How I fill a mini session

Four of my mini sessions sold out this year. My festive minis for a local mums' group filled all ten slots in a week. And my Christmas mini a couple of years ago, the one I was most excited about, sat with empty slots for months the first time I offered it.

None of the ones that sold out did it because of a clever Instagram post. So here's what actually worked, what didn't, and what I do differently now, in case it saves you a season.

Your list sells. Instagram introduces.

When one of my summer minis sold out, I went back to see where the bookings had come from. The launch post on Instagram got a handful of likes. Two emails to my list did the selling.

Instagram is brilliant at introducing you to people who don't know you yet. Your email list is where the people who already trust you are waiting to hear from you. They're the ones who book. So now every mini goes to my list first, before it goes anywhere public, and Instagram's job is to bring new people onto that list.

Give first refusal, every time

Past clients and anyone who missed out last time hear about a mini before anyone else. It feels kind, and it is, but it also means a mini can be half full before it's ever announced.

When a mini sells out, the families who missed it go onto a list for next year's date. That list is the warmest group of people you'll ever have. They've already said yes once.

Keep a waitlist open all year

For a long time my waitlist only appeared once a session was full, which meant it caught nobody until it was too late to matter. Every "I'd love to, but not that date" was lost.

A waitlist that's always open, in your bio and at the bottom of every session page, catches those people. And it tells you which minis to run again.

Never sell a set nobody has seen

This is the one I learned the hard way. My Christmas mini was a styled studio set that didn't exist yet, and I was asking families to imagine it. They didn't book.

So the rule now is simple: build one corner of the set and photograph it before bookings open. One afternoon gives you every photo the whole campaign needs, and families can see exactly what they're booking.

One mini at a time

If two minis are being promoted at once, they compete with each other, and your audience doesn't know which one you want them to look at. Finish one before you start the next. Open bookings six to eight weeks before the date, with your list hearing first.

Give each mini its own reason

Three twenty-minute sessions with different backdrops give a family no reason to book more than one. Next year, each of my minis has something real happening in it: a picnic, paint, their little one's favourite things. Same length, completely different photographs, and a reason to come back.

And make the upgrade easy to say yes to early. My full gallery costs less if families decide before the mini. Organised families get the best price, and I know where I stand before the day rather than after it.

Where Shoot Suite comes in

Minis are a big part of why I built Shoot Suite. Each mini has its own page: the details, the families booked, the posts promoting it, and the orders afterwards.

I put in the first slot, how long each one is, the gap and how many, and it works out the times. A waitlist switches on by itself when it's full. The early gallery price sits on the same screen as everything else. Most of that checklist lives in one place, instead of six.