013. Do I *Need* A Photographer Email List?

As a photographer who’s booked a good majority of my sessions through my photographer email list, I want to answer this question right off the bat. 

Yes! As a photographer, you *need* an email list… 

… but you have to use it! 

Did you know that email marketing is the channel which generates the highest ROI. For every $1 spent, email marketing generates $38 in ROI.

Facebook ads ROI is closer to $4 for every $1 spent, which is why I preach about growing your email list – and using it to book clients – over Facebook ad spend.

I started my list in the spring of 2017, with 25 emails on my list, all of which were current or past clients. Now, in 2022, my boudoir photographer email list is 2500. This number isn’t HUGE, but it converts.

With that being said, I want you to know my tiny little list in 2017, still converted leads into clients, because I used it in a specific way.  

What’s great about a photography email list is that you can talk leads into becoming clients.. They are on your email list for a reason!. They signed up to hear more from you.

On this episode of Sustainable Freedom with Photography, we are diving into how you can turn viewers into clients with email marketing.

You can talk leads into becoming clients with your photographer email list.

Here’s the thing, your audience signed up for your photographer email list because they are at least interested in booking a session, but maybe they’re on the fence. 

Yes, they are considering it, but they aren’t sure if they’re actually going to follow through.

It’s your job to talk them into becoming a client.

It’s an easy way to warm leads up to your business.

A cold lead usually needs to warm up to you before they follow through with becoming a client.

I love email lists because it allows me to show my personality and help these cold leads get to know me to become warm leads…

….and then eventually become piping hot leads.

It may not be overnight. Maybe they follow you for 3, 4, even 5 years before they become an actual client.

That’s fine! Great even.  You’ll have clients years into the future.

But when they do, they usually become amazing repeat clients, and refer you to all of their friends because they feel like they KNOW you and that you’re actual friends!

You can answer questions the leads didn’t even know they had.

This is my favorite part of a photographer email list. 

After photographing 750+ clients since 2016, I usually know what someone is going to ask before they ever ask the question.

Almost all of my consults say that they don’t have any questions because of all the information I’ve already provided within my website, blog, email list, and prep guide.  They just wanted to meet me to make sure they feel 100% comfortable with me.  Boudoir is an intimate experience, so I understand that some clients do want to meet me first. 

I want to answer every question in multiple places, such as on my website, socials, blogs, and my email list, so that I don’t have to waste my time saying the same thing over and over again.

It’s really not an efficient use of your time and can be very exhausting, so I try to avoid it, especially considering I could be photographing clients, working on client work, working on marketing…

… or just taking the freaking day off.

It’s easy to educate leads on things they didn’t even know they needed to know.

The same way that we can answer questions that clients didn’t know they had with the email list, we can educate leads on things they didn’t know they needed to know before the session.

For my boudoir clients, this would include things like spray tans, hair and makeup, what to bring for the session, how to prep the week of, what to do with the photos AFTER the session, and maybe how to gift them to your groom.

For other types of photography, I would educate clients on the same type of things, but instead of mentioning a groom’s gift, you could educate them on why hanging wall portraits is good for a child’s confidence in themselves.

If your client hears it from you – their professional photographer (even if you don’t always feel like a professional), they are more likely to listen because they respect your expertise.

If you’ve shown them you know what you’re talking about, they are going to follow through.

And if you over prepare a client, then they come to the session so much more confident, in themselves and in you.

Photographer email lists are a great way to promote other businesses.

I love using my email list and blog to promote my other vendors I love to work with. What’s better is this makes your business friends more willing to work with and refer to you as well.

If you go back and listen to episode 5, you can see how building these business relationships has worked for me so well in the past.

If these businesses are actually serving your ideal client, you should also write a good, SEO friendly blog post.  When ideal clients google that business, you will show up in Google search results.  The more they see your name, the more likely it is that they will become a client. 

Remember, it takes at least seven times of someone seeing something before they actually take action.

Yes, you need a photographer email list.

I hope by now you understand that yes… you NEED an email list as a photographer. It’s the BEST way to turn leads into clients. 

Remember, email has the highest return on investment – of your time and money.

… but your email list doesn’t have to be a time suck

It doesn’t even have to be something you do every single week. It can be a set it and forget it task.

Join the TLC Boudoir Photographers Mastermind Waitlist.

In one of my Breakout sessions in my upcoming TLC Boudoir Photographers Mastermind, I teach you how to set up your email list so it *converts*…

… but in a way that won’t require your constant attention. 

In this training, I go over how to set up your email sequence so you consistently book clients with your automated email sequence AND step away from maintaining your email list on a weekly basis … 

• Walk through my step-by-step system to create a fail-proof, set-it-and-forget-it email marketing campaign that fills your roster without you having to hustle
• PLUS, how to make sure your Website is helping you achieve TWO main goals: booking sessions, and building your email list … for those slow-burn sales. 
• You will also be able to grab my two handy templates to map out and build your own Client Email Journey and Welcome Sequence
• AND once it’s all set up you can use my Email Marketing Performance Tracking Spreadsheet to test what you’ve built—and adjust your client journey based on data and not emotion.

Join the waitlist! It’s opening soon. 🙂

And I teach soooo much more than just email lists!