Running a small business is no easy task. It's messy and thrilling and terrifying all at the same time. But no matter what, it's definitely a journey worth taking. As a mom of two littles, I know the daily struggles, and I'm here to walk this journey with you. If you're ready to feel empowered, encouraged and on fire for the things you truly love, Ben, you're in the right place. I'm Rebecca Rice, a pizza loving hot chocolate drinking family photographer and educator and this is the business Journey podcast.
Hey friends, welcome back to another episode of the business Journey podcast. I'm your host, Rebecca rice. And I teach family photographers how to gain A life of financial freedom through a thriving photography business. So we're on episode 75. I can't believe it, the pros and cons of themed mini sessions. Now before we get into it, I wanted to let you know in case you haven't heard, this week, I'm hosting a live free class all about mini sessions, we're going to be getting into the secrets that I use and that I teach for fully booked minis, believe it or not fall mini session season is literally right around the corner. Like if you're not thinking about fall minis right now you really really should be. So this is the perfect timing for this class can join me there are several different time options. I'm going to be going live several different times on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. So you can sign up we have the link below here in the show notes. But in case you want to type it in Rebecca rice photo.com/minis-class. So you go there, you can click save my seat or sign up or whatever the button says, and choose the time that works best for you. It's always better to come live because I do have a live q&a at the end. And there's just so much energy in the room. I love it. It's seriously my favorite part. But if you're not able to join us live for whatever reason, you know, listen, mom life, I
get it totally fine, there will be a replay sent out but you have to sign up to access the replay. So I'm super excited. I only do this class a couple times a year. So now is the time to sign up. And now's the time to sign up. And I hope to see you there. Okay, so let's get into the pros and cons of themed mini sessions. I actually get this question a lot of like, do I need to have a theme to have successful mini sessions? And the answer the short answer no, you don't have to have a theme to run profitable successful mini sessions. But I do believe that there is a time and a place for themed minis. And so we're going to kind of break that down today of when you should think about doing a theme when it's better not to do with theme. And just the general pros and cons. So I'm speaking from my own experience here with our pros and cons. Let's start with the pros of having a mini session theme. So for one, it's great for seasonal things like Christmas or Easter that those are times that people appreciate a really cute setup, because it just goes with the season or the you know, the natural theme that life is in. And so for us we run like red truck Christmas minis those are super, super popular. And we have like a cute little setup with a Christmas tree and some you know gifts and blankets and stuff to make it feel really cozy in the truck. So that goes well or we do studio Christmas minis where we're inside and we have a couch setup or we have a bed setup if people want to do like Christmas jammies and whatnot that Christmas is a really easy time to do a theme because it just lends itself naturally. And there are so many places to find cute Christmas props you can even use. Like in the past I've used my own like Christmas decor, I would bring stuff. We have our Christmas pillows and things like that that I would bring to spruce up the area and it works really well. Easter would also be a great time for a theme. You know there's we used to do live bunny Easter minis and I've recorded episodes about what I feel about that now. I don't do live bunnies easter bunnies anymore. They're really stressful. But there are these little chicks that you can get that look realistic on Amazon. I can link them here in the show notes. If you want them you're probably not going to use them until the spring but it's worth it to go check them out that they're these like little realistic looking chicks that you can get on Amazon that make for really cute props for Easter. So anyway, the pros of having a setup is it's great for seasonal things. Another pro is that you get those cute like Pinterest worthy shots, that that's what people are saving on Pinterest they're searching for people just love those like really cute setups. You know, I've done my Easter minis are every year super, super popular on Pinterest. I also have like a picnic setup that's really popular on Pinterest that I've done before. There are just so many different things that you can do. I know there's one girl that is a family photographer, she does lots of mini sessions and she does very elaborate themes. That's the thing that I think if you're going to do a theme you have to go out. So this girl does very elaborate themes. She'll do this really elaborate flower truck in the spring. So she partners with like a flower nursery and they give her tons and tons of florals to use which is great if you can partner with somebody like that because man florals are expensive. They give her lots of florals to use. And it's just like this drop dead, beautiful setup that stops people's eye. So if you're going to do a setup, I feel like you've got to go all out to make it something that people are like, Oh my gosh, I can't not use that. There's a studio that we rent my associate team rents in Dallas that does really, really elaborate setups like right now they have like an ice cream setup going on. And I am not one that loves ice cream minis I think that I don't need pictures of my kids eating ice cream, like I don't need to pay professional pictures to get my kids eating ice cream. But the setup that the studio did was inside a greenhouse, they made it look like an ice cream parlor. So it's super elaborate. And you can, they've got this cute ice cream card outside. And that's the kind of thing like, Okay, I might do something like that, because it's very, very elaborate. So you know, there is a time and a place to have themed mini sessions. Let's talk about some cons of themed mini sessions. For one, if you're going to do it right and go out, they can get expensive, and they definitely eat into your profit. So that's something to consider that if you're going to use a setup, have lots of you know, elaborate props and pay money to make it happen, then you want to increase the price of your mini sessions to cover that cost. Because the worst thing would be to have this super elaborate setup and to be making pennies because you didn't charge enough. So you want to make sure that your pricing makes sense with the setup that you're using. Another con of using a setup is that if you're it's something super specific, sometimes people are wanting something more generic. So for example, in the fall, I do not do like a fall setup or a fall theme. Because what I've found is most people in the fall that get photos done are wanting just a few updated pictures for their holiday cards, maybe to swap out some photos in their frames in their house. And they don't necessarily want this like cutesy fall theme or setup, they would prefer just a beautiful location. It just adds more versatility to where they can use their images. And so I'm all about that does a theme and a setup have a time and a place? Absolutely. But in the fall, I feel like it's just not the best time because people are not wanting something so specific. They want more generic photos. So we talked about you know, the pros, the cons. Now when is it appropriate to use a theme and when would it be better not to so I already said it'd be better not to use a theme for the fall. Another time that it may be better to go without props would be if you're doing like wildflower minis or you know blue bonnets or something like that where sunflowers were nature is beautiful enough that if you added props, it would take away from the natural beauty of you know the scene. And so if you want to use something, keep it super minimal. Like we'll use a blanket for people to sit on, or maybe a little chair or a little bench or something like that, that it's just enough that it adds a little pop to the images. But it's not distracting because if I were to do this big, elaborate spring setup in the flowers, it would be really distracting and it takes away from the natural beauty. So those are the times that I would say a setup is not necessary. I think you'd benefit by not doing a setup. Now there are times that you would benefit from doing a setup. So we mentioned Easter, we mentioned Christmas another great one is back to school. If you can get a hold of a really cute like vintage looking desk get a cute little like globe or an apple or some textbooks something like that. I've even seen people like do that kind of setup in a bus yard so like where all the school buses are parked. Now you probably have to get permission to do that. I haven't didn't just go trespassing into the bus yard. But that's a great like place that you can can consider doing a setup because back to school I feel like has become more and more popular. As the years go by I had students asking me three, four years ago, if you know back to school was a viable option for many sessions, and back then it just wasn't there were a few people starting to do it. But most parents were like, No, I don't want I don't want, I don't need back to school photos. But over the years, it's become more and more popular. And so like our associate team is doing back to school minis this year, because the studio that we use is doing a cute setup, and it's just now it's starting to become more of a thing. So that's a great time to do a theme as well. But another one that's really popular that always goes well is unicorn minis, so if you can get a hold of a unicorn, obviously not a real unicorn, but you know, a beautiful white horse, put a horn on it. And those go really, really well. I people just love it. I've even seen like tea parties if you wanted to do a tea party. But if you're gonna use a theme, it basically has to be something that people see and are like, Oh my gosh, I have to have photos like that. Because if it's too simple, if it's too just kind of generic where people are just not going to find the need to do it. So be really aware when you're using props when you're choosing a theme. And if buying props and putting together a theme overwhelms you, there's a couple things you can do. First, you can partner with a planner, I've seen family photographers partner with planners, like event planners or things like that, to put together a setup for them, they just have a natural eye for it. For me, I'm not really great at putting together setups. And so I that would be the route I would go if I was doing more elaborate setups. But another thing is, you don't have to do a setup. I mentioned from the beginning that you can absolutely be successful with minis without using props. And so if Prop stress you out, then don't use them and it's gonna be okay, you will get bookings. Um, it's all about marketing and the way that you market yourself, which we'll get into in that free mini sessions class. So don't forget to sign up for it. If you have not already that we're doing this week, I would love to see you there and help DIVE INTO ALL THINGS marketing, because once you have your theme or your lack of theme, then it's time to get it in front of people that are not currently following you. And that's a key you have to get in front of people that are not currently following you. So in the class, I'm going to talk through ways to do that. And I know it'll be helpful for you. So if you have any questions at all, usually I say like DM me on Instagram or comment them here. But this time, I'm going to say if you're listening to this, when this episode airs, hold your question and ask it and our live class this week. Whichever one you choose to join, there will be a live q&a at the end and so I would love to answer it there. With that, that's all I've got. So hope you guys have a great week and I hope to see you in just a few days for our minis class. Bye guys.
