Not long ago, I received an email from a reader of Seniorologie asking me, “how do you budget for a Senior Rep Program?”  And I thought this was a great topic for today’s Seniorologie 101 post!

Rep or Spokesmodel Programs are a marketing or advertising campaign.  They give you the chance of getting your name out there amongst the clients you are trying to reach.  To me, it is a business expense that helps grow your business.  But that doesn’t mean you have to spend a ton of money to make it work!

Budgeting what you can spend is the most important thing.  When I did my very first rep program, I didn’t know what I was doing so I spent money that I have since realized wasn’t necessary.  I paid a stylist and I overpaid for hair and makeup.  Since then, I style the shoot myself to save on money and I work with a hair and makeup stylist that is within my budget.  Making sure you can successfully implement your program within the budget that you can support takes some planning, and below you will find a list of things and their costs to help you.

Sit down during a slower time of year when you don’t have as many shoots.  For me, that is January.  It’s too cold outside and not many people want their photos taken at this time.  Plus, planning at the beginning of the year always seems to start the year off right.  Look at your sales, how much money you typically bring in and decide how much of that you will set aside for your rep program.  Then determine what you will spend that money on.  Will it be a big rep shoot that is completely styled?  Will it be products such as rep cards to give your models?  Are you going to include goodie bags for them?  All of these things are a possibility but it is up to you to decide.

Every rep or spokesmodel program is different and therefore, the costs will vary.  If you do one big shoot or individual shoots, your cost will vary and the time it takes for your rep shoots, editing, etc will vary (time is also something you must factor in – time is money!).  So take a look below at a sample of the possible costs of a big rep shoot.  Pick and choose the items that you feel are necessary to include in your program and budget accordingly.  A rep program does not have to include all of the items below.  This is just a list of all types of things that could be included and their costs.  How much you have in your budget, will determine what things you choose to include.

The Shoot

I do a big rep shoot that is completely styled with a concept or theme.  In the past, I have hired a stylist which cost money.  But that is an expense I do not want, so I now style it myself.  If you want to do a styled shoot but don’t want to style it yourself, reach out to newer stylist who may want the experience or exposure.  You could work out a trade for photos with the stylist and therefore save money.

Costs of The Shoot –

Your Time – This includes planning, styling and actually shooting.  While you may not be actually paying money for this, you are using up your time.  So make sure to plan it during a time when you don’t have other shoots.  Make sure to allow yourself time in your schedule to edit the session.

Props – You may choose to include props or you may not.  This year I decided on a theme called Sparkle and Tulle.  I had this vision that I wanted each girl to wear a tulle skirt and they could choose what they wanted to pair with the skirt.  Because most girls don’t have tulle skirts laying around, I decided to provide a skirt for each girl as part of my model shoot.  I had to figure in this cost into my budget.  I searched and searched until I found reasonably priced tulle skirts as I needed 8!

I also decided for the sparkle part of my shoot, I needed glitter and confetti and a couple of other props to help illustrate my theme.  I first went to my prop section of my garage and found things I could recycle.  I got mason jars to hold the glitter, tissue paper that I had left over from another shoot to make the garland and an old table to use in the background.  After I found everything I could to recycle, I then had to go to the craft store for a few other items.

Cost of the Props –

Tulle Skirts – $10 each from Ebay x 8 = $80

Shipping for Skirts – $2 each x 8 = $16

Glitter, Confetti, Balloons, Paint, Etc – $56

Location – My location did not cost me anything.  It is an old mill that the owner graciously let me use.  But you may choose a place that charges a fee.  If so, be sure to account for that in your budget.

Hair and Makeup – This is something that you can choose to pay for for your models or you could create a program where the models pay for this themselves.  In my program, I provide this for my models.  I work with the same hair and makeup stylist and because we work together and I bring her a lot of business, she gives me a special rate for shoots of this nature.  This is another place where you could try and find someone who needs the experience or photos for their portfolio and do a trade.  This would save you money.

Cost of Hair and Makeup – $150

Marketing Materials – After the shoot, you will want to give your reps or models materials that they can share with their friends.  There are many different ways that you can do this.  You can create small rep cards, postcards or tri-fold cards.  You can also create digital versions of a rep card using Sticky Albums.  I do both.  I provide my models with tri-fold cards from Pro DPI and a Sticky Album for their phone.

Cost of Tri-Fold Cards – $37.50 per set x 8 sets = $300.00

Cost of Sticky Album – $27 per month or $224 per year – This is also something I provide my clients so it is not an expense only for spokesmodels.

Goodie Bag – I like to give my models a little goodie bag for participating.  Again, this is not a necessity but rather something I do to personalize the experience and make them feel special.  In my goodie bags I include, their rep cards, a T shirt will my logo that they can wear to school and represent my company and candy.

Cost of the Goodie Bag –

Bags – $8

Tissue Paper – left over from other projects

T Shirts – $13 each x 8 = $104.00

Candy – $5

Looking at all these expenses, it adds up to a lot.  However, if your reps get referrals then it pays for itself.  For instance, if each of my 8 models gets only 1 referral each, then that will bring in $1200 just in session fees.  Plus, each of those sessions will purchase products so that is more money.  Of course, I want my reps to bring in even more referrals but one each is the minimum I expect.

I am not suggeting that you spend this same amount of money.  This is just an example of what I did.

Ways to Save Money – There are many ways to save money on your rep program.

• You could team up with a boutique to provide the clothing for the shoot and therefore save money.
• You could have your models wear their own clothes.  Many concepts can be created using clothing that is available to you right from the models closet.
• Recycling old props is another great way to save on money.
• Teaming up with a stylist or a hair and makeup artist that needs photos for their portfolios is a great way to save on that expense.  Trade photos for their talent.
• You could purchase smaller rep cards instead of the tri-folds and that will save you money.  The size that is traditionally thought of as a rep card are $16 for 100 from Pro DPI so that would save you some money as well.
• You could also have the models pay a fee to participate.  That will offset some of your costs.
• You could do mini sessions that are more closely related to regular senior sessions instead of a big concept model shoot.  By doing small, mini sessions, you will only spend 15-20 minutes on a shoot for each girl and you will get photos to use for marketing pieces.
• You could limit the number of models or reps that you use.  Buying each model rep cards adds up.  So while having 20-30 reps seems like a great idea, just remember the more models the more cost involved.

Again, this just gives you an idea of what is involved in a big rep shoot and what you could spend.  Every rep program is different and expenses will vary.  When you are planning your rep program, decide what you are willing to spend and stick to that budget.  Pick a dollar amount per model (anywhere from $50-$100 is a good estimate) and stick to that.  You don’t have to give them everything.  Make sure you include things such as marketing materials that will highlight your business and attract their friends to you.