Business Day Thursday: So What Are You Doing After The Holidays?

Good Morning Everybody,

Hope you are enjoying the weather in you part of the world – we received about 5 more inches of snow on top of the 4 inches we received on Sunday night.  I know that sounds like a dribble compared to our DPT readers in Milwaukee and all points north, but it’s still nice to see.  Yep, I am one of those lovers of snow, at least around the Christmas season.

It’s been busy getting the last of the Christmas orders out the door, but I think we are close to having every thing ready to go. It will be nice next week enjoying more of the holiday festivities than rushing around with client orders.  I know what you’re thinking, “How does Ziser get everything delivered one full week before Christmas?”  Readers of this blog know I covered that in a post right here back in September.

Anyway, we’ve got a little studio Christmas Party happening today, so let’s get right on with today’s post.

So What Are You Doing After The Holidays?

I know for us, we are doing not much of anything.  It’s the time when we straighten up, clean up, and re-organize the studio after the holiday rush. The staff is mostly off for the week enjoying the afterglow of the holidays with their families giving LaDawn and I a chance to enjoy a more relaxing week, too.

OK, that said, let’s say you are a portrait studio and aren’t “wedding shy” at the end of the year like us wedding guys.  What are you going to do?  I’m taking the queue from our friends, Kent and Sarah, at Kent Smith Photography.

As we were leaving Cabo last week, I ask Sarah what her after Christmas plans were.  I thought if you’re running a “Million Dollar” studio, that they may be taking a little time off too.  Not so, she told me.  When you’re running a “Million Dollar” studio, that amounts to nearly $20,000 worth weekly sales you need to generate! 

Hit the “Read More…” link below for the rest of the story.

Her remark put a whole new light on that week for me. She further explained that they had special “After Holiday” promotions lined up to keep the studio busy in that week between Christmas and New Year’s.

OK, for me and all of us at David A. Ziser Photography, we are still taking the week off.  But for those of you who are shooting portraits…

Here are 5 reasons why you should use that time productively.

1. Family members are usually home for the holidays over that time period.  What a great opportunity for them to schedule that family portrait that never seems to happen because so many family members are out of town.

2. The Christmas rush is over and scheduling your clients for their portrait is much easier after the holidays.

3. Your appointment calendar is probably a little lighter on appointments too, so it’s easier and more convenient for them to come in and review their image.

4.  This is a great time for them to use the portrait gift certificate  or “Portrait In A Box” they bought from your studio before the holidays. I blogged about that last year – give it a read right here.

5. And, most importantly, it adds to your bottom line which will help you through those dry months of Jan, Feb, and March.

OK, those are the reasons you should stay busy for that valuable week between Christmas and New Year’s. 

Here are 5 ways you can make that happen.

1.  Run a special “After Holiday” special on your Facebook Fan page.  The first 10 clients that book appointments receive half price session fees.

2. Do a big push on your “Portrait In A Box” promotion I mentioned above.  But, offer special pricing on those whom you will photograph before December 31.

3. When you send Holiday Cards to all your clients – that is assuming you do send cards. What do you mean you don’t send out holiday cards to your past, present, and future clients!  That’s a money losing proposition.  Anyway, in each of the holiday cards you send out to your clients, include a notice about your “After Christmas” promotion.  You just may catch a family or two I referenced in Reason #1 above.

4.  It goes without saying that you should do an email “blast to all your clients before the holidays promoting your “Portraits In A Box” and your “After Christmas” sessions.

5. Consider a “Two For One” “Portrait In A Box” promo, but the second one must be used by the end of the current year.

Hey gang, those are just a few of my quick ideas on how to fill up those “slack” days after Christmas.  Take a few minutes and do a little “self brainstorming”  and I’m sure have even more ideas to add to my list.

Me, I’m still taking the last week of the year off.  Like my father used to say, “Don’t do as I do, do as I say.”  Hey, all joking aside, if you want to fill those 7 days, I hope I’ve pointed you in a direction or two to do just that.

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Hey folks, that’s it for me today.  Time to dig out from our snowfall – “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….”

Don’t forget to check back in tomorrow for another scintillating, thought provoking post at DigitalProTalk.

See ya’ then,  David