Do you find yourself sitting at the computer for hours to manage all of your business tasks? From editing images, sending emails, social media posts… there is a lot to do! I think many new photographers under estimate what all goes into running a photography business. It’s more than just taking amazing photos. Once you start getting a steady stream of clients – all those tasks can quickly add up and lead to burnout. So how do you cut down on tasks in your photography business?
The answer is… AUTOMATE, AUTOMATE, AUTOMATE
Photography business workflow automation is KEY to running your business successfully and keeping your sanity – especially during busy season. If you’re new to the idea of automation, you might be asking yourself… “what are some things I can automate in my business?”. Here are some great ideas to incorporate automation into your business tasks and help you save time!
Automate your lead responses
One thing you can automate is the lead inquiry process by using the Lead Page with Iris and setting up automatic lead responses. The lead page allows you to replace your contact page on your website with a form and whenever an inquiry fills that form out, they are automatically created as a lead in Iris (this also takes the step of creating them as a lead in Iris manually out!). Plus, you can set up an automatic lead response which means whenever they complete the form and select a specific session type – whatever email you have assigned to that session type they will receive automatically after submitting an inquiry. This is a great way to provide your inquiry with some initial information like pricing, link to your booking calendars, and maybe include a questionnaire to gather more info from them.
Automate your emails
If you’re booking a lot of sessions, it can be hard to keep up with email correspondances with clients. You might forget to send an email reminder and lose track of who you have sent what email to if you’re doing them all manually. Automating your emails is a great way to keep clients informed throughout the process or easily gather other information from your client to help you prepare for a successful session. Here are some emails you should consider automating:
– Confirmation emails (include a client questionnaire too)
– What to Wear / What to Expect
– Session Reminders
– Post session – what to expect
– Feedback and referrals
Automate your invoices
Getting paid is important – so why not make invoicing easier through automation too? Automating your invoices can help you streamline the process of billing and collecting payments from your clients. Here are a few ways you can automate invoicing with Iris.
– Attach an invoice template to your online booking calendar so clients are required to pay in order to book a session with you.
– Incorporate invoice templates into the emails that you send via workflow. Great way to collect remaining balances.
– Add a payment schedule to your invoice template or invoices that you send clients. Clients will automatically receive a payment reminder for the installment(s) on the invoice 5 days before it is due.
Automate your Social Media Posts
Okay, this one is a bonus tip! Keeping up with posting regularly on social media can be hard sometimes. There are options for scheduling posts in advance so you can plan out a week or weeks worth of social media content. Check out these great options for social media schedulers:
Facebook Business Suite also now offers more options for social media scheduling for Facebook posts and Instagram posts.
Not sure where to start with your photography business automation or struggling with your workflow? Check out our Marketplace for curated workflows from some of the best in the industry!
Curated Workflows
Build your account with our curation list of trusted workflows. Photographers like you can rely on our curated workflows without changing the original designs and layouts. Streamlining your workflows to ensure an automation sequence for your business and photography CRM to thrive on.
Iris subscribers have exclusive access to The Marketplace. Find curated workflows with expert questionnaires and email templates from top photographers. Shop your favorite and we’ll automatically load it into your Iris account.
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