Get Ahead of the Herd
Like most photographers, January is my quietest month of the year. I like to use this month to play catch up on everything that got pushed to the bottom of the list over the course of the year, things like website updates and campaign planning. I also use this time to help myself later in the year by drafting up all of my mailing list emails (Sign up here if you’re not on there already!) so when the summer chaos comes, I already have half the work done.
As you might have guessed by now, when SkyLimit gets busy in a couple of months time, things get utterly hectic, it’s not stop hustle and bustle. I’m definitely not complaining, I thrive on it and love where my work takes me.
But I wanted to use this blog entry to encourage you to look at booking your horse’s shoot before I’m barely able to squeeze you in, so you can get the pick of the best dates to suit you.
If you’ve had a look at my online booking system, you might have noticed there’s quite a few available dates, but I always mention that I’ve only got about 3-4 slots per month, despite there being more dates than this on offer.
This is because I limit the amount of shoots I do per month, but want to offer up a selection of dates to work in with my clients hectic lives. Once my number of slots is full, those additional dates get removed from the website and that month is no longer available to book.
You’re probably wondering why I severely limit the number of shoots I do per month, because why not do 10 shoots in a month? Imagine how many people I could serve over a year like that!
As much as I’d love to be able to do that, I know that there’s a sweet spot for ensuring my clients get the very best work from me and if I go over that number repeatedly, my standard of work will drop.
I pour a huge amount of energy into each client, from initial communications and booking, to the service I provide on shoot day, from the attentional to detail required during the editing process, to then giving my clients the viewing session that they deserve, attending to them diligently throughout.
Last year over June and July, I shot up to 5 clients a week multiple times, but the result meant I was incredibly burnt out by the end of it and not able to give my clients the full attention they deserve.
So I’m urging you to get ahead of the summer rush and get your shoot booked in now on the date that suits you best, before those dates get snatched up. The closer to spring we get, the quicker bookings start to come in, get ahead of the herd and book your shoot now.
