We recently connected with Jessica Rizzotto and have shared our conversation below.

Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. How has Covid changed your business model?

Prior to covid, most families who booked with me wanted more than just digital images to be kept hidden away on a hard drive somewhere. They wanted to invest in beautiful wall art options for their home, heirloom photo albums to pass down to baby, and physical prints to display and enjoy every day. Not only did this business model result in bigger sales, it allowed me to spend more time with each of my clients, to truly understand what they wanted and the story they wanted to tell with their images. This level of service I provided brought me great joy, and lots of happy clients. In the aftermath of covid and the accompanying inflation across the nation, I find that most families now want only digital images, and have almost come to expect them at a fraction of the price they once were even in the midst of record high prices for everything. Although I have not lowered my prices for digital images, I have adapted my business model to include more digital-only collections while still keeping the level of service I love to offer with in-person sales. I understand that budgets are tight for just about everyone these days, and although I cannot lower my pricing, I do find I have been booking more after a very slow period because I have been able to adapt and include more digital image options while still remaining profitable.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Photography has been a hobby of mine since high school, where I learned to shoot and develop using film and was a staff photographer for our yearbook and school newspaper. I decided to specialize in newborn and baby photography after my own children were born 13 years ago. There are always new talented photographers entering the marketplace but I think what sets me apart is my experience. I take pride in knowing how to safely handle the tiniest of brand new babies, knowing how to calm them and read their cues with my years of experience as both a baby photographer and a mother. It helps to ease any new-parent anxiety of bringing their baby to my studio. And because I offer a customized boutique experience, clients hire me because they want to invest in that personalized experience.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

After having my first baby in 2010, I was a hobbyist photographer at home all day with my camera gear and my adorable daughter. This is when I really started delving into newborn and baby photography, and would photograph my friends’ babies as well. By the time my son was born two years later, I was running an amateur side hustle out of my living room on the weekends when my husband was home to watch our kids. One of my biggest milestones was when I leased my first commercial space for a photo studio, once both of my kids were in school full time. This step allowed me to really scale up my business and have a steady full-time workload. I upgraded my camera gear. I took workshops and mentored with my favorite newborn photographers to hone my skills. I became an in-person sales photography studio focused on offering high-end products to my clientele, such as wall art and albums. I just recently upgraded to a brand new studio space.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

When I was an amateur working out of my home, I wasn’t truly charging enough to be profitable and was just trying to figure it all out still. I offered only digital images delivered online. I had very kind and loyal clients, but truthfully, I think that many of them hired me because I was “cheap”, and they were budget shoppers looking for the best deal. Many years later once I had successfully scaled up my business and adopted an IPS business model, I had a previous client of mine reach out to book another session with her new baby. Her first experience with me was when I was working out of my home and had a very low fee for an all-inclusive session. She ended up booking with me at my new rates and happily invested in wall art for her home, a photo album, and her entire gallery of digital images. It is common to lose some clients after raising your rates or switching to a new business model, but it meant a lot to me that she stuck with me and invested her time and money with me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jessicarizzotto.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/jessicarizzottophotography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/jessicarizzottophotography