2025 New Year Checklist for Photographers
As we step into 2025, it’s the perfect moment to hit reset, reimagine your business, and set the stage for an incredible year ahead. This checklist is your ultimate guide to starting strong—packed with actionable tips, inspiring ideas, and a roadmap to turn your goals into reality. Let’s make this your most purposeful and successful year yet!
Bonus – Scroll down to check out video tips from our APNPI Educators and Judges!
Get Organized – All Those Little Details
Start with a clean slate:
- Change the date on your website to 2025.
- Update the year of your copyright info in your camera. While you’re at it, update the year in your Lightroom metadata preset to apply the correct year to each image upon import.
- Set up new physical file folders for receipts, invoices, etc for the new year. Then set up new digital files for client images, expense tracking, etc.
- Archive 2024 files and back them up securely.
- Get a new calendar for monthly planning, blogging, weekly planning, yearly events/sessions, etc.
- Update client welcome packets, contracts, templates and policies.
- Inventory current equipment with serial numbers for your records and potential insurance claims.
- Set up a task management system to streamline workflows and stay on top of client deadlines.
Legal Compliance Check:
- Review Contracts and Agreements: Ensure all legal documents are up-to-date and in compliance with laws.
- Renew Licenses and Permits: Check the expiration dates of your business licenses and permits, and renew them as needed.
- Check that your business insurance is up to date.
- If you haven’t done so yet, take the time now to register your business name according to your local state/province laws. Do the same with sales tax licenses and business insurance (according to your local law).
Get your bookkeeping in order:
Collect last year’s tax information to get ready for this year. Before tax season arrives, go through and organize your expenses, receipts, and payments. Have everything ready to go for your accountant and avoid stress in the spring.
- Plan time to keep financial and tax records up to date this year. Schedule in time to tend to these items each quarter. Keeping on top it will not only decrease your workload next year, but will also help you keep on track with your financial goals.
- Check on your bank accounts – if you don’t already have a business bank account and credit card, get one now.
- Expense and mileage tracking – take a photo of your car odometer to start the new year!
Reflect on the Previous Year’s Successes and Challenges
What work brought you the most joy and made you feel energized and passionate? Was it a specific type of session, event, or client? Or perhaps the creative process behind the scenes, whether building sets or editing photos in Photoshop?
Now, let’s flip the coin! What tasks or aspects of your work felt draining or just didn’t spark joy? Can you outsource those tasks in order to make room for more of what you love?
Consider a few ways to determine what is no longer serving you well and cut it out:
- Reflect on your experiences: Look back on the past year and identify tasks or activities that consistently drained your energy, caused stress, or left you feeling unfulfilled.
- Track your time and energy: Monitor how you spend your time and energy throughout the day or week. Pay attention to activities that consistently leave you feeling depleted or frustrated.
- Assess your values and priorities: Consider whether your current activities align with your core values and priorities. If not, it may be time to let go of those that no longer contribute to your overall well-being.
- Seek feedback: Ask trusted colleagues, friends, or mentors for their perspective on your work and identify areas where you may be overextending yourself or focusing on tasks that are not essential.
- Experiment with elimination: Try temporarily eliminating a task or activity from your schedule and see how it affects your overall productivity and well-being. If you don’t notice a negative impact, it may be something you can permanently cut out.
Remember, cutting out activities that no longer serve you can free up time and energy for more fulfilling and productive endeavors.
“Do more of what you love!” Marggie Duncan… check out her inspirational quick tip in the video.
Dream Big and Set Goals for 2025!
Time to envision the amazing things you want to achieve in the new year! Think about the goals you crushed last year and the ones that might need a little more attention.
- Life Changes and Financial Moves: Did anything big happen this year that might impact your finances? Maybe it’s time to think about a loan or paying down debt faster.
- Level Up Your Photography Game: What professional goals will make you a photography rockstar? Consider boosting your skills, entering competitions, finding a mentor, or you may be ready to offer your expertise and become a mentor.
- Don’t Forget the Fun Stuff: Make sure to include personal and creative goals that light you up.
Review and Update Your Pricelists
Evaluate your pricing and make any needed adjustments. Update your website (don’t forget any printed materials you may have) to reflect new prices.
Feeling nervous about updating your pricing? Keep in mind, the new year is a good time to make changes and you’ll be in good company with many other service based business such as physiotherapists who regularly update their pricing lists in January.
Want to soften the timeline? Set a date such as Feb 1st or March 1st for pricing changes, and post the notice on your website and social media. You can also create a last chance promo that both new and old clients will love.
Review and Update Your Business Plan
Feeling good about where your business is headed? Awesome! But even if you’re crushing it, it’s always a good idea to take a step back and see if your business plan still fits like a glove. This is your chance to fine-tune your strategies and set yourself up for even more success in the coming year.
- Who’s Your Ideal Client? Take a fresh look at your target market. Is it still the same, or have your goals shifted? Maybe it’s time to explore new audiences or focus on those who truly value your work.
- Are there any exciting new groups you want to reach in the new year?
- Are there any audiences that just aren’t a good fit anymore?
- What’s on the Menu? Evaluate your current offerings. Are you still passionate about all your sessions and products? This is your chance to ditch anything that’s draining your energy and focus on what truly sparks joy.
- Need a little inspiration? Check out Mike Michalowicz’s book “The Pumpkin Plan” – A simple strategy to grow a remarkable business in any field.
- Another helpful read: Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller.
- Need a little inspiration? Check out Mike Michalowicz’s book “The Pumpkin Plan” – A simple strategy to grow a remarkable business in any field.
- Money Matters: Take a look at your finances and set some exciting new goals.
- Big Picture Check-In: Has your vision or mission for your business evolved?
- Scope Out the Competition: Has the competitive landscape changed?
As you fine-tune your plans, remember to stay true to your core values, mission, and long-term goals.
Assess and Re-Create Your Marketing Plans
Now is a great time to plan your marketing campaigns for the year. Take a look at what you did last year and evaluate how satisfied you are with it.
- Do you have any data on what worked well for you last year? Where did you get the most client engagement?
- What areas of marketing will you focus on this year? Will it be social media? Can you expand your community contacts? Will you focus on more video or content production?
- Is there a specific area you’d like to focus on and will that involve your same or a new demographic?
- Plan out your yearly promo events. Put them on the calendar.
In Your Community:
Identify vendors you want to work with in 2025. Make a list and include both vendors that you already work with and would like to continue with, and then add new partnerships you would like to build this year. Reach out and discuss potential collaborations with them to create win-win situations.
Be sure to add mentions of your partners on your website where appropriate and in blog posts, including links to their sites. This will create a backlink to their site, not only helping them with SEO but will enhance the relationship between you both. Many vendors will also share backlinks to your site in their own online content. See more on enhancing your SEO with backlinks in this article.
Online Publications/Platforms You Want To Be Featured In
Consider having your work published in leading magazines and other online platforms.
- Make a list of publications/platforms you’d like to be featured in.
- Reach out and find out what opportunities might be waiting for you, and then send them your work!
- Be persistent.
- APNPI members – we love to publish and feature our members! Go to the Get Featured page and send us your newest fav gallery that you’re in love with. We’ll feature your work and pop in backlinks to your website.
Update Your Website and Online Presence
Scan your website and identify out of date images to replace. Use the lens of ensuring all your content is relevant and cohesive with your style and brand.
- If you are showcasing examples of work you no longer want to offer, remove those images.
- Freshen up your website with new content, photos, and updated headshots so you can showcase the most current look in your brand.
- Be sure your branding is cohesive and attracts the type of client you want to work with in your target audience.
- Audit your website’s performance, evaluating factors like page speed, mobile responsiveness, and user experience.
- Analyze your website analytics to identify your most popular content, traffic sources, and areas to improve.
- Check your links & contact form(s). As your content evolves, it’s always good practice to do a quick check on your links and to ensure your contact forms are working correctly. Consider trying a tool like Broken Link Checker.
Enhance your customer experience
Building trust and providing a smooth client experience is ultimately one of the more important parts to running a successful newborn photography studio.
- Reflect on where you’re nailing it in the smooth client experience department, and then take a honest look at where you could improve. Write it down and make a plan to change those parts of your client experience workflow.
- At the end of the day, you want your clients to trust you at each step, and to have them feel cared for.
- Optimize your client’s journey starting right at the beginning on your website, and examine their journey each step of the way, all the way to them giving you a glowing review.
Ready to go deeper into the numbers and gain a solid grasp on your financials? Check out Joanna Booth’s helpful course, How to Set Financial Goals and Achieve The Income You Want.
Collect Reviews & Testimonials
This is easier than you might think, and for those of you who cringe and feel shy… press on through those feelings because the pay-off here is worth it! You may even find the experience to be rewarding!!
Keep it simple
- Make a list of clients you know have been happy with your services.
- Reach out and ask them to leave you a review. Provide them with a link to the platform you want them to use.
- or add in an email to your workflow in your CRM so that it goes out them automatically after their session.
- Be sure to thank them, and reply to them on their review.
That’s it. Many people are more than happy to support small business owners and this is a lovely, quick and easy way for them to feel good about helping make a difference for you.
For more encouragement, listen to Tara Graham’s quick business tip on collecting client reviews in the video to the right (or below on your mobile!)
Schedule Time for Yourself – Make Self-Care a Priority
Schedule it in and give yourself the gift of time! Whether it’s a stroll around the block, a weekend getaway, or a full-blown vacation, stepping away from work is crucial for recharging your creative batteries and coming back stronger.
So don’t just dream about a vacation, schedule it! Map out the timing that works best for you and your business. Many entrepreneurs find it beneficial to schedule downtime during slower periods. For photographers, the off-season can be a great time to travel and score deals. But if you have a family, plan ahead – block out summer vacation time now so you can balance family adventures with those sunshine-filled sessions.
Remember, self-care isn’t selfish; it’s essential. When you prioritize your well-being, you set your business up for success and ensure you can keep doing what you love for years to come. For a dose of inspiration, check out APNPI Ambassador and Judge Shan Fisher’s video for her quick tip on self-care.
