The family who books a photographer again, years later

3 days ago
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Introduction

Family photography is bought at milestones. A newborn, a first birthday, a school year, a christening, a significant anniversary, a grandparent while there is still time. Each of them arrives on a date somebody could have predicted. Those moments arrive on a schedule that is largely predictable, and the photographer who is contacted is the one whose name comes to mind at that moment.

Most photographers deliver a gallery and then disappear for four years, by which point the family has seen somebody else's work in a local group and booked them instead. Nothing went wrong. The photographer was simply not present when the next occasion arrived. Absence is the whole failure, and it is the easiest one to correct.

Staying present is inexpensive and almost nobody does it. One message a year is the whole method.

1. The family who books a photographer again needs you to know when

The milestones are knowable.

Record the children's ages at the shoot

A one-year-old is a school-photograph client in four years and a communion or a birthday client sooner. Note the ages in the booking record.

Note anniversaries and family dates

Wedding dates, significant birthdays. All of them recur and all of them are reasons for a session. Ask for them at the shoot rather than later.

2. Make contact once a year, usefully

Not a campaign.

Send something at the anniversary of the shoot

The images from a year ago, with nothing attached. That message is welcomed and it is remembered. Send one image, not the gallery.

Do not sell in every contact

A photographer who only appears with offers gets ignored. One who appears with a photograph does not. Two useful messages to one that asks.

3. Sell the print at the time, not the file alone

Physical work keeps you in the house.

Get images onto their walls

A framed print is a permanent reminder in a way a gallery link is not. It also shows your work to everyone who visits. Visitors ask about it. Offer to help them choose a wall.

Include something printed in every package

Even a small album or a set of prints. Digital files disappear into a phone. Print costs you little and lasts decades.

4. Use the session to arrange the next

The best time to book is when they are pleased.

Ask what is coming up

A birthday, a christening, a grandparent visiting, a family gathering. Most families have something within a year. Write the date down while they answer.

Offer a returning client arrangement

A modest credit or a shorter session at a set price. It gives a reason to come back rather than start again. Say it applies for two years.

5. Ask for the recommendation while it is fresh

Family photography spreads through parents talking.

Ask at delivery

When they have just seen the images. That is the moment of highest goodwill and almost nobody uses it. Ask once, in the same conversation.

Make it easy to pass on

Something forwardable with an image in it. Nobody recites a photographer's name from memory. A card with a photograph on it works.

Conclusion

Family photography is bought at milestones and the milestones are predictable, so record the children's ages and the family dates at the shoot — a one-year-old is a client again within a few years.

Make one useful contact a year, ideally the images from twelve months ago with nothing attached, and resist selling in every message. Get prints onto walls and include something physical in every package, because a framed photograph is a permanent reminder where a gallery link is not. Ask at the session what is coming up, offer a returning-client arrangement, and ask for the recommendation at delivery while they are still looking at the pictures.