Photography Management Software

<p>Hi!<br>

Just wondering if any of you use a Photo Studio Management Software (online or offline) and if so, what insight you may have. Does it really help to streamline you workflow? Is it worth the money (online providers can cost upwards of $40/mo). Just trying to get really organized now that my business is growing. Thank you!<br>

Kind Regards,<br>

Kelly, wild {whim} photography</p>

<p>I had expected the Lightroom fans would have been all over you, so I waited.</p>

<p>The two main programs to do this sort of thing on your own computer and hard drives are Adobe Lightroom and (Apple) Aperture (for Macs).</p>

<p>+1 on the lightroom software...<br />Unless Kelly ask about this kind of management software:<br /><a href="http://www.studioplussoftware.com/">http://www.studioplussoftware.com/</a><br />I use this and I am pretty happy with it. I do not use the online posting and selling at this time, for that I use Photoreflect.<br /><a href="https://www.photoreflect.com/home/default.aspx">https://www.photoreflect.com/home/default.aspx</a><br />No initial cost, just 18% fee when a client makes a purchase and this include the credit card processing fee.<br />Hope this is what you are looking for, Kelly.</p>

<p>The studioplus helps organizing my admin part of the business. Keeping track of my clients, sessions, invoices and anything else. Research and facts on your business is great also.</p>

<p>I still use Quicken for the money part of my business and Adobe PS and LR for the photography part. Check out their websites to see if it is what you like, and studioplus express is free for a single user, you can later decide to upgrade if need to be.</p>

<p>Sorry, to be more clear, I meant business/admin-side management/workflow. I use Lightroom for my post-processing workflow and agree that it's the bees knees. :) I am looking to streamline the business side of my life. Things like booking, invoicing, contracts, etc. <br>

Thank you so much for your responses! I am looking into buying quickbooks and wonder if that's enough for me?</p>

<p>Well, the "worth the money" argument is in how much time it will save you. If if saves you more than the subscription cost in time, then yes.<br>

Here is an article by <a href="http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/11/13/15-useful-project-management-tools/">Smashing Magazine</a>. Geared towards designers but photographers run into the same issues for the most part.<br>

We use <a href="http://basecamphq.com/">Basecamp</a> for project management at my company. For invoicing I would recommend <a href="http://www.freshbooks.com/">Freshbooks</a>. Freshbooks allows you 3 clients for free then you pay something like $14 a month. (And it can link to your Basecamp account). There are others that do the job but I have experience with both and they are easy to learn and not overly bloated with features I don't need.</p>

<p>I only have a few people running my business.<br>

To organize our workflow, we use different tools on the web that help us become more productive. For instance, we use Basecamp for collaboration and Skype for instant communication. For time tracking, we use <a href="http://www.timedoctor.com">this tool for time management</a>. This also helps me create invoices from the accurate reports of time it allows me to generate.<br>

All of these tools help us collaborate and work more productively. We don't even need to be confined in one office just to do all the work.</p>