Studio Management Software for Photographers: ShootQ + ShootProof

“I learned really quickly to be efficient,” Ginny says.

And she’s not exaggerating. Ginny Corbett began her photography career while she was still a full-time public school educator, and she soon began booking weddings all over the country. Every minute of Ginny’s life was accounted for – twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Between school, photography, and the occasional meal (who needs sleep?), Ginny was on overload.

“I was definitely overwhelmed with e-mails and juggling it all. I’m a photographer because I love people and I love taking pictures. I’m not by nature a business person. Having a studio management system like ShootQ helped me to be a better business owner. I can efficiently e-mail clients and I’ve never double-booked an event – even with spending so much time on the road!”

The Early Adopter

Most photographers don’t begin their search for a studio management solution until they’re already overwhelmed by the business of doing business. We begin our photography paths wearing rose-colored glasses, then, one day, exhausted and desperate, we pull the cracked, pink glasses off our sweaty faces and realize we have wandered completely off the path and, in fact, we’re plummeting off the side of a cliff to our certain demise.

Sound familiar?  Not to Ginny! Rather than falling into chaos, she fell into ShootQ.

“I was introduced to ShootQ in 2010, when I first went full-time as a photographer. Based on the advice of other professionals, I set up an account long before I even knew I needed it,” Ginny explains.

Having reliable systems in place from day one protected Jenny from many of the challenges confronting most new photographers.

Money? What money? OH. THAT money.

“I would never remember to collect money,” Ginny admits. “But through ShootQ’s client portal, my clients can make payments with their credit card. The automated invoices are killer!”

And she’s not alone. Photographers who try to manage their own payment schedules often forget to enforce their own deadlines and wind up scrambling to collect. Manual payment management can be time-consuming, costly, and plagued by math errors. ShootQ solves those problems and adds a level of privacy for your clients, who can securely enter their own payment methods online without ever having to divulge their credit card details to their photographer.

Please do not e-mail and drive!

A traveling photographer has limited opportunities to respond to e-mails. Between inconsistent hotel internet, unreliable airline wifi, and those pesky laws against using your laptop while driving, Ginny found ShootQ’s automated e-mails a necessity.

“I’m terrible at e-mails,” she says, echoing the sentiment of go-ers and do-ers everywhere. “I rely on automated e-mails every single day.”

ShootQ’s inquiry forms embed seamlessly into Ginny’s website, and the information collected populates her ShootQ dashboard automatically, generating the appropriate sequence of e-mails according to the job type. Wedding e-mails for couples getting married, portrait e-mails for photography-seeking families — No matter what your specialty, ShootQ can automate the process of sharing your pricing, notifying you of your client’s package requests, and walking your client through the booking process, from signature to payment.

Say goodbye to tech support, and say hello to a one-and-done workflow!

A studio management system is only as good as the time it doesn’t take to manage it. Photographers who have to constantly check in with their CRM express frustration as new demands replace their old stressors. ShootQ’s one-and-done functionality makes it especially well-suited to photographers who don’t want to make constant adjustments to their workflows and processes.

“I set up ShootQ in 2010 and forgot about it. That’s the cool thing about ShootQ,” Ginny points out. “Once you take the time to get it going, you can walk away and forget it for six years like I’ve done. It’s just working in the background, rockin’ and rollin’. I don’t have to do anything else.”

Forgetfulness: Forgiven!

ShootQ’s integration with ShootProof gives Ginny even more perks – which means more time for her husband, her kitties, and her coffee-roasting habit (which we here at ShootProof believe is a perfect compliment to our coffee-drinking habit!)

“The ShootQ/ShootProof integration is really rad,” Ginny raves. “When I add a new client to ShootQ, it automatically builds their gallery for them in ShootProof. Then when I upload the job to the ShootProof gallery, it already has my client’s contact details entered into that gallery. I don’t have to manually input any information.” And with ShootProof’s e-mail templates, Ginny simply selects her custom template and hits send.

Outsource. Outlast.

Ginny Corbett’s longevity in the industry is special. In an industry where many photographers struggle to ever make a profit – let alone earn enough to commit to the field full-time – Ginny’s success is a testament to the value of preparedness and persistence.

A willingness to outsource is at the foundation of Ginny’s business success. Don’t hesitate to acknowledge your weaknesses, and find a teammate who can support you in those areas! If you’re a roadtripper like Ginny Corbett, you may just find that your best teammate is a little studio management solution named ShootQ.

Haven’t begun your journey with ShootProof yet? Sign up for an account, free, and see what the hype is about.

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