It’s a brand new day, and you have 24 hours to shoot, edit, create content, and handle your workflow. Feels like you’re buried under a pile of tasks, doesn’t it?
With some discipline and planning, you can turn the situation around and streamline your photography business. To handle your business efficiently, we’ve compiled easy-to-implement tips you can use to simplify your system.
A simple change in your work habits can go a long way. Here are ways to hustle up, finish tasks efficiently, and get your services to customers promptly.
Use a Studio Management Tool
In a single day, you’ll find yourself responding to inquiries, juggling deadlines, and chasing invoices on top of a scheduled shoot. You end up spending more time on administrative tasks than taking photos. One of the best ways to keep your business organized is by using a studio management tool, such as tave.com.
Studio management software helps you become an expert in time management. From confirming bookings, calendar management, and invoicing, studio management tools simplify your responsibilities. Likewise, they can keep track of your correspondence, send automated emails, and ask for client feedback.
Simplify Your Booking and Payment Processes
Some photographers still prefer direct communication with customers to discuss availability, rates, and samples. However, you can’t possibly speak to clients on the phone when you have an ongoing shoot.
Combining a Word file, a bunch of sticky notes, emails, and text messages will make your client open lots of tabs or messages before they can finish the booking.
An effective system is to send an email or use studio management tools that let your customers see every necessary step to complete their booking and payment. Either way, your client must be able to select a date and time on your calendar, sign their contract, and pay their deposit.
Develop a Contract
It is crucial to have a contract because it protects both your business and your customers. Outlining your business terms and package inclusions removes any gray areas, and possibly, misunderstandings and conflicts.
Create a template that lets you modify the details according to your client’s booking. Make sure you can receive digital signatures.
Create Price Sheet and Packages
Start by developing a base price sheet, may it be an hourly rate for events or studio shoots. Then, add other items that your clients can avail, such as hard copies of their photos, soft copies stored on a flash drive, frames, and albums.
From there, you can create packages based on the prices you have set for individual items. In this way, you can provide the best products and services to your customers without compromising your rates.
Set Up Email Templates and Automated Messages
Creating email and automated emails is another time-saving way to run your photography business efficiently. Save email templates for sending reminders to clients, deliveries, and payment deadlines.
You can also develop templates informing your customers about discounted packages or new rates for the upcoming holiday season.
Furthermore, automated messaging enables you to reply to clients immediately, even if you currently unavailable. Include a short greeting and link them to information such as your calendar, rates, samples, and packages.
Create a Custom Editing Preset
After culling images and importing them in your editing software, you’ll probably apply similar edits to every photo. Speed up your editing by creating a preset! When you do so, you can apply the edit to all photos and make some tweaks.
Another advantage of using presets is that you can customize control and access depending on the type of gallery or kind of photos. For example, you can assign presets for wedding teasers and a different one for final output.
Prepare Your Equipment
You don’t come to the battleground unprepared. Camera, tripod, backdrop, reflector, light source, memory cards– these are just some of the essential gears you need.
Make sure to store equipment in a safe and well-ventilated area. Create an inventory, as well as a checklist of specific gears you need to bring for a wedding, birthday, baby, or product shoot.
Be Social Media Savvy
Client meetings and editing in the morning, debut coverage from afternoon until the evening— can you keep up with your social media presence? Your accounts serve as your free marketing tool, letting you share images and posts to promote your photography business.
You can plan your social media content and make it live automatically. In this way, you can still engage with your followers. Prepare at least a week’s worth of photos, captions, tips, and links.
Conclusion
A well-run photography business results in opportunities and return of investment. Remove the stress of handling workflows, so you can focus on your best asset – taking photos! By automating workflows, booking, invoicing, and correspondence, you can keep things running smoothly, making sure you don’t miss deadlines or bookings from customers.
