Most of these case studies come from emails my readers send me. With their permission, I share them with the names changed. I do this so that others can learn from what worked and what didn't. Have a story of your own? Share it with me.
- 14inquiries in 8 weeks
- 3booked shoots from flyers
- 5things left on the page
“Nobody’s reading 8 points from a foot away,” the printer told Roz, gently.
He was looking at her flyer, a personal branding photographer flyer design with 14 things on one page, in small type and glossy color.
She had printed 200 copies and left them at coffee shops around Louisville, Kentucky.
Three months later, not one person had called.
Then she cut the page down to five things.
Eight weeks after that, her flyers had brought 14 inquiries and 3 booked shoots, and the new batch cost less than $50 to print.
The problem
Roz photographs coaches, consultants and shop owners, usually in their own spaces.
Her photos are calm and bright, and her clients love them.
Her flyer, sadly, looked nothing like her work.
It had her logo, nine services, three prices, two awards, a short bio and four social handles.
Her flyer also had a second problem. It was written for her, not for the people reading it.
Phrases like “full-service brand storytelling” meant a lot to Roz, but very little to a busy coach.
She thought more information meant more trust. Three places showed her how wrong that was.
The coffee shop board
The owner was kind, and he was honest. “People read the top line and that’s it,” he said.
The biggest words on Roz’s flyer were her studio’s name. Nobody walking by cared about the name yet.
The co-working space
The manager pinned it up right away. A few weeks later, she told Roz that members stopped, squinted and walked on.
The one member who asked about it said, “I couldn’t tell what you actually do.”
The print shop counter
The printer was the most useful critic of all. He pointed at her body text and said it was 8 points, which is tiny.
He also noticed the QR code was half an inch wide, and one of the three codes didn’t scan at all.
Roz went home a little embarrassed. She also went home with a plan.
The solution
She didn’t need a prettier flyer. She needed a quieter one.
Roz made three changes, and each one was about doing less.
Cut the clutter
She listed everything on the page, then asked what a stranger would need in five seconds. Almost nothing made it.
Five things stayed. A headline, one photo, one line of proof, one next step and her name.
That left about 25 words, which felt scary at first. She kept reminding herself that the photo and the reader would do the rest.
Crop the photo
She replaced a collage of six tiny pictures with one big photo of a baker client, laughing in her shop.
She asked permission first, and the baker was thrilled.
The face was clear, and there was room around it for words.
Choose one next step
The old flyer listed a website, a phone number, an email and four social handles. The new one had a single line.
“Scan to see 3 sample galleries.” The code was now over an inch wide.
The process that worked
Roz didn’t print hundreds of flyers again. She went slowly, and she checked each step.
The test print
She printed one copy at home and taped it to her fridge. Then she asked a neighbor to read it from three steps away.
The neighbor said, “Photos that look like you. Scan.” That was exactly right.
Body text went up to 14 points, which fits at the start of the range used for large print materials. The page instantly felt calmer.
The first 50
She printed 50 on thicker matte paper at a print shop. Then she asked before leaving them at three places.
A coffee shop, the co-working space and the local chamber office.
All three said yes, and she promised to check back once a month.
She also wrote the date on the back of each flyer in pencil, so she’d know how long it had been up.
The photo day flyer
She made a second flyer for a free mini brand photo day. It had a date, a deadline and 5 spots for local owners.
The spots filled in four days. Two of those five owners later booked full sessions.
The code words
She made two versions with different headlines and different code words. One said BRAND and the other said PHOTO.
She tallied replies in a small notebook. After eight weeks, the BRAND flyer had brought twice as many replies as the other.
The personal branding photographer flyer design, version two
So she kept the winner, and tried a new headline against it.
The final flyer says, “Photos that look like you,” with the baker smiling underneath.
Over eight weeks, 14 people reached out. Nine scanned the code, and five sent a text.
What we learned from here
A personal branding photographer flyer design works when it says one thing to one person and makes the next step easy.
Roz’s first flyer wasn’t bad. It was crowded, and a crowded flyer gets skipped, even when the photos are lovely.
When she cut the page down, the photos finally had room to speak.
| Move | Got picked up | Got walked past |
|---|---|---|
| Words | A short headline | Nine services and a bio |
| Photo | One clear face | A collage of six |
| Type | 14 points and up | 8 points |
| Next step | One scannable line | Four ways to reach her |
| Placing | Asked first, checked monthly | Left without asking |
The numbers surprised her. Fourteen inquiries and three booked shoots paid for the printing many times over.
The first run of 200 glossy copies cost far more than the new run of 50, and it brought nobody.
But she says the biggest change was how she felt. She finally knew what her flyer was for.
She used a simple cut list, keeping only five things on a flyer, and she reuses it for every new flyer she makes.
She also keeps a small folder of old versions, with notes about where each one went and what happened.
If a flyer goes quiet now, she doesn’t blame the town. She checks the headline, the photo and the next step, in that order.
Her advice to other photographers is simple. Print one, tape it up and ask a stranger what it says.
Their first answer tells you what the flyer is really saying.
She also asks herself one question each time. If someone only had five seconds, would they know what to do?
More case studies
Brand Photographer Dominic Swapped a Busy Flyer for a Small Card and Booked 3 Shoots
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Portrait Photographer Tobias Prints 180 Fewer Flyers and Books 8 Sessions
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Where to Hang a Flyer? Maternity Photographer Marguerite’s 4 Spots Booked 10 Sessions
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500 Flyers Out, 6 Tracked Ones In. Headshot Photographer Wes Books 17 Sessions
- 0 to 214flyer scans in 6 weeks
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Personal Branding Photographer Laurel Cut Her Website to 7 Pages
- 2 to 9inquiries a month
- 11 to 7pages on her site
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Personal Branding Photographer Ingrid Cut Her Video to 55 Seconds
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Personal Branding Photographer Paloma Went From 2 DMs to 14 a Month
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- 1 hourof planning each week