Welcome to minis Made Easy, the podcast that's all about making your mini sessions simple, profitable and stress free. I'm Rebecca Rice, and I've helped 1000s of family photographers, just like you, build thriving businesses through mini sessions. Somewhere along the way, my students started calling me the queen of minis, and I'll gladly own it, because I love showing photographers how to maximize their time and profits while working smarter, not harder. Whether you're brand new to the world of minis or you've been running them for years and are ready to level up if you're in the right place, from pricing and marketing to posing and workflows, this is your one stop shop for everything minis. So grab your favorite drink, get cozy, and let's dive in. You're just one episode away from transforming your
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music. Hello friends, welcome back to the minis Made Easy Podcast. I'm so glad that you're here today. We are talking about spring minis, theme ideas that are sure to book out this year, spring of 2025
it is going to be so good. So we have a lot to cover. So I want you to make sure this is one of those that you want to like take notes. I don't know if it's like a note on your phone or like a notepad or something, but super actionable. I want you to take these ideas and hopefully they just get your brain swirling with ideas as we're headed into prepping for our spring minis. So much that we're going to cover also special announcement. Just want to make sure that you guys know prep Week is coming. Our first ever prep week, which, if you don't know what that is, starting next Monday is our free four day challenge to help family photographers get fully prepped for their spring mini sessions. And so in those four days, we're going to cover everything that you're going to need to know to plan ahead for your spring minis, so that by the end of the four days, they are ready to launch to the world, and that this is the year that you're finally ahead of the game. I feel like that's one of the biggest mistakes that I see photographers make, is they're just behind. And good marketing takes time, and if you don't give yourself the gift of time, you are already behind. And so now is the time sign up for PrEP week so that you're not behind. You're ahead of the game, ahead of the competition, ahead of everything, and finally, are able to book out all your spots and have your most profitable year yet. So come join us. We're gonna have pre recorded teachings, live teachings, super actionable steps, and a community to grow with. I think that's the biggest piece of prep week, is that you're not doing it alone. We're doing it together, not only you and me, but you and hundreds of other photographers just like you, y'all, it's gonna be game changer that this is the year, you guys. I keep saying that, but this is the year to make a change, and I'm so pumped. So join us for PrEP week. You can sign up in the link in the show notes. It's completely free, but you have to sign up to join us, so you don't want to miss it. So let's get into themes for spring mini sessions. First, I want to address that your theme for your spring minis will make or break you. This is a huge issue that I see with photographers. You know, if they are not booking out, number one, it's it could be their marketing, but two, it could be their theme. They just picked a bad theme that's not going to book no matter what. And I've been doing this long enough that I can tell pretty quickly if a theme is going to book out well or not. And so when you have a winning spring minis theme, there is this excitement and a buzz about it, and it makes it easy for your clients to not only envision themselves in the session, but to book with you instead of a different photographer, because it like sets you apart from other photographers. And so having a really great theme can make a big difference. Some things that make a spring mini theme successful is you want to think through number one, that it's something that people are asking for or would desire. Would want something that's trendy, something that's something that they see their family in and where they like a must have shot for their kids. But also you want something that's very like fresh and colorful and family friendly and stuff like that. So as we're talking through these different theme ideas, I want you to keep that in mind that I think sometimes photographers can get like, too creative, where they're like, oh, I have this special idea that nobody's ever thought of before, which is, it might be true, nobody's ever thought of that before, but on the other side, nobody's asking for that. And so there's this, like, fine line to walk of, yeah, it's fresh and it's new. Nobody's done it before. But also, are people wanting? Is it desirable? I know we're talking about spring, but like, a summer mini session that I see photographers wanting to do, they're like, oh my gosh, I could do ice cream minis, and I.
Ask them. I'm like, Who is asking for ice cream minis? Like, I don't need professional photos of my kids eating ice cream. Like, I just don't. And so you've got to think through, what would people be willing to pay money for that is, like, a really special, unique experience, or something that's just like a must have shot. Okay, so as we're talking through spring theme ideas. I want you to keep that in mind, that it has to be something that's super desirable that would justify families spending money on them, because the difference between spring minis and fall minis is fall minis are so easy to book, right? They are must have mini sessions. Everybody and their mom gets their photos done in the fall because they want fresh photos for holiday cards, for, you know, their house, for whatever. In the spring, you have to convince people to get photos done in the spring that they probably wouldn't normally get done. And so it's gotta be, like a fresh theme. It's gotta be something that's desirable, but that's like a must have kind of theme, because they could very easily get photos in the fall, and they probably will. And so you've got to convince them that they need these spring minis because of whatever theme that you choose. Talking through some different theme ideas, number one, probably the easiest and the most like widely booked ones, are nature inspired themes. So wildflower fields, cherry blossoms, some kind of blooming trees. These are very easy spring minis to book because, number one, you don't have to create, like a big prop, set up all the things, like, nature is the setup, and it's so beautiful. Number two, it's very seasonal, and so those wildflowers will not be there in the fall. And so it's kind of this like sense of urgency, of you're not going to be able to have these beautiful wildflowers later. If you want them, you have to book them. Now, I am a Texas girl born and raised, and it's so funny. So the Texans are just prideful about a lot of things, which I'm sure comes to no surprise, they have their own Texas I mean, every state has their flag, but does every state have a pledge to the Texas flag or to their state flag? Because growing up in school, we would do the United States Pledge of Allegiance, and then we had a Texas State Flag pledge. And me, my husband, laughed, laughed about that all the time, because we were both born and raised in Texas, and we're like, how weird, like kids don't have a pledge to the Tennessee flag. Like, why do we pledge to a Texas flag? That's so silly. It's because Texans are prideful. But anyway, I digress. So back to Texas being prideful. The state flower in Texas is blue bonnets. And so Blue Bonnet photos are huge in the Texas area in general. Anywhere that there's blue bonnets. Everybody wants Blue Bonnet photos. Why? Because they're the Texas State flower, but because they only come up for a very short amount of time. And so I don't know what the flowers around you are, whether you have beautiful wildflowers, sunflowers, blue bonnets, I don't know whatever flower, lavender fields, whatever you have you want to take advantage of that season, because, you know, cherry blossoms, oh my gosh. I've never gotten to shoot in cherry blossoms before. It's a dream of mine. I would love to do, and I wish I lived closer to cherry blossoms, because I would do cherry blossom minis if I was in the DC area. Oh my gosh. You better believe I would do cherry blossom minis, because there, it's just so stunning there. Take a look around. What is around you that you could do that's that's just part of nature that you could do for your for your minis. Another option for theme ideas is you could do like a classic and a timeless setup. Okay, you want to be really careful with your spring setups, because if you go too elaborate on your setup, people will have a hard time booking with it. Why do they need photos with that kind of setup like you ha, it has to be something. Think, you know, a vintage spring picnic like that would be really cute for family photos or like a greenhouse, something that's simple, but that makes a statement. Okay, you don't want to go way elaborate with this huge whatever, whatever it takes away from the beauty of spring theme. Options that you could do is you could do Easter minis. I did Easter minis for years. I haven't done any recently, but for years I would do Easter minis. I would have like, a cute little like, sheer teepee, and, have, you know, baskets with, like, cutesy little eggs, we would get these, like, fake little chicks off Amazon. Like, there's so much you could do. I did live bunny minis for a couple years that was interesting. Working with live animals is really hard. There's a lot of permits that you have to get. The animals are unpredictable. I don't do live animals anymore, but for a couple years, I did do live bunny minis, and the kids would not hold the bunnies. So don't worry, they would like sit next to them, only I let, like, teenagers hold the bunny, but little kids absolutely not. But that was really cool. We have since gone to fake animals, so we have the fake chicks. You know, you can get fake bunnies, whatever, and they look really.
Holistic. So that's great, but that's a good, like, playful, fun option. You could do a like flower market that, oh my gosh, I would love a good flower market. You could set up like a little flower stand with, like buckets of beautiful flowers. You could do a flower truck, so have just like a pickup truck, not like a, just any pickup truck, but like a cute vintage pickup truck with flowers on the back of the truck. Like there's so much that you could do with that. So that would be something that is, like, really unique, but like easy to book. And then one that I, gosh, I never did these, but again, it's like, okay, I would love to do that is unicorn minis. Oh, it just seems so fun having a unicorn little girls get to live out their, like, big Princess dreams. You could either have them have their own princess dress, or you could have, like, a couple of princess dresses that they could, you know, just step into, like, play dress up with the unicorn. Like, there's so many, like, little fun things that you could do with that. And again, like you have to go through, like, permits with live animals and things like that. It gets complicated, but that would be one of those, like, must book minis. Like, I would absolutely do that for my daughter. It's just, oh, it's so cool. So as you're thinking through theme ideas, you want to make sure that they are unique, but not too unique, like they have to be something that's like a must have. You know, shoot when you're thinking about selecting the right theme, there's a few things you want to think through. One location availability. Are you doing an indoor studio? Are you doing an outdoor space? Where are you going to do it? Is there a like public flower field or wildflower field, or whatever that you're wanting to do. Do you need to do rentals? You got to think through that. You have to know your audience. Who is this for? Is it for families? Is it for couples? Is it for kids? Like you've got to be really specific that way. You know who to market it to. You know, my Easter minis was always marketed for the kids, if the parents wanted to hop in some great but they were always just for the kids. And then you want to think through, like, the budget for your setup or your props. And so I am always, like, really budget friendly, budget conscious when it comes to setting stuff up. And so I'm not one to like, spend hundreds and hundreds on, like, these big, elaborate setups. Maybe you can find a studio that does a setup that you could use, or has a greenhouse or whatever, or just think, like small things that make a big impact without, like, overspending a cute little bench, or, like I said, a floral setup, something like that. So many ideas. Another thing that you could do is you could pop, you know, this into chat GBT. I'm like chat GBT is my new favorite, my new favorite person. We call her Rosie. I know she's not a real person, but you could ask chatgpt for spring mini theme ideas. You can, you know, send her this podcast transcript and then tell her, like, give me more ideas along these lines, along with what Rebecca teaches, and it'll give you more ideas of things that are, like, must have photos that are not just ice cream minis, like, that's not gonna book out. You wanna, if you're gonna spend the time on spring minis, you wanna make sure it's something that's gonna book out. Hopefully, this gets those like, gears turning, gives you ideas of things that you can do. So so many fun options in the spring. It is amazing. One other thing that I wanted to mention that people always ask when it comes to spring minis is they're like, Okay, I know that I need to get, you know, promo shots. Because if you've been around my teaching long enough, you know that I'm a huge proponent for having promo shots for your minis, you want to make sure that you have photos used for advertising that have a real human in them, not just a photo of a setup or a stock image. You want to have real humans in your setups, in your photos, but if you're like, well, Rebecca, I want to do wildflower minis, but I've never shot in the Wildflower fields before. How do I get promo shots? First off, don't just go search Pinterest that is copyright infringement is not legal. You can't use somebody else's image to advertise your mini sessions. What you can do is, I suggest getting a stock image. There are lots of like, free stock image websites, or you can pay like, five bucks, or however much for a stock image of a wildflower field. So, like, we're gonna use wildflowers, for example, if you're doing wildflower minis, you can use a stock image of wildflower field alongside one of your photos. It does not have to be in wildflowers, but that way people get an idea of your style, the fact that it's got a real family in it, they know what to expect with your editing and all the things. And post the two side by side. That way they can, you know, see your work, because that's the most important part. But then they can also see that it's going to be wild flowers. So you can work to do that. That would be how I would handle promo shots if you're not able to go to the field, you know, whatnot for the.
Year. I know that can be a little tricky, but that's okay. So as we're heading into spring, I wanted to remind you one more time that this upcoming Monday, we are starting prep week, which I have already talked about, but I don't want you to miss it, guys. So be a part of prep week. Sign up in the link, in the show notes we are going to be taking, you know, these spring mini theme ideas and putting them into action so that we actually get it on the calendar. We have things set up so that you are ready to launch your minis and get them booked out. So I am so excited for this spring season. I want you to be confident in your themes. If you're like, I don't know if this is a theme that's gonna book. Feel free to ask. In our community, we have a mini sessions Facebook group that's totally free, open to the public. It's got like 50,000 members in it, so throw your ideas in there, and, you know, use that to bounce ideas off of other people. And I'm also always available on Instagram, at Rebecca Rice photography if you want to shoot me a DM, and I can help navigate, like, if I feel like the theme is gonna book well or not, and kind of guide you that way, but definitely, like, take advantage of the community. Join in prep week, and you can ask your questions there, and it's just gonna be so so good. So hopefully this episode was helpful for you. I can't wait to see you guys at prep week next week on Monday. It's coming so soon, and in the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out and we'll see you in prep week on Monday. Bye, guys. You
