Many of the most popular niches in the photography industry are built around seasons. As a wedding photography studio here in Denver, our season ran May through October. The high school senior market runs parallel to the wedding market, and is busiest May through October. Those seasons may change depending on your geographical location – in the Phoenix area, high wedding season ran counter to the Denver market, or October through May.

Which is why many of today’s top photography studios have found a niche that has zero seasonality to it. The baby market.

Babies are born 365 days of the year. And they are only little once. Meaning you can only capture a newborn the first couple of weeks of life. And they will only celebrate their 1st birthday at one point in time. And they’ll hit every milestone along the way during that first year – if you miss it, its gone forever.

That’s the beauty of a baby plan.

A baby plan is designed to capture the progressive steps a baby makes during the first year of life. Thinking of starting a baby plan for your studio? Here are 7 steps to get you started.

1. Design a baby plan to bring in a new client 3 to 6 times during the first year of life. Typical timeframes are newborn, three months, six months, nine months and the first birthday. In some cases, a photography studio may also choose to photograph a mom-to-be in her ninth month of pregnancy. Charge one low fee for the entire year program, with the promise of one print from each session in a keepsake frame. GNP Frame is one of the many professional framing companies with options on wall collage frames.

2. Don’t complicate the process or overwhelm with choices. One simple baby plan is the best way to begin, with a possible upgrade if they want to include a maternity image in their sessions as well.
[Read more…]