When I tell people that I specialize in high school senior photography, I get the same response time and time again: “So you only work part-time?” This makes me giggle because I definitely DON’T work part-time. At-a-glance, I can understand why they would think that, especially since I live in the rainy state of Oregon. But, although my actual shooting season is only about five months long, I am hard at work year-round. The role of a full-time photographer isn’t limited to having a camera in-hand, in fact, before we can even dream of picking up the camera, we have a multitude of tasks to get through so we can attract a client to our business in the first place. Branding, marketing and promoting on the daily. And once we book a client, the real work begins.

I love what I do. It’s my heart and passion for working with teens that drives me in my business every single day. But don’t be fooled, it’s work. Hard work, at that. Being self-employed requires determination and dedication because YOU have to be the one to put in the hours to make your photography business successful. You wear every hat in your company, from the CEO to the Janitor, and it’s not a cake-walk. But, at the end of the day, if you love what you do and you get to do what you love, it makes every single awesome/crazy/stressful/rewarding second, worth it.

My decision to specialize my photography business to just the high school senior demographic allowed me to work smarter, not harder. Keep in mind, I didn’t say work less. If anything, I was able to work more because I had a clear-cut vision for my business. When I was a Generalist, my efforts were often wasted. My mind was constantly shifting from one demographic to the next, so I had no consistency. Trying to keep it fair and even among all of the different genres of photography actually worked against me, my brand and marketing suffered. Specializing gave me power and confidence. Knowing who I was aiming to attract helped me to build and define my Young & Free brand, develop my voice, market to one audience effectively and keep my efforts focused on my end-goal: booking senior clients. Because my business is seniors, I never have to shift gears with my marketing. Every element of everything I do is with my senior clients in mind, keeping me on-track and on my game.

So, how do I stay busy year-round specializing in seniors, a seasonal demographic? I’ll show you. Below I have compiled what my year looks like and the tasks I perform throughout each season. While I am fully aware that there are four seasons, in my business, there are really only three.

WINTER SEASON
december-february

• Blog several times per week
• Fulfill client orders as they come in
• Update/Revise the guidelines of our Senior Model Program
• Announce Senior Model Program for the following year (in December 2015, I launched my 2017 Senior Model Search)
• Educate and inform Senior Model Applicants & Parents about our Program, What to Expect, etc
• Design marketing materials
• Promote company on social media outlets
• Interview Senior Model Applicants (I conducted interviews in January)
• Announce Senior Model Team (I announced my team at the end of January)
• Obtain Senior Model Contracts & Model Releases from the entire Team
• Plan Spring Campaigns for the new Senior Model Team
• Announce Spring Campaigns to Senior Models

SPRING SEASON
march-may

• Blog several times per week
• Fulfill last remaining client orders for the current graduating class
• Order marketing materials for Client Welcome Packets
• Design & Order our studio shirt
• Promote company on social media outlets
• Open calendar for Summer & Fall sessions to my Senior Models (early March)
• Shoot & Edit Spring Campaign Shoots
• Showcase Spring Campaigns on social media, blog, etc
• Open calendar for Summer & Fall sessions to the public (mid-March, we sell-out every year)
• Plan Summer Campaigns for the Senior Model Team
• Announce Summer Campaigns to Senior Models
• Mail Client Welcome Packets to clients
• Email Senior Questionnaires

SENIOR SEASON
june-november

• Blog several times per week
• Package and fill Young & Free goodie bags for all of our clients
• Email session confirmation emails three days before each shoot
• YAY!! Senior Season kicks off and sessions finally begin! (our sessions begin in June and carry through November)
• Obtain Model Releases from all clients
• Edit Sessions
• Post sneak peeks on social media, brag about how AWESOME my clients are!!
• Fulfill client orders as they come in
• Email Review Questionnaire
• Promote company on social media outlets
• Shoot & Edit Summer Campaign Shoots
• Showcase Summer Campaigns on social media, blog, etc
• Smile and take a deep breath

This is just a quick overview of the tasks that I perform over the year. There are probably several things that I’ve forgotten to include, but this gives you a good idea of how I’ve structured my business. I hope that this post has helped and inspired you in some way! Now, before I wrap this up with a pretty little bow, I did want to say one more thing. I am a hard worker, dedicated to the success of my company. I have BIG goals for this little photography business and I intend to see them through. But, and this is a big BUT, I am also a wife and a mom, dedicated to the love of my family. While I put in a lot of hours with my business, I save a lot of hours for my family. I own my calendar and my schedule- it doesn’t own me. There was a time when I couldn’t say this because my business ran me for a lot of years and it was rough! Taking control of my business and setting guidelines was pivotal! Every day I continue to work on ways to improve my process and be the best business owner, wife and mom I can be. Much love!!