The problem
Booking family and portrait sessions by message means days of back-and-forth, and a session booked without a retainer is easy for a client to drop. A photographer with 20 bookings a month at about 15 minutes of messages each spends 5 hours a month on bookings, and 2 no-shows or late cancellations a month on $266£200€238A$384C$376 sessions lose $532£400€476A$768C$752.
What the AI does
Pixieset Studio Manager has online booking by session type, contracts with e-signatures, invoices and online payments. On Pro you get unlimited session types, a retainer collected during booking, booking reminders and the option to approve bookings manually. Clients pick a slot, sign and pay the retainer in one go, and your terms say when the retainer is kept if they cancel late.
A worked example
A family and portrait photographer in Leicester books about 20 sessions a month at $266£200€238A$384C$376 each through Instagram messages, with no deposit. Each session type now has a Pixieset booking page with a $67£50€60A$96C$94 retainer and a contract to sign.
Before
2 no-shows or late cancellations a month ($532£400€476A$768C$752 of sessions), and about 5 hours of booking messages
After
If retainers and reminders halve no-shows to 1 and booking messages fall to 1 hour: $266£200€238A$384C$376 of sessions kept and 4 hours saved
What it's worth
About $319£240€286A$461C$451 a month, against $19£14€17A$27C$26 to $24£18€21A$35C$34 for Studio Manager Pro. $133£100€119A$192C$188 is profit from 1 more session kept a month ($266£200€238A$384C$376 at an assumed 50% margin) and $186£140€167A$269C$263 is 4 hours of messaging saved at an assumed $47£35€42A$67C$66 an hour, if retainers and reminders really halve no-shows (an assumption to test over 2 months). Cost: Pro is $18 (about $19£14€17A$27C$26) a month billed annually or $24 (about $24£18€21A$35C$34) monthly; payment processing fees aren't shown on the pricing page, so check them.
How to set it up
- Set up a session type for each kind of shoot with its length, price, location and available times.
- Write your booking contract, including your retainer and cancellation terms, and attach it to the booking.
- Turn on retainer collection at booking and booking reminders (both on Pro), and check the reminder wording.
- Put the booking link on Instagram and your website, and send it in reply to every inquiry.
- Make a test booking from your phone, including signing and paying.
What goes wrong
- Retainers at booking and booking reminders are Pro features. Plus has 3 session types and payment and document reminders, but no retainer at booking.
- Studio Manager is priced separately from Pixieset's client galleries; if you use both, add the two prices together or check the Suite bundle.
- A retainer only protects you if your contract says clearly when it's kept. Be fair, or clients will dispute it.
- Prices are in dollars, so the sterling cost moves with the exchange rate.