What’s the #1 way to make running your photography business easier? It may not be what you think.

If you want to hit the easy button when it comes to your business, consider establishing an effective SYSTEM for your business workflows. That’s right, I said system – and I’m not talking about a CRM like Honeybook (which I use and love). I’m specifically speaking about taking any workflow you currently have (like ordering grad cards, sending session prep info to your clients, sending client galleries) and shaping it into something that is 90% hands off for you. Are these workflow systems easy to set up? Usually, no. But once they’re set up do they have the ability to change your life? HECK YES! 

Let’s talk about the THREE FACTORS of an effective system in your business. This is what to look for and what to make sure your system is created around before implementing it into your business.

1. It serves your clients. You don’t want your systems to just be easy on you, they need to be easy on your clients as well. If they can participate in your system without jumping through a ton of hoops, you’re good to go. You also want your systems to be customizable based on your client needs. This will allow maximum benefits for everyone.

2. It can be automated. This is the part where you can save tons of time. When you can create a pipeline that triggers itself without your presence, that’s huge. Imagine being able to educate your clients without even having to be there, or have them follow a pipeline without your management. THAT is automation in its purest form.

3. It increases your income. When you can add profit to your bottom line or upsell services or products based on the flow of your system, you’ve hit the trifecta of effectiveness or “trifectiveness” if you will – heh heh. Your end goal when establishing a system should always be to spend less time while making more money.

Now that you know how to create an effective system for your business, let’s talk about how to establish that money making, time saving system so you can start reaping the benefits! 

1. Create visual guides for mass production. Most people are visual learners so you’ll want to create visual guides when on boarding your client to your system. For example, I use my Grad Card Sales Hub to visually explain the ordering process and link to my Gradalogue to showcase my card designs to all my clients. I created my hub and gradalogue once, and send it out to everyone at once. This saves me a ton of time & allows my client to participate in the system from the comfort of their couch. 

2. Include upsell offers. I always “go for no” when in the sales process. If you’re attempting to sell a certain product to a client, include related products to upsell. These related products should be visually showcased throughout your system so that your client can always primed to spend more.

3. Create templates for the backend process. Whenever you have a system that is introduced through email, or has a backend dashboard like an online ordering system, you’ll want to create templates for ease of use and efficiency. You can create email templates at the click of a button and while it takes a few minutes to set up, the time saved is life changing. 

Whew! Like I said, setting up a workflow system may be a bit tedious in the beginning, but once it’s all said and done, it has the ability to not only serve your clients better, but it can also change your life with how much time you can save – which is always good when you can profit more when it comes to your bottom line. 

Want to see the inside workings to one of my systems that has saved me hours and actually tripled my grad card sales? Watch the video below to see how I built the system and how it works for my business!  

Looking for the components of my Grad Card Sales System? Click on the links below!

• Grad Card Sales Hub (all text included template & design)
• The Gradalogue (grad card catalogue template & tutorial)
• Grad Cards & Luxe Collections (grad announcement photo card templates)