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I’m a big fan of photography add-ons because they make it really easy to do something I’m terrible at doing: sell.
Sales is my least favorite part of my photography business and I know I’m not the only one. Most of us got into photography because we are creative and not because we are savvy businesspeople. This, of course, becomes a problem when we have to think of the bottom line.
Photography package upgrades essentially allow you to sell in an easier way. It gives your clients a ton of options that they can choose from, and when you give your clients this many options, odds are they will purchase at least one or two photography add-ons.
But, you can’t just suggest any photography add-ons to your clients. Each add-on has to provide real value to your clients or else your sales job will be a lot harder.
Here are some easy photography add-ons that you can try out this week.
Create Mini-Sessions
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Mini-sessions are one of my favorite photography add-ons because they both allow you to get more clients and bring in more revenue from existing clients.
A lot of wedding photographers are really good at selling mini-sessions. For instance, they may be hired to shoot a wedding and then they suggest that they can also attend the bridal shower or bachelorette party for a fast 30-minute shoot for a reduced price.
But, regardless of what type of photography you do, you can add mini-sessions to your offering. If you’re selling portrait shoots to professionals, then you can suggest that they also do a mini-session with their kids for a reduced fee. If you’re selling themed shoots, like for Christmas, then you can also suggest that your clients buy a mini-session for New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day.
When you’re learning how to make more money in photography, it’s super important that you bring in revenue wherever you can. Mini-sessions help with this.
Offer Discounts for Returning Clients
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Another one of my favorite photography add-ons is discounts for returning clients or discounts for clients who buy a lot of your products.
For instance, I offer all of my clients a 20% reduction in my normal fees when they come back to me for more than one photoshoot in a year. You’ll have to play around with your numbers to figure out what kind of a discount works for you, but that’s just a good example.
You can also offer discounts for clients who choose to buy a ton of prints in bulk or for clients who choose to buy more than one of your offered products.
The important thing to remember with offering discounts is that you need to assume a certain percentage of your clients will use these discounts and then build that into your pricing structure so you still come out on top.
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Sell Canvas Prints
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If you aren’t already offering your clients canvas prints, then you need to start doing so immediately.
Canvas prints work as great photography add-ons because you can sell them immediately following a session with your client or you can sell them a month, a year, or a few years later.
I use canvas prints to bring revenue into my business during especially slow periods. They were a lifesaver during the coronavirus pandemic because I could keep selling my clients something to remind them that my business was still around.
Plus, if you work with a good canvas printing company, you can get a product that will truly represent your brand. It’s why I refuse to work with any printing company other than CanvasHQ.
CanvasHQ cares about their products as much as you do. All of their frames are hand built so that you won’t run into any warping over the decades. Then, all of their canvases are hand stretched over the frames so that you won’t deal with any ink cracks.
Additionally, their customer service reps are there for you every step of the way. I had some problems with some of my suppliers over the pandemic, but CanvasHQ communicated with me every step of the way. They even have a calculator on their website that tells you exactly how long your print would take to get made if you sent it in today.
Finally, you get all of this quality for a relatively good price. Their canvas prints start at just $20, which means you’ll be able to mark up their canvas prices as much as you need to.
Do Themed Shoots
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I briefly touched on themed shoots above, but they deserve a little more love since they are one of the best photography package upgrade ideas.
Themed shoots are shoots with a specific goal in mind. For instance, holiday shoots are themed shoots. So are seasonal shoots, like shoots that you would do with your clients for autumn. One really popular themed shoot is a boudoir shoot, which oftentimes works as an add-on for wedding photoshoots.
Themed shoots work great as add-ons for photography packages because your clients may not think about doing them otherwise. But, if they’re already working with you and already love what you do, then they can add some value to their lives.