Jun 20, 2025
Are you tired of posting “I have three spots left for 2025” on Instagram and hearing crickets? What if I told you there’s a strategic way to launch your photography services that could result in thousands of dollars in bookings within days of opening your calendar? Most photographers rely on random Instagram inquiries and word-of-mouth referrals, leaving them feeling powerless over their sales and constantly wondering when the next booking will come. But what if you could take control of your sales with intentional marketing campaigns that create predictability and consistency in your business?
In this episode, I’m joined by Kelsey, the founder of Coming Up Roses and absolute launch queen, to discuss how photographers can apply launch strategies typically used for digital products to their service-based businesses. We dive deep into the psychology behind why simply announcing available spots doesn’t work, how to build effective waitlists that convert, and the mindset shifts necessary to sell with confidence. Listen to the episode below, or keep reading for a summary of what’s covered.
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I opened this conversation by highlighting a frustrating reality most photographers face. You know the feeling – you post about having spots available, maybe even create some false urgency by saying you only have a few dates left, and then nothing happens. The silence is deafening, and you’re left wondering why your marketing isn’t converting.
Kelsey brought such a fresh perspective to this challenge. She explained that one approach has strategy while the other doesn’t. Just posting that you have a spot left is what 99% of photographers are doing. If you want to have an edge and actually book out your services, you need a strategy – you need a marketing campaign.
The difference lies in creating a concentrated spotlight on your offer so that it shines and sells. This involves warming up your audience so they really understand your style, your authority in the space, and why you’re the photographer to hire over many other photographers out there. They need to understand what’s included in your offer and why it’s perfect for them. Essentially, you’re building trust with your audience that you’re the person they want to hire.
What exactly is launching when it comes to photography services? Kelsey defined it perfectly – it’s giving your service or offer a moment to shine and sell. It’s putting a spotlight on one offer during a concentrated period of time with a marketing campaign.
The key difference between evergreen offers (those always available on your website) and launch campaigns is urgency. When your offers are just sitting on your website with maybe five different options and a services guide people can download, there’s really no reason for people to book now. They’re probably just browsing, shopping around, and deciding based on price or style who they want to hire.
A launch campaign gives them a reason to book right now and positions you as the obvious choice through the marketing activities you’re doing to build trust, warm up your audience, and invite people in.
One concern I had was about incentives – how do you create urgency without cheapening your services? I’ve always been against photographers discounting their work because there’s a reason you’re priced the way you are.
Kelsey shared brilliant alternatives to discounting. You definitely don’t need to reduce your prices. Instead, think about bonuses, bundles, and seasonal incentives. Maybe there are extra shots you offer during the event, or you could include engagement sessions as a bonus for those who book during a specific window.
She used the example of Summer Fridays, a skincare brand that constantly creates new campaigns around their bestselling jet lag mask. Sometimes it’s in different packaging, sometimes they add a special eye mask, sometimes they collaborate with a celebrity – but it’s the same core product. You need to think about your photography services the same way. How can you make your core offering feel exciting, new, and different even if it’s not necessarily a brand new service?
This insight made me think about how photographers often include engagement sessions automatically in their packages, but Kelsey suggested actually removing some of these inclusions and repositioning them as bonuses. People tend to overstuff their offers thinking it will help them sell more, but really they’re just overdoing it. Those automatic inclusions could be the perfect things to peel out and add as bonuses because they’ll be valued more when they’re not just a given.
I shared my own experience implementing a waitlist strategy over the past two years instead of having an evergreen, always-available calendar. Rather than opening my calendar for the following year at the beginning of each year like most photographers do, I wait until April or May to open my calendar for the next year.
This approach has allowed me to avoid booking out my calendar too far in advance, grow a list of highly engaged couples who are ready to book when I announce my calendar is open, and achieve bookings of $7,000+ within days of announcing availability.
The beauty of a waitlist strategy is that it builds exclusivity and hype around your services. You’re capturing your hottest leads onto a dedicated list rather than hoping the Instagram algorithm shows your posts to the right people. Maybe only 7% of your Instagram audience sees your posts, and you don’t know if those are even your ideal clients or people who followed you years ago and forgot who you are.
Kelsey recommended what she calls the quarterly launch model, which is exactly what I’ve been doing intuitively. She suggested opening spots quarterly, selling out quarterly, then closing doors to build your waitlist in between before opening again.
This approach offers several benefits. First, you don’t have to be selling all the time. Second, you can sell out all at once and book out in advance. Third, you avoid the common service provider trap of getting a client, putting all your time into that client, forgetting to market, and then suddenly realizing you have no pipeline.
For photographers, this makes sense because we’re booking so far in advance anyway. People are planning their 2026 and 2027 weddings right now in 2025, so having these concentrated booking periods aligns perfectly with how couples actually plan their weddings.
The biggest mistake Kelsey sees with waitlists is creating them and then not talking to the people on them. You want to be nurturing them while they’re waiting. This means sending emails with transformation stories from past clients, content about you and why you’re the right choice, details about your services including pricing, and fun surprises to delight them.
During my waitlist periods, I focus on sharing different galleries I’ve blogged, pairing them with testimonials so people understand what it’s like to work with me. This serves multiple purposes – it shows my work, gets people excited about potentially working with me, drives traffic to my website for SEO benefits, and builds trust through social proof.
Kelsey also suggested having one-on-one calls with waitlist members to vet them before doors open, which I think is brilliant for high-end photographers who want to ensure alignment before investing time in proposals and planning.
Kelsey shared that waitlists typically convert at 7-15%, with higher-ticket offers like wedding photography usually closer to that 7% mark. This means if you want to book 10 weddings in your next launch, you need to do the math to determine how many people you need on your waitlist to reach that goal.
Your entire goal during the warmup period becomes getting that target number of people onto your waitlist through all your marketing efforts. Then your email nurturing, testimonials, gallery sharing, and personality-driven storytelling work to make them choose you over all the other photographers out there.
One of the biggest mistakes Kelsey sees with first-time launchers is not getting their mindset right around sales. Your energy always sells your offers. If you hate selling, hate showing up for your brand, or prefer to hide behind your skillset without showing your personality, you’re going to have a hard time warming up your audience.
Building trust and getting people to choose you requires showing up authentically and being the face of your brand. If you have limiting beliefs around sales, you’ll self-sabotage during your launch. You’ll convince yourself no one wants your offer, won’t follow through on your marketing plan, and your results will reflect that energy.
I’ve seen this so much in my own program, Book It, which teaches photographers how to increase inquiries and bookings. The transformation requires confidence and consistent implementation. If you’re always thinking you’ll get ghosted or that nobody will book, you’ll continue creating that reality because you’re not showing up energetically to get a different result.
Kelsey beautifully reframed sales as a generous act. You’re inviting people into your world, nurturing them, helping them find their perfect match for one of the most important days of their lives. This isn’t about being icky or turning your business into an infomercial – it’s about finding a way that works for you to talk about your offers and invite people in while feeling proud of what you’re building.
Many photographers fall into the “I’m an artist, I shouldn’t have to promote myself” mindset, believing their work should speak for itself. But we’re living in 2025, with AI coming for everyone and increased competition. Your photography skills are important, but they’re not enough anymore. You need to show your personality and consistently invite people to work with you.
There’s an art to sales, and you can do it in a way that feels good while helping people feel seen and heard. The right clients are actually excited to be sold to – they’ve been following you, learning from you, and when you finally open your calendar or announce your services, they’re ready to say “I’ve been waiting for this.”
When we discussed how to actually market effectively, Kelsey described marketing as generosity. The more value you can offer through what you’re sharing, the better. Think about what people would want to know or what would be helpful for them in preparation to work with you.
For wedding photographers, this could include pricing transparency, posing tips for couples who feel awkward in front of the camera, behind-the-scenes content showing what a wedding day actually looks like, or working in public to take people through your process. Go beyond just sharing beautiful gallery images and show the immersive experience of your particular service.
I shared an example from a recent wedding where the bride was upset about newly planted trees with stakes behind the ceremony spot. I edited out all the stakes from every photo because they were distracting and not cute. The bride didn’t even know I was doing this, but it showed how I serve my clients post-wedding day. Sharing before-and-after examples like this creates trust, shows your care for clients, and helps people understand the value you provide beyond just taking photos.
For anyone feeling overwhelmed and wondering where to start, Kelsey outlined clear first steps. Begin by packaging up one of your offers so it’s very clear what the client gets. The fewer variables involved, the easier it will be to launch. Instead of custom packages with lots of discussions, create one branded package with maybe a couple of tiers that people can easily understand and choose from.
Next, build a dedicated sales page specifically for that offer. Too many photographers have services pages with 10 different options, which confuses potential clients. They need to land on a page and immediately understand that this is exactly what they need.
Then map out your launch timeline. Depending on how engaged your current audience is, you might need one to three months of warmup content. Create a marketing plan for warming them up through social media, email newsletters, networking events, or podcast appearances. Choose your launch window and plan exactly what you’ll do during that time – what emails you’ll send, what social posts you’ll create.
Finally, measure your results and use that data to improve your next launch.
Thank you so much for listening to this episode! If you found value in these launch strategies, I’d love to hear how you plan to implement them in your photography business. The shift from hoping for bookings to strategically creating them can be absolutely game-changing for your business growth and sustainability.
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