During this challenging time, it’s important to find new ways to work and market to our clients. That’s why we recently shared a guide to doing FaceTime sessions with your clients! But how do you even go about offering this service? Here are some great ideas you can work with.
Go live
One of the huge benefits of working from your iPhone is that you have all of the capabilities of the internet at your fingertips. This means that you can actually share your session live, and there are a number of ways to do it.
The first is to just go live with a friend or client you trust, who can act as your guinea pig. Go ahead and start it up on your Instagram Live channel, and then have your client request to join. Now you can play around with the settings and have it so that your client’s screen is visible, while you are not.
There will be some challenges involved in this format, but the point is really to show your potential customers what to expect. So, direct your client around as you normally would, but be aware that you won’t get great shots to show off. This is because:
- The resolution of the video will likely be lower on Instagram Live than it would be on a FaceTime video call
- You will have comments, likes, and viewer counts taking up your screen
- You won’t be able to give your full attention to the shoot when you are also fielding comments and questions!
However, it’s fairly easy to get around this. Either before the call, or afterwards, have your client recreate some of the shots (it’s likely to be easier to do a bit of both, so you have some posing ideas when you begin the call and so you can follow up on any great ideas you had during the Live session). Then you’ll have something to share which matches up to what people saw during the Live.
The other way to share a session is to use a screen recording app to create a video you can share with your followers! Do make sure that you can still take screenshots while using it, or you won’t be able to capture anything from your session.
Share your results
Whether you choose to share the session itself or not, you should absolutely share the results. You can provide some behind-the-scenes coverage using your DSLR to take a photograph of your set-up – show your session on the screen of your smartphone, sitting in your room or wherever you choose to set it up!
You can choose to share the unedited images from the shoot and then also the final polished pieces, especially if you are choosing to get really deep into editing with adding fantasy elements or transporting your model to a different place. It can be really quick and easy to add these using Summerana overlays and action collections, and this process could really drive the value of your sessions up. Sharing the before and after will help clients to get an idea of what the session will be like to take part in, and also what kind of results you can get.
Create graphic pieces
Using your finished images, and any behind-the-scenes shots you took, you can put together some promotional graphics to share. Using a service like Canva which has lots of built-in templates will make the process much easier: just choose the right size for the place you want to share it – such as an Instagram post or a Pin – and then get designing. Once you have some ads that you think will grab attention, you can start sharing them online.
They don’t have to be paid ads, but that might help to get the word out a bit wider. Who knows? You could even get clients from a lot further afield than you are normally likely to get. While this may not be a good strategy for building your long-term client base, as those from too far away won’t be able to use your services in person, it’s a great way to keep income coming in right now. At the end of the day, that’s what is important when you’re worrying about paying the bills!
Think carefully about your targeting – you can go after those who have already used your services, or try a specific type of person that you think might be more interested in an iPhone session. Use your intuition and the marketing data you already have from past promotions, and be sure to run some A/B testing to get the best possible results.
You don’t want to spend a fortune on these ads because you want to make a profit from your sessions, so keep that in mind.
Selling and upselling packages
Later, after your session is complete, you might want to think about what you can sell to your customer. Yes, they’ve paid for the session and your edits, but could you offer them even more? How about printed images? Normal edits alongside fantasy edits? How about maybe even creating a mini photobook for them – you could try to tell a story through your images! That would make a super cute anniversary present: a wife’s iPhone photo session telling the story of why she loves her husband, moving through the house…
The sky is the limit because this really is a new format we’re all exploring. Find an angle that is unique to you and your business, and you’ll have your marketing hook – not just for now, but for after the lockdown situation has eased off, too!
Don’t sit at home worrying about bills or about the fact that you’re no longer fully booked with photoshoots. By starting up virtual iPhone sessions you can actually do something about it, and get that money coming back in by giving your clients a bit of fun and escapism – which we all need right now!