How to get more bookings for your newborn reports? strategies that work

Making a full living out of newborn reports is no easy task. Along the way there can be a number of obstacles that need to be overcome, especially when starting out. In that initial stage, most newborn photographers tend to focus on the more technical aspects. How to position the baby safely, master transitions between poses, create original settings, gather the right props, or perfect artistic editing. However, as the business begins to consolidate, new concerns emerge. It is no longer just about taking good pictures, but about effectively managing a profitable and sustainable business. And it is precisely that management, the less visible but more decisive part, that will make the difference between staying afloat or making a big profit.

If you want to discover what are the main challenges facing a newborn photographer and, above all, how to overcome them to increase your bookings and grow your business, keep reading this article to the end.

 

 

In newborn reportages, the most important challenges do not appear during the shoot, but in the management and strategy of the business.

Common mistakes that prevent you from selling more newborn reports

 

Delivering newborn shoots requires much more preparation than is sometimes perceived from the outside. Before starting to shoot, it is essential to ensure a safe positioning of the baby, to make the most of each session with different scenarios, and to create a warm and comfortable environment for both the newborn and their parents. Who will spend several hours in the studio. If you want to learn more about these technical and creative aspects, we recommend this article from our blog:

>> Key tips for capturing the most tender and touching newborn photos

With the right training and experience gained over time, many photographers are able to set up a studio that is perfectly equipped for this type of session. Gradually, the volume of work begins to grow as their reputation and visibility increase. And it is at this point of growth that new, less visible, but equally important challenges arise: those related to the management of the business. These obstacles are often beyond the control of many photographers, as they do not have to do with the camera, editing or creativity, but with aspects such as organisation, client acquisition or time optimisation. Business management is often one of the most tedious and complex parts of a newborn photographer’s day-to-day life.

Here are 4 of the main obstacles facing newborn photographers. None of them are related to planning or executing a session, but all of them can slow down your growth if you don’t tackle them in time. But first, we want you to be inspired by some of the professionals who already trust Arcadina to bring their businesses to life.

>> Be inspired by the work of 12 newborn photographers who choose Arcadina

1# I spend too much time managing newborn bookings

As we have already mentioned, a photographer specialising in newborns must have the studio perfectly prepared before the arrival of each family. This involves careful planning and organisation in several key aspects, such as, for example, the following:

• Have several customised scenarios ready.
• Prepare all props and material to be used during the session.
• Set up the studio so that the baby feels comfortable and safe at all times.
• Have a break space for parents, where they can relax, have a drink or take care of their baby during breaks.

And this is just the beginning.

In addition to all this, there are other daily tasks that also require time and dedication. He post-production of the sessions, the preparation of pregnancy or children’s reports, administrative tasks, the search for new props, the organisation of the calendar… The list is long.

With so many responsibilities, it is easy to understand why many photographers find it difficult to take calls, answer emails or manage bookings manually. Also, since newborn sessions are often booked months in advance, many of these enquiries are not even to make an appointment, but simply to ask for information. Therefore, if you want to have more time to prepare your sessions calmly, edit with quality or even rest without missing opportunities, it is essential that you start automating certain management processes in your business. This will allow you to be more efficient, offer better customer service and focus on what really matters: creating unforgettable memories for each family.

2# I do not have an efficient control of my session payments

Another problem that directly affects the lack of time is the management of the payments for the newborn photo shoots. In most cases, photographers usually split the total amount in two or three parts: an initial booking and one or more subsequent payments. This makes it necessary to keep a close eye on each client to ensure that all amounts are paid correctly and on time.

In the case of newborn photography, this process becomes even more complicated. This long booking is usually done during pregnancy, weeks, or even months, in advance of the date of the interval session can lead to forgetfulness, confusion or mismatches if you don’t have a well-organised system.

If you do not have a structured process for recording and tracking payments, you run two major risks:

• A customer forgets to make a payment and you end up with an outstanding payment without realising it.
• That you yourself spend a lot of time checking old mail, receipts or receipts to find out which payments have already been made.

Inefficient collections management can directly affect your cash flow and create unnecessary stress. Automating the payment process, using tools that allow you to send reminders and keeping a clear history per customer not only improves your organisation, but also conveys a more professional image to the families who rely on you.

3# Booking so many weeks in advance makes my schedule chaotic

Another consequence of booking newborn sessions so far in advance is the need to keep an exhaustive control of your booking calendar, something that is not always done correctly. To avoid overlaps and maintain efficient organisation. You need to be very careful and orderly, managing your newborn shoots accurately at least three months in advance.

The complexity increases if, in addition to baby shoots, you offer other types of shoots, such as pregnancy, baby follow-up, child or family shoots, etc. As each booking requires you to find a suitable space in your schedule. And since newborn shoots tend to be longer than other photo shoots, this can mean spending a lot of time each time a mum contacts you to book.

Without an efficient system to manage your calendar, it is easy to waste valuable time searching for available slots, which can cause stress and affect your customer service. The solution is to implement a system that automates these processes as much as possible: calendar management tools, online booking with real-time availability, automatic alerts and reminders, allowing you to optimise your time and avoid mistakes.

In this way, you will be able to focus on what really matters: preparing and delivering quality sessions, without organisation becoming an obstacle to your professional growth.

4# Because sessions are booked so far in advance, families forget the agreed conditions

As usual, families who book newborn photos often do so during pregnancy. In some cases, it may only be a few weeks before they return to the studio for this session, but in other cases it may be a month or two or even longer.

During this time, families go through a period full of important events and emotional changes, which means that, in many cases, they do not remember the exact conditions agreed for the reportage. This may include details such as the duration of the session, prices, delivery times, the number of photos agreed, or cancellation and payment policies.

This lack of recall creates confusion and delays communication, which can affect the customer experience and also the management of the business. It is therefore essential to have a clear and accessible system that allows customers to easily consult all relevant information at any time, thus avoiding misunderstandings or frustrations.

In addition, it is essential that you have an effective tool that allows you to protect your work and maintain clear control over the agreed conditions, thus avoiding possible misunderstandings or uncomfortable situations with the client. In this way, you will be able to guarantee fluid and professional communication, safeguarding both the satisfaction of the families and the stability of your business.

At Arcadina, we provide you with the necessary tools to make your newborn reportages profitable

 

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If you want to consolidate your work, save time in managing your clients, keep better control of your sessions, and have organised payments made and pending, at Arcadina we have a lot to offer you.

In addition to providing you with complete and specific business solutions for photographers who want to build a professional online business, with tools such as website, blog, private galleries, online shop or WhatsApp service, we also help you to optimise the internal processes of your company, essential to maximise the profitability of your newborn reportages.

One of the key tools to achieve this is our Booking service, with which you can automate bookings, manage your agenda, track payments and solve many of those problems that, although not directly related to the photo shoot, have a major impact on the profitability and organisation of your business. If you still don’t know this tool, in the following article we tell you everything it can do for you.

>> Would you like to have a booking calendar on your website? The Arcadina Booking plan is here!

Another of the services that can help you to simplify your day-to-day work and, above all, to secure your work, are the contracts. Thanks to this option that you will find within the Manager plans, you will be able to create contracts from the panel and send them to your customers easily so that they can sign them digitally. In addition, this service will allow you to have all the information of interest to your clients in the same space. Your management panel. Find out more about this innovative service in the following post of our blog.

>> You can now create and send contracts to your clients from Arcadina!

 

 

 Booking: your best ally to get the most out of your newborn sessions

Arcadina’s booking calendar is designed to make your life easier, especially in the management of clients who book newborn sessions. Thanks to this tool, you will be able to offer your clients the possibility to book a photo shoot directly from your website, choose the day and time, and make the payment quickly and securely. In addition, you will have greater control over your booking calendar, better organisation of payments made and pending, and all this without the need to be on the phone or email.

With the Booking service, these are just some of the things you can do:

• Create specific campaigns for each type of session: newborn, pregnancy, infant, family, etc.
• Offer different types of sessions or packs within each campaign.
• Allow your customers to book in real time, selecting date, time and paying directly online.
• Manage each booking individually: add remarks, control payments, send reminders, etc.
• Access to an automatic calendar with all your sessions organised, synchronisable with your usual agenda.
• And many other features that will help you automate tasks and focus on what you love most: photography.

And these are just some of the advantages offered by the Booking service, designed so that you can delegate a large part of the day-to-day management of your business and focus your efforts on growing your studio.

Below, we are going to share with you a practical example of how you can start offering to book your newborn photo shoots on your photography website.

Launch your newborn campaign and connect with more families

When it comes to showcasing the different types of photo shoots you offer, the Booking service allows you to create specific campaigns for each of them. This will help you to better organise your offer and guide your customers through the booking process. This way, when a visitor accesses the “Book” section of your website, they can easily view all the available sessions and choose the one that best suits their needs. For example: maternity session, newborn, first year follow-up, smash cake, family sessions, among others.

Each campaign can include different types of packs, available schedules and customisation options, making your booking system a clear, intuitive and fully professional experience.

Offer different packs within your newborn campaign to suit every family

In the same way that you offer several packs in your newborn dossier so that families can choose the one that best suits their needs, you can structure this same offer in a clear and attractive way on your website. Within the newborn campaign in Booking you will be able to create all the types of sessions you want to offer for this type of report. For each pack or type of session, you can define details such as:

• Title of service.
• Detailed description of what is included in each pack.
• Representative image to capture attention.
• Dates and times available for booking.
• Price of the reservation and total price of the session.
• Special discounts, if any.
• And other key elements that will help you personalise your offer.

Thanks to this structure, when a family accesses the “Book” section of your website and selects the newborn photo shoot option, they will be able to clearly see the different options available, choose the one that suits them best and make the booking in just a few clicks, without the need for prior contact. This will improve the customer experience and save valuable time in your daily management.

Below, we are going to share with you an article from our help where we explain all the steps to create your campaigns in the booking calendar.

>> Booking. Campaigns

Allow your clients to book their newborn sessions conveniently from your website

As we mentioned at the beginning of this article, if you work in newborn photography you will already know that organising each session requires a great investment of time: from preparing the studio and the settings to managing doubts and messages from clients, especially those who have not yet decided to book. That time is very valuable and you could be spending it on more productive tasks, such as editing your reports, attending to confirmed clients or even your own relaxation.

With the Booking service, you can create a space on your website where mums-to-be can find all the key information about your newborn sessions: a clear description, the price, the details of the service and, of course, the possibility to choose date and time directly from the website.

Once they have decided, they only have to complete the booking process in a few simple steps, without the need for phone calls or messages back and forth. Your customers will appreciate the convenience and speed of the process, and you will immediately notice how much time you save on repetitive steps.

Manage your photo shoot payments accurately and in detail

One of the key features of Booking’s booking service is that, for those customers who pay in instalments, you will have a space in your control panel where you can register each payment: date, amount and payment method. In this way, you will be able to know at all times how much each client has left to pay.

In this way, from a single place you will have complete control over all your bookings: you will know which clients have booked, the amounts paid, the amounts pending and all the relevant information for each newborn session booked online. This will greatly facilitate the financial and administrative management of your business.

>> Booking. Management of the payment of an order

Keep your booking calendar up to date quickly and easily thanks to Booking

One of the biggest challenges for a newborn photographer is to keep an updated and organised control of all the session bookings. On the Booking tab within your dashboard, you will find a calendar showing all the sessions that have been booked for you directly from your website. The best thing about this calendar is that it not only reflects your online bookings, but also allows you to add your own appointments, block dates and synchronise all the information with the calendars you already use, such as Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, among others.

Thanks to Booking, you can save time in managing your agenda and dedicate more time to what really matters: preparing your sessions, designing new scenarios and offering innovative services to your clients.

>> Booking. Calendar

Contracts: the perfect tool to protect your job

 

Thanks to the contract service, in addition to saving you valuable client management time, you will also have the opportunity to reinforce the security of your work. Because we know that not all clients are the same, it is not surprising that from time to time you have to deal with people who do not pay attention to the explanations you give them when hiring a reportage, or who do not read the information you send them. The best thing to do in these cases to avoid misunderstandings is to spell everything out in detail in a contract.

To make this process easier for you and to turn your management panel into a tool where you can consult all the information about your customers, has a contract service. In this section of your panel you will be able to customise templates of contracts already created, edit the information you consider and send it to your customers via email so that they can read and sign it. In addition, you will also be able to include a digital signature to make this procedure even faster.

And best of all, you have already connected the Booking service with contracts, so that, if you wish, you can automatically generate contracts for customers who make a reservation. See all the information in the following post.

>> Arcadina contracts and bookings are now connected!

Secure your work as a photographer by sending contracts to your clients

To avoid last-minute confusion, it is best to put everything in writing. In this type of contract, you can include information that is of special interest to the parents and that will save you from last-minute changes, for example:

• Date, time and duration of the session. Bearing in mind that these sessions take place during the first week of the baby’s life, you can leave the date open, but taking this into account.
• Wardrobe, make-up, etc. For the day of the photo shoot. Inform the parents of how they have to go to the studio that day so that the family photos do not clash with the rest of the session.
• Contracted pack. Make it clear what is included in this session, the number of photos, costume changes and props, album, etc.
• Cancellation policy. Make sure your back is protected against last minute cancellations.

This is just an example of the information you can include in your newborn session contracts, but it can serve as a starting point to begin to shape them and create your own personalised template.

>> Contracts. Templates

Automate your processes by generating contracts with every Booking reservation

Another of the advantages of this Contracts service is that you can automatically generate a new document each time a client books a specific type of session. This small gesture will save you a lot of time at the computer and will allow you to keep your information more organised.

Thanks to this interesting option, you will no longer have to worry about having to create contracts every time you receive a booking notification for any of your newborn reports.

>> Booking. Types of sessions

Increase your newborn bookings with Arcadina’s Newborn Booking and Contract Calendar

If you want to boost your newborn reportages, increase the number of bookings and gain more time for yourself, the Booking service together with Arcadina’s Contracts service is the perfect solution. As you have seen, many of the challenges faced by newborn photographers that are related to business management can be easily solved with the services included in the Manager plan.

This option will help you optimise your time, speed up the contracting process for your clients, manage all payments from a single panel, save you a lot of management time and protect your work from possible misunderstandings. In addition, you will have a detailed control of all pending sessions thanks to a calendar that you can consult and modify at any time.

And to make communication even easier, any changes you make to a booking will be automatically notified to your customers via email or WhatsApp (if you have contracted this service), keeping them always informed.

Best of all, you can now enjoy these 2 services free for 14 days so you can see for yourself all the options you have at your disposal. Start simplifying the management of your newborn reports today!

 

Before we say goodbye we are going to introduce you to several photographers who are already using Booking in their photography business.

>> Success stories: 8 examples of customers using Arcadina’s Booking Plan

In addition, in today’s article we wanted to share with you an interview with Omar Huerta who talks about his website, also a fundamental part of digital business.

>> “My website helps me to show a professional image”, Omar Huerta

And to finish this article about the best strategies to sell newborn photo shoots, let’s ask a question: How do you get parents-to-be to book more newborn sessions for you? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.

Arcadina goes with you

Fulfil your dreams and develop your career with us. We offer you to try our web service free for 14 days. And with no commitment of permanence.

Arcadina is much more than a website, it is business solutions for photographers.

If you have any queries, our Customer Service Team is always ready to help you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We listen to you.