I bet you take great photos. That’s probably why you became a professional photographer. But maybe you don’t know exactly how to run a business. Here are some of my favorite apps and services to make that part really easy.
Maybe you’ve asked yourself: How to deliver digital images to photography clients? How to keep track of client information? How to send an invoice to a photography client? Or even How to schedule my posts in instagram?
I’ve got answers! Keep reading.
KEEPING TRACK OF CLIENTS: A PHOTOGRAPHER’S CRM
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management and your CRM is the key to staying organized, getting paid, and saving time. More than once my CRM has impressed my clients with my consistent communication and scheduling service. But, my little secret is, I didn’t manage any of that myself! The computer sent all that information for me. I’ve used 17 Hats for the last 5 years and it’s been fantastic for auto sending communications, reminders, invoices, model releases, and
Use my referral link for 1/2 off a two-year purchase + 30 day free trial: https://www.17hats.com/card/bfcnvksrfw
HOW TO DELIVER PHOTOS TO PHOTOGRAPHY CLIENTS
This is probably the question I get most often. Over the years I’ve tried zenfolio, shootproof, and pixieset. I absolutely LOVE Pixieset for its ease of use. It has just enough of what I need to be useful, with being unwieldly in its boxes to check and things to fill in (like those other two I mentioned). My clients love it and it’s easy to deliver final galleries once they’ve made their favorite choices.
Use my referral link for bonus storage space when you try out Pixieset: https://pixieset.com/ref/OVeoXDoKN9
PRINTING & PRODUCTS
While I rarely deliver product to clients, I have done more of it this last year and I use mpix.com for everything, including my own personal images for myself. There is simply nothing better and I love how the colors turn out. Their customer service is outstanding and I’ve had them reach out to me personally before printing if they thought there was a problem with my image. Even though they are a consumer lab that anyone can use (check out Miller’s for their parent professional lab), they will package your product professionally and you can select to have it sent without any Mpix packaging.
If you are new to MPIX, use this link for $10 off your first purchase.
WEBSITE & HOSTING
There is no better hosting than Robak Media, but in recent months they’ve been harder to get a hold of via email. My website is created through wordpress because there’s nothing better for SEO and ranking in google.
AUTO POSTING TO SOCIAL MEDIA
I’ve tried hootsuite and even facebook’s own scheduler, but I finally settled on Planoly which allows me to see my layout before I publish it, save hashtag groups, and even post the first comment of my instagram posts. Why do I use that feature? Because it also posts automatically to my facebook and I don’t want all those hashtags showing up over there!
Here’s my referral link: https://www.planoly.com/referral/sharonphotog
VENDORS & OTHER FABULOUS PEOPLE:
There are several other invaluable people that have helped my business enormously. If you need contacts for a life/business coach, google ads manager + seo optimizer, or photo editor & retoucher, just let me know! All three are people I’ve worked with personally that have made my business better and directly contributed to my long term growth!
Using our referral links means that we sometimes receive a benefit from your purchase. It does not change anything about your purchase.
