I’ve gotten lots of boudoir photographer questions lately and I thought it was about that time to talk about some of the business tools that I absolutely couldn’t live without. Let me walk you through some of the apps and software I use on the regular to keep my business professional, streamlined, and organized. We all know the former education in me couldn’t function without organization in her life.

Honeybook is first and foremost the tool I use the most in my business and the thing that has saved me over and over and over again. There is a little bit of a learning curve but once you get it, you are introduced to a world of professional contracts, questionnaires, proposals, invoices, email templates etc. One of the things I did early on in my business was writing out every single email that I typically send to clients over the course of their project. I then added that to a workflow automation and apply it to each boudoir project. Every single person receives a questionnaire that helps me get to know them, prep guides, and beyond. Use my link for 20% off!

Planoly is one of my absolute favorites and one you’ve heard me talk about a lot in the past. The idea of sitting on social media not knowing which photo to post or what to write for a caption seems WAY too overwhelming. I choose one or two days a week, usually early in the morning to write out captions. Anytime I have a boudoir client give me permission to use their images, I load them into planoly where it stores them. Once I’m ready to schedule I just drag them to the day on the calendar, write out my caption and we’re good to go. It even has a place to save/add hashtags, tag users, and add location. The plan that I’m under also allows me to schedule Pinterest content which I will admit, I’m slacking on. Use my link to sign up!!

SmartAlbums is an album design made easy. Seriously…the thing that would intimate me the MOST when I first started was designing albums. And that’s because, without a specific software, it’s pretty tricky to do directly through the lab that you’re ordering from. I also love SmartAlbums because I design each boudoir album with my clients present. That means we play with layout, swap photos, and overall just make a gorgeous work of art come to life. Each album design appointment usually starts off the same, my client will say “this is going to be hard!” And I always reassure them that it won’t be. Designing an album has taken me as little as 5 minutes and at most 20.

Blogstomp all of my blogs are done fairly quickly with Blogstomp. It allows me to important photos and create layouts that are visually appealing for blog posts. Each time I get permission to share photos, I try to “stomp them” and save them into WordPress (my blog software) so they’re ready to rock and all I have to do is add text.

Canva allows me to create graphics, flyers, e-books, social posts and just pretty much anything that needs to look nice to market. One of the features I appreciate the most is the ability to copy and resize a design for different mediums like Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. It auto-generates the size and resolution needed for those sites. No photoshop necessary.

Okayyyy, a few more because I seriously love to nerd out over efficient business practices. Unsplash is an app for stock photos for when you’re lacking in content. It was a great resource for me when I first started my boudoir business. And finally, Creative Market is a wonderful website for customizable templates. I usually buy the option that allows me to design in Canva!

I hope that helps you with organization and efficiency which is truly the foundation for any successful business. These resources make my life easier and I am so glad I found them!