As photographers, grappling with the challenge of converting leads into paid sessions can be a constant source of frustration. However, maintaining this consistency can save you an immense amount of time. Rather than crafting lengthy Facebook posts with available time slots or grappling with calendar booking apps on top of your CRM, why not let Dubsado handle the heavy lifting?

This guide will walk you through the process of putting everything together for the successful launch of your mini sessions. It’s worth noting that this approach can also be adapted for portrait sessions or model sessions with a few adjustments. Keep in mind that I assume you have already taken care of setting up your calendar, brand information, payment processor, and other fundamental backend work in Dubsado. If you need assistance with this, be sure to check out my free resource for beginners in Dubsado.

If you don’t currently have a Dubsado account but are eager to experiment with this strategy and follow along, the platform offers a free trial option. Additionally, you can take advantage of a 30% discount when signing up.

BUILDING A MINI SESSION SCHEDULER IN DUBSADO

Preparing your Dubsado account for mini sessions involves several phases:

1. Creating Templates: Develop templates for canned emails, package details, payment schedules, and the scheduler.
2. Workflow Automation: Assemble all the components into a cohesive workflow automation.
3. Sharing and Posting: Share the scheduler link or embed it and begin promoting your sessions to secure automated bookings.

PRELIM PHASE: ESSENTIAL PREPARATION (MINIMAL PRE-WORK)

This planning phase benefits from having a piece of paper on hand. Jot down the following details:

• Dates or timeframe for your mini sessions to establish available booking times.
• Pricing for your mini sessions.
• Location of your mini sessions.

NEXT PHASE: CREATION

• Create a new project tag within your pipeline categories to organize your mini sessions (I labeled mine as “MINIS”).
• Establish a set of project status states, including:
  • LEAD: Mini Abandoned
  • JOB: Upcoming
  • JOB: Editing
  • JOB: Delivered
• Form Design: Design two essential forms:
  • Mini Session Proposal: Collect basic client information, session attendees, and any additional details you require before the session. Include a simple timeline, package breakdown, and reference images for clarity.
  • Mini Session Contract: This is crucial for each session. Customize it to incorporate session location and time-slot since smart fields can’t link appointment schedulers to contracts. A workaround is detailed in the workflow.

To design a branded proposal and contract, I employed a blend of custom coding and the new Dubsado form builder. I crafted graphics in Canva as PNGs and utilized Genie coding for backgrounds, submission bars, overriding default headers, and styling form fields and fonts.

For more information about Genie, feel free to explore this page.

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