1. 17 Hats – Client Management System and my favorite photography business tool
17 Hats is the first one of my favorite photography business tools on my list, because I literally could not survive without this! When I first started my business, I used to do all of my bookings through my Gmail (what was I thinking?!) but there is no way I would be able to keep everything organized without letting clients fall through the cracks if I still used my old system!
I use 17hats, a client management system, for everything from sending invoices, questionnaires and contracts to setting up workflows to giving myself reminders for projects, keeping track of due dates, bookkeeping, and even creating calendars where clients can schedule sessions. It’s truly a one-stop shop for all things organization and business!
17Hats allows you to see if a client has read an email, to create email templates and to basically just keep everything organized!
If you’re looking to cut down on the time you spend in your email and get your life back, it is WELL worth the cost. I have a referral code for you that will give you 50% off of your first year if you use this link:
50% off your first year of 17Hats!
You won’t regret it. It’s one of the best photography business tools out there!
2. Cloudspot – Gallery Delivery System
Cloudspot is a gallery delivery system and a photography business tool that I have been using now for about 5 years! There are plenty of different gallery delivery systems out there and I cannot tell you about them all. I can tell you that Cloudspot has everything that I feel like I need. I have never felt the need to switch. I once did check out other systems and decided that I would stick with Cloudspot because of its ease of use. Other gallery systems were either more complicated or had unnecessary features.
A few of my favorite features are:
- You can make a phone app for your clients so that they can keep their images on their phone. How cool!
- It is VERY easy to do mini sessions with this gallery system. It is seamless for clients to choose their images and for you to make a folder with just those images in it.
- The store has multiple places that you can fulfill orders through and it looks very clean and simple. You can easily make discount codes either individually or as a promotion.
If you’re looking for a new gallery delivery system, I have a referral link for Cloudspot! You will get 20% off the annual or monthly plan with this link:
20% off your first year of Cloudspot!
3. Flodesk
Flodesk is an email marketing tool. When I first started out, I used Mailchimp because it was free. I had just one email list (people who were interested in photo sessions) at that time. I used to ONLY to email about my mini session offerings. It was very limiting to the marketing I could do.
I switched to using Flodesk because I realized that even though it costs money, it looks MUCH more high end. It also allows me to do so much more with email marketing. With Flodesk, I can separate audiences (for example, people interested in mini sessions vs. people interested in full sessions). It’s also much more beautiful, feels high-end, and allows me easy access to see who is opening emails. It has stunning and very easily customizable templates.
If you’re looking for a photography business tool for email marketing, I highly recommend it! This link will get you 50% off your first year:
50% off your first year of Flodesk!
I promise you that if you are consistently using email marketing to it’s fullest, you will QUICKLY earn this back. Not starting an email list sooner is something that I would change if I could go back and start over.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of these photography business tools if you decide to try them! Please send me a message and I’m always happy to help 🙂
If you’re a photographer looking for more support in getting your family photography business started, I’d love to support you in other ways as well! I currently have an email list for family photographers where I send out helpful information relating to posing and business.
JOIN ME HERE!
Abby is a Milwaukee-based photographer. She specializes in newborn, family and maternity photography and serves young families wanting to capture beautiful photos. She also teaches how to obtain authentic and joyful imagery. She is a family photography educator specializing in helping other photographers run a profitable and successful family photography business. Her goal is to help photographers capture images that they and their clients will love
Check out more of my work here:
Family Work
Newborn Work
