If I could tell you the number of potential clients I have had to turn away this spring, you’d want to cry right along with me. I looooooathe telling clients I cannot work with them. I dread sending the email that says, “I’m so sorry, I can’t help you because I’m booked 😭”, and yet I’ve had to do that multiple times even this last month because my month is FULL. I repeatedly get on Instagram and nag (ok, well, it feels like nagging), “Schedule newborn photos early!! I can’t book you if my calendar is full and my calendar WILL be full if you wait until your baby is here to reach out!!!” Okay, right?? Nagging. And yet. It happens over and over.
A wonderful client of mine, who’s constantly sending her friends my way, recently sat in my studio while I shot her newborn daughter’s photos (that she booked 7 months in advance, thank you Ashley). She said to me, “My friend just reached out to you about newborn photos and you were booked.” My jaw hit the floor. “That was YOUR friend??? Noooooo! She didn’t tell me you referred her!!!” (And this is my tragic flaw, that I will squeeze people in until my calendar is screaming at me and my children don’t remember what I look like because I’m either away shooting sessions or locked in my room editing.) But this is exactly what I’m talking about. Schedule newborn photos early!!
I’m not talking 9-months-pregnant early. I’m definitely not talking text-me-from-the-hospital-bed early. I’m talking pull-an-Ashley (and another client I can’t yet name who is barely out of her first trimester but has already reached out for another newborn go-around with me because she KNOWS) and reach out before your bun in the oven has even eased up on the morning sickness. SCHEDULE NEWBORN PHOTOS EARLY.
And, look, you can *try* reaching out if baby is due next week or *gasp* baby is 18 days old (that was a recent inquiry that had to be sent on their way 😭) – no shame in trying. Just know that the likelihood of me having an opening is so slim that it’ll take a cancellation to make it happen. And I’ll tell you right now, outside of Covid, I’ve never had a newborn cancellation…so it ain’t gonna happen.
I love all my clients. The ones who book early, the ones who book when baby is already here. I love them all. This is not a post to bash anybody. This is just a friendly reminder: if you can (please), schedule newborn photos early ❤️
Liz Viernes Photography is based near Glenwood, Maryland, and specializes in maternity, fresh 48, posed and lifestyle newborns and first year milestone portraits.
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