Business + Marketing


Attract Clients with Messages of Empowerment

September 20, 2022

By Abbey Pleviak

In this episode of The Portrait System Podcast, host Nikki Closser speaks with Kirsty Halliday of Kirsty Joy Photography about how she empowers her clients and makes them feel more confident. Halliday has had a lifelong passion for photography and opened her own Northland, New Zealand, portrait studio in 2017, working part-time while still employed in the healthcare field. For the last two years, she has been operating full-time, offering her services in genres including boudoir, weddings, families, and especially personal empowerment for women.


Every year during low season—which in New Zealand is from May to September—Halliday runs a campaign called This is Me. The campaign focuses primarily on women who have dealt with domestic abuse. For just the price of the shooting session, including the cost of hair and makeup, Halliday provides them with a full-service photo session to help them feel confident, beautiful, and empowered. The women have the option to purchase more images, or they can opt to just receive one of their images along with their story of empowerment in the magazine Halliday produces at the end of the campaign. The magazines also go out to local businesses, and this year Halliday will be offering them for sale on her website with all proceeds benefitting the local women’s refuge.

[Read: Make a Five-Figure Portrait Income Every Month]

While producing the magazine comes at a cost to her, Halliday feels the expenditure is well worth it. Not only does she make a tangible impact in the lives of the women she photographs, but also, the project brings her referrals and many of the women come back to her for photoshoots further down the line. She says, “Probably a quarter of them come back again to do an empowerment session, but sometimes [they] come back for a different sort of booking. . .like boudoir and then maternity and then baby photos and then their wedding. You’ve just got to kind of get them in the door and make them feel amazing to start with.”

How to Attract Clients Through Empowerment & Self Love promo.
© The Portrait System

Halliday’s message of empowerment for her clients helps them feel the value of what she is offering. Her messaging begins in the powerful words she uses in her marketing. It continues into the high vibe she creates for her clients during the shoot and follows through to the high-quality albums and durable acrylic wall art she delivers to her clients at the end. The whole experience she provides leads to lots of referrals and repeat clients that have made Kirsty Joy Photography a thriving business and a force for positivity in her community. To learn more about Kirsty Halliday and her studio, visit Kirsty Joy Photography.

The Portrait System Podcast helps portrait photographers navigate the world of photography, business, money, and much more. Hosted by Nikki Closser, the podcast is powered by The Portrait System, a comprehensive, online educational platform that teaches all aspects of running a successful portrait photography studio.