What to Do in the Off Season as a Photographer

As a photographer, we all know that we are insanely busy taking photos, editing, and communicating with clients from early fall through the end of November. Busy season can really bog us down and leave us with not much time to work on anything related to the back end of the business. So often times, when the off-season hits, we don’t know what to do with ourselves.

Today, I’m going to be sharing all about how to maximize your profts, efficiency, and set yourself up for success for the year during your slow season!

Here’s what you should be doing during your off season as a photographer:

Show off all of the work you’ve been too busy to post.
Most of my new clients either find me from Instagram or google, so keeping up with posting regularly on Instagram and my blog is SO important for my business. It’s literally what sustains my business and makes me profitable in the future.
If you fell behind on posting all of the amazing work that you created during your busy season, now is the time to go through and post all of your sessions.
If you want to steal my exact strategy on how I find most of my clients on Instagram, even during the off-season, you can download my FREE guide here.
Update Your Systems and Processes
Are you using your CRM as efficiently as you could be? Are you using a CRM at all? I highly recommend one if not! You can fully automate sending contracts, invoices, style clients, all client communications, and so much more! You can save so much time by not having to all of these things manually. I personally use Dubsado. You can check it out here if you’re interested in learning more.
Does your Gallery Delivery process need updating? I personally use Pixieset to deliver client galleries, which I love because there are so many ways that you can make passive income as a photographer using Pixieset. You can also create an email template that you send when you deliver client galleries that helps explain how to use their gallery, how you purchase prints and products, etc. You can steal the exact wording I use by downloading my gallery delivery email template here.
Analyze Your Revenue and Expenses
Did you have any super high expenses this year that didn’t actually contribute to bringing in more revenue for your business? For example, maybe you invested in marketing that didn’t really work for you. Or maybe you paid to attend lots of styled shoots but you didn’t really see an increase in sales from that new portfolio content. Now is great time to decide what you might need to cut back on for the upcoming year.
Did you make enough revenue to keep your business profitable and sustainable? Did you make enough money for how many hours you worked? If not, this leads me to my next point.
Evaluate Your Prices.
Now is a great time to run an update Cost of Doing Business. Ideally, we should be doing this multiple times per year to make sure that our prices are profitable and sustainable. Most of us will probably need to raise our prices this year due to inflation. Just remember, while it’s amazing to have a job that you love, we as photographers need to pay our bills just like everyone else. And we need to make enough that it’s worth it to spend that time away from our families. Setting your prices should be a non-emotional decision. And there is where the CODB calculator can really help!
Focus on Education and Improving Your Skills
Are there any photographers or business educators whose work you love (or who are very successful) who offer courses? Now is a great time to invest in learning from industry leaders and work on improving your craft!
Plan Out Your Year
Do you plan to offer mini sessions or themed session this year? Now is a great time to plan out all the details, set up all your systems and processes, order props, and book studios! That way you’ll be totally prepared before busy season hits!