four Create Booking Urgency

SPEAKER_00 26:14

we're doing. Week four, creating urgency. We're trying to move people from thinking to booking. So we're using a little bit of scarcity language. We only have this many spots. A calendar, visual or availability post, a reminder carousel, daily story updates. These this is what this takes. If you are not where you want to be booking-wise, this is what it looks like. Spots are filling, last call for this month. If you need to add a small incentive that won't cause you resentment, we're not gonna waste too much time thinking that people already know what we're doing. They do not know. And they are if they have seen it, they've seen it once. So you're not annoying, and we're not gonna get caught up in the tornado of I'm annoying, my voice is annoying, my face is annoying, my body is annoying, my stop. You are magic, just

Week Five Nurture And Follow Up

SPEAKER_00 27:03

own it. Week five, nurture and follow-up. You're going to try. This is your goal in this week, trying to convert those fence sitters. So you're following up with past inquiries, you're all throughout this whole process, you need to be tracking any interest and leads. So have like a Google spreadsheet or even a journal entry page. And if someone was like, Oh my gosh, these are so cute, or I would love to do this, you're tracking those people. So you can so in week five, you can follow up with them. Email subscribers, you're following up with anyone who replied, anyone who replied to stories, anyone who comment on the post, you're just like, Hey, I saw you commented. Okay, does this take some bravery? Yes, but this is your business. And like at the end of the day, the choice is you either try some new stuff in this booking sprint and learn that you can be a little bit of a braver marketer, or you keep doing what you've been doing and you don't get any result. So you have to decide which path you want to do. So the email that you send out this week is personal and story driven, and maybe you're planning the day for them before the shoot, and it's it's an invitation to book. So you're focusing on you're focusing on not calling in just new people this week because now you only have a week left. So it's not enough time to convert a new person. So this week is all about nurturing the people that all already follow

Week Six Evaluate And Pivot

SPEAKER_00 28:21

you. The sixth week is the final push and evaluate. So the goal is last spots, recap, uh, final reminder, clear deadline. You're gonna go through and see what content got the most engagement, recreate it, figure out where those increase came from. If people are asking questions, what were they, answer them? You're going to decide from this if you're going to, if it hasn't been working, you're going to gather the data that you've that you've got and you're going to either extend your offer, adjust it, or pivot it to summer. So you're not, if if for some reason all of this fails, which if you're putting a lot of effort in, I would guess that it wouldn't. If it did, you don't you need to not die right here. This is where you just pivot and continue the momentum. Because this is only six weeks, and we are only in March. So you don't want to just stop now. The goal would be if no bookings come from this, what comes from this is trust in yourself that you did it, habits around marketing, and more bravery. This is all, these three things are very, very valuable to you as a marketer moving forward because you're not just doing your photography business for six weeks, you're going to be marketing forever. So you might as well learn that you can do it, be braver, and then keep building momentum. Okay, so we want a clear offer. We want to showcase real moments backed by you as the expert of your own brand. We want to focus on consistency over trends, we want to focus on low local specificity, not worldwide acclaim. And we want these more than anything else that you've ever done to be easy to book. So you don't need more ideas, you don't need to do you only do 10 things, you need one focused path, and

Start Today Get Support

SPEAKER_00 30:14

that's what this is. So here's what you have to do: pick an offer and start. It's Wednesday, it doesn't matter. Make today be the start of you can have your week start on Wednesday. Nobody's saying these are the little mind tricks that photographers will have like, okay, I'll start on Monday. No, there's no rule. There's no rule. You can start your week starts on Wednesday and ends next Wednesday, and that's week one. You don't have to wait. So if you need help with this, you can join the membership. We're gonna be doing co-working on the end, let's see, it's next Monday for planning out April. So if you want help, you can just come in there and do it. If you want to, if you want to get my eyes on your business to help you dis decide what that offer and that booking path will be, you can book a one-on-one intensive. So it's whatever you want to do. The one-on-ones are 90 minutes over Zoom, and the goal is identifying the one offer that we can work on and the booking path for that offer. So then you can take that and build upon it for your other offers, but you have at least one streamline plan. Okay, I hope this was helpful. And uh, I'm always gonna be a ranter. I'm always gonna share my thoughts. This time I definitely feel like I'm kind of going against the grain a little bit with the whole kids in faces thing, which is a little bit scary. Uh, but I just want it to be nuanced. That's all I want. Every nearly every conversation in the world needs to be nuanced, including this one. Okay, hope you guys have a good week.