Idea #4: Hit up your contacts

I'm going to say something a little strong. I don't mean to be rude, but I want this to sink in so I'm going to say what I'm really thinking. “Photographers who do not keep an email list of clients and prospective clients are fools.”

No, you don't have to Spam your clients every week and drive them crazy. However, it can make you a lot of money if you carefully send emails that will be useful to your clients. Here's an example of how to use your email list….

Jenny came in to have a pregnancy shoot done in December. 99% of photographers shoot Jenny's photos and casually say, “I'd love to shoot the newborn photos when she's born” as the client walks out of your studio. That is lousy follow-up and I know you don't want a lousy business. Get Jenny's email and send her an email a week after her due date. Attach a couple baby pictures that you've taken and send a personalized email saying you enjoyed working with her, you would like to do the baby shoot, offer a discount, and mention a couple ideas you have for the shoot which make reference to the attached pictures.

Money you can make by implementing this idea: Almost impossible to guage with a number, but I think it is reasonable to say that you will get 2 or 3 times more return customers with this careful follow-up. You can do the math. That's a lot of money!

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