5 Business Tools for Photographers

I remember starting my photography business fresh out of college, wondering where to start. There were sooo many things that I didn’t know, and everything seemed so hard. I didn’t know how to organize clients, speed up my editing workflow, or deliver the photos. I wasn’t sure how to make a pricing guide, or where to begin with email marketing. Today, I’m going over five programs that have made my photography business a million times easier + more efficient! 

1. Honeybook

When I started my photography business officially in 2016, I was so lost with where to begin managing my clients. I communicated through various email threads that were always getting lost, I sent contracts that they had to print, sign + send back, and they mailed me a check for payment. ALL of that was so much work, incredibly confusing, and I spent most of my time trying to manage everything. 

Thankfully, I heard about Honeybook and decided to give it a try. This changed EVERYTHING for my business and is the number one thing I couldn’t live without!! Honeybook is a management system that organizes all of your clients in one place. When someone submits an inquiry form on my website, it automatically makes a file for them. From there, I can send them emails, brochures, contracts, and they can pay online! It makes the booking process a breeze for everyone and my clients love it. I’m so happy that I no longer have to spend hours searching through my inbox, and instead, everything is just a few clicks away. In the picture below: top photo is of the main interface you see when looking at all of your clients. The bottom photo is an example of all of the contracts and materials I’ve sent over the duration of working with the client!

If you’re interested in trying it out, you can get 50% off your first year HERE! And if you’re interested in learning more about how I use Honeybook for my business, I have a whole post about it over here.

2. Photo Mechanic

Photo Mechanic is the BEST culling software ever. I used to upload everything directly to Lightroom and cull in there. But, every time you click over to the next image, it had a few second delay before it became clear. All of these extra seconds in between added a huge chunk of time into my process, and honestly, it was just kind of annoying haha. 

When I tried Photo Mechanic, I was BLOWN AWAY with how fast I could cull through everything. When I pop my photos in there to cull, there’s no picture loading delay, allowing me to fly through all of the images. Instead of taking a few hours to cull a wedding, I can do it in an hour or less. To be even more efficient, I select photos while being uploaded, so by the time they’re all on my hard drive, I’m done going through everything! This has given me hours of my life back and I don’t know what I’d do without it!

You can try it free for 90 days (which wow, that’s potentially a lot of culling worth!!), AND it’s only a one time payment ($139), which I love! YAY for not adding another subscription hahah.

3. Canva

Canva is SO FUN! At first, I didn’t really like or get the point of Canva. But after I found out they had a paid version where you can upload your brand font, I was SOLD. I used to make all of my pricing guides/materials on InDesign, which I did love. I learned how to use the program in college, and while I wasn’t an expert, I could do some pretty decent layouts + knew keyboard short cuts to make everything easier. 

While this was working well for me, Canva made designing even more fun. Instead of managing everything in different folders and locations and InDesign, I can upload everything into one place online with Canva. I uploaded my branding font so I can use it whenever, have my colors saved to I can easily stay on brand and have a library of my photos to choose at my fingertips. They also store all of your creations in one spot so you can easily find them later! This way, if I want to update my guides, I can log on and quickly do it.

ALSO! They have an APP!!!! Probably the best part. I LOVE this because if I’m ever waiting somewhere and have time to kill, I can just pop on and continue with my design. I’ve made a bunch of stories on my Instagram in the reviews highlight if you want to see an example! The picture below: top is the brand kit where I uploaded all of my fonts, logos, and colors. Below pic is me making these photos for this post! haha

4. Pic-Time

Pic-Time is amazing. First of all, it’s so aesthetic. Beyond its beauty, it’s simple + easy to navigate, user friendly on the client end, and has an amazing sales automation for the print store. 

Selling prints is essential to me because I want my clients to enjoy their photos in the real world – not just behind a screen. At the end of their gallery, they have sample products that put their photos into them to envision what it could look like in their home! I love that it gives a visual aspect instead of just being hidden in the corner.

On my end, I can run a sales automation, which is my favorite part. If I’m going to run a holiday sale, I can set an email sequence to go out to them about the sale and reminding them again before it’s over. I love that I can set something up quickly, and it’ll do all the work for me later. My clients love to snag some prints during the sale, and I’m so happy they can have their beautiful selves around their house! Below photo: top is the client gallery page that they first see, and the bottom is their photos in prints!

If you want to be Pic-Time buddies, AND have a ‘get one-month free’ party, use my code: S6JTCW . I’m also invited to that party if you use my code, so I’ll bring the champagne as thanks. 

5. Flodesk

Email marketing seems really scary, like, so scary that I’ve ONLY started doing it this year… but as soon as I hopped on Flodesk, it seemed achievable. 

First of all, the templates sare the BIGGEST life saver ever. If I’m going to send an email, I want it to be easy + pretty, and it is both! It takes me 10 minutes or less to create something and is a breeze to pop in my colors + logos in so it feels on brand. I love that I have an easy way to stay connected with my customers + friends directly, instead of hoping they see things on social media. 

 I’ve never used any other program to compare it to, but I referred my bride/business coach to Flodesk. At first, she was skeptical, but after she tried it, she was in LOVE. She actually switched entirely over to it and is obsessed hahah. The bottom picture: some of the emails I’ve drafted up to send out to clients, and the bottom pic is examples of some of the templates!

If you want to get 50% off your subscription, check it out here!

YAY! I’m so excited for you to try some of these business tools for your photography business out. I would absolutely love to hear which ones have been helping you! 

 

 

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