Misty Miotto Goes Green and Finds Work-Life Balance with ShootQ [Case Study]

After 20 years in business, Misty Miotto and her team have an impressive number of weddings to their credit – more than 1,400 and counting. During the busy season, they often shoot six weddings a week! Given this volume, smooth operations are imperative to have any life outside of work.

“ShootQ makes things easier,” said Misty. “We can manage everything in one place with ShootQ, and we have gotten rid of a lot of paperwork, which can be overwhelming. ShootQ provides better options.”

Streamlining their business operations and automating many processes through ShootQ has also saved Misty and her husband/second shooter, Nelio Miotto, a lot of time they used to spend gathering information, creating contracts, faxing, etc.

“We needed some family time, especially now that we home school our kids, and ShootQ has helped us achieve that,” said Misty.

Depending on your comfort level with technology, ShootQ can be overwhelming for some users at first, but ShootQ’s complimentary Setup Assistance program has proven to be invaluable for new users. “It can be intense at first, but someone walking me through it made it a lot easier,” said Misty. “Once you understand it, it’s easy and user friendly.”

Both Misty and Nelio use ShootQ to handle their photography business’s finances and contracts. “I’m definitely very hands on,” said Misty.

While Misty is already using a lot of the features ShootQ offers, she says she still learns new things often. “I put all of my forms and questionnaires into ShootQ,” she said. “I can get all of the information I need in one place, without having to search through email.”

But choosing a favorite feature is difficult. “I really love the email functionality; it allows me to send packages to my clients right away,” said Misty. “I also like the analytics a lot and love having all of my tips and questionnaires online, so my brides can access them whenever needed.”

Misty did consider some alternative solutions when she was looking for a studio management software five years ago, but most alternatives were not comparable and didn’t pull her or her colleagues in. “We would use ShootQ regardless,” she said. “I really loved and trusted the people who created it. They were very sincere in wanting to help photographers, and that sparked my interest. Plus, they shared a lot about it with the [photographer] community, so I was curious to learn more.” In addition, Misty also relied on word of mouth and other photographers’ experiences. “I had done a lot of research on calendars and learned how things often break when the software changes, but ShootQ doesn’t, thank goodness!” said Misty. “If it works, I stay with things a long time, because I’m a loyal person. Once I got it, I was so glad I was with ShootQ.”

When it comes to the cloud and ShootQ’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model, Misty couldn’t be happier. “I love the mobile access, so I can find whatever I need anytime, anywhere,” said Misty. “Simplicity for the bride is really important to me, and ShootQ helps me keep things simple with everything in one spot. It’s convenient and there’s no more faxing! Plus, ShootQ looks nice.”

As a longtime professional photographer, Misty and her colleagues believe photography is about the art. The business processes just come with the territory. Fortunately, ShootQ allows them to shoot more and work less.“We want to focus on art,” said Misty Miotto, “and ShootQ definitely lets you do that.”

When asked if she shares her experience with ShootQ with others, Misty said, “Absolutely! We have regular house parties with our business partners, where everyone brings one new skill they’ve learned and shares it with the group. It keeps everyone really informed. We also talk about it at our PUG [Photographer User Group] meetings. I think a lot of photographers would love it.”

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Specialty: Wedding

Location: Orlando, FL

Challenge(s): Going green, simplifying processes and keeping everything in one place

Solution: ShootQ

Result: Little to no paper, streamlined operations and easy access to information

Former Solution: Old school, with a lot of paper, phone calls, faxes and emails