MY MUST-HAVES: BUSINESS BACKEND EDITION

It came to my attention this week that a lot of photographers may not be setting themselves up ENOUGH for an easier more efficient + effective outcome for their business. If anybody has talked to me, whether that be a friend, family member or client, they would know that a large portion of what I do as a wedding photographer is backend work! Backend meaning: When I’m not physically photographing a wedding or portrait session, I am doing one of the following…

• Answering E-mails + Inquiries

• Culling

• Putting together blog posts

• Reading my analytics

  Ect. You get the point. Over the last 8 years I have found that THESE tools helped my business become bigger, faster than ever before. I’m a one-man show! I’m the financial analyst, I’m the blogger, the photographer, the receptionist, the scribe, literally everything is done by me, myself + I (Let me tell ya, Me is starting to get a little mouthy). THESE tools are my MUST HAVES in order for me to feel confident in what I’m putting out there to keep my brand true + authentic!

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1. HONEY BOOK

YOU GUYS. IF YOU AREN’T USING HONEYBOOK… WHAT THE F*$K ARE YOU DOING! HONEYBOOK HANDS-DOWN WILL FOREVER + ALWAYS BE MY TRIED + TRUE! THIS GUY HAS SAVED ME + MY BUSINESS ON SO MANY THINGS BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY MY SANITY!

TOP FAVES ABOUT THIS TOOL.

1. TEMPLATES TEMPLATES TEMPLATES!

   IF YOU ARE JUST STARTING WITH PHOTOGRAPHY OR IF YOU’VE BEEN DOING IT FOR 10+ YEARS. YOU NEED HONEYBOOK FOR THIS REASON ALONE. THEY SET YOU UP WITH CUSTOM TEMPLATES TO USE FOR BROCHURES, PRICE GUIDES, WELCOME GUIDES, EMAILS, LITERALLY EVERYTHING.

2. CONTACT FORMS

   THIS BABY CAME IN CLUTCH! WHEN I FIGURED OUT THAT YOU CAN CREATE A COMPLETELY CUSTOMIZED CONTACT FORM + USE THAT ON MY WEBSITE (HONEYBOOK TO SQUARESPACE) IT WAS GAME OVER. SO NOW ANYTIME SOMEONE CONTACTS ME IT AUTOMATICALLY COMES THROUGH TO MY HONEYBOOK, STARTS A WORKSPACE FOR BOTH PARTIES (ME + THE INQUIRER) + I CAN START MY WORKFLOW CHECKLIST BY USING THOSE EMAIL TEMPLATES I ALREADY HAVE SET UP + IT JUST MAKES THE PROCESS SOOOO. MUCCCCHHH. QUICKERRRR.

3. CUSTOMIZABILITY

   I DON’T EVEN KNOW IF THAT IS A REAL WORD BUT SQUARESPACE ISN’T UNDERLINING IT TELLING ME OTHERWISE SO WE’RE GOING WITH IT. I HAVE MENTIONED THIS ABOVE A FEW TIMES BUT THIS REALLY IS SUCH A BIG PART OF BRANDING. THERE ARE A TON OF US PHOTOGRAPHERS OUT THERE, EACH WITH OUR OWN UNIQUE, INDIVIDUAL STYLE. BEHIND THAT STYLE IS THE BRANDING WE WORK E-N-D-L-E-S-S-L-Y ON MAKING SURE ALL THE LINES + DOTS MATCH UP! HONEYBOOK IS COMPLETELY CUSTOMIZABLE.FROM THE TYPE OF WORKFLOW YOU WANT TO FOLLOW, HOW OFTEN YOUR PAYMENTS COME IN (WHICH GOES DIRECTLY INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT),CONTACT FORMS, EMAILS, TAX PERCENTAGES, BOOK KEEPING, EXPENSES, OFFERED SERVICES, EVEN GIFT CARDS (THIS IS NEW!!). SOME PEOPLE MAY BE TURNED OFF BY THIS BECAUSE, YES, YOU DO HAVE TO INPUT ALLLLLL OF YOUR INFORMATION/CONTENT + THIS CAN BE TEDIOUS BUT I PROMISE YOU ONCE YOU GET IT ALL GOING, IT’S WORTH IT.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A FREE TRIAL + THEN 50% OFF USE THIS CODE ♥

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2. PHOTOMECHANIC

OKAY! THIS IS IFFY FOR SOME OF YOU WHO ALREADY HAVE A TRIED + TRUE SYSTEM OR WORKFLOW THAT YOU’VE STUCK BY FOR YEARS + THAT IS TOTALLY FINE! WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU, WORKS FOR YOU! BUT, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE LOOKING TO TRY SOMETHING NEW, TRY THIS ONE OUT WITH THE FREE TRIAL! I SUGGEST STARTING YOUR FREE TRIAL ONLY WHEN YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A FEW SESSIONS OR WEDDINGS TO CULL THROUGH!

THIS MADE MY CULLING QUICKER BY PROBABLY 70%. THAT IS ALSO A MADE-UP STATISTIC, I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH QUICKER BUT I’M GONNA NEED YOU TO JUST TRUST ME ON THIS ONE… IT WAS QUICKER BY AT LEAST A COUPLE HOURS! ONCE I’M FINISHED CULLING I’LL EXPORT FOR FURTHER CULLING + EDITING IN LIGHTROOM! BOOM. DONE. A WEDDING THAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN ME 2-3 HOURS TO CULL NOW TAKES ME MAYBE 45 MINUTES! NO JOKE, IT’S A BOOM BOOM WAM BAM DONE DEAL MOVING ON KIND OF TOOL! I LOVE IT.

START YOUR FREE TRIAL HERE!

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3. NARRATIVE

I CAN’T + WON’T FULLY CREDIT MYSELF, HERE, WITH THIS ONE. MY GOOD FRIEND, MINNESOTA ASSOCIATE SHOOTER + TEACHER KELLY RUSSO TOLD ME ABOUT THIS ONE EARLIER THIS YEAR. I DIDN’T THINK MUCH OF IT WHEN SHE FIRST TOLD ME, TOOK MY TIME DOWNLOADING + TESTING IT OUT, BUT HOLY-HANNAH. I SHOULD HAVE DOWNLOADED THIS THE SECOND I BECAME A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER BECAUSE THIS, MUCH LIKE PHOTO MECHANIC SAVES ME HELLA-TIME. YOU GUYS! I AM NOT KIDDING AROUND HERE, THIS TOOL LITERALLY SHAVES OFF THE TIME YOU SPEND BLOGGING. IF YOU’RE ANYTHING LIKE ME + DREAD THE BLOGGING PROCESS (IT’S TEDIOUS + I JUST FEEL LIKE I DON’T HAVE THE TIME), THIS IS FOR YOU! BUY IT! DO IT! NOW!!!

I’LL EXPLAIN.

1. ALL YOU DO IS OPEN THE APP THIS IS ESSENTIALLY YOUR “LOBBY” WHERE YOU CAN SEE ALL YOUR PREVIOUS + IN-PROGRESS BLOG POSTS.

2. NEXT, YOU SELECT “CREATE NEW POST” TO START A NEW POST.

3. SELECT THE FOLDER OF IMAGES YOU WISH TO CHOOSE YOUR FAV IMAGES FROM

4. THE PROGRAM WILL THEN IMPORT ALL THE PHOTOS

5. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS DRAG + DROP INTO WHATEVER SPACE YOU WISH. THE OPTIONS ARE UNLIMITED + YOU CAN EASILY SWAP THE IMAGES IN AN OUT, TRY OUT DIFFERENT OPTIONS, GET CREATIVE!

6. HIT PUBLISH + COPY THE CODE FOR YOUR WEBSITE. IT’S SO EASY! BLOGGING DONE IN 15-20 MINUTES IF THAT!

THIS IS WHERE THE FUN GOT PUT BACK INTO BLOGGING FOR ME. IT’S MADE SO EASY FOR YOU! THERE ARE ALSO OPTIONAL SEO, METADATA, RENAMING + MORE TOOLS TO HELP YOU SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS. AGAIN, MASSIVE THANK YOU TO KELLY FOR SENDING ME THIS ONE!

START YOUR FREE TRIAL HERE!

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4.JPEG MINI

JPEG MINI IS MY MOST RECENT DISCOVERY + ALSO ON MY TOP APPS FOR FASTER/MORE EFFICIENT PRODUCTION IN POST PROCESSING! THIS IS MY NEXT STEP AFTER CULLING! BASICALLY, IT’S EXACTLY WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE, BUT ALSO NOT. HAHA, YOU’RE PROBABLY LIKE, “WAIT WHAT?” LET ME BETTER EXPLAIN. SO WHAT THIS DOES IS IT TAKES ALL OF YOUR FINAL IMAGES FROM AN EDITED GALLERY + MAXIMIZES YOUR STORAGE SPACE WHILE MINIMIZING FILE SIZE BUT ALSO KEEPS THE QUALITY NICE! IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL (IN MY OPINION) BECAUSE WHEN YOU’RE CONTINUOUSLY UPLOADING LARGE FILES TO YOUR WEBSITE (OR SAVING THEM ON YOUR COMPUTER) THIS WILL 1000% EFFECT HOW FAST OR SLOW YOUR SITE (OR COMPUTER) WILL BE!

SIMPLY UPLOAD YOUR FOLDER WITH ALL YOUR IMAGES YOU WANT TO SAVE FILE SPACE ON + IT DOES THE REST FOR YOU.

I FOUND OUT AFTER I DISCOVERED JPEG MINI THAT SQUARESPACE, ACTUALLY, HIGHLY SUGGESTS THIS IN THIS BLOG POST. SO IF YOU WANNA SAVE SOME SPACE…

FREE TRIAL HERE

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I REALLY HOPE THIS HELPS SOME OF YOU, WHETHER YOU’RE LOOKING TO SWITCH UP YOUR CURRENT WORKFLOW OR YOU WANT A FASTER MORE EFFECTIVE WAY TO POST-PROCESS YOUR IMAGES!

LOVE YOU ALL!

CHEERS,

CACIE