When I started my business in 2010, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I wanted to be a photographer but had no desire to actually own and run a business.
And that’s how I treated my side-hustle.
Until it became my main hustle in 2019 and I suddenly realised that some things needed to change.
Tech talk – the tools I use to run my business
Over the past 12 years, my business has grown with me. I might not have any employees but I have little tech helpers that make sure my business can operate without me doing everything myself all the time.
As a business, there are a few things and processes that have to be put in place for us to work efficiently and smoothly. Today I want to share which tools I’m using, why I need them and what they cost.
If you run your own business, there are some that you should definitely look into if you haven’t set them up yet. Others are only relevant for creatives or specifically for photographers. Also, I want to point out that this is by no means an exhaustive list. But it lists all the tools that my own business relies on.
Some basic tools to set up a successful business
Website
I feel like this is a given – if you run your own business, you should have a website.
Some might argue that Instagram can be your portfolio and that inquiries can easily come through Facebook. While that’s not wrong, all of these platforms could disappear suddenly and all your content and contacts would be gone. Or you could be hacked or blocked and locked out of the community that you worked so hard building.
Having a website means the content is yours. While you can still get hacked, nobody else has ownership over whatever it is you put on your website.
Your website doesn’t even have to be very big. If you’re just starting out, have a single page with the basic information and grow the site from there…
There are plenty of website hosts and platforms. I’m not familiar will all of them (barely any actually) so please do your research when starting your website. Options I know of are WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Showit and Shopify (for those who only sell products).
My website is hosted on Cloudways which is really just a host, which means it’s where I store my webfiles and content. My domain is registered with one.com because that’s where I started my UK website in 2014. And my backend is built on WordPress. WordPress is free but the hosting and domain cost about £180 per year.
Some hosts offer deals for the first year but when looking for one, make sure they provide good speed and bandwidth for your content.
Google services
Since my web host does not offer emails, I have a Google workspace account that connects to my domain and serves as my email provider. I used to have my email through my web domain but have been told that it’s better to do this separately.
I’ve also subscribed to Google One which is online cloud storage. I’m using this for web files like freebies I offer for downloads. It’s also storage to keep images that I need to use constantly and want to be able to access from any device.
Both of these services cost me less than £90 per year.
CRM
CRM stands for Customer Relation Management. It’s a tool you can use to collect all your client data including name, email, address, phone number, jobs booked, money received ect. CRMs also can create invoices, client questionnaires and contact forms that can be embedded on your website. Some even offer a scheduling function, client galleries or emailing systems (for newsletters).
When I started my business, I didn’t have any system at all. I relied on emails, hand-written notes and my memory.
A few years in, I created a Google spreadsheet to keep track of bookings and thought that was sufficient. I’d never heard of a CRM at that point. When I did learn about these client management systems I thought I wasn’t busy enough to actually use any. They do come with a price tag and I was worried they would be more than what I needed.
Oh how wrong I was!
Having a system like this lets you automate and massively streamline your processes. Since signing up with a CRM (I use Studio Ninja) I’ve saved so much time with my pre-set workflows. These workflows take my clients through the process of working with me, with very little input from me once they’re in my system.
There are countless options for CRMs and I’d encourage you to look at what kind of tasks you’d need the tool to do for you. If you’re unsure, ask other business owners for recommendations as well as the struggles or problems they might have with their own CRM.
Some that might be worth looking at are Studio Ninja, Dubsado, SproutStudio or 17 hats.
I personally use Studio Ninja because it’s made specifically for photographers. I pay £175 per year for this and it’s worth every penny.
Advanced tools to support your business
Scheduler
How many emails does it take for you to book a client call or a client session? For me, it used to be ‘too many’ so I looked into a scheduler that would allow my clients to see when I was available to speak or work with them.
Some CRMs have an in-built scheduling system. Studio Ninja doesn’t at this point which means I rely on an additional tool to book clients in for calls.
The most popular scheduling programmes seem to be Calendly and Acuity. As far as I know, they pretty much work the same way. You can link them to your own calendar, create different appointments clients can book into, restrict the time frame that’s available for bookings and include questions to be answered before a call (phone or zoom) or in-person appointment is booked. These tools can even take payment for ease of use.
I used to use Calendly – until I found Tidycal which does 98% of the same thing for a one-time payment of $29. can’t beat that! The amount of time I’ve saved since I automated scheduling calls is worth way more than that though.
Email Marketing
How many promotional emails do you get per week? Or per day even?
You (probably) subscribed to all of them – even if you don’t remember. Btw, if you don’t read an email from a company ever, just unsubscribe and declutter your own inbox!
Anyway, most companies try to keep in touch with their customers and clients. Because it’s cheaper to retain a client than to acquire new ones. Once I’ve worked with you and you liked what I did for you, I’d love for you to come back. Not just because I want your money but because I feel like if I could help you once, chances are I might be able to help you again. And since you already know me, there’s a trust factor that’s very important!
See where I’m going with this?
If you’re not already collecting email addresses of potential clients and customers to keep in touch and tell them about how you might be able to help them, I want you to start NOW. I mean it!
Yes, writing emails sounds like hard work. And it can be.
But you know how in the first point about having a website I mentioned that social media accounts have complete control over how and if you’re able to reach your audience? Having an email list means that you’re in control.
Email marketing, as scary/intimidating/boring as it might sound, is the highest-converting marketing tool. So why wouldn’t you use it?
There are lots of services out there that let you collect emails, write to your audience whenever you want and create stats and analytics for you so you can see what works and what doesn’t. The most popular email marketing services are Active Campaign, Mailchimp, Mailerlite and Flowdesk.
I personally use Mailerlite because they offer a free subscription for up to 1000 contacts. I only have just over 100 so the free version will serve me for a while.
Also, while we’re at it… If you’re not already on my list, feel free to add yourself here.
Project managment tool
The first time I used a project management tool was in my last full-time employment where I was leading the video team for a big education company. I loved it! I could create projects and assign people, deadlines and invite other team members. The tool we used is called Asana.
When I left the job, I tried to use Asana just for myself and it didn’t seem right anymore.
Until I found a different one: Notion.
I’m currently writing this blog post in notion. I do everything in here. I’ve got all my projects, ideas, newsletter drafts, client projects and timelines in one place that I can access from both my computers and my phone. I even created templates for other businesses to use. If you’re curious about that, you can start by downloading my free Notion Goal Tracker Board.
But I digress…
Notion might not be for everyone – there are others like Asana, Trello and Monday. Most of these project management tools have a free version if you’re only using it for yourself. I’m using notion for free for example. It does so much for me though that I wouldn’t even mind paying!
So if you have lots of different places for notes and like to create posts and content in single a place that you can even hook a virtual assistant up to, definitely look into a project management tool!
Finance tools to help with admin
Mileage tracker
As a photographer, I work on location a lot. That means it would be smart for me to track the distances I drive and add them as expenses to my yearly self-assessment. So that’s what I do.
There are lots of ways to track your miles but personally, I like to take the easy way, with a milage tracker.
The one I use is called Mile IQ. It’s an app on my phone that tracks anytime I move anywhere. Once I stopped, I can categorise my movement as personal or business. At the end of the year, I export everything I marked as a business journey and add that to my expenses.
Super easy!
I pay a yearly fee of £45 for the app which pays for itself in the end really.
Accounting software
As I mentioned in the intro, I used to run my business on Excel sheets. When it comes to finances, I still do. But this year I started using accounting software to hopefully make my self-assessment in the future even easier.
To be fair, I still struggle to be really consistent with it. My spreadsheet worked for 12 years so moving away from that is an adjustment. But I’ll get there!
The software I use is called FreeAgent but there are others like Xero and Quickbooks that basically do the same. The reason why I use FreeAgent is that I opened a Mettle account for my business which gives me a free subscription of FreeAgent. Pretty handy!
Creative apps to make your business processes look smooth
Right, let’s finish off with the creative tools that I use pretty much daily.
Adobe Cloud
As a photographer and filmmaker, this is a given. It’s a big expense but I use at least one Adobe tool daily and it helps me to make money.
I use Lightroom, Photoshop, Bridge, Premiere, After Effects, Audition and sometimes InDesign and Illustrator. I definitely get my money’s worth! But Adobe has smaller packages with individual apps or bundles for creatives.
If you’re a visual creative, I feel that this is an investment you can definitely make to help your business. I don’t think it’s needed to try and make cheaper or free software work if you make money using those tools.
The Adobe Cloud costs me just under £400 per year.
Music libraries
Over time, the request for films has risen for me. Brand films, corporate films, slideshows, event reviews… Free music libraries only get me so far. And the music choices aren’t quite there if I’m honest.
Luckily, there are a lot of options to buy licenses for amazing and impactful music to support video projects. They obviously come with a price tag but I’ve built that into my cost of doing business.
And please don’t try and use licensed music (like your favourite top 40 track) in a client video – unless you’re using the Instagram reel or TikTok music library. But be aware that you don’t have the license to take these videos off those platforms with the music. You won’t be allowed to use those songs on your website. And if you do, you’re breaking copyright law which can get very expensive for you.
So, if video editing is something you do for your paying clients, look into music libraries that provide you with specific licenses.
I’ve subscribed to two different libraries which give me a huge database of tracks to choose from.
The ones I’m using are called artlist and audiio which both cost about £150 per year.
Online photo gallery
While I have Google One and even a free Dropbox account, I would never use either of those platforms to deliver my client work – for a number of reasons:
I’d either have to upgrade the cloud space continuously to make sure it meets my storage needs. But more importantly, it just doesn’t look very nice.
Another option would be wetransfer – something I’ve seen other photographers use. But again, it’s not the impact I want my work to have when I deliver a gallery.
Instead, I use an online gallery that has unlimited storage, creates individual galleries for each client, password-protects the galleries and allows me to set specific download and access permissions for individual people. Plus, it looks beautiful when I deliver my galleries and even lets me create a slideshow set to music for an impactful first impression.
While there are lots of online gallery suppliers like Pixieset, Smugmug or Pass, I personally have chosen Pic-Time. There’s an online store attached to each gallery so my clients can easily buy printed products of their favourite images. That is what initially sold me on the platform.
With my unlimited storage plan, Pic-Time costs me £330 per year. But I also use this as my own backup for client work which means I’ll have lifetime access to anything I’ve delivered since 2010, even if one of my hard drives goes bust.
Vimeo
Pic-Time doesn’t allow video storage so I need a separate platform to host my client videos. For me, that’s vimeo.
I can showcase my client work and have hidden videos with download links to commissioned work.
While vimeo has grown since I joined in 2006, I’ve actually not kept up with all of their latest features. I will have to do that soon since I’ve heard that they now also allow screen recording which in the past I’ve used another software for.
Again, vimeo is not just a client content delivery platform but also online storage for me. It costs me roughly £85 per year to keep this.
Canva
Lastly, I wanted to share a tool that most people know by now. Canva is great – it makes it easy to create beautiful designs without having to be a Graphic Designer.
I use it to create social media posts that aren’t photos or reels as well as all my free downloadable pdf’s and client guides. It’s super easy to use and so extensive.
A couple of years ago I started paying for Canva – £99 per year. You can get away with the free version for most things though. If you don’t need or use any other graphic tools that would require you to subscribe to Adobe, this is definitely an option I’d consider.
There you have it. These are the tools I use in my business that make an actual difference in the way I run and administrate everything.
You might not need all of these, depending on what your business is but I’d encourage you to really question what can be automated and improved in the way your business is set up.
Another tip I’d like to give you is to check which tools you already subscribe to that don’t actually help you. Or maybe you’re still paying for things that you haven’t touched in months?! Have a look at your expenses and the apps on your computer. Are there any that could go? Any that might make things easier? If there are, get rid of them! All of this can impact how smoothly your business runs.
Interested in more business and productivity tips? Download my freebie below for a few more tools and tips to help you run a successful and efficient business.
