What’s new with ShootQ? That’s right – there’s a new a batch of updates to ShootQ that will help you streamline your photography business. This release is the second part of a two-phaser. The first phase was especially popular with portrait photographers. Here’s what’s new with ShootQ in this second release… 1. Product Options Visible to Clients – This feature lets your clients choose product options from the “share pricing” pages and proposals. While this has been an awesome internal tool for photographers to keep their product options organized, it is now also available for clients to view and choose options. With this release, the feature now works for ShootQ accounts…and our January Nimbus release will update this feature there as well! Read More Here >>> 2.
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The Art of the Partnership: Clearly Defined Roles
Today we’re talking about something that we quite frankly didn’t do well for a long time. When we started, we didn’t have mentors, or anyone in our position to approach for advice, so we pretty much forged ahead the best way we knew how, which meant that we made a lot of mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes we made was never sitting down to clearly define our roles within the business. We both were trying to be and do a little of everything, which led to neither of us being able to: A) do anything to the best of our ability, or B) really learn what we were GOOD at and exploit that. That also led to confusion and frustration because depending on the
Simplicity is the Nature of Great Emails
The modern email inbox is a perpetual promotion machine of colors, styles, and sales pitches all fighting to be seen. In an attempt to break from the herd, many email marketers ironically adopt a herd mentality of more clutter, more content, more, more, more. This misguided pursuit of increased visibility merely leads to increased invisibility. Before joining the invisible ranks of the “clutter cult” of email marketers, consider that a huge body of marketing research demonstrates that the human mind is a sucker for simplicity and focus. The eye embraces that which can be easily digested. Less is more. Unless you’re emailing something of personal relevance or urgency to your client, you have only three and a half seconds to be interesting. Fail, and you’re
What ONE THING would YOU change?
Well, whether we’re ready or not, 2012 is coming to a close. As the year winds down, it’s time for reflection and some R&R. When you think about your successes and mistakes over the past year, are there things you wish you’d done differently? Probably. But that’s the beauty of a new year – it’s a fresh start! To get you started, we asked YOU to share ONE THING you’ll do differently in 2013. Every week, we’ll be spotlighting one photographer and the ONE THING that they’re doing differently this coming year. What will you change? About Erin Oveis Brant Erin Oveis Brant lives with her husband and 2 energetic sons in San Diego, CA. When she’s not chasing kids or playing at the
3 Ways to Tap into Supportive Creative Communities
There are days when being creative is awesome – your juices are flowing, you’ve got great ideas, awesome clients, and loads of energy. You know what that’s like – the Holy Grail of pursuing a creative profession. But none of us are lucky enough to achieve that everyday – and sometimes, it seems like it’s been weeks or months since that Holy Grail feeling has visited. And often, whether we’re writers (like me), or photographers, or designers, or any other sort of creative type, we spend much of our work time alone (even in an office environment). I sometimes end up stuck in a miasma of a downward cycle, where I lack energy so I don’t work hard enough to come up with new ideas,
Why Successful Entrepreneurs Have a Cloud Ecosystem
Working from anywhere Working from any device Piece of mind + data safety Ease of use Cheaper IT Appear more like a “big” business, even when you’re small! Successful entrepreneurs are always on the move. They’re constantly moving their business forward, no matter where they are (case in point, I’m at a concert waiting for the opening act as I write this). I had a few minutes of down time, so I took advantage of it. Running my own business requires that I work a lot and I don’t like being tied down to one location. After all, I didn’t choose to run my own business so I’d be locked to a desk! Creating my own “Cloud Ecosystem” enables me to be anywhere and still
How to Manage Your Holiday Workflow
With the holiday season comes a great opportunity to increase your sales and reconnect with past clients and vendors. Get a plan in place for managing the increased work, so you don’t struggle to deliver everything to clients in time for the holidays. With proper planning, you can provide a positive, fun experience for your clients during their hectic holidays! Managing your holiday workflow is simple and seamless if you keep these three concepts in mind: 1. Do your homework before the holidays hit. In order to implement a successful holiday season plan, you must identify what products and services you’ll be offering. The products and services you promote during the holidays should meet the following two criteria: It’s profitable and strategic for you to offer these product and services.
3 Tips for Guiding Your Clients Through the Purchasing Process
Be a Shepherd, Not a Salesperson! Now that you’ve carefully chosen holiday promotions that provide value to your clients and to your business, the sales process becomes less about convincing clients to purchase and more about guiding them toward products and services that are best for them. Your role is to help them make a decision – a decision that you know they won’t regret! Here are three tips for guiding your clients through the purchasing process: 1. Keep it simple. There’s a clear window of opportunity for holiday promotions, and any confusion that your clients feel will delay their decision-making during this short timeframe. Keeping the process simple empowers clients to make quick decisions, so make sure the ordering process is clear and easy.
Win the Day
Now is the time of year that most wedding photographers will tell you their to-do lists turn into multiple pages and the hours in the day never seem to be enough. We’re smack dab in the middle of busy season. With so much going on, it’s easy to start thinking you could give Gumby a run for his money – you’ve tied yourself up in so many knots! Deep breaths now. It’s going to be ok. I think the hardest thing to figure out when things start getting overwhelming, is where to start. There’s SO much that needs to get done and the list is piling up. And you lose precious time spinning yourself in circles trying to figure out what you should do first,
7 Ways Photography Business Owners Can Use ShootQ Studio Management
There is a reason Apple coined the term, “There’s an App for that.” If you need to get something done there’s most likely an app that can help you get it done faster. As creative, small business owners we try to do it all. Photography, accounting, advertising, sales, social media guru, Photoshopper, blogger, janitor… and the list goes on! Yet, we only get to put one or two titles on our business card, “Photographer, Owner,” or maybe both. Dr. Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People wrote, “managers pick the best path through the forest but leaders make sure you’re in the right forest to start with.” Too many business owners get bogged down by their single-track focus and get lost in