I have a question for you: have you ever gotten to Mother’s Day and thought, “Shoot I wanted to do motherhood minis this year?!” or like Christmas time and you want to do Santa minis but you forgot and now you don’t have the time to book a Santa? Those are both mini session examples but they’re true for content too like, “Oh, its world doula week and I forgot and I don’t have any content planned for it.”
Well when you take the time to do the things we’re going to talk about here in this episode, you’re not going to feel that way in 2022. You’re going to have your entire year and marketing strategy planned out.
WHO IS EXCITED?! I live for this stuff you guys!
Let’s start! We will break the process down into 4 steps:
REFLECT
DREAM
REFINE
PLAN
As you know, success in your photography business starts with a very clear idea of what you want. If you don’t know what the goal is, you’ll never know if you’ve had success or not. One of you might say “success” is booking 1 birth client a month, every month. Another one of you might say “success” is making $100,000/year in your photography business.
We have to define the goal before we know if we’ve made it or not.
This episode has the power to be your one-stop shop when it comes to planning next year, if you let it. I highly recommend listening to this workshop style, which means with a pen and paper and pausing to answer the questions as I ask them.
If you’re a student in Marketing School, there is an accompanying video & workbook that goes with this audio. You can find it in our private student FB group!
How to Develop Surprisingly Simple Plan & Vision for Your Photography Business in 2022
Reflect on 2021
Step 1: We’re going to start by writing down your current metrics in your business. Now I know we said we’re going to do this together but this one might require a little digging on your part so do the best you can, and then come back to fill this in if needed:
- Current Metrics: (Date)
- Email List: (#)
- Facebook Likes: (#)
- Instagram Followers: (#)
- Monthly Website Views: (#)
Step 2: Then, I want you to set a reminder for you to check in 1 year from today (December 2022) to repeat this process to compare. So this will serve as the baseline of where we’re starting.
Step 3: The following questions might make you feel a little uncomfortable and that’s okay! It’s actually a good thing! Growth happens outside of your comfort zone. So, if you’re ok with it, be honest with these questions and yourself in the name of 2021 being your best year ever!
- What was your favorite business experience in 2021?
What happened that was fun, or easy, maybe you traveled, maybe you figured out your ideal client, maybe you had your first fully booked month or year! What are the best thing that happened in your business in 2021?
If you’re tempted to skip this, DON’T! There is something amazing that happened! If you need to scroll through your iCal or planner, please do because sometimes that helps trigger my memory. - What felt easy? What felt difficult?
- What did you love creating and working on?
- What do you want to change or fix in your business?
Do you want to start outsourcing editing? Maybe you want to bring on a team member or another photographer? - What was your biggest money maker?
Is there any overlap between your biggest money maker and what you loved doing?
The point of these questions is to get you thinking about not only what is making you the most money in your business, but also what you enjoy the most. Do more of the things you love in your business. - What activity brought in the most clients? How did your clients find you?
Social Media, Google, Vendor Referrals, etc. Again, this might require a little digging and that’s okay, but this one is super important!
If you have a business tool like HoneyBook, you can see your popular lead sources there for the entire year. If you want to get something like HoneyBook and you don’t have it set up yet, head over to taviaredburn.com/honeybook and get 50% off of your first year in HoneyBook. - What activity did NOT bring in many clients?
Maybe it brought in a lot of inquiries but few of them booked. - How much money did you gross this year?
Gross means before any expenses were taken out. Basically, every dollar that came into your business. - What were your total expenses?
Your salary, cost of goods, rent, insurance, etc. - Subtract the 2 to determine your profit:
Take a moment to talk about the importance of knowing your PROFIT not just revenue/gross.
Dream for 2022
What do you want to do in 2022? What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? What would a wildly successful year look like for you?
When I just asked those questions, what’s the FIRST thing that popped into your head? Don’t censor yourself. Write that down.
Spend a little time right now daydreaming about that and write down things as you think of them: If I could wave a magic wand, and this would happen instantly for your business, what would that be?
- Maybe you want a display in your local hospital, or you want to create a partnership with a midwife, or start outsourcing things in your business you don’t want to do anymore?
- Be a guest on a local podcast or get some media coverage for birth photography in your area?
- Add a specific number of people to your email list (which we know results in more money made)?
- Photograph 30 home births or other specific birth type or maybe you want to NOT photograph a specific session type like weddings or newborns or seniors?
- Book 10 video only births or birth films, open your own studio, start offering a new cool, unique product, or start doing IPS to increase your average sale?
Don’t think about any logistics! Don’t censor yourself. We’re gonna do that in a little bit, but for this section is about dreaming. Remember, magic wand. This is just HAPPENING. GO BIG! Spend about 4-5 minutes writing down everything you want to happen in your business in 2022. What’s that little voice in your head been saying “this would be cool” or “oh you should totally do this” – there is no right or wrong here, this is just a brainstorm list!
You can also consider, what did NOT work? What did you do in your business this year that you do NOT want to do again?
- Example:
I spent way too many late nights editing and I do NOT want to do that in 2022. So maybe a dream goal or idea for this brainstorm list would be to outsource editing.
From the previous questions, what were some of the things that worked really well in 2021 that you want to do more of? Add that to your list.
Remember, for today, these are business goals. You can (and I hope you do) other types of financial or relationship goals, but today we are focusing on your business in 2022.
Note: This list needs to be so exciting when you read it!
Refine 2022
Look back at your brainstorm list and identify:
- Which of the items on that list are going to make you money?
- Which of the items on that list do your clients WANT?
Money-making Ideas
Choose 2-4 from your Dream List above. This should be a list of things you’re excited about and your audience is excited about.
- _________
- _________
- _________
- _________
Examples : book 20 birth clients, book ## motherhood mini sessions, 20 fresh 48s….
Audience Building Ideas
Choose 2-4 from the list above. This should be a list of things you’re excited about, which feel fun and exciting, and will generate new inquiries/build your audience.
- _________
- _________
- _________
- _________
What are the things you no longer want to experience?
I’m so done with _____.
What are the things you’ve been WANTING to do, but have no made the time and space for in the past?
- No time off (so maybe you schedule a summer vacation with the family)
- Never working on the weekend or never working on Sunday (PS yes it’s possible, I photography family sessions and never shoot on the weekend)
- Take an entire month off call or 2 months off call
- I won’t take any more commercial sessions or headshots or seniors (or whatever session type you don’t enjoy) because my mindset is a lack mindset and I think I have to take money wherever I can get it
- Maybe you don’t want to experience burnout so you’re going to commit to doing something like getting your nails done or a massage every single week to take care of yourself
Make sure you’re getting specific here. “Take care of myself,” isn’t good enough, change that to “I will get a massage every week on Sunday after church.” See how you will KNOW if you achieve that or not by how specific it is?
It’s also important to make sure your loved ones are on board. If I want to schedule a weekly massage after church, I better run that by my hubby for budgeting and childcare reasons!
Space for them to write theirs: ________________________________________
What’s your income goal for 2022?
How much money do you want to earn in 2022? Some of you might already have this goal in your head. It might be scary, you might not know how you’re going to do it, but I want you to declare it as if it’s happening.
“Tavia, how do I choose this number?”
- I start with … How much did I make this year?
That’s my minimum, I at least need to make that amount – that’s the WIMPY goal. - Then I ask myself … What amount, if I made it, would be like HOLY CRAP I cannot even believe that happened?
What amount seems so scary I don’t even want to say it out loud? If I told my friends and family this is my income goal, they’d think I was insane. That number is my “hairy scary goal.” - My actual goal is going to land somewhere in between the WIMPY and the HAIRY SCARY.
What’s yours? Write it down.
I will earn $ ________ by December 31, 2022.
Don’t panic! We’re going to work backwards and figure out exactly how you’re going to hit this number!
PLAN for 2022
Look back at your money-making ideas:
Are those exciting? Is this how you want to make money in 2022? Do these things get you pumped? You don’t have to know how you’d execute them, but if they were true for your business in 2022 would you be stoked?
- If not, re-work them a little and spend more time brainstorming.
- If yes, let’s move on!
Now, you’re going to take your income goal, and divide it out among your money making ideas.
Do you want them to be equal? Do you want one to be the primary income earner? Also look at 2021, where did your revenue come from?
Example:
Let’s say your income goal is $100,000. Your 3 money-making activities are home births, fresh 48s, and motherhood/family sessions.
- Income Goal: $100,000
- Photographing home births: $50,000
- Fresh 48s: $25,000
- Motherhood & Family Lifestyle Sessions: $25,000
You know you want to make a half from photographing births, so you’ll say you need to make $50,000 from photographing home births. Then you could divide the remainder between the other session types. You can tweak this and play around with it, but see how exciting this starts to get when you see your income goal divided out amount these sessions!? Making dream money doing dream work!!
You get to decide how much you’re going to charge for each:
- $1000 and shoot 50 home births?
- $2000 and shoot 25?
- $2500 and shoot 20?
Look back at your audience building ideas on page:
Are THOSE exciting? Is this how you want to build your audience in 2022? Do these things get you pumped? You don’t have to know how you’d execute them, but if they were true for your business in 2022 would you be stoked?
- If no, re-work them a little and spend more time brainstorming.
- If yes, let’s keep going!
These are new and exciting ways you’re going to grow your audience!
Add it to your calendar!
I am doing this for the first time in 2022. Using a big “year at a glance” erasable calendar that you can get on Amazon.
- Start Here: Write important dates on the calendar
Are you going to plan a vacation, time off call, weekly massage, etc.? Do that now and write it on the calendar! Don’t panic, you can change things and move them around. - Audience-Building activities
When will you do them? Do you need prep time before the “due date?”
Example: Would be reaching out to the media about a birth photography piece. You need to give yourself a deadline to do this, as well as time to make a list of who to contact and write a press release. - Money-Making Activities
These will likely be on going every month, but if there is anything specific per month as far as the number of births you want to book or if you’re taking off, write it down on the calendar.
Let’s Review What We Learned So Far:
- You know what happened in 2021, what you liked working on, what felt hard, your revenue, your metrics, all that stuff.
Now, you have a solid plan of who you’re going to become in 2022. You have a kinda scary revenue goal, you have a list of money making activities and audience builders that make you super excited and you have it mapped out on your calendar for the entire year.
Now, with these new goals in mind…
Real You in 2022
Who do you need to be in 2022 to achieve these goals?
I want to share this idea with you of something that normally happens where we think like, “Once I HAVE the things that I want, I will DO things, and then I will BE the person that I want to be.”
Let’s say your goal is to book 3 birth photography clients every month in 2022. I can sit here and tell you all the steps to do that but if you’re just going through the motions of the action without BEING that fully booked photographer, it won’t work. You have to start with being the person that you want to be in 2022, before you actually get there.
(BE-DO-HAVE DIAGRAM)
- Be: Who am I and what is important to me?
- Do: What are the actions?
- Have: What are the results and outcomes?
What do I mean? What kind of photographer or business owner would have access to that outcome? WHO is she? What’s her identity? Then you start making decisions from that place of who this photographer is.
So, when you’re making a decision about anything in your business in 2022, ask yourself:
- Is this what a photographer who makes $xxx,000/year would do?
- How would she handle this?
- How would she show up on social media?
- How would she design her website?
- How would she handle people who scoff at her prices?
- How would she treat her clients?
- Does she make excuses for herself, or take responsibility?
- Does she procrastinate, or take imperfect action?
Quick Meditation
I want you to do something & when you do this, you’ll have a much clearer picture of who you need to be to hit your goals.
If you’re multitasking come back to me.
I want you to sit …
Get comfortable …
Close your eyes for a moment if you can.
Imagine her… the photographer who already has the outcome you desire. Maybe it’s you at the end of 2022! Maybe it’s someone you look up to in business, maybe she’s totally made up in your mind as someone who IS the outcome you desire…
- When something bad happens, what is her outlook on the situation?
- When she thinks about her goals, is she driven to hit them or apathetic?
- Committed? Passive? Does she make excuses?
- When something is taking a long time, what’s her response? Is she in a rush? Make hasty decisions? Or is she patient and knows everything will fall into place?
Open your eyes.
Now, with everything you just imagined, I want you to write down 5-10 characteristics she has:
- If I’m able to pull this off, who do I need to BE to reach my desired outcome?
- When things get tough this year, what do I need to tell myself to keep going?
I would love to see your notes or what you came up with after listening to this workshop-style episode on social media. Tag me in your behind the scenes on IG @_thebeautyinbirth_!
