EP 108: How to Get Repeat Clients as a Photographer (Without Being Salesy)

[00:03]
I have a theory, guys. The easiest clients to book are the ones who already love you.

[00:08]
And a Facebook comment I left last week on a past client’s post really just proved that to me. So I was doing the whole doom scrolling on Facebook, just kind of seeing what was going on. And, you know, I got served a video and some photos about a store in the old downtown area near where I used to live that was reopening. And as I’m looking at the pictures and stuff, because I’d actually been to the that store before and was like, oh, that’s awesome. They got a renovation and I love a good renovation, y’all.

[00:34]
I’m looking through it and I go, wait a second, I recognize the dad. And then I look closer at the kids who are cutting the ribbon and I’m like, oh my goodness, I recognize those kids. And then sure enough, it pans over and there’s mom standing there with a brand new baby on her hip that I had no idea about.

[00:50]
And I was just so excited to see them and see this big moment for them. And really just in shock because I swear, I don’t know if it’s just me, but every time I see like a post with a client’s kids from a while ago, I’m just in shock at how many years have gone by and how much older I am now and how big their kids are. I mean, I see it every day with my kids too, but there’s something about seeing a client’s kids that really hits home for you on that.

[01:15]
So I just, I did what I would normally do. You know, I left a comment on the post. You know, I just left a comment for mom and I was like, oh my gosh, I can’t believe how big the kids have gotten. Congrats on the new baby. It was just really cool to see you guys in the photo. Hope you’re doing well. You know, just,

[01:31]
Something normal, something that like you leave a comment for a friend kind of thing. I wasn’t selling anything. I mean, I don’t even live there anymore. It’s like two hours away kind of thing. But within a few hours, she had messaged me and she said they were interested in doing family photos again. They had been thinking about it, thinking about me. And she wanted to know if I would travel back to that area to do their family photos.

[01:51]
And it just really got me thinking that we pour so much time and energy into chasing brand new clients, you know, total strangers. When some of the easiest people to book already know us, already trust us and already have our work hanging on their walls. I feel like we all obsess over, you know, how do I get more leads? What should I post? Do I need a blog? Should I be on TikTok now? Where is my next client even coming from? When really we might want to think about slowing down a little bit.

[02:19]
Because, yes, new clients matter. I mean, I teach SEO, y’all. I’m the last person who’s going to tell you to stop trying to get found on Google. But while you’re doing that, don’t forget that you’ve already had people who have found you on Google or found you in other ways, and you’ve worked hard to win them the first time. So you already have people there who love you and want

[02:39]
know you and trust you and they know what it’s like to work with you because they’ve actually been through everything. They may even have like your photographs in their homes. They’ve walked past it every single day. Like you don’t have to start from zero with these people that know like trust factor that we’re all thinking we need with clients and everything. You’ve already done it. You’ve already earned it. Like we need to keep that in mind instead of just constantly chasing that next thing.

[03:03]
So for me in my business, I have always been one who will follow my clients on Facebook or on Instagram and I will become Facebook friends with them and stuff. Because I do like keeping up with them. We do get to know each other. You know, it’s probably more so Instagram than anything else. Back in my wedding days, I used to become friends with bride’s moms. Heck, even my husband has some bride’s moms as his friends because he would second shoot with me and they would literally fall in love with him. I don’t know what it is about moms of the bride’s

[03:30]
the bride and groom, but they think my husband is amazing. And then they’ve become friends with him on Facebook. So, you know, it’s one of those things of like, it just depends on where you’re hanging out, you know, what’s your comfort level and stuff. But it’s very easy to follow clients on Instagram. And I would say, you know, as you’re doing that, it’s not coming, you know, you don’t want to come across as like, oh, I’m going to follow you. I’m going to comment on every post. I’m going to be super annoying or we’re going to be best friend. That comes across weird. We’re not trying to do that. But

[03:57]
But when you do that, you start seeing some of their posts. You start seeing when the kids have had a big event, a birthday, or somebody’s graduating high school, or a new baby’s on the way. You start to really stay involved in their life. And it gives you an opportunity just to leave a comment. I’m not saying that we’re chasing them down, we’re sending them a bunch of emails, even though, yes, I do think you should have email marketing as part of your marketing strategy. But

[04:23]
Just think about, too, of just leaving honest comments all the time. I will see where kids, you know, suddenly someone’s posting a picture of their kid’s birthday. And again, I’m usually in shock at how big these kids get. It’s like I would never expect it. But obviously, I know this is going to happen. So I kind of like to think of them as like it’s like I’m a quiet reminder type thing. You know, this isn’t a task on my marketing to do list where I say, oh, it’s Monday marketing. Let me sit down and go through my Instagram feed.

[04:52]
In fact, if that were the case, I’d probably never leave comments because I’m terrible. When I get on Instagram, I get really distracted on anything. So, you know, it’s one of those where I would say just be paying attention, just be looking for things. You could say like, okay, hey, every Monday I’m going to scroll through and find five past clients and leave a comment if you really wanted to be deliberate about it.

[05:12]
But I don’t think you have to be that like engaged for things. I think, you know, if you have your clients in your feed, as you’re scrolling your feed, as you’re looking at your stories, just leaving a comment here and there on some of the big events or on something like that really gives it that personal touch that you weren’t just a one and done photographer. They showed up once for a mini session and now they’re never going to see you again.

[05:34]
So you just want to kind of stay connected, you know, follow them, pay attention, comment when you have something real to say. And one of the things here I will also point out. So right now it’s back to school time and back to school, y’all, at least.

[05:49]
For where I’m seeing it runs the gamut, depending on the school districts and stuff. There are kids who have been going back since, you know, beginning of August all the way through like after Labor Day. So there’s probably like five solid weeks of Mondays where you’re going to start seeing that people are posting clients or past clients are posting like first day of school pictures.

[06:09]
And so that’s a super easy one that if you just happen to see that, you might notice that that newborn you swore you photographed, you know, a month ago is now heading into second grade or third grade. You know, for me, I’ve got kids that I see that are even going into seventh grade and I’m like, how is this possible?

[06:26]
So it’s really natural for me to comment on there. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe so-and-so is entering seventh grade. I still remember their newborn shoot with, you know, something from their shoot that I would remember. Like, and most of the time you do remember a little bit of something. But you know, you’re, when you’re leaving those comments and stuff, I want them to come really from a place of heart and honesty and truth and not feel like I’m just trying to get you to think about me so that we can book a newborn, book a session, a family session or something like that. Could it happen? Absolutely. It doesn’t.

[06:55]
Does it happen? Yeah, it does happen a lot. I have another client who is overseas. She comes back here every once in a while. We did maternity photos. She’s on baby number two now and they’re coming back next month and for a wedding. And she’s already reached out to me because I’ve kept up on her stuff and commented when she’s had these big life events.

[07:14]
And so she’s, when they come back, she’s already reached out that they want to do family photos. And literally all I have done is just leave a few comments for her on Instagram because I know she’s not following my feed and keeping up with me because I’m the worst at posting to my Instagram. So,

[07:28]
So if I’m on Instagram, I’m more of a lurker and a commenter than anything else. But I’m appearing in my client’s world. They’re seeing my name. They’re remembering that session. They’re remembering the last time we were together kind of thing. And hopefully, especially right now with it being the back to school time, if you’re leaving these comments now.

[07:45]
they’re going to start thinking about fall family photos. And it’s kind of a little reminder of like, oh, yeah, we should probably book some fall family photos. I like to call these quiet reminders, you know, because no one wants to have an offer shoved down their throat. You know, I’m not sitting there going, oh, my gosh, so-and-so is huge or so-and-so is so grown up. By the way, my fall calendar is open. Link’s in the bio if you want to book. That’s not what we’re talking about at all. Again, these need to come from a place of heart. But

[08:12]
It’s something that I feel like we just don’t think about really. Some people are really good with that. I do feel like that. But I think for a lot of us, we’re so focused on getting the latest blog post out, emailing our list, posting to our own Instagram. Think about it this way. What if you took a day off from posting to your own Instagram and instead spent that 20, 30 minutes, maybe an hour, I don’t know how long, and just went through your feed? And then as you see photos come up of past clients, just leave a really heartfelt comment.

[08:41]
About whatever they’re going through or just something about the photo. You know, it’s something that’s just going to help connect you. And honestly, I feel like even if you did this like once a week and you hit different people or whatever and took off from like when you would normally just be posting to Instagram or doing something else, my guess is it’s really going to help with getting those clients to rebook kind of thing. Because the little bit that I do

[09:03]
It really does come through. And so I just wonder like if I was more deliberate or if other photographers were more deliberate, you know, how much easier would that be? And if you think about it too, like I’ve had baby plan members and stuff like that. Those clients are perfect for getting into some kind of rotation of, okay, they’ve done maternity, they’ve done newborn, they’ve done maybe a six month session. Maybe they’ve done a first year, first birthday. Well, now I’ve just seen them for, you know, sessions for over a year and

[09:32]
It’s very easy at that point, at the end of that first birthday session or whatever, to even try and get them into a thing for next year. Like maybe when you’re delivering the gallery, you message mom and you say, hey, do you want to go ahead and lock in, you know, next year, second birthday or next year, fall family photos, something like that.

[09:49]
You could even ask them like, hey, I’m going to put it on my calendar. If you want to do photos the same time next year, let’s go ahead and put it on the calendar where I will email you to send over the quote and contract and we’ll figure out a date then. There’s a lot of things you guys can do now to lock clients in for future sessions.

[10:05]
And, dude, I love future sessions. I love starting my year and looking at my calendar, especially for my membership clients, and knowing, okay, well, I have two or three sessions that are on the books. Like, I just did a newborn session last week for someone, and I already know that this time next year, I’m going to be doing a family session for them because that kid’s turning a year old. So keep that in mind of, like, even the clients that you’re seeing this year, the ones you really loved,

[10:28]
Figure out a way to try and get a deposit down, get something that even if it’s just an email soft commitment of like, hey, I’m going to email you next year. How far before your session do you want to book? And as we get into the really nice fall season where you’ve got people who love those that

[10:47]
that fall look, the golden color, the leaves, all of that kind of stuff, letting people know ahead of time, like, hey, if you missed it this year, maybe you’re booking after fall is over, or maybe you’re booking early and the leaves are still green, not quite like those beautiful colors and stuff. You could always give them the opportunity to say, hey, if you next year want to have

[11:08]
That perfect like fall foliage. This is the time frame for when that happens. Like here’s the week that is perfect. I can go ahead and pencil you in if you want to put down a deposit. And then this way, you know, your photos are set for next year for that perfect peak time that maybe they didn’t get this year. Or think about like vacation rentals. They always try to get you before you leave that year to book the following year.

[11:30]
So I would go into this fall and just kind of keep that in the back of your mind of like, hey, is there any way that we can lock them in so that they’re going to have a session next year with me? And I’m doing the work now to get that done.

[11:46]
And honestly, you can think about this even beyond like family sessions. So obviously we talk about like maternity leave leads to newborn. Newborn can lead to milestone, first birthday, to family photos year after year. If you photograph high school seniors and they have younger siblings coming up, then you know like, okay, hey, we’ve got another one coming up. I know me personally, I’m going to have a senior and then I’m going to have the next kid in line is going to be the following year. So when I find a senior photographer for my oldest,

[12:12]
I’m probably just going to be like, okay, how do we go ahead and lock this down for next year? So that that way I don’t even have to worry about it. It’s already in the bag. And for me, I’m really picky. I don’t know about you guys. I feel like as photographers, we probably are of like making sure the styles are consistent because I like to display like all the kids’ photos together. And if one of them is from, you know, a style that doesn’t match the others, it will drive me nuts. So if I can find the right photographer for the first one, you can bet the second one’s getting the same photographer because it’s right there. Um,

[12:39]
You know, family sessions, we were talking about trying to get those annual family sessions, but even extended family sessions, things like that, you know, mentioning that to your clients that that’s something that you offer. So maybe they did their family session, but next year they want to do one with the whole family.

[12:52]
branding clients. Think about it this way. They always, you know, pitching them like, hey, let’s go ahead and get you set for, you know, in another quarter for your next set of photos or six months or a year or something like that. Like there are a lot of ways to work with the clients that you’ve already booked to go ahead and get them set for the following year.

[13:10]
And I know in the beginning I was talking about reaching out to past clients that maybe it’s been a couple of years since you’ve seen them. So it’s one of those things that even with those, you get them on the books this year. And then I would encourage everyone to start trying to go ahead and lock them all down for the following year.

[13:25]
Because, I mean, imagine if you knew going into next, even if you knew going into January, hey, this fall, I’ve already got 10 sessions booked. Like they’ve already paid a deposit. You know, we’re going to reach out and start figuring out the actual schedule at this particular date. Like how much relief is that off of your shoulders to know like, yeah, I got this fall covered?

[13:48]
All right. So this is basically a tool to add to that toolbox. You know, SEO is a tool. Email is a tool. Social media, networking, referrals, they’re all tools. Now I want you to add this of like past client reach out, past client retargeting. I’m not really sure exactly what to call it. I’m sure there’s a better word for it and I’m just blanking on it. But I want you to add this to your repertoire of just like past clients. The other way you can do that is through your email list, you know, staying on top of your email list. You

[14:16]
making sure they’re on it and stuff and emailing them helpful things that they’re interested in. That’s also another way to do that. But again, with this one, you’re not relying on an algorithm. There’s no keyword research. There’s no funnel. It’s just simply you sitting there with your phone and scrolling and looking for who pops up, which clients pop up.

[14:36]
So this week’s challenge is I would recommend picking like five to 10 past clients that you loved working with. So you can either do what I said of just like scrolling and see who comes up or you can deliberately think to yourself, I really love this client, this client and this client. And then go find them on social media if you’re not already connected and follow them. And then just look at what’s going on in their lives. Like where are they at? You know, if it’s been from last year to this year, I mean, the easiest thing y’all is kids get so big and I know I keep coming back to that, but it is crazy.

[15:05]
But you may not know. Maybe they added a new puppy to the family. Maybe they’ve moved to a new house and they want photos at the new house. Maybe they’ve added a new baby. And maybe they didn’t get newborn photos this year or something. Or they went with a different style than you. That doesn’t mean you lose that client forever just because they went with another photographer for something else. So if there’s something worth commenting on, comment on it.

[15:26]
And if there’s someone you’ve been meaning to check in on, go ahead and check in. I love this type of, you know, keeping these relationships alive because it’s so easy to always be thinking about a new client, a new client, a new client, when there’s just, you could have a whole series of past clients just waiting for you to reach out to them and bring them back in. Again, do not send a promotion. I do not think you have to send a discount. You don’t have to manufacture a reason. You’re just reconnecting.

[15:58]
So just to wrap it all up, you know, we spend so much time trying to get strangers to like us, to trust us. And we’re just, we’re forgetting about the people who already do. So getting booked doesn’t always mean finding more people. Sometimes it’s one comment on a Facebook video about a store reopening in a town you don’t even live in anymore. And suddenly you’ve got a booking request. So the easiest clients to book, in my opinion, might be the ones who already love you.