So you’re ready to become a newborn photographer, but you just don’t where to start?

Well, that changes today as we’ve created The Definite Guide to Becoming a Newborn Photographer.

You got the right gear, you’ve prepared your first set of props, and more importantly, you’re confident you’ll come out of the session with gorgeous images. You just need to get moms and dads to entrust their little angel literally into your hands to shoot said images.

So, how do you go about getting your first paying clients as a newborn photographer? First, I’d start with our guide on How to Start a Photography Business, once you’ve read that, here are some pointers that’ll help get your newborn photography business off the ground…

Build a Strong Newborn Photography Portfolio

You can tell anyone who’ll listen that you’re a newborn photographer. But they won’t take you seriously unless you can show a solid body of work. There’s no going around this, you’re going to have to offer free or discounted work to build your portfolio.

There’s probably a friend or a relative who needs a pro’s services for their newest addition to the family. That’s your opportunity to swoop right in and offer a short and sweet free session. Not being paid to do your first newborn photography sessions means there is zero risks and pressure. Take this time to develop your personal style of photography that’ll set you apart from the competition.

You can also offer discounted sessions to your existing client base, they’re already familiar with your work and skill, in my experience my clients will hire me for anything related to photography (even if I don’t specialize in that niche). I’ve built a portfolio in commercial products, food and real estate, and even got started as a videographer doing just this.

Keep in mind though, 3-4 photos from a free mini photoshoot can turn into a paid full session if they like your stuff. Don’t sweat it if the first short sessions you offer don’t end up being paid gigs — you’ve gotten your portfolio pieces and made a dear friend’s day extra special.

You’ll likely shoot a lot on-location as a newborn photographer, I would recommend a few portable lights, perhaps a smaller background or two, and definitely newborn photography props, since newborn photography is less about expression, good lighting, backdrop and props can set your images apart from the competition.

Moms talk. The happy parents you’ve done free sessions for will be your best marketing assets! If you do your job well, you can expect upcoming business inquiries from a friend of a friend — sometimes word of mouth is all you need to gain traction for your business.

Here’s an awesome video from Fenna of Wonder Fotografie, walking you through her workflow for a normal shooting day to help you plan for your first free sessions.

Do an Honest Self-Assessment

Check yourself before you wreck yourself, the classic song goes. Please do everyone a favor and conduct an honest self-evaluation to see if you really want to be in this business for the long haul. Obviously, your number one priority is the baby’s safety and well-being. It’s not just about being comfortable cleaning up after every little “accident” or knowing how you can safely pose a child. It’s about committing to putting the newborn’s welfare above all else. You’re going to have to go the extra mile to ensure a safe and comfortable environment for the child and the parents — every single session.

Would you be able to safely pose, wrap, or handle the baby without any problems? And if not, would you be willing to attend a newborn safety bootcamp? No one immediately knows how to care for a very vulnerable 2-week-old child, let alone pose them. You’ll want to invest in training and education for these things before you go around town offering your services.

A normal newborn session can go on for about 3-4 hours. And a lot of these hours are not spent shooting. You’ll be soothing fussy babies, wiping and cleaning, building a new set after a projectile vomiting incident — this gig is not for the faint of heart. Do you have the patience to push through any obstacle come shooting day?

Here’s Kimberly from Cole’s Classroom with 5 very important questions to ask yourself before starting your newborn photography business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K_cZbTIo0s

Go Where Your Ideal Clients Hang Out

Don’t think for a second that the traditional methods of marketing your business have no more place in this day and age. For someone starting in the newborn photography space, being more involved and being more present in your community might be one of the best ways to secure your first clients.

Put your portfolio to work. Consider printing out some of your best photos and see if there are OB-GYN clinics in your area that might be interested in displaying your work in their waiting rooms. Promote your services on these leave-behind materials and make sure the parents perusing through your work knows that you’re a local newborn photographer who they can get a hold of easily.

I’d say don’t stop with OB-GYN clinics. Try and reach out to birthing centers or childbirth education classes — anywhere your ideal clients would be. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a hospital or a playgroup, do your best to be top of mind of future customers. You’ll never know how your next newborn photography client will find you so cast your net wide!

Establish Your Online Presence

You’re never officially in the business until you have some level of internet presence. The most obvious platforms to get into are Facebook and Instagram. Setting up a business page on both platforms will take less than an hour, and you’re probably already familiar with both so start sharing your work. Remember, a lot of mothers and expectant mothers hang around these sites and there’s a fair chance they’re scrolling through hundreds and hundreds of baby photos every day, waiting for the style of newborn photography that clicks with them.

The beauty of marketing your services on the internet, aside from improving your reach and discoverability, is that it’ll net you instant credibility. Curating content, which usually means sharing pieces of content from other sources to your audience, is a great way to start. Break the pattern of the usual uploading of photos from past projects and share content that parents will find useful. Position yourself as an expert and it’ll make it easier for very emotional moms and dads to trust you.

A big step up from running your Facebook and Instagram pages is to build your newborn photography website. Now, this can happen a little later in your career when you’ve settled in and have a steady stream of income, but it’s definitely something you should aim for at some point. Having your own website means you’re going to have to write your articles, produce your videos, and learn a little SEO (search engine optimization), but these seemingly intimidating non-photography aspects of your business will no doubt take your career to the next level.

The Newborn Photographers Society offers three tips on how you can effectively market your newborn photography business.

Conclusion

There are undoubtedly a lot of ways you can go about securing your first paying clients and get your foot in the door. But if you can only take away one thing from this piece, remember that it’s the child’s safety and welfare that should always be your top priority. Committing to this above anything else will put your career on a straight path to success!

One thing I want to leave you with is my notes from the Profitable Portraits podcast with Newborn Photographer Michelle Brewster, and I cut it down to the parts that pertained more to business:

Tanya Smith (The Interviewer): So, if you were doing so you did this 15 years ago, and I know you started in school you mentioned, but when you were starting out your business, what like, think back to starting, you know, fumbling around and trying to figure stuff out, what would you have done differently if you could go back to that Michelle, of 10-15 years ago?

Michelle Brewster: Yeah. So, I guess really, it’s, of course, the business side of things. You know, that’s always like, I feel like us creatives, when we get into a career that is our passion, we always want to perfect our poses, perfect the props, perfect the creativity part of it – the stuff that we love and enjoy doing. But what I’ve come to find out over the years is that really is – I hate to admit it – but it’s the smallest piece of our entire business, because it’s the business and marketing side of things that actually bring in the next client that get you paid that, like makes you have a legitimate business and if you can master those pieces early and come up with a system to be able to replicate over and over again and automate as much as possible, then the business works for itself and then you’re able to then refocus back on the creativity part of it.

TS: I love that. Yeah. And I think that does happen. I think, you know, you find your passion and then it’s kind of a hobby for a long time. And then you realize this is I either need to stop doing this and get a job or I need to start running it like a business. And that’s where I wish that I had done for myself when I started out as opposed to taking those, you know, four or five years of messing around and trying to figure it out. Yeah, I totally agree with that. I’m all about the business for sure. Yeah, I love that. And I love how you say that you wanted to get it automated, a lot of stuff automated. Can you speak a little more about that, like what you’re talking about?

MB: Sure, absolutely. So, I like to sit down, and when I think about what my clients are going to be experiencing from start to finish at my studio, I like to map it out so that I can see what touch points I’m going to have from the very first beginning of when they actually even inquire until the very end of them working with me, which is usually at the end of their first year package. So, I want to make sure that every single client has the exact same experience, received the exact same emails in the exact same timing that nothing is ever missed because things can so easily slip through the cracks when you are a solo entrepreneur… So when automating things, you can really choose a client management software and email service provider that allows you to create automations that does the work for you when it comes to contract signing digitally or client on-boarding so that you know that you’re feeding the know, like and trust factor. From the very beginning when somebody inquires to when they actually book, you want them to be like your best friend without even meeting them yet. So, a lot of the different softwares that are out there for photographers and business owners in general will absolutely help you automate the process to it.

TS: Yes, exactly. Now, tell me, you just mentioned something in there about a first-year package. Is that something that you do for newborn clients?

MB: Yeah, so typically, what I do is I like to focus solely on the maternity and the newborn first – get them in, have an amazing experience beautiful artwork, and then I tell them about a first year collection that I have to finish out the rest of the baby’s 1st birthday and have a super low barrier of entry so that it’s easy yes for them to sign up and then extend all the way through. So, it’s a way for me… I like to somewhat consider it passive income because I’m not going out and spending advertising dollars to get those clients in for the milestones and the cake smash and stuff like that. But it’s still like you are obviously photographing them so it is you know, time for money at some point. But when you get them in and you get them to commit early, you really don’t have this like slow season. Like some photographers will have this like low in their business during certain time periods. And when you create a first-year collection that people enroll in that they really want to be in and love the process, and then you have incentives and a pricing method that gets them to purchase where you want every single time, you’re really making great money throughout the whole year.

TS: Oh, that’s brilliant. So, it’s almost like, it’s almost like they sign up for a one-year membership with you, right? Where they come in at certain times, yes?

MB: So, they essentially come in for their newborn session, which has to be two weeks old or younger. And then after that, I only do two more sessions within the baby’s first year and I combine some of their milestones together. So, for example, after their newborn session, the next one that I would capture is when the baby has just started to sit up. So, I don’t base it on age; I base it on the milestones. So yeah, so that that way, I can capture tummy time and sitting at the same session. And then the next one would be at their first birthday, when I can capture either standing or walking, and then the cake smash.

TS: Oh, that’s brilliant. So, then they’re committing so at the ordering session for their newborn reveal, then you’re, you’re asking them about this one-year package and this is when they’re committing to it.

MB: Exactly. So I’ve plant this seed throughout the session, because I start talking about how my youngest son, even to this day, with all the hundreds of babies that I photographed at this point, he was the kid that changed the most from the time he was born to when he was one years old. So, I always use his example to tell parents how quickly and how drastically their baby is going to change during their first year and how we can help just savor those moments. And, so, you know, it’s planting the seed doing a little bit of soft selling, but not, you know, in your face, intrusive type of selling. And then during that IPS session, that’s when they’re available and able to purchase into the first-year collection.

TS: Yeah, that’s brilliant. I love that. And I teach that as well in my course is you’re selling at the reveal in the ordering session from the very beginning. You’re always mentioning it during the shoot and that kind of stuff. You just kind of drop it around without being sales-y. But you do you don’t want to throw those kind of things at them at the at the reveal for sure.