Email marketing for photographers is one of the most underused tools in the business, and it might also be the most powerful one. In this episode of The Motherhood Anthology Podcast, host Kim Box sits down with Shannon Vondy, a former wedding and family photographer who turned email into a revenue engine for her business and now teaches other photographers to do the same.
Shannon’s story starts in 2020, when her photography business was on the verge of collapse. What she discovered by sending a single email changed everything. This conversation is a must-listen if you’ve ever thought email was too complicated, too salesy, or just not worth your time.
Why Email Marketing Works (Even When You Think It Won’t)
Shannon spent years assuming email didn’t work for photographers. She’d tried it, seen no results, and moved on. Then in July 2020, with almost no options left, she sent one email to her past and current clients offering prints. She made $2,600. She sent another round of emails a few weeks later and made another $1,400. By the end of that year, she had generated $13,000 from email alone.
The shift wasn’t about a fancy funnel or a big list. It was about finally understanding what email marketing for photographers can actually be: relationship-building, not just selling. Shannon points out that most of us already think of email as an announcement tool, something we fire off when mini sessions open or when we have a sale. But that approach means your clients only hear from you when you want something from them, and that’s the definition of being salesy.
The better model is to treat your email list the way you’d treat a friendship. Share stories from your sessions. Mention the coffee shop you’re loving right now (your clients are local, after all). Tell them something personal that happened this week and find the thread that connects it to them. Shannon calls it serving before selling, and she’s clear that selling itself isn’t the problem. “I want to give you memories that you are going to literally be so happy you have in years from now.” The goal is for clients to feel known and connected long before you ever ask them to book.
The Simple System That Keeps You Consistent
One of the biggest barriers photographers face with email is consistency, and Shannon has a practical answer for it. She recommends sending weekly, not because more is always better, but because a regular rhythm keeps you from losing momentum and forgetting where you left off. For photographers who find that daunting, she suggests batch writing: sit down at the beginning of the month and knock out all four emails at once.
The other piece is building a ritual around it. Kim shared her own Sunday morning practice, writing to her list before her family wakes up, over coffee, with whatever is on her heart that week. Shannon immediately recognized this as the key ingredient: when you write with that kind of intimacy, readers feel it. They reply. They start conversations. Kim mentioned that the most-clicked link in her own emails consistently turns out to be a recipe she shares at the bottom, which is a good reminder that connection happens in the smallest, most human details.
Shannon also addresses the fear around unsubscribes, which stops so many photographers from emailing at all. Her take: an unsubscribe is almost never about you. People clean out their inboxes during big life seasons, and someone leaving your list today might come back when the time is right. Beyond that, a clean list actually helps your deliverability, keeping your open rates healthy and your emails out of spam folders. She recommends connecting your domain to your email provider and periodically removing subscribers who haven’t opened in six months. Less vanity, more reach.
What to Write When You Don’t Know What to Say
Shannon’s most actionable piece of advice in this episode is also the simplest: just send the email. She laughs telling a story about writing an email late at night, hating everything about it, and going to bed. The next morning she read it back and couldn’t figure out what she’d hated. She sent it. This is the whole problem with email procrastination in a nutshell: we wait for the perfect thing to say, and the waiting is what kills momentum.
For photographers who genuinely don’t know where to start, Shannon recommends keeping a running note in your phone of small things that happen each day, a funny moment from a session, something a kid said, a thought you had on a walk. By the time you sit down to write, you already have raw material. Her membership has a saying for this: everything’s an email. One of her members was convinced she had nothing interesting to share because she’d just brushed her teeth. Shannon turned it into an email idea on the spot: “Are you self-conscious about your smile in photos? Here’s how to feel more comfortable in front of the camera.”
She also gives photographers permission to write short. People read emails in an average of about 13 seconds, often while waiting in a carpool line or grabbing coffee. A short email with white space and simple sentences will outperform a long one every time. One of her own members sent a single-sentence email and made a sale. The bar is not high. The only requirement is that you show up.
Listen and Learn More
Shannon Vondy brought a reminder that email doesn’t have to feel like a chore or a sales pitch. It can be one of the most genuine ways you stay connected with the clients who already love your work.
Find Shannon at theemailclub.co or on Instagram @mrs.vondy. She also has a free resource called the eBox (a month’s worth of email prompts, subject lines, and list-growing graphics) linked here.
Ready to build a business that reflects your own creative voice? The Motherhood Anthology membership gives you access to expert mentors, live coaching, monthly marketing suites, and a private community of photographers who are invested in your success. Learn more and join at themotherhoodanthology.com.
The Motherhood Anthology is a community and educational resource for photographers who want a profitable and sustainable business they love. With 15+ expert mentors and 7+ years of proven content, TMA helps portrait photographers build confident, thriving businesses through monthly education, mentorship, and a supportive community of 700+ members.
