Your Photography Business : The Pre-Session Consultation

The best way to ensure good communication with your photography clients is by conducting a pre-session consultation. This consultation is most important for the wedding photography business, but can still be of benefit to portrait photography businesses as well.

The consultation should take place either at your studio, the client’s home, or other mutually-agreed upon place (preferably someplace quiet where there aren’t a lot of distractions).

 

 

Benefits of a Pre-Session Consultation:

• You and the client(s) can get to know one another
• You lay out your expectations and requirements
• Contracts, deposits, etc.
• You can give tips on clothing and makeup choices
• The clients can ask questions
• Photographic styles can be discussed
• Samples can be shown
• Ideas for props can be discussed
• Number and types of poses to be included can be discussed
• Packages and pricing may be discussed

The consultation does not have to be long. Usually 30 minutes is enough time to go over all expectations and questions for a portrait session. The wedding photography consultation may need to be a bit longer.

By building good rapport with your clients, everyone involved is more at ease and clear about expectations. Happy clients then become repeat-clients, and you will also receive good word-of-mouth advertising for your photography business.

 

 

Copyright 2006 by Cindy Bracken. This article may not be reproduced without the consent of the author.

 

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