The Portrait System Podcast

Kristina Svirskaite built her photography business from $150 sessions to an average of about $1,800 per client, all while keeping a full-time corporate career, raising three children, and working without a permanent studio. She joins Nikki Closser to explain how she made part-time photography fit the life she actually wants.

Kristina shares what happened when the referrals that had sustained her business slowed down, why she returned to SEO and Google, and how clear website copy and transparent pricing helped attract clients who were already prepared for her rates.

The conversation also gets practical about session fees and collections, selling albums and wall art in clients' homes, combining lifestyle and posed newborn work, creating relaxed family sessions, and building a proven pricing structure around limited time.

In this conversation:

  • Growing from $150 sessions to an approximately $1,800 client average
  • Balancing a corporate career, three children, and four to eight sessions per month
  • Rebuilding demand through photography SEO, Google, and consistent marketing
  • Showing pricing online and attracting clients who understand the investment
  • Selling albums, wall art, and acrylics without maintaining a studio

Build your photography business with PortraitSystem.com. Use code PODCAST7 for your first month for $7.

Chapters

00:00 Part-time photography is a real business
01:13 From $150 sessions to a $1,800 client average
02:32 Natural family and newborn photography without a studio
05:34 Balancing a corporate job and four to eight monthly sessions
07:40 Starting a photography business after becoming a mom
10:45 Why referrals slowed and consistent marketing matters
13:54 Photography website SEO and Google leads
15:30 Showing pricing before clients inquire
21:44 Collections, products, and a $1,800 average sale
29:18 Instagram strategy for attracting paying clients
33:40 Creating relaxed family and newborn sessions
42:55 Building a proven pricing model around real life

What is The Portrait System Podcast?

Join in as Nikki Closser, a mentor in the Sue Bryce Education community, interviews photographers who manage successful portrait photography businesses from around the globe using the business model Sue Bryce teaches. Subscribe to hear stories that will fast track your success and transform you as a photographer and business owner.