5 Things to Do During the Photography Slow Season

Photography’s busy season happens during the summer — thanks to June weddings, graduations, and family vacations. But what happens when summer is over? Photography slow season sets in. Many photographers see their businesses slow down from December to February or March. 

While this is normal and not something to worry about, why not put that extra time on your hands to good use? We have tips below to help you stay productive during the photography slow season, and prepare your business for busier months to come.

Update your photography website and/or portfolio

What do potential clients do before inquiring about a session with you? They probably check out your photography website. If it doesn’t look good, tell them everything they need to know about working with you and convince them to book you, they may find another photographer instead.

Now’s your chance to check in with your website and portfolio. Make sure they are the best they can be. Use this mini-checklist to get your photography website and portfolio up to date during the slow season: 

• Check that your contact information is up-to-date and accurate
• Check that your pricing, packages, and services are up-to-date and accurate
• Update the public galleries displayed in your portfolio
• Make sure all your content is on brand, including copy, brand colors, design, fonts, and logos
• See if you’re using the most relevant keywords for SEO 

If you have your own separate website, you customize your ShootProof portfolio to look like a natural, seamless extension of it — no complicated coding required. You can create a custom subdomain, add a ShootProof login widget, or link to ShootProof on your site.

Develop new photography skills

When your photography business is booming, it’s easy to get caught up in your day-to-day work. Shooting, editing, selling prints and products, and booking new clients. That’s the stuff that you love and brings in revenue, so it makes sense! 

With more time in your schedule during the photography slow season, you have the opportunity to focus on the other parts of your business: being a great business owner and skilled photographer. Lucky for you, we have tons of resources to help you with that, like:

• ShootProof webinars, where you can learn about a variety of topics like posing clients, budgeting, branding, hosting sales, and more
• ShootProof blog posts, where you can find industry best practices, guides, and tips
• ShootProof’s YouTube channel, where you can watch tutorials on anything and everything photography (great for visual learners!) 

Revise your marketing materials

Let’s say your holiday sale is running smoothly, or it’s about to end. You used our email campaigns to successfully promote and automate your sale. What happens after your sale ends? In other words, is your marketing content ready to go when the slow season is over? 

Use your downtime to update marketing materials like your email templates and email campaigns for the upcoming months. For example, if you know a client’s birthday or anniversary is coming up, create a custom date-based email campaign to encourage them to buy a print as a gift or memento.

You can also check in with your content strategy to make sure all the moving parts — social media, regular email newsletters, blogs, vlogs — are still in line with your goals. 

Connect with other photographers

The photography slow season is the perfect time to get to know other photographers and business owners like you. Here are some ideas for connecting with other photographers:

• Join the ShootProof community on Facebook
• Find in-person groups and events with websites like Meetup and Eventbrite
• Look for programs, memberships, and meetings hosted by local photography communities
• Search for other photographers near you on social media (then send them a message and strike up a conversation!)

Check in with your photography business operations

Last but not least, check in with the administrative and operations side of your business. Think of all the tasks required to run your business successfully that don’t involve client work, shooting, editing, or selling. 

Read through your client contracts to ensure they’re accurate and up to date. Stay on top of your finances. (Yes, that means looking at your budget, even if you haven’t opened it in a while.) Prep your taxes. Look at your processes and workflows to see what can be automated to improve your productivity and efficiency. Back up your photos to protect your work.

These aren’t the most “fun” part of owning your own photography business, but they’re definitely an important component. 

Maximize your time with ShootProof

Your photography slow season doesn’t have to be stressful. You can use this time to strengthen your business and your expertise as a photographer. Then, when the busy season begins, you’ll be ready to face it with confidence and determination.Ready to start growing your business and your skills with ShootProof? Sign up for one of our upcoming webinars on our Events page, or learn how to use ShootProof to your advantage in ShootProof University!

Photos by Jessi Casara Photography