S11E02 | 10 Things I Learned as a Pregnant Photographer
NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE
LISTEN FOR FREE ONLINE
This episode is a bit of a niche topic, but when I became pregnant, I discovered that there was really very little content out there about how to handle pregnancy and maternity leave when you are a fulltime solopreneur/photographer. To be honest, I felt a bit lost - when should I finish up shoots? How do I handle clients? When do I need to start back again? In the hopes that it will make someone (you?) feel less lost in the future, here’s ten things that I learned as a pregnant photographer.
TEN THINGS I LEARNED AS A PREGNANT PHOTOGRAPHER
#1 REDUCE YOUR WORKLOAD
I am so incredibly grateful that I was able to fall and stay pregnant, but let me tell you straight off the bat - morning sickness is no fun! You may be one of those lucky mamas who don’t get too sick, but even those without morning sickness (which, sidenote, should be renamed All F&*king Day Sickness) will undoubtedly feel exhausted for at least the first trimester.
In hindsight, I should have scaled back on my sessions and workload as soon as I got that positive test result. I wish I had given myself the permission to immediately reduce my workload as much as possible, instead of waiting until well into the second trimester.
If you’re a self-confessed workaholic and your business was your first baby, it can be really difficult to suddenly switch gears. I found this particularly difficult in the first trimester - the pregnancy was so new, I wasn’t showing and hardly anyone knew. All I wanted to do was lie on the couch all day, but I had sessions to shoot and editing to complete, so I was admonishing myself for my own “laziness”. Um, no. Please, if you find yourself in this space, give yourself grace and reduce that workload as much as you can.
#2 set Client deadlines
You’ll never be as painfully aware of client procrastination as when you are literally about to pop a baby out of your body and someone STILL hasn’t okayed their album design. I advise giving your clients three dates:
Last day of sessions I set this for 28 weeks, giving myself two weeks to edit the final sessions before the last day of ordering appointments. If you can afford to make this earlier, I recommend this - I had no idea quite how large my belly was going to get and it was pretty difficult to physically shoot towards the end.
Last day of ordering appointments I set this for 30 weeks, giving myself two weeks to design those final orders.
Last day of finalising orders (i.e. accepting proofs and payments due). Make sure you factor in time after this date for printing and packaging the orders - I set this date at 32 weeks, knowing it would take my printing lab around 2 weeks to fulfil the orders, giving myself one week for packaging/shipping and another buffer week, so I knew that I would be totally wrapped up with work by 36 weeks.
Be firm - if they miss any of those dates, then you’ll have to pick up wherever you left off once you’re back from your maternity leave.
#3 buy yourself a belly band
Photographing pets whilst pregnant is . . . interesting. I think photographing people would be difficult enough, but as you probably know - pet portraiture involves a lot of lying down on the ground. Not so easy with a giant belly in front of you! Do yourself a favour a buy a belly band - it relieves a lot of the pressure from your back while you’re shooting.
#4 allow extra session time
And on that note, make sure you allow extra time for your sessions. Pre-pregnant me could smash out a session in 45 minutes. But between the waddling and the very slow transition from the ground to standing, I found that I needed at least double that time to shoot that same session. As long as your clients know how long to expect and you’ve allowed the extra time, it’s really no problem. I never had any impatient clients, in fact they were all so kind and ready to give me a hand as I hoisted myself back up off the ground!
#5 update your database
I recommend announcing your pregnancy and the dates of your maternity leave as soon as you feel comfortable. I announced around 20 weeks and was so surprised at the sudden influx of enquiries and bookings. People who had been meaning to book a session for years suddenly wanted to book in RIGHT NOW. I would have been ecstatic if it weren’t for the fact that I was trying to reduce that workload! I’ve included the exact wording of the announcement email that I sent to mailing list in the freebie download for this episode.
#6 OUTSOURCE
If you’re not already outsourcing part of your editing workflow, now is the time to start. At the bare minimum I recommend outsourcing your leash removals, but if you can also find an editor to help with culling/processing your sessions, even better. You certainly won’t find yourself with more time once baby comes, so outsource and automate wherever you can.
#7 automate your social media
Speaking on automation - if you’re not scheduling your social media yet, this is another aspect of your photography business where you can save yourself some serious time. Here at the Pet Photographers Club, we use Buffer to schedule our posts. You can also dive into your session archives and pre-schedule a bunch of posts to be shared for during your maternity leave - that way you won’t go totally silent while you’re off in newborn bliss.
#8 create a maternity leave waitlist
The length of your maternity leave depends on your own individual circumstances. As the primary income earner for my household, I needed to carefully calculate how long we could afford Ragamuffin to be on leave. I will admit that as a first time mum, I totally underestimated when I would be ready to return to work. Originally I was planning to come back to the Pet Photographers Club at 8 weeks postpartum and return to shooting when my baby was four months old. To be honest, I assumed that I would be itching to get back to work and craving time to myself.
Once he was here, I quickly realised that I had it all wrong. There are a lot of mothers who don’t have a choice as to when they return to work, but as solopreneurs we are fortunate to set our own limits. I’ve pushed my maternity leave out so I won’t be returning to sessions until bubba is six months old. Give yourself as much time as you can afford - if you feel ready earlier, you can always ease back in!
When your maternity leave starts, set up a pop-up for your website giving clients an opportunity to join your waitlist. You’ll have a list of interested enquiries waiting for you when you return!
#9 pause your inbox
You’ve informed your clients, updated your website, finished your orders - now it’s time to switch off, mama. I would love for you to not even think about your photography business while you’re on your maternity leave, so if you’re inclined to get inbox anxiety when emails go unread and unreplied, then do yourself a favour and PAUSE that inbox. You won’t get notifications, you won’t be able to just quickly check your emails - you can enjoy the maternity leave that you planned without feeling guilty for “neglecting” your business. I absolutely love Boomerang for Gmail’s “Pause Inbox” feature for when you need to switch off.
#10 plan your comeback
How do you fill your calendar after a long hiatus? Now is the time to lean on your own tried-and-tested marketing methods. For me personally, my comeback plan includes running my Annual Sale right before Christmas and launching my next book using the Self-Publishing Strategy for Photographers. I’m confident that both these strategies will bring in a big lot of clients to fill my calendar (and you better believe I’ll be using my Acuity Scheduling to make sure my workload is properly managed). However, I’ll be contacting those on the waitlist before launching those promotions, so they get first dibs on available sessions. Don’t have your own tried-and-tested marketing strategies? Join our 12 Week Business Foundations Challenge to learn everything you need to know about filling your calendar.
