Belle’s Story

Belle had been doing portrait photography for years. She was good at it. Her clients loved her work and raved about it.

Every summer, she was flat out – while every winter, barely anything. She was stuck in the same feast-or-famine cycle that keeps so many photographers working hard without ever getting ahead. B

Sound familiar?

She was stuck in that exhausting feast-or-famine cycle that so many portrait photographers know too well. Flat out for a few months, then watching the bookings dry up and wondering how long she could keep going like this.

Then – she made some changes and that month – Belle made $17,000.

The same month a year earlier? $5,000.

What changed wasn’t her photography. What changed was the system sitting underneath it.

The #1 Reason Portrait Photographers Struggle to Make More Money

Before we worked together Belle was doing what many photographers do – avoiding sales because the idea of it was awful.

She’d photograph a session, deliver a gallery link, and wait. Clients would take weeks to look through their images. Eventually they’d download a few files, move on with their lives, and Belle would never get to see their faces when they fell in love with a portrait for the first time.

And her income stayed stuck.

Here’s the thing about sending a gallery link. When you do that, your client is making a purchasing decision alone, at home, usually on their phone, often weeks after they were excited about the session. They can’t see what a wall print would look like in their lounge. They don’t know what products are even available. They start with 60 images they love and slowly talk themselves down to 10.

You make less. They get less of their portraits than they actually wanted. Nobody wins.

The solution is in person sales photography, also known as IPS. Being present when your clients see their images for the first time, so you can guide them, show them what’s possible, and help them invest in something they’ll genuinely treasure.

But for Belle, that word had baggage. A lot of it.

“I Told Kim Flat Out: IPS Isn’t For Me”

Belle had seen the horror stories. There was a local photographer in her town with a bad reputation. Articles in the news about clients walking out of sessions having spent thousands they didn’t feel good about. The idea of in person sales felt synonymous with high pressure tactics and emotional manipulation.

She wanted absolutely no part of it.

“I was scared of IPS. I knew I couldn’t sell something I didn’t believe in, so I just avoided it.”

And honestly? I get it. This fear comes up all the time with the portrait photographers I work with.

Most of the time it’s not really about the money conversation itself. It’s about perception. Photographers worry that their clients will think they’re out to rip them off. That they’ll get a bad reputation. That suggesting a wall art collection will make them look pushy or salesy.

So they send a gallery instead. And they stay at $5k months.

Here’s what I told Belle, and what I tell every photographer who comes to me with this fear: in person sales photography does not have to look like anything you’ve seen done badly. Because it’s never about ‘selling’ – it’s always about serving.

What Changes When You Build a Photography Sales System Around Your Values

Belle decided to builda photography sales system that felt completely like her. Transparent photography pricing from the very first enquiry. Clients who arrived at their ordering appointment already knowing what to expect. No surprises. No awkwardness. No one feeling cornered.

“People would come in fully expecting to walk away with 10 digitals, and then they’d see those 40 images on the screen and they’d end up buying a full wall collection. You don’t know what you want until you see it.”

Belle also had something that most photographers completely underutilise: a commercial studio space with product samples on the walls. Real wood prints. Real wall collections. When clients came in for their ordering appointment, they could actually see and hold the products. They could picture them in their home.

The kicker? Most of her outdoor sunset clients had no idea the studio even existed. Getting them into that space for IPS wasn’t just a better sales experience. It was a revelation.

“Whoa, this space is amazing. And you’ve been here a year and a half?!”

Yep. People don’t know what’s available to them until you show them.

The Results: From $5k to $17k in a Single Month

Belle ran a campaign. Week one was a bit quiet. Week two, things took off.

She had three sessions booked each Tuesday and Thursday. Sunset shoots on Wednesday nights. By the end of the month she tallied up her income and could barely believe what she was looking at.

$17,000.

The previous February? $5,000.

Same photographer. Same small town. Same skill. The difference was a booking system that generated consistent enquiries week after week, and an in person sales approach that gave her clients the space and confidence to invest at the level they actually wanted to.

“I still can’t believe I made that last month.”

And here’s what I said to Belle: now you know what it takes to make $17k. You know the recipe. So now you just keep making it, and you work out how to increase it.

What It Actually Takes to Grow a Photography Business (And What It Doesn’t)

Belle’s market is saturated. New photographers pop up in her area constantly. There are well-established photographers she’s competing against, and she’s in a small regional town, not a big city.

She doesn’t compete on price. She competes on experience.

When you stop trying to be the cheapest option in the room and start building a client experience worth paying for, the right clients will book you. The ones who will sit in your studio, cry happy tears over their portraits, and gladly pay $2,500 because the value is completely obvious to them.

Belle also runs a charity alongside her main business, providing free photography to cancer families in her community. She lost her dad to cancer when she was four years old and has carried that with her ever since. Growing her revenue wasn’t just about hitting income goals. It was about being able to self-fund the work that means the most to her.

That’s what a photography business that actually works for your life looks like.

The Portrait Photography Sales Myth That’s Keeping You Stuck

Most photographers believe this about in person sales:

“If I charge more or push for a bigger sale, clients will feel pressured and I’ll get a bad reputation.”

The reality is different.

When you do IPS well, your clients get to see their images the way they deserve to be seen. They get someone in the room who knows which portrait belongs above the fireplace and which one is perfect for the hallway. They get to invest in something they genuinely love, instead of downloading a folder of digital files they’ll look at twice and never print.

And you get to be there for the moment they see their family’s portraits for the very first time.

Belle described it perfectly: “Why wouldn’t you get to enjoy that part? Seeing them love them, and the happy tears. Why would you give that up?”

Sales, when it’s done right, is just serving your client at a higher level. It’s finding out what they truly want and helping them have it.

How to Increase Your Average Sale as a Portrait Photographer

If you’re reading this thinking $17k months sound great but also completely out of reach for you right now, here’s where to start:

1. Stop sending galleries without a sales conversation. Even a Zoom ordering appointment is a massive step up from a gallery link dropped in an inbox. Just being present when your clients see their images for the first time changes everything. This single shift is one of the fastest ways to make more money as a photographer without needing to book a single extra session.

2. Build your photography pricing strategy around transparency. Belle’s clients arrive at their ordering appointment already knowing what their options are. There’s no sticker shock because nothing is a surprise. When you educate clients on pricing before the shoot, the money conversation becomes easy. The awkwardness disappears because nothing is sprung on anyone.

3. Get consistent bookings in first. Belle’s income jumped in February because she had systems bringing in bookings week after week, not because she got lucky. Consistent income as a photographer starts with consistent bookings. That’s the foundation. Everything else sits on top of it.

4. Make in person sales feel like you. You don’t need a script that feels like someone else’s business. Build a process you can stand behind, one you genuinely believe in. When you’re comfortable in that room, your clients will be too. And comfortable clients invest at the level they actually want to invest.

Ready to Grow Your Photography Business?

If you’re a portrait photographer sitting around the $5k mark right now and wondering whether consistent, predictable income is actually possible for you, I want you to know: it is. I’ve seen it happen for photographers in small towns, saturated markets, part-time hours, with kids at home.

It’s not magic. It’s a system.

I work with family, newborn, and pet photographers through my coaching program Momentum to help them build the pricing, systems, and sales approach that create $10k months and beyond.

If that sounds like exactly what you need, check out how we can work together to help you achieve your goals even faster.

Or send me a DM on Instagram and say “tell me more” and I’ll get back to you personally.

Kim xx