Christmas in July! Get ready to make money this summer.
With the holiday season past and firmly in our rear view mirror, most people do not have Christmas on their minds. Everyone except photographers who are working hard and preparing for Christmas in July. Creating breathtaking and nostalgic Christmas Fine Art that features Santa and Children, takes a great deal of step by step planning.
Milk and cookies during Santa can be fun, but what if you want to make sincere fine art and family heirlooms? Creating such Christmas themed family fine art is another level of creation that requires deep knowledge and preparation.
Providing art that produces sales of over $5,000 per session can change your summer cash flow, however it will not happen without proper preparation, creation and systems set up well in advance of Christmas in July.
These become systems that are now in place to produce Fine Art and significant revenue throughout the rest of the year.
PLANNING AND PREPARATION
To start creating such a themed photo requires learning, implementing, money, focus on early set design, samples and site planning. Even though Christmas in July is months away, waiting till the last minute and not focusing on setting up your samples and systems, can become a big mistake. Once you are in June, it is too late to put it all together and properly market for Christmas in July Fine Art Photo Sessions.
You have to get your Christmas background, design your holiday season set, learn the digital art and get going on your marketing system. It is great to get many of these things in advance of Christmas in July and most certainly the Christmas holiday season.
Well before July, you want to have your products, gifts and sales systems as more than just ideas. They can start with ideas but ideas are just that, until they are tested and put into practice. They will come in handy when making strong sales from July through December. Yes, I said July "through" December.
It is always better to prepare earlier than later. Leaving decorations, your sign ideas and requirements, just like holiday shopping, is a bad idea. Get your Christmas in July budget created for your company and bank on creating Christmas photos that give your clients what for house décor, Christmas cards, great wall art and things that make going to your studio a little daunting.
Plan your marketing and sales system to make their purchases easy and take the rush away from Christmas and holiday gift shopping.
CHRISTMAS CONTRACTS FOR CLIENTS AND SANTA
Make sure your clients sign a liability contract. Start now and make a system to take their fears away this year as it applies to COVID-19. Be sure to have your vaccinations. They are readily available and easy to book by the end of May and certainly prior to your Christmas event this year. Find a location local and create posts showing your studio and staff are vaccinated.
Every Santa must also be under contract. Clarity is easy when you do a contract in advance. The last thing you need is a dispute that could have been settled at the start. When you both sign the contract a weight will be lifted and you can let the cookies and milk flow.
COMMUNICATION ON SOCIAL MEDIA. LIST THE BENEFITS.
Post on your site that this year your studio and store are open for business. Comment on your site about the relevance of Christmas art. List the features of your Fine Art holiday creations such as breathtaking Night Before Christmas Books, Wall Art and heartfelt Holiday Christmas Cards. Tell your clients they are sure to win the Christmas card contest this year.
Do more than just comment on these things, provide visuals to your list of master products. Ad video content and take their breath away. Videos have a high impact on any website or social media. All of these things will not only lead your client to buy your art but lead them to start their gift list. Help them with their thoughts and ideas. Give them gift ideas they can take ownership of.
CHILDREN DO NOT CARE WHEN THEY SEE SANTA
When creating Fine Art Christmas Photography, do not focus on a Christmas experience, focus on the proper creation of the Christmas Art. It does not matter if it is created in summer. Believe me, kids will not care about seeing a Christmas tree in summer when Santa is there. Children just want to see Santa and it does not matter the week, month nor time of year.
To children it is not about December, nor Christmas for that matter, it is about Santa. They will have a million ideas and questions to share and ask Santa. They want to tell Santa what they want for Christmas and it does not matter the month. Children do not care if they are by a tree, in a house, on a beach or in a studio. They do not care if it is free or costing their parents to see Santa, they just want to have cookies and milk any time of the year.
SET A GOAL THAT DO NOT COMPETE
Think about the things that a child thinks about? Your clients are there to buy artwork that is timeless. Yes they will buy the ultimate Christmas cards from you. It may be the best collection of gift cards they will ever own. Just know that the children do not care about such things. They only want to visit Santa and give him their list of things they want for Christmas. They do not care what their parents buy...but you do. Separate what the children want and what the clients (adults) want so that the two do not conflict. You will have much more success in pleasing everyone.
WHERE WILL YOU HOLD YOUR CHRISTMAS IN JULY SESSIONS?
With July right around the corner, you have budget decisions to make, however you also have location decisions to make to serve your clients properly. Will you have your clients travel to your house if your studio is in your home? Will you continue at that location right through the summer and Christmas season? It would save you money to do this if you can. Do not do this at the expense of the overall look and feel. But if you have the space and are already working from your home, it will be even more personal if done at your home.
Choosing to have clients travel to your local studio where you host Christmas in July is a great option as well. Form marketing and sales ideas that make sense for location selling. There are many ideas that fit when it comes to successfully serving a community that may be normally outside your reach. For example, when you set up in a country club to provide Christmas in July for their members, photograph for two days and sell on the third, or vice versa. Store your set and come back in a week with completed art and do it again.
Where you choose to offer Christmas in July will connect directly to your brand. Be mindful of this fact when choosing a location as it will affect your sales and reputation.
PROPS AND BACKGROUND
You must think about shopping for props in March and April as Christmas in July will be upon you in the blink of an eye. You will want to have the time to discover free prop treasures in the attics of friends and family. Places like this can provide beautiful decorations for your Christmas Santa Set. You will find some free props in the most unlikely place as long as you know what to look for on your quest.
Ideas for props are a dime a dozen. What you should be looking for is props that give that incredible feel of a nostalgic Christmas gift or collection of old gifts. Imagine seeing gifts and toys in a holiday Christmas window display from the olden days. The wrapping paper would be desaturated colors with gifts looking almost distressed. You want kids to feel the season and embrace the feeling of Christmas from the olden days.
This is more than a week-long journey. You will need the perfect Christmas tree with very traditional Christmas lights. You want to create a holiday feeling that is sentimental and spend time on the details. If you get an idea for the perfect prop, you will have time for searching and shopping. Learning to find all of the correct props is not an online thing. Prop discovery for your company is about shopping with intent and purpose. Shop the antique stores. Bargain with the seller and save money. Enjoy the gift of the journey. Again...this will take more than a week. You must begin early and give yourself time.
INVESTMENT
You will need to check your bank account as there is a small investment required to properly set up for Christmas in July Fine Art. Good props are generally not free. There is a learning curve to creating a nostalgic Christmas environment and although not a huge cost, you will want to start saving for this specific Christmas set and holiday sample budget. Items you will need to pull together are specific as you must entice the inner child of potential clients with more than a pretty Christmas tree and Santa Pic photo gift pic.
This style of photography is Fine Art. It is majestic, magical and nostalgic. It is steeping folklore from holidays and holiday shopping from the past. This art creation is not necessarily about the holidays though, it is more about the Christmas Art you are creating. The Christmas holiday is very much secondary. As I said earlier, we are creating for the client's inner child. The inner child will know whether what you set up makes them happy and joyous or not. So shop wisely.
As the saying goes, do not save yourself into poverty. Do not spend every minute looking for sales. If you find the perfect prop, do not be so reserved that you do not make a decision. If you love the items you have found that day, and you feel they will be a great addition to your set, make the purchase. Your summer and Christmas in July is fast approaching and you may not ever find that prop in a store again. Or you could forget where to even search for it.
With so much to do and much less time than you think, each and every day is not to be squandered. You will have to learn all you can and give this journey to creation sincere focus.
TAKE THE STRESS AWAY
Know that with proper strategic planning, you will provide your clients with a high level of Santa experience and Fine Art. You will have time to create stunning samples for your clients.
Marketing and sales systems will have the time to be implemented properly. All of this not only serves your clients and community in a professional manner, it also takes the stress away from you and your staff. Be early and be prepared so you can increase your profits at your studio this summer.