Michelle Marchant used to be flat out for two months, then drop off to nothing. Leads were never her problem. She had them coming in, she just did not know what to do with them once they landed. Now she has eleven bookings sitting in her calendar for August and September, a three week holiday booked over the top of them, and no stress about either. In this episode, Ina sits down with Michelle Marchant of Captured Hearts Photography in the Dandenong Ranges, Melbourne. Michelle has been in business for about ten years and has worked with Ina one on one. She shares exactly what changed when she stopped running her marketing on the fly and built a proper pet photography marketing plan, a follow up process for her leads, and full pricing transparency before the session. This is a real look at how consistent bookings actually get built, numbers included. Key takeawaysLeads were never the bottleneck. Michelle already had a good filtering process and knew which marketing worked. What she did not have was anything that happened after a lead came in. A three email nurture sequence and a consultation script closed that gap. One question she was not asking in the consult changed the whole conversation. What is your why. Why do you want this, why did you enter the competition. It opens up a real conversation, and it hands her ideas for what to capture, which lifts the sale. Past coaches had told her not to disclose pricing before a session, and it never sat right with her. "I felt like I was handing over a surprise." She now sends the full pricing list once a client books, gives it earlier on request, and her pre session questionnaire asks whether they have looked at it with the link right there. Between transparent pricing and a reworked price list with more collections, her average sale moved from around $1,500 to $1,800 up to about $2,200 across the last six months. Clients who tell her they are just going to take the minimum package regularly land between $2,000 and $3,000. A $250 Facebook ad run over one week for Mother's Day brought in about 80 leads and 10 bookings. That is $25 a booking. May went from her usual four to six sessions up to eleven, and the campaign worked so well she did not need to run the autumn campaign she had planned. Michelle does not rely on one campaign to book out six months. She runs several across the year, targeting different people, bringing in a few bookings from each. "A campaign can do so well one time. You try it again and it's the opposite." Her Pets of the Hills calendar fundraiser for a local wildlife shelter raises around $4,000 to $5,000, with Bendigo Bank sponsoring the printing for the third year running. Fundraiser clients arrive thinking they are doing her a favour, so she added a phone consult and an in person studio consultation to shift that. Two of the highest sales she has ever had came through it in the last few weeks, one of them over $4,000. The first half of this calendar year has already brought in over $60,000 in revenue, against a goal of four sessions a month at a $2,200 to $2,500 average sale. One thing to try this weekAsk every enquiry why. Why they want this, why they entered. Then use what they tell you to plan what you photograph. About MichelleMichelle Marchant is the founder and photographer behind Captured Hearts Photography in the Dandenong Ranges, Melbourne. She picked up a camera in a high school photography class, went on to a Bachelor of Arts, and worked as a camera assistant in the film industry before launching her own portrait business about ten years ago. She photographs families, couples and single pet owners with their pets, works on an in person sales model from her studio, and runs the Pets of the Hills calendar fundraiser for a local wildlife shelter. Connect with MichelleWebsite: capturedheartsphotography.com.au Facebook: Captured Hearts by Michelle Instagram: @capturedhearts_bymichelle Also mentioned in this episodeGlobal Image Products, where Michelle first saw Ina's work on display Consistent Bookings AuditIf you're getting inconsistent bookings and you don't know what's causing it, do the free consistent booking audit quiz to find out which gaps is costing you. Complete the audit here. The Consistent Bookings MastermindThe Consistent Bookings Mastermind is a 6 month group coaching program aimed to help you build your repeatable marketing system with implementation support and accountability. Click here to learn more and apply for the mastermind. Join the Pet Photographers' Collective (free community)A free community for pet photographers who want to build a profitable, sustainable business with less overwhelm. Inside, Ina shares practical marketing tips, business lessons and mindset shifts, and free resources. Join here → https://www.skool.com/pet-photographers-collective-3125/about?ref=9c7b56d2963f48a791297a43a29109e1 Connect with InaInstagram: @inaj.thepetphotoceo Email: ina@inajphotography.com Mentoring & Coaching for Pet Photographers: https://www.inajphotography.com/for-photographers
