Breaking in a new line (aka - how do i start a new portrait line)

[HotHolly]

People keep asking this in here and sending emails asking what the heck I did to start the boudoir section of my biz and get it rolling so quickly. I admit, Im surprised it caught on so fast. The line was launched May 1st. Within 2 months gross sales exceeded expectation. (I always end up tweaking packages and session fees to make the end result gross what I want/ need).

Here is what we did to launch the new line. Mind you that you can do this with any other line as well. It doesnt have to be boudoir.

1. Find a unique style within the line you want to shoot. You cannot just go after the money. There are so many dime a dozen photographers where if you dropped all their prints onto a table, you couldnt tell who shot what. You do NOT want that to be you. Whether you are strictly old school, modern glam, vintage style, or make everything with spot color - there has to be some draw to you and your unique style/product.

2. Practice & Perfect. Dont practice on paying people. Thats tacky. You also dig your own grave by locking into a discounted price bracket that you will find very difficult to bust out of. From day 1 - target your photography to the demographic you want to hire you. With that in mind, practice on models or friends. Get killer pieces for marketing with these sessions. Perfect this new section of your website. Make rep cards, brochures, biz card, etc to market your new line. From what I have seen - these people are not typically the ones who draw in more clients via WOM. They are the lucky bastards who were in the right place at the right time. Its unusual for us to have their friends come in and pay full price.

3. Determine Policies & Prices - Some stuff you wont think of until you already stepped in it, but there are some things you can counter ahead of time - like the expectation to purchase at proofing. I was shocked when I heard other photogs have trouble selling on the 1st proofing visit. We always sell then. Its a policy/ procedure that was determined early on. Anyway, you can tweak your pricing & packages but you should determine WHERE your profit margin is coming from. If I try to sell an all inclusive $1200 package, no one buys it. Our studio covers cost on front end and puts profit on the post-session sales. Part of this is how well you can sell what. Its easier for me to sell something AFTER they are looking at it, rather than before they ever see anything. So the $1200 is broken up b/t the session fee and post-session sales. Other successful photogs do the opposite.

4. Announce your new line. Announce it on your blog, twitter, myspace that you are launching a new line before it goes public. Announce it to strategic people in services that can promote you with their WOM. Offer a special pass, or promo to the 1st 2-3 people who respond. Be specific. I offered the session for free since my profit is on the back end. Those who took the free sessions had to agree to be on printed ad materials, website, and blog. It was a stipulation that we wanted them as a model - which they all found very flattering. I hand picked most of those people too. They had to have diversity in looks, size, and age for my purposes.

5. Graduate your regular prices into full effect. Offer a different promo that is meant for new clients. Choose something that has the most value to them and is the least expensive to you. Then, dont deviate from your plan. Dont let the word discount slip outa your mouth either. Discount psychologically devalues your services. Instead, offer them a $100 coupon (which for us is about 7% off, but $100 sounds WAAAAY better), with the purchase of a reg. priced session before (insert date here). Cannot be combined with other offers. No cash value, and all that jazz.

My boudoir line was booked solid this month. The last client I booked was waiting for me outside my boutique one morning. She couldnt wait til I got there to book a session. How awesome is that?

Anyway, you can project your costs, start up cost, overhead, etc. Then plug in your numbers and add to that what you want your profit margin to be. There is overhead in starting a new line. I dont think you can do it well and do it for free.

Others that have been around for a while, feel free to chime in. I know each successful studio has a method to their madness. There has to be some way to project income, overhead, and growth before you even start otherwise you are just wandering around in the dark hoping for the best. <-- That plan doesnt usually end well in my experience.

[trac76002]

Thanks so much for the information and advice Holly. You're always so helpful :)

[TootysMom]

Holly - you ROCK! Thank you SO much for taking the time to spread your knowledge to us. These are great tips and things I had never thought about before. When is your next marketing class...(you're the one that offers that right or am I thinking of someone else?) :)

[HotHolly]

Originally Posted by TootysMom

Holly - you ROCK! Thank you SO much for taking the time to spread your knowledge to us. These are great tips and things I had never thought about before. When is your next marketing class...(you're the one that offers that right or am I thinking of someone else?) :)

We offer a workshop where we talk about stuff like this. I dont have as much time to travel for workshops anymore. Im swamped. I have been converting our workshops into ebooks. The business one (which I think is the most valuable workshop we offer) will be broken down into items specific ebooks. Like selling, marketing, getting going, etc. At least thats the plan.

Then we will keep our 1 mother-of-all workshops here once a year. That was the Paramount workshop last year. That workshop intertwines shooting and marketing and selling. That will be spread over 2 days this year. I think we almost killed a couple of people trying to do it all in 1 day. lol.

Glad someone found this thread helpful. Rambling and helpful seem to skate hand-in-hand sometimes. lol.