Most photographers ask themselves the question, “What are parents buying these days from their newborn sessions?”. But I’d like to give you this thought; your clients don’t know what they want to buy until you tell them! You get to decide what you want your clients to own, what products will best show off your work, and what products your clients will most enjoy for years to come.
The products that I want to sell are wall portraits and albums. Parents will buy gift prints for the family and they will buy birth announcements and thank you cards. Those are add-ons and they are things that I don’t need to get them excited about. But, I do need to communicate with them the value of a beautiful wall portrait for their baby’s nursery as well as an heirloom album that will be a treasured keepsake for them.
During Baby’s First Year, I recommend ages and stages to be photographed while talking about all of the milestones that we’ll be capturing during the session and how they’ll want to remember those stages.
NEWBORN SESSION:
I recommend a full-length, sleeping baby portrait from the newborn session. My most popular size is a 20×30 because it’s the perfect size for above the changing table.
FOUR MONTHS:
From the four-month session, I recommend our “Expressions Collection” which is a 20×20 0r 30×30 with 9 images in it. At four months, babies are very expressive, and I can quickly get many looks!
EIGHT MONTHS:
At eight months, babies are on all fours, crawling and sitting up well. Their hands are in their mouth, along with anything else you hand them! Babies are usually displaying a lot of personality by this age, and every mom will tell you all about it! This might be my favorite time to capture during Baby’s First Year!
I suggest a 10×30 storyboard of 3 images that show off exactly what the baby is doing at this stage.
ONE YEAR:
At the one-year session, I photograph a formal first birthday portrait to be hung in a living area of the home, and then we do a birthday cake session. I suggest a collage of images from the birthday cake smash with 20×24 being the most popular size. With the baby’s formal portrait, I will suggest a size or grouping appropriate for the client’s space and decor style.
By recommending these different and specific products from each stage of Baby’s First Year, I can ensure good sales throughout each of the sessions captured. I will also suggest a four-volume album collection – one album from each session. This makes the full-year album (all stages in one book) look that much more affordable. I don’t sell the four-volume set often, but I do sell the first-year album almost every time!
An album makes a fabulous product to display all these sessions when complete. Check out Marathon’s Bella albums here.
