You didn’t get into photography so that you could manage paperwork.
But between all the invoicing and contracts that you manage for your various shoots, it’s easy to feel like you spend a majority of your day managing those tedious details! So how do you keep your desk and brain clear of the clutter from this pile of paperwork? Here are three tips for streamlining your workload, so you can get out from behind your desk, and back behind the camera.
I. Put everything online.
Contracts and invoices can all be done through online systems or services, making it quick and easy for your client to sign and return things to you. Plus, down the road, it’s easy to find all the contracts and invoices under each client’s online folder!
II. Automate as much as possible.
Invoices should be sent out automatically online through your studio management software. If clients pay by credit card, you can integrate this into your system so that the invoice will be automatically marked as paid when they input their credit card information. Also, you should generate invoice reminders automatically. You’ll avoid the work of hunting down outstanding invoices, and the system will do the follow-up for you
III. Set up a standard contract with variable fields that can be automatically filled in.
Your contract shouldn’t change much from client to client. Really only the details of the client’s information and event information will change. Make it simple by using a system like ShootQ where these variable fields can automatically populate, based on the information already in that client file.
For instance, fields like event date, package, family-member names, etc. can all be set up to automatically populate. This means that you simply choose what specific data or sales options to include in the contract, choose what kind of shoot it is (editorial, wedding, commercial, etc.), and the rest will populate for you. You and the client can sign online and it’s quick and easy!
