Photographers, here’s everything you need to know for planning family mini sessions that are fully booked out and a huge success!

Whether you are planning your very first round of mini sessions and feel like you have no clue what you are doing or prepping your fourth annual holiday minis and just looking for some new ideas for ways to make them even more successful, this post is for you!

I have been really leaning into building up my mini sessions over the past couple years. I started out with the typical fall and holiday minis, and have since added on many unique options as well. In 2024 alone I booked over 100 mini sessions! Through a lot of trial and error, I have been able to create a seamless process for planning and hosting mini sessions. I am now at the point where most of my mini session spots are fully booked within 24 hours of them going live.

I love offering mini sessions because they are such a win for both you and your clients! It gives you the opportunity to work with a ton of cute families, and you often get to see return clients and capture updated photos of their growing family (my favorite part about working with families)! Plus the fast paced, back-to-back nature of mini sessions means the sky is the limit for how profitable they can be for you and your business. Clients always love mini sessions because they are an easy way to get a handful of updated family photos at a fraction of the cost of a full photography session. What’s not to love?!

As a seasoned mini session photographer, I’ve put together all the things I’ve learned over the years for you below. Just keep on reading!

What you need to know when planning your upcoming family mini sessions:

1. Create an email list for your mini sessions

One of the best things I ever did for booking out my mini sessions was creating an exclusive email list! Whenever I am planning my next round of minis I will send out the details to everyone on my mini session email list. When it’s time for the sessions to go live I will share the link to book in there first! (if you’ve been putting off the whole email list thing…check out Flodesk. I have LOVED how user friendly and easy it is to design and send out mass emails)

The key here is to advertise your mini sessions email list nonstop. Talk about it in your stories and link the signup page in your bio. Add signing up as a call to action in all of your content leading up to minis. Let your audience know that if they are interested in mini sessions, they NEED to get added to your email list to get first dibs on securing their spot!

2. Build excitement when sharing about your minis!

When talking about your upcoming mini sessions, HOW you share about them makes all the difference. Whether you are sharing about your annual fall minis for the third year in a row or a brand new type of mini session you are trying out, share about them with confidence and excitement! Talk about your mini sessions like they are an exclusive, premium level event. This might feel weird at first. Especially if you are new to hosting mini sessions and don’t actually know how they are going to go. But showing up and sharing how excited you are for your minis and how fun they are going to be will directly affect how pumped your clients are to book with you. If you are feeling uncertain and worried about your minis when you go to share about them, your audience is going to pick up on that!

Keep reading for some fun ways to build excitement about your upcoming mini sessions on social media!

3. Post about your minis a LOT on social media

When sharing on social media, a great rule of thumb is to feel like you have shared about it too much. On average, your audience needs to see you share about something at LEAST seven times before they even think about taking action. In order to ensure your mini sessions are fully booked out, start sharing about them several months before they go live!

Remember to get creative with how you share about your mini sessions to build interest and excitement. Here are a few fun ways I like to share about my minis on social media:

Share a few reviews from from past mini session clients!

As a newborn and family photographer, I try to cater to moms. I will often rope my kids into helping me do a funny, relatable reel to announce an upcoming mini date. These reels are always a huge hit with my audience!

Film a sneak peek tour of the location where your mini sessions will be held to build excitement. If you are including special elements in your minis such as flower arrangements for Mother’s day or fun decorations for the holidays, share previews of these!

Do a mock session in advance and have someone volunteer to model for you. This is great way to get some amazing images to use as promotional content for your upcoming mini sessions!

4. Create a giveaway to build interest

Whenever I am promoting upcoming mini sessions, I almost always give away one free session on social media. Not only does this build excitement with your current audience, but you’ll get lots of new eyes on your account as well! And for those that enter but don’t win? They’ll realize just how excited they were about your mini sessions that they might decide to book with you anyway!!

5. Book your mini sessions back to back

This is my number one tip for creating mini sessions that are profitable and worth your time. When planning out your mini sessions, I highly recommend choosing 1-2 dates that work well in your schedule. Then I open up a handful of times for your clients to book on those pre-set dates. Avoid letting your clients choose their own date in your schedule for booking their mini sessions (trust me on this!).

Whenever I offer mini sessions, I choose one location and book sessions at 15-20 minute back-to-back intervals. This setup has worked really well for me! It gives me just enough time to capture plenty of awesome images with some wiggle room too so I can be flexible. If you’re nervous about not having enough time, feel free to add in a buffer zone! This may look like an additional 5 minutes blocked off after each session to make sure you have a little extra time.

Your timing for your mini sessions will obviously depend on a few things. The amount of images you’ll be delivering as well as how much time you need to feel comfortable and not rushed. But booking your sessions back to back will allow you to be efficient with your time and still see several families in the same day! Once you have this fast paced schedule down seamlessly, the opportunities are endless! In 2024 I booked over FORTY fall mini sessions spread out over just 3 different dates!!

6. Create a sense of urgency when talking about your minis

When marketing your upcoming mini sessions, remind your audience that you only offer a handful of mini dates every year and since they are such an amazing deal, they WILL book up fast! Using language that creates a sense of urgency will really help motivate your audience to book!

Here are a few ideas for how to create a sense of urgency when talking about your minis:

“Minis are live! Run and secure your spot now before they’re fully booked!”
“My last round of minis booked out in under 24 hours?!”
“Don’t miss out on snagging your spot! Make sure to sign up for my mini session email list so you can get early access to book your session!”
“All mini session spots filled up so fast…BUT I’ve decided to open up just 5 more spots! Missed your chance to book a session for your family? Head to my website to secure your spot now before they are gone!”

But what if this is only your second round of minis and the first ones didn’t even get fully booked? Fake it till you make it!! Still share with a sense of urgency and let your audience know that your mini sessions WILL book out fast! Share like it’s already happening and before you know it you really will have your minis fully booked in just a few hours.

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