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Is the Market Slowing Down? Here’s What I’m Doing About It · Luxe & Legacy Podcast

Welcome to the Lux and Legacy Podcast.
I'm Marie from Marie Elizabeth Photography.
And I am Amber from Light Live in Photography.
We created this show for photographers who are ready to run a luxury business with clarity, intention, and elevated artistry.
Each week we uncover the strategies behind high level brands from shooting and styling to client communication, to marketing, to designing heirloom products that increase your value.
If you want to attract aligned clients, produce, work with a recognizable aesthetic and build a business that supports the life you want, this podcast will guide you there.
Let's dive in.
Hi everyone.
So you just have me again today because Amber is still recovering.
I don't know about you guys, and your household, but flu B hit really hard this year, and of course it waited until the end of winter into early spring when it's finally nice to be outside again.
So today I wanted to talk about something.
That's been going on in the market currently because this is a strange year.
Last year I had my most successful year in business financially and this year things do feel different.
They do feel slower.
I'm still booking consistently.
But in previous years, my spring was almost overbooked and I had to turn so many people away.
That was not the case this year.
I still booked slightly over my minimum number of sessions, but somewhere last minute, and I was wondering what was going on if I was going to book my minimum.
And the truth of the matter is marketing looks.
A whole lot different now for a few reasons.
First, people are taking longer to buy because there are literally hundreds or thousands of options which can create decision fatigue, and so they end up not buying or they buy from someone who is top of mind.
Secondly.
A lot is going on in the world, which takes up mental space and capacity of people.
And so photos are the last thing on their minds.
Even though photos are extremely important, and if people value them, these clients might not feel them pertinent in the moment, so they're not gonna take the time to research to find someone.
And finally, prices of everything are going up and so high right now.
Prices of gas and groceries alone have increased significantly over the past couple of years, and a lot of people who might have saved up for a high-end photographer are just being stretched thin right now.
So that brings us to the question, how do we navigate this strange new market? I'm gonna share some things I have been doing and what's working for me.
So the first thing I'm going to share is something that is fairly new to me.
My main forms of marketing since I've been full-time in my business, have been Google and referrals, but this year I have tried to work on being active in the community and establishing relationships with other business owners.
Admittedly, this is something I pushed aside in previous years simply because I didn't feel like I needed to focus on it.
I was getting plenty of clients through my main forms of marketing, which were ranking on Google and just referrals from other clients, so it was not something that I actively pursued.
Were prioritized.
But relationships are always going to provide the strongest form of marketing because they're referrals.
And referrals always have a higher booking rate because that trust is already there.
You don't need to earn it entirely fresh.
And I wanna say that when establishing relationships with other businesses or people in the community.
You're playing the long game, so don't expect to necessarily book new clients overnight every time you do an event or meet up with people, but it's about staying top of mind, forming relationships and having positive experiences with people so they remember you.
Okay, so what exactly have I done with this? First, I participated in a networking event with other high-end businesses in the area.
About a month or two ago, it was simply setting up a booth, having my work on display.
I brought some albums and fine art prints, and people stopped by and could sign up for a giveaway, which was a 15 minute petite session.
And in doing so, I got new email subscribers.
But I also was able to chat with a lot of the other businesses there and simply put myself out there, which I think is the most important thing.
Secondly, I recently met up with a business owner who serves the same clients as I do.
She does pelvic floor PT in a really nice neighborhood in the city, and admittedly, she reached out to me first and it was a cold reach out.
We did not follow each other or engage back and forth previously, and she simply said, we serve the same clients and I'd love to meet up for a coffee.
Initially I was like, oh, I don't really wanna go out and basically make time for this.
I've never needed to do this in the past, but my husband, who definitely has a creative mind and thinks outside of the box, will help push me to try new things.
And he was like, Marie, it's a no brainer.
It, there's a no lose situation here.
At the very least, I'm establishing a connection and at best I'll eventually get new clients.
So I met up with her.
And it was great.
Not only was it enjoyable just to chat, but we exchanged business cards or coupons to give our clients about the others' business.
And lastly, I have been doing more of volunteering in my community with my business.
There is a porch fest coming up where local bands are playing at houses in my neighborhood.
It's gonna be a big community event, and so a friend and I are going to photograph it.
I do not expect to get clients directly from this.
But my thoughts are, okay, let me give and put out that positive energy into the community.
Let me help, right? And then perhaps I'll be top of mind for some people down the road.
To me it's primarily an opportunity to give back, which is the kind of energy I wanna put out there.
So that's the first main thing I've been focusing on, and that's been active in the community and forming relationships with other business owners.
So try it.
Start engaging with other brands that serve the same clients as you.
Comment on their posts, like their posts, and reach out to see if they want to grab a coffee to connect.
At the very worst, they'll say no.
And there is no loss to you.
At best.
You might get some clients down the road.
Maybe you can host an event for local moms at your studio or previous clients and have them bring a friend.
It doesn't even need to be photography related, but just an opportunity to form connections.
The next thing I have done.
Is reach out to past clients to get their next session on the calendar.
These are clients who may have booked a session with me over the past couple of years, and when you reach out to them, you wanna come from a place of service.
Say, Hey, I know how busy moms are and I wanna help you get this crossed off your list.
I'm working on my summer or fall calendar and have these dates available and would love to photograph your family again, I personally like to send individual emails for this, so you can save like a general template or whatever, but add personalized information about each family in each email.
And this brings me to another point, and that's if you don't currently offer some kind of package membership for your clients, you are seriously missing out.
I have a membership that clients can opt into and basically what it is, is they have three or four sessions over the course of about a year and a half, and there are special perks with the membership that I don't get with a single session.
First, the creative fee or booking fee.
Is, discounted compared to if they booked three individual sessions and then they pay less for the digital files at each session compared to a single session.
They have artwork discounts, and complimentary holiday cards or birth announcements.
So when someone books a membership, what we do at their order appointment for the first session is we pencil in the date of their next session.
So I automatically get sessions on my calendar for a month.
Later.
It truly is a great way to fill your calendar and really get to know and serve your clients.
And I make it, quote, make sense for my clients.
So the common milestones that we photograph in memberships for, let's say a pregnant mother are a maternity newborn six month, one year.
If we start at a newborn session, we might go up to the 18 months.
For families.
Some families will reach out in spring for a session to catch maybe some blossoms, but then they might want a fall session as well, for holiday cards.
And then they might want a session the following year, right? So it makes sense to do the membership if they know they're gonna want sessions down the road in the future.
The next thing I want to share.
Is it's way easier to make money off of current clients than to find new clients.
And what I mean by this is your current clients already like, know and trust you, so they are more likely to buy from you again compared with someone who stumbles upon your brand for the first time.
So I'm not referring to booking sessions down the road here.
What I mean is.
If you don't currently offer some kind of upgrade other than just digitals, I'm referring to artwork or video, you can add this into your business.
So you can basically offer your clients more, serve them more, and in doing so, make more per client.
I had two organ appointments a couple of weeks ago.
And in both of these or appointments, the clients spent 7,500 each earning a total of 15,000 from these two sessions.
And I was thinking if I was a photographer who charged $500 per session, I would need to photograph 30 sessions to make the same I did from these two sessions.
But.
Because I offer artwork, these clients wanted albums and wall art to be able to enjoy their memories.
And again, they have gone through the session with me.
They have already booked.
They've gotten to know me, they like me, they trust me.
And so by showing clients what we could do with their memories, you know, whether that's showing them fine art album or museum quality wall art, or I know a lot of photographers who offer add-on with video.
You are serving them by showing them, Hey, look what else we can do with this.
How awesome is this? This would be an amazing way to experience your memories.
Years down the road, clients are more likely to buy from you because they already like know and trust you.
Okay, the next thing I am doing is something I just started trying out, and that is responding to inquiries via a text compared to an email.
So what I've been doing these past few years is responding to inquiries via email, and in the email it's short and sweet.
I have them schedule a call.
With me so I can walk them through everything, show them full galleries, go over pricing, et cetera.
It's a discovery or consultation call.
And I am not giving up on consultation calls.
They are so valuable for many reasons.
I do think they help with conversions, and it's the first touch point where I really establish.
Artwork and show clients the artwork.
So I love that about consultation calls.
But I'm trying something new just because the market is a little funny this year, so I'm not necessarily tabling them or quitting consultations altogether, but I wanna try this new method out and see how it goes because.
People, again, are overwhelmed with so many choices and options and they need things to be incredibly easy right now.
And so I'm experimenting with responding to inquiries via text and chatting with them there, setting a quick video that I have prerecorded that goes through the experience.
And shows artwork because again, showing artwork at the first client interaction is a really important part of my business.
If clients are going to invest in artwork, I have just started this, so I don't have enough data to determine if it's better than consultation calls, but I wanted to share this with you because that leads me into my last point, and that is you simply need to stay strong.
And get scrappy in times like this.
This is a season and the businesses that are still going to be around at the end of this are the ones that simply keep going.
That's all that comes down to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
And trying things you might not have tried in the past.
I wish marketing stayed the same.
It would be so nice if you set things up once and didn't have to touch them again.
But the truth is, marketing has evolved incredibly, even over the last 10 years I've been in business, even over the, since COVID, it's changed significantly and newsflash.
It's going to keep changing.
So we have to be adaptable and open to trying new things if we're going to stick around.
I'm not completely changing my business by any means.
All the work I have put into my business these past 10 years, it's snowballs.
So I am not like dissecting it and.
Changing everything.
I'm simply adding some small tweaks to see if they improve booking and finding new clients I've shared that, or these changes I've shared have taken very, very little time out of my business.
I'm not setting aside a ton of time to.
Determine what I need to do.
I am trying low risk things to see if they give me better results than what I have been doing.
And also there is no shame if you decide to offer something that you don't typically do.
Just to get some cash flow in, such as a headshot or branding event, especially if you are only going to offer it like once a year.
It can be a nice way to try something new while getting immediate cash.
I wouldn't put those images on your website or talk about it other times other than before the event.
But it could also be a way.
To get yourself out there in the community, connect with local businesses, form and establish relationships.
Okay, I hope this episode was helpful to you.
At the end of the day, if this season feels a little uncertain, you're not doing anything wrong.
The market is shifting, and it's asking us to be more intentional, more connected.
And a little more creative than we've had to be in the past.
But that doesn't mean your business isn't working, it just means it's evolving as all businesses and all markets do.
So we need to stay consistent, stay visible.
And keep focusing on serving our clients well.
The photographers who continue to show up, build relationships and adapt along the way are the ones who are going to come out of this stronger.
So keep going.
You're closer than you think.
Thank you so much for spending time with us today on the Luxe and Legacy Podcast.
We love being part of your journey as you build a luxury photography business that feels aligned and elevated.
Be sure to follow us at Light underscore Live in underscore photography and.
At Marie Elizabeth and if you enjoyed today's episode, we would be so grateful if you left a review.
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Like you discover the show and join this community.
Make sure to join us next week.
We have another conversation that's going to inspire and give you even more tools to grow your brand with confidence.
We can't wait to see you then.
Bye.