Small But Mighty Improvements I Made in 2019

The one goal that’s always on my list every year is to evaluate and improve the processes in my business. I look for areas that might be causing friction in the client journey. Experiences that take more steps than necessary or require too much client involvement or waiting. Whether it’s client feedback or little unspoken hints, I try to take the things that aren’t working as well as they should and improve them.

And as we’re nearing the end of 2019, there are a few things I’ve implemented over the past couple of months (and some that I’m still working on!) that will hopefully make us working together a little easier!

1. Automated Contact Forms

As someone who’s hired a family photographer before, I know firsthand how frustrating submitting an inquiry can be. Because photographers are usually a one-person shop, it’s hard to us to respond quickly. But as a Mom who literally has no time to spare and needs answers NOW, it’s important to get the info out ASAP.

And that is where an automated response can be super helpful. I've now hooked up my family and baby page forms to auto-email the Session Guide any time someone submits an inquiry. It’s pretty much instant. And I can then follow up in a day or two, when I have the time to reach out. Win-Win for everyone!

2. Online call scheduling

In the same thread of trying to automate and simplify the process, I connected an online call scheduling service to my calendar so that clients can go ahead and self-select the time that’s best for them. With one click, you can see what time I have available during the week and book it, instantly. No more back and forth emails or trying to sync up two very busy schedules!

3. In-Home Styling Consultations

This is something I implemented at the start of 2019, but it’s still very much worth mentioning. Seeing the stress that selecting wardrobe brought my clients, I decided to do complimentary In-Home Styling Consultations before the photo session. I will literally come to your house and help you select all the outfits, coordinate things properly, and make sure the items that are selected for the photoshoot are flattering and will photograph well. This takes a whole lot of my time, especially once you factor in travel. But it’s 100% worth it. Both for me and for my clients. My Moms are no longer stressing out about outfits and I get to photograph families who are perfectly styled for portraits!

4. Bringing on a retoucher

I have been running a one-woman business since I started photographing professionally in 2013. Bringing on a retoucher was always my plan for this year, but a rocky start pushed that process out a bit (to put it plainly, my youngest son got tested for special needs and I had to step up his care on the family front). With the start of the school year, I was finally able to shift focus a bit and devote the time and energy required to bring on a retoucher for my family work. Because of the fairly high-standard required and the attention to detail, it’s been surprisingly hard to find the right fit for this task, but as always, when the time was right, the best person did come along! My new retoucher is able to handle all the first-level retouching work, with me applying the finishing touches to each portrait (which also allows me to double-check that everything is done to that high standard and to catch any mistakes). The main reason why this is so important is that I guarantee a 1-week turnaround for portraits and as we enter the busy season with more and more shoots on the books, I wouldn’t be able to deliver within that time frame without some help on the backend. Fast image delivery is important to me - I never want my clients wondering when they’ll get to finally see their portraits - and I’m so excited for this next level in my business!

5. Partnering with Minted.com for Holiday Cards

For the last few years, I offered custom-designed holiday cards to my clients. It was always something that took a disproportionate amount of time away from my photography work and because I refuse to charge my clients retail markup for pieces of paper, it didn’t actually equal much profit. I’ve always believed that you should go to a specialist, and holiday cards shouldn’t be any different. Minted has a ton of gorgeous designs to choose from and so many great upgrades, like beautifully-designed printed envelopes, that it really makes no sense for me to try to compete with them. If you've worked with me this year, I can upload your purchased portraits directly into Minted and give you a 20% off code that you can use towards your holiday card purchase. Once again, it’s one of those things that’s a total win for my clients but also a great solution for me.

I absolutely love the fact that I can choose exactly how to structure and run my photography business. It’s one of the most important reasons why I’m self-employed and no longer in the corporate world. These little improvements make such a big difference but might also change as I test the new processes out. Business owners are often so afraid to make changes and try new things, especially if they’re stepping out of the norm of what everyone else is doing. But when we follow our heart, try things outside of our comfort zone, and come up with innovative solutions specifically for our clients, magical things can happen! And I, for one, am pretty excited for that possibility!