I get it! I think there are actually a lot of photographers who really just don’t want to work with little children or our intimidated. I just love this age group. Do you already have or want to onboard a W2 employees, or are you looking for a contractor? And where are you located?

@Volkan Caglar I'm so grateful you validated the postcard idea! I'm sure email drip campaigns work for some marketing purposes, but I really feel like we should market towards local, personal touch, community-member, and face to face. And as much as I love AI, there's nothing better than real life connections. Our first call and meeting you is an example of that! I feel like I have a new friend in Canada now! The database idea is great and that's a great use of AI. For the postcards, the jist was that I'm a local photographer with limited openings for the fall season, I'm a community member and mom, my website shows benefits to the schools, including reducing their admin work, and I'm happy to stop by and meet. For timing, on a high level, any time is a good time to market. My mentor used to tell me I need to market when I'm busy, not when I have a lull. You can also have marketing materials ready to go for when you hear of a new school opening. But I also think any time of the year is good. Maybe it's the end of the fall season, but a school just had a bad experience with a big box school in the fall and it's so raw, they're going to jump at the chance to work with you in the spring or even schedule for next fall. I've booked schools at all times of the year. Maybe a school's photographer just told them they are going to retire and they need to scramble to fill their picture day. I just looked at my schools inquiry form submissions since 2019 and they are literally at all times of the year. For marketing, I feel like done is better than best.

I'm going to start a list that I'll pin so you can see what is on my "to-do list". Once it gets on the list, I'll prioritize those. It'll either be topics that are clear winners in the poll or things I've promised people I'll work on. If I'm missing something I said I'd do, please message me and remind me! 1. Getting new schools 2. Hiring an assistant / photographer 3. Expression varieties / prompts

Something is going on in internet land. Yesterday my web host emailed several times of upstream issues and apparently Canva was down yesterday too. I was so frustrated trying to do the video of how to market to new schools that I gave up this morning and am making it 2 parts. 1 will just go over my outline and part 2 will be going over an actual real time research. I recorded part 1 and will post it as soon as I edit it and then part 2 will be recorded when sites seem to be working again. Maybe it was just the city I chose :)

@Kat J I'll contact Dubsado and ask. I have a to-do list that includes checking out Sytist! I love the simplicity of Shootproof, and yes I also have employees who help and it costs me a lot less to have them do it than lab-fulfill on Shootproof. But I know Shootproof isn't really geared toward volume. If only there were just a few tweaks, it could work amazingly. But I'm always on the lookout for alternatives. And I'm so glad to have you on board, and bring on the Aussies! I'll be rooting for you all on Friday ⚽!!!

I've contacted Dubsado. They said it might take up to 2 weeks to see if we're a good fit. If they decline, I'll do a video although I'm definitely not a super user!

Hi Kat, my website is www.robinsgambatiphotography.com and it houses all my non-PDC work. I created the separate PDC brand for this education/community work because the clients and audiences are different. I'm happy to have a call on headshots too. I am part of Peter Hurley's Headshot Crew and am an associate photographer. It's a process of getting portfolio reviews and learning his exact lighting process. That helped me tremendously to really SEE light and control it. Becoming an associate required me to put on my "big girl pants" and accept a lot of critique. I'm a huge believer now in portfolio reviews, which is why I offer them to premium members. I have different processes and software for headshots, which I'm happy to share as well. Yes, I have my own studio! It has been so helpful to store all my gear, have clients come and not have to shlep gear, and I have all my makeups in my studio. I still do a lot of on location headshots for companies, but charge a minimum for those. On the next call, I'm happy to give you a tour and also answer any questions. It's been a game changer for me, but there's also lots of ways to work without a studio. And don't apologize! Any topic is fine with me :)