What are the best photography business software? Perhaps you have just started your own photography business or are already running one. Maybe you want to automate your small business and smooth the workflow. The software we will discuss will help you organize and improve your business.
Photography business software falls under the umbrella of CRM (customer relationship management) software, which, as the name might suggest, is used by businesses to help build the relationship between the client and service provider.
As the photography CRM marketplace has gotten more and more crowded, most software suites now offer more than one part of business: invoice capabilities, project management, automated emails, payment options, bookings and workflow also are now included.
Crucially, they can also help you build relationships with interested potential clients, a process known as lead generation.
These digital products designed specifically as a CRM for photographers and small creative businesses, are growing in numbers. You now have many budget-friendly options that each have strengths and weaknesses. Here we’ll evaluate them.
CRM For Photographers: What Features Do I Want?
What are some of the key requirements for your studio management software? Most of the CRM apps on the market offer the same general slate of features, but some might stand out in certain areas. Before making your selection, consider what you need as a business, where you need the most help, and what role your software will play.
Here are some features you should keep in mind when selecting a photography CRM:
- Workflows that keep track of project stages and assist with automating tasks. Workflow software will generally offer templated workflows — many of them designed specifically with different photography gigs in mind, but you can modify or design your own to suit your needs.
- Schedule and calendar management: A CRM can keep track of appointments and meetings, either through information input directly into the system (via a client booking portal, for example) or by syncing with a different calendar client like Google Calendar or iCal.
- Generating and managing leads: You can harvest interested clients and setup the automation process to follow up through email. Some CRMs will create their own forms, while others will use a line of code or a widget for this. A few will even generate leads through your social media accounts.
- Invoicing and payment: This, predictably, is a main use case for many professional photographers. Without any additional action from you, many CRMs are able to accept payments (e.g. just following up on past unpaid invoices with Square, Stripe or PayPal). Some can also automatically follow up on unpaid bills for you.
- Client portals that will allow customers to submit and modify bookings.
- Financial management tools: Some CRMs can supplement, even replace accounting software for photographers. Photography CRMs that offer expense and revenue tracking can be especially useful when it’s time to file taxes while offering financial reports that give a bird’s eye view of the financial health of your business.
With that info in mind, you’re ready to check out our list of the best CRM for photographers in 2021!
But First…
Keeping up with communication and deadlines are vital for keeping clients happy, as it’s sure to bring in word of mouth referrals. Another strategy to acquire new customers: make sure your online presence, including your online portfolio website, is well put together.
If you don’t have an online portfolio yet, they’re a snap to make. Look for an easy-to-use website builder with beautiful, customizable templates. Built-in features like Instagram integration so you don’t have to manually update your portfolio with all of your newest and greatest shots, and a client proofing gallery will make sending proofs to your clients easy.
Best CRMs For Photographers
1. Workflow
A CRM built by photographers for photographers. Workflow is a photography studio management software that comes with a best-in-class suite of tools to help photographers streamline their work.
Workflow allows you to manage and send large photos in private galleries, syncs with your calendar, send digital contracts and enables project and contact management all from one place. All of which allows you to connect with clients and provide excellent service while also making it simple for collaboration. Clients can favourite photos or publicly share photos.
Client Galleries by Workflow lets you organize your project information like a professional. Do it quickly, save time, and be more productive.
Pricing Starts at: Free
2. ShootQ
ShootQ’s studio management software offers an impressively broad range of features. To start, there’s online booking, with quick invoicing and online payment (plus automatic late notices for those who don’t pay up front). Meanwhile, those bookings are added to your schedule, which integrates with your other calendars.
Customization is key with ShootQ: You can set up and edit your own workflows and pre-template emails, questionnaires and other documents, and customize client-facing portals to suit the look of your business. Additionally, their financial reporting tools can also be customized to show the data you most want to see. ShootQ also syncs with Quickbooks for more control over your accounting. On top of all that, there’s even a workshop module that will let you lead workshops digitally.
ShootQ features an iOS app that lets you use the service on the go, with an Android version coming soon.
Pricing: Starts at $29/month
3. Sprout Studio
Another piece of photography management software designed by and for photographers. Sprout Studio was created to be as fast and user-friendly as possible. Their studio management tools include plenty of branding customization options for customer-facing pages and forms.
But Sprout puts a heavier focus on bookkeeping and accounting, offering easy invoicing (with Stripe, Square and PayPal integration for payment) and an all-in-one “Business Health” feature that offers plenty of graphs and analytics to look at your business’s financial situation at a glance. Want to see the type breakdown, by percentage, of all your past shoots? Your booking percentage? The amount of money you have from outstanding invoices? They’ve got you covered.)
On top of that there are some nifty photography-specific features, like online galleries and design proofing, that most CRM for photographers generally won’t bother with.
Pricing: Starts at $20.17/month
4. Táve
If you’re the kind of small business owner who likes to have everything precisely how you like it, Táve is the CRM software for you. Táve is aimed at a number of creative industries, but it’s a powerful piece of photo studio management software as well.
It’s intensely customizable, allowing you to create prompts and tasks that can be integrated across their workflow system, contact forms, questionnaires, contracts and more. Additionally, you can set your own due dates for those tasks, resulting in a to-do list that keeps itself constantly up to date.
Tave also auto-generates booking quotes, and its lead tracking feature will follow up automatically with new potential clients, providing updates on the status of each file within your dashboard.
Táve’s users say the learning curve can be steep, and the software can take time to get set up the way you want it — but the customization possibilities makes the trade-off worth it. Plus, their customer support team is quick to help, and the developers are adding new updates all the time.
Pricing: Starts at $21.99 per month
5. Studio Ninja
On top of having the cutest branding of anyone on this list, this user-friendly (and relatively wallet-friendly) piece of photography business management software was created explicitly with photographers in mind. Features include an easy-to-use task management system, pre-made and customizable workflow options, and a customizable client portal that lets clients approve quotes, sign contracts and pay online — it’ll even automatically send reminders for unpaid invoices.
A mobile app makes on-the-go management easy. Plus, Studio Ninja works seamlessly with a number of other tools, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Xero and QuickBooks. PayPal and Stripe integration and comprehensive financial reports make Studio Ninja a useful piece of accounting software for photographers as well.
Pricing: Starts at $23.30/month
6. Iris
In their own words, this CRM for photographers offers “everything you need and nothing you don’t”. Among Iris’ features: Online booking, an invoice system that works with Square and Paypal and sends out automatic deposit and payment requests, and a unique “scouting” feature that steers you toward new locations when shooting out in the field.
Their lead generation feature will pull from your Facebook and Instagram accounts, in addition to using email-based contacts. Invoices, questionnaires, and contracts are all easily customizable, so you can add your own branding to keep things looking professional. ShootProof and Quickbooks integration is also available.
Pricing: Starts at $22.50/month
7. Pixifi
Pixifi was created by a wedding photographer who was struggling to find a streamlined solution for his business. Pixifi works from any device, syncs with a long list of other software (including Google Calendar, Stripe, Mailchimp and Dropbox), and offers a customizable dashboard that lets you put the elements you use the most front and centre.
One of Pixifi’s biggest selling points when it comes to photography client management might just be its fully-automated booking system, a relative rarity in the CRM world, which allows customers to select dates and options, hit checkout, sign a contract, and pay their fees without you lifting a finger. Their calendar system allows you to note your own availability in the system — meaning no more double-booking.
If you like all your documents to match your branding, fear not: Pixifi offers plenty of snappy templates for contracts, as well as the ability to customize them to your liking. A built-in financials platform will let you send invoices, log your expenses, and keep on top of taxes. And a drag-and-drop lead management platform lets you get the ball rolling on interacting with new potential clients in a snap.
Pricing: Starts at $29.99/month
8. Honeybook
Honeybook offers a customizable workflow area that lets you create your own templated task timeline for different types of projects (and shows you clearly where your projects are in the cycle). The tasks from your workflow are sent to an all-in-one dashboard area that lets you send emails, questionnaires and more from the same place. Honeybook also allows you to customize and add your branding to invoices, contracts, contact forms, and much more.
Those looking for accounting software for photographers will also appreciate Honeybook’s ability to create reports using your customer data (including reports on profits and losses, where your leads are coming from, and your customer conversion rate). In addition to its own iOS and Android apps, Honeybook integrates with Calendly and Google Calendar, Gmail, Zapier, and QuickBooks.
Pricing: Starts at $9/month
9. Shootzilla
The brainchild of photographer and coach Esther de Boer, who wanted a CRM that lent a more personal touch to her correspondence with clients, Shootzilla offers a back-to-basics, user-friendly approach to CRM for photographers. The intuitive, easy-to-use interface includes customizable workflow templates tailored to photography projects (including weddings, portraits, and more), with simple toggling between your leads and existing clients.
You can customize your own email templates; additionally, Shootzilla will alert you to email-based tasks that need attention, then let you send that email right from your dashboard. Shootzilla’s calendar syncs with Google and Apple calendars. One drawback: Shootzilla doesn’t currently have an invoicing feature.
Pricing: $24/month
10. Booksteam
Booksteam specializes primarily in customer booking and scheduling, so if you’re mostly looking for photography client management software instead of workflow management tools, this might be more your speed.
Booksteam allows clients to make appointments through a (customizable!) booking platform, manage their bookings, and keep their info up-to-date. Additionally, Booksteam can also generate client invoices and collect payments (through Paypal or Stripe) and includes a financial report feature that will give you data-based overviews of your business.
Other features Booksteam offers that a more organizationally-oriented CRM won’t: A built-in review collection platform and display, discount codes, gift certificates and the option to buy bundled packages of services.
Pricing: Starts at $19.95/month
11. Bloom
Formerly known as PICR, Bloom is a beautifully-designed, affordable CRM suite geared at a variety of creative “solopreneurs”. Created to balance task management software with marketing tools, Bloom offers an organized task management system that allows you to organize your workflows and track tasks, automate emails, and even deliver images.
Bloom also features lead capture and management capabilities, scheduling, invoicing and digital contract signing, and more. Their app, which allows users to communicate with clients, update their calendars, keep track of bookings and record payments, is currently available for iOS, with an Android version in the works.
Pricing:: Free
12.Picspotr
A more pared-back photography management software option, Picspotr offers a no-nonsense approach to CRM with a low price tag and simple features.
Picspotr offers customizable package creation, easy invoice drafting (and easy tracking of whether or not those invoices were paid), plenty of templates for documents, digital contract signatures, and a payment platform that uses PayPal, Stripe or Square. There’s also a scheduling feature that syncs with a number of calendar apps (including Google and iCal), as well as a basic accounting feature that tracks expenses and payments and offers an overview of your income.
If you prefer to get hands-on with branding and customization or want a more powerful accounting tool, you might find Picspotr a little too back-to-basics — but this might be just the ticket for those seeking a budget-friendly photography business software option that will help them keep their projects organized.
Pricing: $9.99/month
13. 17Hats
Named for the multiple jobs each small business owner juggles, 17Hats is a popular CRM for photographers and creative entrepreneurs of all kinds. Serious multitaskers with multiple side hustles will particularly enjoy the fact that several businesses can all be run under one account.
Users praise 17Hats for its intuitive workflows, which let you see through a project from lead generation all the way to completion while automating tasks and task reminders to keep projects moving through the cycle. Contracts, proposals, invoices and other documents can also be pre-templated and automated.
The software also handles online payment (through a number of portals including Stripe and Paypal, though some users have had trouble keeping more than one payment method active at once). Generally, 17Hats lags on the financial management and bookkeeping side, so this might not take the place of accounting software for photographers with more complex needs.
17Hats isn’t also as big on data visualization and customization as some other CRM platforms, so those looking for ultra-powerful analytical tools might want to look elsewhere. However, the platform is constantly being updated — so you might see more tools coming down the pipeline before you know it.
Pricing: Starts at $15/month
14. Dubsado
Dubsado is a popular CRM choice for creative small business owners of all stripes. Their dashboard offers a few extra neat widgets: In addition to standard entries like action items and upcoming appointments, you can see an ongoing comparison of your profits and expenses, monitor your financial goals, and see how much money is still owed in unpaid invoices.
When it comes to invoicing, Dubsado’s templates are pretty bare-bones, but there are some interesting payment options, including the ability to make one payment option universal but turn on others for specific clients. which could come in handy if one of your clients doesn’t want to use your default option.
Finally, where most of the CRM services on this list offer a limited-time free trial to get a feel for the service, Dubsado lets you try out your first three clients for free.
Pricing: Starts at $35/month
15. Light Blue Software
U.K.-based service Light Blue is another CRM for photographers — but instead of being entirely cloud-based, it’s a piece of desktop-based software that you can use even without an Internet connection, though you can also use their iOS apps and sync data between them. That also means that instead of paying ongoing subscription fees, Light Blue just requires you to buy the software outright, which offers a potentially appealing alternative to monthly fees.
On to the software: Light Blue offers a dashboard that puts appointments and shoots, communication histories, new business inquiries and other tasks all in one place. On top of standard organizational tools like communication histories and scheduling, there’s also easy invoice generation, a digital contract signature feature, and a built-in payment platform.
If you really love to delve into data and analytics, Light Blue might have what you need: In addition to a number of built-in financial reports, you can tinker with their built-in querying tools to look at whatever metrics you like. If you ever get stuck at any point in the process, or just need tips on getting set up, there’s a sizable bank of video tutorials available on Light Blue’s site to walk you through the process.
Pricing: $350 lifetime flat fee
16. Bonsai
If an aesthetically pleasing experience is key — even when it comes to your photography management software — you’ll likely love Bonsai, an easy-to-use CRM aimed at a variety of creative businesses and entrepreneurs.
Their sleek, streamlined, easy-to-learn interface includes a number of powerful features. Automated document creation is a big selling point, including contract generation (using their pre-included, lawyer-verified templates) and invoicing. Additionally, can even get alerts when clients view documents and when they interact with them — a handy little addition. Bonsai’s system also takes notes of when invoices are paid (or when your client intends to pay).
On top of that, there’s easy expense tracking (Bonsai can even import spending data directly from your bank account), financial overviews, and time tracking, which might come in handy for those who bill hourly.
Pricing: Starts at $19/month
Free CRM For Photographers
While you tend to get what you pay for when it comes to photography studio software, there are a few free CRM options out there that can still be useful for photographers with more low-key organizational needs.
Note: in this list, we have excluded CRMs that offer ‘free trials’, as these are not indefinitely free for users. The studio management tools that made the list are those that truly offer a free CRM, with options to upgrade.
17. Workflow
Workflow is a studio management tool that contains all of the most essential ingredients to manage and collaborate with clients.
In Workflow’s free plan, you can share password protected client galleries, transfer 2gb of data, input an unlimited amount of contacts, send contracts and have 24/7 customer support. The simple, friendly customer support is ready to assist you in any way to help you get started with Workflow at all hours. Best of all, it’ll allow you integrate with Lightroom and Capture One.
This is a budding professional photographer’s best tool to get started.
18. Studiocloud
If you’re looking for a great free CRM for photographers, you might have met your match in Studiocloud — it’s free for single-user accounts, which is perfect for solo photography businesses. (The price is bumped up to $35 per month when you add a second account.)
For a free tool, Studiocloud is pretty darn comprehensive, offering project management and client management tools, an online booking tool, online payment, digital contract signatures, automated emails and payment requests, and a fair bit of customization. Studiocloud even offers bookkeeping financial reports and integrates with Quickbooks (plus Google Calendar, Mailchimp, and other services). Desktop, online and iOS access keep you organized no matter where you are.
19. HubSpot CRM
Though it’s one of the most widely-used marketing-oriented CRMs on the market, Hubspot makes a great CRM for photographers as well. Hubspot offers a broad range of packages, ranging from free for a “starter” package to an elite “enterprise” package geared toward advanced marketing firms. Though the features (as you might expect) are throttled back considerably for unpaid users, Hubspot’s free platform is still a good way to dip your toe into the world of CRMs.
The free Hubspot platform features a suite of lead management tools — you can even see what your leads viewed on your site before they submitted anything through your contact form. Additionally, their lead analytics dashboard shows you where your leads are coming from and what’s driving the largest number of conversions.
That’s probably the biggest selling point of the free version of Hubspot, but there’s also contact management, communications history, an easy email function that lets you follow up on inquiries, and the ability to merge with a number of other apps and programs (including Shopify and MailChimp).
20. Flowlu
Flowlu is free for up to two users, with the next tier (for up to eight users) starting at $29. Though it’s geared primarily toward other businesses, its solid slate of features make it a useful free CRM for photographers as well.
The free version includes most of Flowlu’s features. There’s an in-depth lead generation and contact management system, as well as the ability to track tasks and deadlines via the workflow and calendar tools. In terms of financial tools, Flowlu offers direct invoicing via the CRM.
Additionally, a revenue and expense tracker will help you keep tabs on your finances, while the powerful reports feature offers an instant analysis of your financial data, including reports on where most of your business is coming from — and where your business can improve.
Custom CRM for Photographers
While discovering the best CRM for photographers depends entirely on the size of your business and your commercial requirements, there are plenty of feature-rich options available. That being said, If you need to find a CRM for photographers that exactly matches the needs of your business, sometimes off-the-shelf solutions simply won’t cut it.
Custom web applications offer precisely the tools you need without paying for extra baggage that doesn’t fit your business. Building a web application will require significant time input from you and your team, as well as high initial capital costs to get it going. However, creating your own CRM for photographers allows you to avoid the accumulation of subscription fees year after year.
Táve
Táve is touted as one of the more customizable CRMs for photographers. If personal branding is a touch you wish to demonstrate to your clients, then this software could be the right choice.
ShootQ
ShootQ is another option that allows you to customize your lead capture system. More personal tones and appearance can be established through personalization for features such as questionnaires, quotes, contracts, emails.
How to Successfully Trial your New Photography Studio Management Software
If you have started a free trial offer on some studio management software, you must ensure it is right for you and your business’ needs. Effective studio management software for photographers can save you hours each week and keep your books in check, but it also costs a substantial amount of money. Here are some tips and tricks to make the most of your free trial.
Give yourself enough time to learn and explore. Studio management software is often full of features and customization, but this means the learning curve is pretty steep too. Set time aside from your busy schedule to get to know your new photography studio management software in a calm and peaceful environment.
Include the whole team in the process. If multiple people are going to be working with photography business software, it is important to include them in the decision-making process. This prevents unforeseen issues further down the line and helps promote general understanding across the business of how the new system works.
Be clear on your business needs and goals. In order to pick the right photography studio management software, understanding your business-specific photography management requirements is key. This includes detailing your order of operations, how you engage with clients, and the billing terms and procedure.
Keep track of your issues and write down any questions you have. No photography workflow software is perfect. We’re constantly on the lookout for the holy grail of photography business management software, and you are likely to come across problems with whichever product you choose. However, the support that comes with studio management software for photographers is often first-class, meaning their team will usually be able to help you navigate any hurdles that are lying in your way. Be sure to make detailed notes of these issues so support teams can do their best to help.
Ask your clients for feedback. One of the best ways to test the efficacy of new photography workflow software is to ask your clients what they thought of the experience. After all, happy customers are the key to running a successful photography business. If they felt the process went smoothly, the chances are that the photography business management software is doing its job. This also gives you an opportunity to relay any client difficulties on to the CRM provider to see if they have any solutions.
Now that you have thoroughly tested your new photography studio management software, you should be ready to make an informed decision on whether to integrate it into your daily workflow. While it may seem daunting at first, CRM software can make photography client management simpler and more organized, saving you much-needed time in the day.
Now Go Get Organized!
When it comes to CRM for photographers, there are tons of available options to explore — but with a little digging, you’ll be able to find the studio management software that’s the right fit for you and your needs. Happy organizing!
Pixieset Studio Manager
www.pixieset.com/studio-manager
Although many of you know Pixieset as a photo gallery delivery service, this brand actually has so much more to offer to photographers and the creative community. In 2019, they introduced Pixieset Website to offer their users a simple, elegant and fun way to build their website. In 2021, they launched Studio Manager – a business app designed to help photographers enhance client onboarding, manage contracts, send invoices and collect payments faster. The team aims to create an all-in-one platform that helps photographers power their business end to end – from photo delivery and sales of prints, to presenting their business online, booking clients and getting paid.
We definitely see the beauty in having all your business tools and documents in one place, easy to access, manage and organize. What’s even better, is that you also get to offer a more streamlined, consistent experience to your clients – from the moment they visit your site, to the point they sign a contract, pay an invoice and get their photos delivered.
Invoices & Online Payments – you can create invoices, enable payment schedules for your clients, set automatic follow ups to remind them to pay, add tax and discount details, as well as the option for customers to add a tip to their payment. Get notified once payment is fulfilled.
Contracts & eSignature – you can start with a template or create your own contract from scratch. You can add a second signer, and use variables to auto-fill client information, or smart fields to allow clients to fill out missing details on their own. Just like with invoices you can enable automatic follow ups, to remind clients to sign, as well as an expiration date to encourage a faster process. Your clients can easily sign the contract online, from any device, anywhere.
Brandable documents – who said formalities need to be boring and plain? You can add your logo and brand colors into your contracts and invoices, and add a more elegant touch with a header image.
Upcoming features – questionnaires, quotes, proposals, client and project management, scheduling and booking options, workflow automations, and more exciting features will be added soon.
Promo for Flothemes Users: Since Pixieset has a free plan for each of its products, including Studio Manager, nothing stops you from signing up and exploring all its options. No credit card required, you can get started here.
Tave
www.tave.com
Though Tave was designed specifically for photographers, it can be easily used by any other creative. Similar to the other tools described in this article, Tave is designed to handle a large part of your creative business, simplify your process, workflow and life. here a some of the great features Tave has to offer:
Automation – Send automated invoice reminders, replies to certain inquiries, etc.
Task management – To do lists, fully featured calendars, even weather maps to plan around sunny/rainy days.
Customizable, Responsive & WordPress friendly – Add your branding (logo, colors and fonts) to your client facing pages, use your sub-domain to get extra personalized pages. Easily access Tave anytime, from anywhere – one web app, which works smoothly on any device.
Client Communication – Track your emails, quotes, contracts and invoices. Create and send questionaries that automatically update your database. Automate and personalize your messages so clients receive reminders about the status of the project or upcoming billing.
Track your own results – Generate reports and fun charts to monitor and analyze your business’ performance. Use the profit Centers to track your money flows and conversion rates.
Taxes – Advanced tax reporting and options for any type of tax scenario.
Payment – Connect Tave to popular proofing and online payment gateways, e-sign your contracts and enjoy instant transactions.
Great Customer Support – Tons of great reviews, fast reply rate and Facebook Support group in addition.
Flothemes Integration details here.
Promo for Flothemes Users: Use the code FLOTHEMES20 when creating a new trial account. Once you subscribe, you will get a 20% reduction of the month to month subscription fee for the first year.
What Flothemes clients say about Tave:
Joshua Wyborn.
www.joshuawybornphotographic.com, site built with Osaka
“Tave is great! My clients absolutely love how easy it is to sign contracts and pay for services which has in turn helped my business grow at a rate of 460% on last year. My old method of spreadsheets and iCal could not have dealt with the amount of bookings and information needed for the drastic growth but Tave had no issues with it at all. On average, I say about 5 hours work per client just from keeping all of my admin in Tave.”
ShootQ
Their slogan is “Shoot More, Work less”. ShootQ was designed by photographers for photographers, but does not exclude other creatives who have found it helpful for their business too (event planners, videographers, DJs, etc). They also offer top-notch client service through live phone support, as well as the classic email and 1:1 setup assistance. And here are some of the features we would like to point out:
Client Communication – Create templates and questionaries, collect useful information from clients and leads, customize and automate email templates to save time in the future. ShootQ allows you to filter contacts, to focus on the strongest sales leads first. Keep track of all past and current communication, easily review clients’ booking and order history, important dates and milestones.
Financials – Create elegant branded contracts and invoices, save time and boost your sales with the help of an online booking service that allows clients to review and sign contracts online. Collect payments faster, configure taxes and shipping costs, etc. ShootQ also allows you to share pricelists with potential customers via a link or embed on your website.
Project Management and Workflow – Never miss any deadlines, organize and filter your tasks to see what’s upcoming and prioritize for the following days. Build custom reusable workflows to smoothly complete tasks, that are both – in the pre-order and postorder stage. Set reminders, automatically send emails and questionaries.
Analytics – Generate insightful reports. Manage your data, analyze your bookings, sales & referrals with the help of graphs and statistics. Know exactly how your business is performing.
Flothemes Integration – details here.
Promo for Flothemes Users: Use the code flothemes2016 on the Sign up form in the promo field. It offers two complimentary months of ShootQ. The code will expire on 9/30/16.
What Flothemes clients say about ShootQ:
Sebastien Bicard
www.sebastienbicard.com, site built with Fiji 2
“I have been using ShootQ for the last 3 years. I’m the kind of guy who needs help to stay organized and as much as the beginning was difficult with the set up, I’m extremely happy to use it. It literally never failed me. I found the interface to be simple and maybe not enough user friendly but their workflow process, contracts, questionnaires build in system and finance follow-up are great. Cons? Their database is not accessible so playing with your finance or lead information is close to impossible. They are working for almost a year now on the new version that I haven’t tried yet so I could not recommend it as this moment.”
Pixifi
It all started with Tim Hussey, the Owner of Pixifi, back in 2007 when he started his wedding photography business and needed an easy and efficient way to track his leads and clients. Having a background in web development, he decided to build himself a quick database management app, which kept getting more complex as his business grew. In 2008 the Pixifi beta was launched, and after testing it with hundreds of photographers and developing the product based on the collected feedback – Pixifi as you know it was launched in 2010. Here are some of its key features that you might love:
Online booking system & Client Management – An all in one system, very flexible and available anywhere from any device. Allows your clients to book appointments, choose the type of service they are interested in, even the team member they want to work with. Your customers can pay directly through your booking system. You can sync it with your Google calendar, mark your available slots or working hours for a better experience.
Financials & Client Communication – Create contracts and have your clients digitally sign them instantly. Avoid boring contracts, choose from the multiple templates that Pixifi offers, or create custom layouts. Send invoices, track all your expenses and profits, keep tabs on taxes, etc.
Project management – Personalize your dashboard to get an overview on the things that matter the most for you. Set a timeline, add deadlines, reminders and to dos. Never forget or miss out on anything.
Promo for Flothemes Users: Use the code FLO3FREE to get a free 3 month free trial. Sign up here.
What Flothemes clients say about Pixifi:
Beckie Hawkins
“I use Pixifi and love it… the real winner for me is that Pixifi is the only CRM that does truly automatic booking. My clients choose services, pick a date, sign contract, and pay all without me needing to do anything. It then automatically sends an order received email and then sends out reminders, questionnaire,etc… and creates a workflow for me. All without me needing to be online.
Pixifi also has SMS, Gift Cards, an app, the ability to have multiple brands, customizable client portals, html emails and emojis.. honestly I could go on and on about this system. It’s truly an all in one. The only thing it’s missing is synced image galleries.
I’ve tried almost all the other CRM and none of them have all the features I need. It’s not the prettiest, but it works the best and has the BEST customer service. Tim (the programmer) is always working on new features and updating the ones we have.
But yeah, if you’re wanting true automatic booking, Pixifi is the way to go!”
Honeybook
www.honeybook.com
HoneyBook was established by four friends who were in the middle of planning their major life events and stumbled upon painful paperwork, countless contracts, emails, phone calls, vendors and all those other small details that take up so much time and energy. The founders soon realized that this is a common struggle for many people, and after speaking and collecting feedback from multiple creative businesses and their clients – HoneyBook came to life. Their slogan is “Book fast. Get paid Faster” which clearly describes the purpose of this amazing tool – to simplify and improve your workflow. So here are some of the main features offered by HoneyBook:
Client Communication – Create a digital workspace which allows you to invite your clients and collaborators. This makes it easy to keep your communication, documents, appointment details all organized in one place, under the corresponding project.
Project management – Each project has a timeline with steps or so called “status” of your project. You can easily verify if you need to follow up with a client, send a proposal, email or setup a call. No tasks are left forgotten or overlooked. Integrate your calendar, set alarms or reminders.
Financials – Personalize and add your branding to proposals, contracts and invoices. Collect e-signatures and online payments from clients. Send them reminders about the upcoming billing.
Reports and Client Questionaries – Generate reports to analyze your performance for a given period of time. Create and send questionaries to your customers, to collect information and feedback from them.
Promo for Flothemes Users: 50% Off Monthly Subscription for the 1st year. See details here
Dubsado
Dubsado began as a husband and wife business, who realized that their workflow was inefficient, and they were spending too much time on emails, contract sending and other back and forth tasks. So they came up with Dubsado, a hub for all business activities, where they could easily keep track of things. By now, the team grew to 12 members, who are simply rocking it, according to many Dubsado users.
Lead collection & management – embed lead forms to collect info about your potential clients, keep track of all entries with lead funnels, and follow up with each at exactly the right time.
Client & Project Management – Keep track of all your bookings and know exactly what’s happening when for each client. Set workflows, to enjoy automations on emails, forms, contracts, invoices, etc, and by adding your branding and integrating your calendar – you’ll be reassured that every step is taken care of.
Payments – Dubsado allows you to get paid right online, in any currency, even get tipped extra. You can set up recurring invoices if needed, and allow clients to have auto-deductions (if you run a subscription based business). And of course, the automated invoices that you can plan ahead.
Contracts – Create proposals or quotes so clients can pick from your services, sign the contract online and pay the invoice all within one form. Send them questionaries before or after, to collect more info or feedback about their experience.
Bookkeeping – Dubsado allows you to easily sort and envision how much you’ve earned, broken down by services. You can export statements on profits or losses, to be able to share them with your accountant.
What Flothemes clients say about Dubsado:
Brian Schindler
www.brianschindler.co, site built with Crowd 2
“Dubsado has made my life easy. I was hesitant to switch over to a CRM because I thought that I had it all under control, but Dubsado has shown me where my customer experience was lacking when it came to consistency and what each customer experienced. Scheduling forms to send out, invoices, emails to send right after the wedding, all of it does it on it’s own and I couldn’t be more thrilled to have TIME back. Admin days used to take forever, but now I just check my Dubsado tasks every morning, shoot off a few emails, and I’m all caught up. That, and I love the seamlessness that it works with FloThemes and how it all looks. We all can agree that when a form is obviously different from the website, it can look fake. Thankfully, Dubsado works beautifully with FloThemes and I know that it gives clients even a bigger vote of confidence when it feels like everything happens in rhythm rather than chaotic. Thankfully, Dubsado gives me the rhythm and allows me to rest easy.”
Sprout Studio
A all in one business software created by a team of photographers, for their peers. Sprout Studio combines studio management software with online galleries, wall portrait sales tools, design proofing, bookkeeping and many more exciting features.
Client management – Embed contact forms to your site, so Sprout Social easily collects all your inquiries and keeps info organized about your leads. You can also keep tabs organized on each client, to know exactly which step of the workflow are they in. Sprout Studio’s powerful automation engine, allows you to streamline and automate your workflow and client communications.
Invoicing & Payment – Create orders or invoices, specify billing or shipping details, taxes, payment schedules and more. Your clients can pay with a credit card via Paypal, Stripe, Authorize.net. Mailing a check is also an option, if you love the old fashioned type of process.
Contracts & Bookkeeping – impress your clients with a whole booking experience. Send them a booking proposal, where they can easily choose a package, sing a contract, make a deposit and fill out a questionary with more info. All customized and branded accordingly.
What Flothemes clients say about Sprout Studio:
Jean Morée
www.jeanmoree.com, site built with LVY 2
“After using another studio management system for 7 years and then testing out almost every other choice out there, I chose Sprout Studio and am thrilled with it. It does what a studio management system should do by truly having everything all-in-one (online galleries, sales galleries, orders attached to shoots, etc.). By using Sprout, I was able to reduce the number of other services I was paying for since everything is all contained in Sprout.”
Studio Ninja
Created by a wedding photographer and experience designer and UX specialist, Studio Ninja claims to be the world’s most user-friendly photography business management software, that can help you save time, become more organized & efficient, hence increase your profits.
Client management – embed contact forms to your site to easily collect information from leads. Keep client details organized and easy to navigate. Send quotes, invoices & questionaries, have clients sign contracts electronically, make notes, keep track of emails and payments done.
Invoicing & quoting – Add your branding, setup your payment terms and enjoy online payments. You can also set to get reminders when payments are due/overdue.
Workflows & automation – Never miss any deadlines, and keep your client communication organized. Set reminders, link email templates and have Studio Ninja automatically keep in touch with your clients for you.
Promo for Flothemes Users: Use code FLOTHEMES for 50% OFF your first 12 months with Studio Ninja. The team with help you get started via a 1 on 1 demo, and will migrate your data for FREE if your are coming to Studio Ninja from a different CRM.
What Flothemes clients say about Studio Ninja:
Xander Neal
www.navyblur.co.uk, site built with Osaka
“We joined Studio Ninja over a year ago and haven’t looked back! We were on the hunt to automate and organise our workflow and this ticked every box we needed. They are still in the earlier stages but they make up for that big time with update after update, awesome customer service and a FB User group which feels like a proper community that they actually listen to which we think thats a rarity! The workflows you can create a easy to set up and will change your life, want to set up an auto email to (kindly) ask for your remainder to be paid 30 days prior to their wedding day?! It can be set up in a flash! Their portal based system allows for photographers clients to see all their items in one window, questionnaire, contract, invoices and now Shootproof galleries can be seen in each tab, simples!”
17Hats
www.17hats.com
The idea of creating 17Hats appeared when the team started noticing many entrepreneurs and creatives with amazing business ideas and no knowledge of how to run a business – drowning in paperwork and trivial day to day activities. There was no time left for the creative things. Clearly there was a need for an all-in-one business management app. That’s how 17Hats came to exist. The team claims that on average, their users spend under 10 minutes a day working on their business. Insane, right? Let’s move on to the features the Studio Management tool offers:
Overview of your business – Before diving into each task, get a quick overview of what’s happening with your business and workflow. Take a peek at what emails, tasks and appointments you have for the next 3 days, check the to dos and reminders that are coming up soon, etc.
Client management & Communication – The software synchronizes with your email (Gmail, Hotmail,other popular mail providers), tracks all messages and automatically files them into the suitable project associated with that particular client. 17Hats is built to help you improve your interaction with clients and some of the features are similar of a lite CRM system You can separate your contacts into Clients, Hot Leads, Cold Prospects or Other and approach each group differently. If you are still typing each email manually, 17Hats allows you to create and personalize templates for emails, invoices, quotes or contracts.
Project Management –You can organize your work by projects, tied to your contacts. Label and store tasks, to dos, contracts, notes, emails, events, time tracking, phone logs, etc for each project. This will make it incredibly easy for you to keep track of everything.
Workflow –17Hats divides each of your projects into 3 phases – Pre booking tasks, After booking tasks and After Project tasks. This ensures you provide a smooth and pleasant experience for each of your clients.
Time Tracking – If you get paid by hours, the system allows you to track how much time you spend on certain tasks, even including billing rates and descriptions if relevant.
Lead Capture Forms – These are inquiry forms that can be embedded on your site and would send the collected details straight to your Hot Lead list.
Bookkeeping, Invoices & Client Payments – Quotes are quite easy to draft. Once the client accepts it, the quote turns into an invoice that the system sends to the client when the project is finalized. You can collects e-signatures and online payments through credit cards or paypal. You can even specify how you want the payment done, when sending the invoice (deposits, installments, etc). All the documents and transfers are tied to a Bookkeeping program.
Conclusion
Do you own or manage a photography business? Maybe you are an aspiring professional with dreams of starting your own company. Or maybe, like me, you’re running your photography business out of your home. How do you stay on top of all the stats and information your business generates?