Sep 24, 2018 — Managing a huge gallery and organizing photos is a tricky business, even if you’re generally tidy, so it’s always a good idea to use some help. Especially when there’s software out there designed specifically to deal with an overload of pictures. The only trouble with professional photo organizing software is that, much like any photo equipment, it’s painfully expensive. May 24, 2020 This also good best photo management software for mac. FastStone Image Viewer. One of the basic needs for the best Photo management software is to sort out images faster. This software does the same as the name describes it. It has some of the basic function of editing software like crop and resizes. Bookkeeping Software Built for Your Photography Business FreshBooks is a cloud-based online accounting software solution that provides your company with a host of features. FreshBooks will give you everything you need to manage and keep track of your small business transactions. Jul 18, 2017 In fact – when things are quiet is EXACTLY when you should be spending some time and effort systemising and automating your business so you can free up your time to do stuff that actually might make bring in more clients. And the way to do that is to invest in a photography business management system and spend time setting it up for the win. Dec 27, 2019 The business plan outlines the details of your business, including the services you offer, how you’ll differ from the competition, financial projections, and marketing strategies.This is a good time to determine your pricing structure.For example, if you want to make $50,000 per year and believe you can book 26 weddings a year, you’d need to charge nearly $2,000 per wedding.
Looking for the perfect studio management software, but don’t know which one to pick? We’ve rounded up the best options for CRM for photographers out there.
No matter what kind of photography business you run — be it wedding photography, portrait photography, editorial or travel shots, or a little bit of everything — a few things are certainly constant: You’ve got clients to find (and keep track of), deadlines to juggle, and invoices to chase. If you’re looking for a clean, centralized way to stay on top of the demands of your business, photography studio management software might be the solution for you.
Photography business software falls under the umbrella of CRM (customer relationship management) software, which, as the name might suggest, is used by businesses to help build the relationship between the client and service provider.
CRM systems are a crucial tool to help you grow your photography business. They can help with time management by letting you keep track of your correspondence, send automated emails, and garner feedback through satisfaction surveys, among other features. Crucially, they can also help you build relationships with interested potential clients, a process known as lead generation.
But as the CRM marketplace has become more and more crowded with options, many software suites will now allow you to manage other parts of your business, incorporating project management and workflow elements, invoicing capabilities, booking software (complete with payment options), and many, many more features.
In recent years, a number of digital products specifically aimed at providing CRM for photographers, as well as options targeting small creative businesses as a whole, have hit the market. Now, there’s a ton of available budget-friendly options, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
CRM For Photographers: What Features Do I Want?
So, what are some of the important features you might be looking for in your photography studio management software? Most of the CRM apps on the market offer the same general slate of features, but some might stand out in certain areas. Before making your selection, it’s important to think about what your needs are as a business, where you need the most help, and what role you’d like your software to play.
Here’s a sampling of some major CRM features you might want to keep in mind while selecting a photography studio management software solution that is right for your business.
- Workflows that keep track of what stage each project is at, and help the process along by automating tasks or reminding you when you need to do them. Most photography workflow software will offer templated versions of workflows — many of them designed specifically with different photography gigs in mind — but will also allow you to tweak them to your liking, or build your own.
- Schedule and calendar management: A CRM can keep track of appointments and meetings, either through information input directly into the system (via a client booking portal, for example) or by syncing with a different calendar client like Google Calendar or iCal.
- Generating and managing leads: You can take information from interested clients and set up the system to automatically follow up with them via email. Some CRMs will create their own forms for this, while others work through a line of code or a widget you can insert into your website. A few will even generate leads through your social media accounts, not just via email.
- Invoicing and payment: This, unsurprisingly, is a favourite feature for many professional photographers. Many CRMs can, with little or no direct action from you, create and send invoices, accept payment (often through common portals like Square, Stripe or PayPal, and can even automatically follow up on unpaid bills for you — which ought to make every freelancer’s least favourite task a little less painful.
- Client portals that will let your customers submit and update their own info within your system and edit bookings.
- Financial management tools: Some CRMs can supplement, or even take the place of, accounting software for photographers. You can find CRMs that offer expense and revenue tracking (which can come in handy when it comes time to do your taxes), while some more powerful tools can offer financial reports that offer a bird’s eye view of your business. For those who prefer more specialized accounting tools, there are many CRMs that offer seamless integration with common accounting platforms like Quickbooks.
Photography Business Management Software Mac 2019
With that info in mind, you’re ready to check out our list of the best CRM for photographers!
But First…
Staying on top of communication and deadlines is the key to keeping clients happy — and is sure to help you get those essential word-of-mouth recommendations to new clients. Another way to get new customers in the door: Making sure your online presence, including your online portfolio, is looking organized and professional.
If you don’t have an online portfolio yet, they’re a snap to make. Look for an easy-to-use website builder with beautiful, customizable themes. Built-in features like Instagram integration, so you don’t have to manually update your portfolio with all of your newest and greatest shots, and a client proofing gallery will make sending proofs to your clients easy.
Want some inspiration? Check out our guides to creating amazing wedding photography portfolios, as well as our roundup of 20 incredible wedding photography portolios. If portrait photography is your specialty, we’ve got plenty of tips to make your portrait portfolio shine.
Best CRMs For Photographers
1. ShootQ
Developed “by photographers, for photographers”, ShootQ’s studio management software offers an impressively broad range of features. To start, there’s online booking, with quick invoicing and online payment (plus automatic late notices for those who don’t pay up front). Meanwhile, those bookings are added to your schedule, which integrates with your other calendars.
Customization is key with ShootQ: You can set up and edit your own workflows and pre-template emails, questionnaires and other documents, and customize client-facing portals to suit the look of your business. Additionally, their financial reporting tools can also be customized to show the data you most want to see. ShootQ also syncs with Quickbooks for more control over your accounting. On top of all that, there’s even a workshop module that will let you lead workshops digitally.
ShootQ features an iOS app that lets you use the service on the go, with an Android version coming soon.
Pricing: Starts at $24.99/month
2. Sprout Studio
Another piece of photography management software designed by and for photographers. Sprout Studio was created to be as fast and user-friendly as possible. Their studio management tools include plenty of branding customization options for customer-facing pages and forms.
But Sprout puts a heavier focus on bookkeeping and accounting, offering easy invoicing (with Stripe, Square and PayPal integration for payment) and an all-in-one “Business Health” feature that offers plenty of graphs and analytics to look at your business’s financial situation at a glance. Want to see the type breakdown, by percentage, of all your past shoots? Your booking percentage? The amount of money you have from outstanding invoices? They’ve got you covered.)
On top of that’s there are some nifty photography-specific features, like online galleries and design proofing, that most CRM for photographers generally won’t bother with.
Pricing: Starts at $17/month
3. Táve
If you’re the kind of small business owner who likes to have everything precisely how you like it, Táve is the CRM software for you. Táve is aimed at a number of creative industries, but it’s a powerful piece of photo studio management software as well.
It’s intensely customizable, allowing you to create prompts and tasks that can be integrated across their workflow system, contact forms, questionnaires, contracts and more. Additionally, you can set your own due dates for those tasks, resulting in a to-do list that keeps itself constantly up to date.
Tave also auto-generates booking quotes, and its lead tracking feature will follow up automatically with new potential clients, providing updates on the status of each file within your dashboard.
Táve’s users say the learning curve can be steep, and the software can take time to get set up the way you want it — but the customization possibilities makes the trade-off worth it. Plus, their customer support team is quick to help, and the developers are adding new updates all the time.
Pricing: Starts at $21.99 per month
4. Studio Ninja
On top of having the cutest branding of anyone on this list, this user-friendly (and relatively wallet-friendly) piece of photography business management software was created explicitly with photographers in mind. Features include an easy-to-use task management system, pre-made and customizable workflow options, and a customizable client portal that lets clients approve quotes, sign contracts and pay online — it’ll even automatically send reminders for unpaid invoices.
A mobile app makes on-the-go management easy. Plus, Studio Ninja works seamlessly with a number of other tools, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Xero and QuickBooks. PayPal and Stripe integration and comprehensive financial reports make Studio Ninja a useful piece of accounting software for photographers as well.
Pricing: Starts at $17.95/month
5. Iris
In their own words, this CRM for photographers offers “everything you need and nothing you don’t”. Among Iris’ features: Online booking, an invoice system that works with Square and Paypal and sends out automatic deposit and payment requests, and a unique “scouting” feature that steers you toward new locations when shooting out in the field.
Their lead generation feature will pull from your Facebook and Instagram accounts, in addition to using email-based contacts. Invoices, questionnaires, and contracts are all easily customizable, so you can add your own branding to keep things looking professional. ShootProof and Quickbooks integration is also available.
Pricing: Starts at $25/month
6. Pixifi
Arguably one of the most stylish photography management software options out there, Pixifi was created by a wedding photographer who was struggling to find a streamlined solution for his business. Pixifi works from any device, syncs with a long list of other software (including Google Calendar, Stripe, Mailchimp and Dropbox), and offers a customizable dashboard that lets you put the elements you use the most front and centre.
One of Pixifi’s biggest selling points when it comes to photography client management might just be its fully-automated booking system, a relative rarity in the CRM world, which allows customers to select dates and options, hit checkout, sign a contract, and pay their fees without you lifting a finger. Their calendar system allows you to note your own availability in the system — meaning no more double-booking.
If you like all your documents to match your branding, fear not: Pixifi offers plenty of snappy templates for contracts, as well as the ability to customize them to your liking. A built-in financials platform will let you send invoices, log your expenses, and keep on top of taxes. And a drag-and-drop lead management platform lets you get the ball rolling on interacting with new potential clients in a snap.
Photography Business Management Software Machine
Pricing: Starts at $24.99/month
7. Honeybook
Honeybook has become a popular photography client management option in recent years. The program offers a customizable workflow area that lets you create your own templated task timeline for different types of projects (and shows you clearly where your projects are in the cycle). The tasks from your workflow are sent to an all-in-one dashboard area that lets you send emails, questionnaires and more from the same place. Honeybook also allows you to customize and add your branding to invoices, contracts, contact forms, and much more.
Those looking for accounting software for photographers will also appreciate Honeybook’s ability to create reports using your customer data (including reports on profits and losses, where your leads are coming from, and your customer conversion rate). In addition to its own iOS and Android apps, Honeybook integrates with Calendly and Google Calendar, Gmail, Zapier and QuickBooks.
Pricing: Starts at $34/month
8. Shootzilla
The brainchild of photographer and coach Esther de Boer, who wanted a CRM that lent a more personal touch to her correspondence with clients, Shootzilla offers a back-to-basics, user-friendly approach to CRM for photographers. The intuitive, easy-to-use interface includes customizable workflow templates tailored to photography projects (including weddings, portraits, and more), with simple toggling between your leads and existing clients.
You can customize your own email templates; additionally, Shootzilla will alert you to email-based tasks that need attention, then let you send that email right from your dashboard. Shootzilla’s calendar syncs with Google and Apple calendars. One drawback: Shootzilla doesn’t currently have an invoicing feature.
Pricing: $24/month
9. Fotoclient
With a clean, minimalist layout, Fotoclient offers a full slate of standard photography studio management software features. There’s task management (either auto-generated or manually added) and an “event” workflow that lets you track the life cycle of a project. On the client-facing side, there’s lead tracking (and conversion tracking), invoicing and payment tracking, contact organization and communication tracking, and more.
On top of the basics, there are also some nifty extra doodads: Their lead generation feature can be built right into your website, thanks to an embeddable block of code. A “reports” feature offers deeper insights into your business gleaned from data generated by your use of the software, including annual and lifetime revenue, breakdowns of shoots by type and by month, and more.
Fotoclient also works with Google Calendar and Dropbox, and lower-impact users looking for a budget-friendly photography business software option will appreciate the accessible pricing on the “starter” package.
Pricing: Starts at $10/month
10. Booksteam
Booksteam specializes primarily in customer booking and scheduling, so if you’re mostly looking for photography client management software instead of workflow management tools, this might be more your speed.
Booksteam allows clients to make appointments through a (customizable!) booking platform, manage their bookings, and keep their info up-to-date. Additionally, Booksteam can also generate and client invoices and collects payments (through Paypal or Stripe) and includes a financial report feature that will give you> Get the best of Format Magazine delivered to your inbox.