The two best tools for improving effectiveness in your photography business!

There are many tools that I use which helps me run my business efficiently. And I could do a whole blog post on what those are but there are two tools specifically that really changed my business for the better.

The two things that seem to take up a lot of time in my business are editing and blogging. They are also two of the most important aspects of my business. Blogging helps my SEO (search engine optimization) which leads clients to my website, and in turn helps propel my business forward, and editing is essential when it comes to the final look of my photos. I waited a long time to invest in the proper tools to help me when it comes to both of these aspects and every time I think about how stubborn I was by not investing sooner I kick myself in the butt.

So without having to make you wait any longer I introduce you to PhotoMechanic and BlogStomp!

When I get home from a wedding I sit down to begin the process of backing up my photos I’ve already been on my feet for 10+ hours going at top speed and I am just beyond ready for bed. It can be an extremely daunting task to then tell yourself you’re about to sort and look at over 1,400 photos. Feel cross-eyed yet? This is where PhotoMechanic steps in and where it has saved me HOURS of time and allows me to quickly but also efficiently cull through all the photos I’ve taken.

I use a very simple system to decide whether or not I’m keeping a photo. As I come to each photo I have a quick decision in front of me. I have to decide whether or not I mark it with a 1, 2, or 3. The numbers stand for a very simple system:

1 = keep

2 = maybe

3 = trash

My goal in creating a very basic system is to hopefully shorten the amount of time I spend deciding on all the individual photos. If I know right away that it’s a good photo it gets a 1. If I feel myself hesitate but know that it’s not trash then I give it a two. The ones that aren’t even salvageable just automatically get a 3. 

I used to hate the time that I spent going back and forth back and forth looking between the tiniest of differences, trying to analyze every small change, and deciding which one was the best looking. It would drive me crazy! And it made the time I was spending culling through my photos so much longer than necessary and made it feel like such an arduous task. It has taken some practice for me to nail down a decisive system but knowing that I have an easy system in place has made the time that I spent culling almost half of what I used to spend on it.

The biggest time saver feature that I love about PhotoMechanic is that it doesn’t use your full file size as you’re sorting through all the photos. It uses a sort of copy that allows your computer to cycle through the files at a much faster pace without having to stall and wait for the photos to load and catch up. This makes things so much quicker and easier.

It’s such a productivity sucker when you’re in the groove working but have to constantly wait for your electronics to catch up. If you’re like me then this just throws a whole wrench into how I get things done.

Once your photos are culled the next natural step is editing and then blogging. Blogging is incredibly important for photographers and many business owners because it’s how we are able to bring in new clients and make connections. While it’s a way for us to share our proudest work with the world there is a whole backend that is incredibly important for the vitality of our businesses but also incredibly time consuming.

Enter Blogstomp.

Whenever I use Blogstomp it really makes me feel like a wizard. I’m able to arrange my photos in a way that makes them appealing to clients and potential clients looking at my work but there’s also a very systematic reason for using Blogstomp.

If you didn’t know, one of the most important things you should be doing to your photos is titling them and alt tagging them. Blogstomp is a huuuuge help because it will name ALL of your photos for you. Before you start each session that you blog you will input the information to your Output Settings and each time you ‘Stomp It!’ all the information you need is already attached.

Blogstomp is also great because it will optimize your photos for you for different purposes. Not every export fits all, y’all. Ever notice when a photo is fuzzy on Facebook or Instagram? It’s probably because the photo isn’t optimized for the platform. Blogstomp can do it for you! It really takes the hassle out of it.

I am now able to prepare a blog post in half the time it used to take me. Dare I say that I almost enjoy it? It’s so painless and easy to do that there is no valid excuse for me to NOT be blogging.

Now that I’ve shared with you all the goodness about PhotoMechanic and Blogstomp I have one more piece…

The pricing.

Buckle in because you’re about to be BLOWN AWAY!

BlogStomp – a mere $50.00

Get it here. NOW!

Store

Photomechanic – an affordable $150

Get it here. NOW!

https://store.camerabits.com/products/photo-mechanic-version-5

Don’t be like me and wait to save a measly $25 on a Black Friday sale. I was stubborn and thought I could do it all on my own and be able to do it well. Derp a derp, I was wrong. I would never have been able to become efficient in either of those two aspects of my business if it wasn’t for these two resources.

There are going to be times when you have to admit that you can’t do it all. And I will admit right now, I’m glad I don’t have to do it all and that I can get the help where and when I need it 🙂