BookMe Best Practices Guide: 3 Steps to Growing your Bookings and Business.
March 3rd, 2021
Gone are the days where your clients had to call, text, or email you to book you for a photoshoot. BookMe, the all in one client booking, scheduling and payment tool simplifies and changes your workflow for the better.
In 2020, Bookme earned nearly $1,000,000 in revenue for Zenfolio photographers. We want to help you use BookMe to grow your business and save you time. We’ve prepared a guide of tips for you based on the steps our most successful BookMe photographers have taken to grow their business with BookMe.
Don’t have BookMe yet? Login to Zenfolio today and add BookMe.
Over the last year, we have analyzed which types of photoshoots and packages successful BookMe photographers are offering. Our study revealed that successful photographers offer on average, five shoot types and nine bookable photo packages on BookMe. This provides clients with a handful of choices making them more prone to book you.
For instance, family shoot types are the most popular on BookMe. Within a shoot type, you can offer more than one package, each with its own price, length of time, and print or product options included in the package. Feel empowered to take control and offer the shoot types, packages, and pricing that you desire to your new and current clients.
Amanda Deyo is one notable BookMe photographer offering unique packages. She tripled her client bookings in less than a month once she started using BookMe and offers a “Milestone” package to capture unique and seasonal themed portraits of children during the first year of their life. Amanda even goes the extra mile by creating custom backgrounds for each shoot based on the season when the portrait is being taken. Check out Amanda’s website and BookMe packages here to see what she’s currently offering today.
With BookMe, there is no limit to shoot types or service packages you can offer. When looking at the trends of successful BookMe photographers, once they decide what shoot types to offer, the majority of photographers offer 1-12 different service packages. When you start to create your packages and services, get creative and change up what you offer throughout the year. When you provide a variety of different and new packages it gives you the opportunity to market and reach out seasonally to your current clients to sell your new services. This will keep clients engaged and continuing to return to book you for future shoots.
Mini Sessions are all the rage these days with our BookMe photographers, especially around special holidays. You can start automating your booking process for mini-sessions right away with BookMe and simplify the coordination process for the day of the shoot.
Since Family photography is the most popular photoshoot type offered, it’s not surprising we saw many photographers setting up holiday mini sessions for families this past year to book them through BookMe. Mini sessions provide a quick and easy way for you to optimize your time when you are available to shoot and it also helps you photograph as many clients as possible before those special family holiday cards need to be printed and sent out to loved ones.
Matt Waliszek from Photo Emporium was a rockstar this past holiday season and used BookMe to book all his Holiday Photobus Mini Sessions. Matt created a unique holiday backdrop with a photo bus decked out in seasonal decor to provide his clients a memorable and fun holiday photo shoot. This is just one example of how you can get inventive with the experience you provide and create lifelong clients who will book you for years to come. You can see an example of Matt’s creative custom page here on his Zenfolio website where he describes and markets his mini sessions. He also added BookMe to his custom page making it super simple for his clients to instantly book him and automate the process.
One thing photographers forget to do is market themselves. We get it. Marketing can be a bit intimidating and there are so many other aspects to running a business. Don’t worry! You are not alone. The first step to marketing yourself is to make a plan.
Our most successful BookMe photographers market their photo package offerings monthly throughout the year. With a little exploration and research, you can find examples of how other photographers are marketing themselves in your area and start working towards creating your own marketing strategy and plan that will work for you and your business.
Here are some simple ideas and tips to get you started brainstorming your own unique marketing ideas:
Below are a few real life examples of photographers using social media to share their latest work and market themselves to remind clients of their availability. They show off unique themed photo package offerings that change seasonally throughout the year.
With a little time and effort, you can customize BookMe to easily integrate right into your photography business workflow. Clients will love the simplicity and ease when it comes to booking a shoot or consultation, and you will save hours of time coordinating your future photo shoots and collecting payments.
Don’t have BookMe yet?
Login to your Zenfolio account today and sign up for BookMe and start simplifying your client bookings, scheduling and payments.
