Hello my sparkling little love muffins! Today’s post is SO IMPORTANT because I am teaching you how to love on your clients in a way that they will not see coming! Yes, I know you are good at loving them during your sessions. You can ooooh-and-ahhhh at their little ones during a session; you can compliment their hawt photo session hair, makeup, and wardrobe; you can even tell them how beautiful their teeth are as they smile for your camera. How-ev-ah, once the emotion from your session has died down and the clients return to you {with their checkbooks in hand}, you can “hit me baby one more time” with love delivered straight from a sparkling swag bag that you crafted with their hearts in mind.

That’s right. Swag bags aren’t just for PR events. No, no, sweet sparkle. Swag bags are for your every-day clients, too. They appear as an unexpected little love-bomb that you can have pre-packed and ready for every IPS session on your calendar. B O O M.  Now, let’s move on to the deets…

What’s inside my client swag bags!

1.  Little tangible bits of joy {aka Proof Prints}!

 I have 3.5×5 proof prints with a white border printed at Millers. This costs me about $20 and gives my clients something amazing and tangible to walk out of an IPS session with, every time. Many of my clients spend $500-$1,000 at their IPS session. I don’t know about you, but that’s an awfully substantial commitment to make and walk away empty-handed.

Your clients have made a sizable investment with you – give them a little something {minimal investment on your part} to flash to their friends, family and co-workers while they wait on their prints to arrive.  Wanna know more about these mini-prints, I’ve got all the details for you on my previous post on proof prints to get the total 411 on this subject.

2.  Branded bits of love.

My clients are mostly women sooooo these bags are tailored towards the female psyche. I order custom hair ties from Ties for Teams.  I’ve known Emily for years, and she’s graciously giving the Sparkle Society community 10% off with code “sparklesisterhood”!  The hair ties are branded with my colors and say “xoxo,” which is the little sign-off I’m known for using. I also put in custom/branded chapstick {berry sangria and vanilla cupcake – yum!!!}. I don’t have a preferred vender for the chapstick, but you should be able to search around the interwebs and find one easily.

Also… I shop ulta.com and Amazon for mini nail polishes. I love to put a small bottle of a good quality polish in each bag {better than a big bottle of low quality polish}. This little gift not only reminds your clients of you, but also makes them feel like you care enough to do something that will make their day brighter and easier. Let them know you truly care even after the check has been cashed!

3.  Biz cards!

Typically, social media is my business card, but tossing in a few hard-copy cards is a great way to reinforce your brand and easily allow your clients to share you with their friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc.  Don’t make them ask – give them business cards as they’re walking out your door!

4.  Sweet little Treats!

I mean, really.  Who doesn’t love candy? Make sure it’s hard candy that will not melt. You can even use branded wrappers if you’re a total overachiever!  Just promise you’ll send me a pix because I totally want to see that!

Make swag bags feel like a gift!

Be sure to shock and awe your clients with this pristine little package. Don’t just hand them something akin to what 7-year-olds bring home from a birthday party, make it a personal, well-crafted, well-branded, surprise love-bomb from you, to your client. Here’s how I pull off the full-effect {some, not all, of these are affiliate links, so if it bothers you that I might “earn” enough to grab a Starbucks from your purchase, feel free to search on your own}:

1. craft paper bags
2. branded tissue
3. pillow boxes
4. cute wax bags for the prints
5. washi tape.  This goes without saying, right?!  LOL!
6. branded ribbon from the Ribbon Print Company {tell Sue you’re one of my friends and she’ll take good care of you}
7. custom confetti from The Confetti Bar {use code “ilovesparkle” to save 15% off any custom order}

Of course if you really want to go over the top, my friend Catherine, from Classic Legacy, makes all kinds of custom swag!  She’s got camera bracelets, earrings, wine stoppers… you name it, she can make it!

One last thing for the swag bag…

During my IPS sessions, clients pick out all tangible products {prints, canvases, albums, etc}, but they pick out their digital items at home. I walk them through how to do this during the session. How-ev-ah, they forget how to do it errrrytime. Soooo, I include a custom postcard that addresses the following super important things:

1. how to share images online {and tag me}
2. reminder info on how to download and order their goodies
3. details about viewing and accessing their images {w/password}
4. which collection to add
5. coupon code for download.

Your swag bag is more than cute – it’s a tool to help your business shine!

I’m trying to help my clients {and yours truly} work smarter, not harder. Anticipate the problems before they happen. I’ve worked so hard on the back-end of my site, you guys. Using Zenfolio to pre-load packages and coupon codes has made my life so much easier! During the ordering session – all of that has been done. I can hand over the coupon codes, links, and voila. Everyone has fun at the IPS session because we planned well!

Swag bags help you ramp-up customer service; spoil your clients; and leave customers with a fantastic impression of your business! You may have some questions about that postcard ^ up there. I will happily share that customizable template* with you!  Let me know if you want me to send it over to you right away. I’ll also send you a few extras that will help you up-level your biz, connect with clients and dig in to make your business truly sparkle. Also, not part of our amazing {and free} community of sparkling photographers like yourself? Join us!  So grab your free template and I’ll add you to our community – get ready to be encouraged, empowered, and educated right along with other fantastic photographers like yo-self!

ps – that template is a layered .psd file.  If you’re not familiar with Photoshop or opening zipped files, this might not be the freebie for you!  Click here to pick something else instead!