Managing the business side of food photography require similarly advanced skillet as capturing the perfect shot. From tracking client communications and project timelines to handling invoices and expenses, the complexities of running a photography business often lead to missed opportunities and unnecessary stress.
If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the administrative tasks that come with your creative work, you're not alone. This post brings you the invaluable advice from 65 experienced photographers, plus my own insights, to offer you a comprehensive guide on streamlining your business processes. These pro tips will help you stay organised, boost your productivity, and ensure that your business runs as smoothly as your photoshoots.
If you are hungry to learn about another subjects, make sure to check the previous episodes of my Pro Tips blog series here.
What is their pro tip for tracking business processes?
Before you scroll any further, get comfy, grab your favourite notebook and pen, and get ready for the game-changer biz tips in this inspiring read!
"Analysis of statistics, revision, redesign."
Anita Zsirmik - food blogger, content creator
"Google Sheets and Asana have been very helpful.."
Kristina Cadelina - food photographer, blogger
"When you are contacted by a possibly new client, remember to ask them how they have found you. Was it Google, Instagram, an ad you have placed somewhere, a recommendation from someone else etc."
Mikkel Jul Hvilshøj - photographer
"Follow up, many are just lazy about this."
Mika Levälampi - photographer
"Choose a Workflow Management System: Invest in a robust workflow management system or use project management tools that offer advanced workflow capabilities. Choose a system that aligns with your business size, complexity, and specific needs."
Melissa - photographer, blogger
"Note everything in spreadsheets and keep an eye on the numbers!"
Jason Wain - photographer, videographer
Photo by © Jason Wain
"Using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is an excellent strategy for tracking business progress. A CRM tool helps you manage interactions with clients and potential customers, track sales and engagements, and organize data related to business relationships. This approach enables you to monitor the growth and performance of your business effectively, providing valuable insights for strategic decision-making."
Peggy Cormary - photographer
"Sometimes you have to invest in something that makes your business processes easier. For example, I use an accounting program to keep track of my hours worked (for clients and my own time) and I also send invoices with it. This also makes tax returns a lot easier for my accountant. I also have MailBlue (Dutch-language email marketing software) for, among other things, sending newsletters and automating mailings."
Maaike Zaal - food- and beverage photographer
"Spreadsheets. Use them to log deadlines and timelines, monitor progress, plan future work or make a note of podcasts you'd like to listen to."
Jane Coupland - food photographer, food blogger
"Do not swamp clients with emails and calls. Send images and wait a few days and ask for feedback. After a few months follow up with questions about how they were used, how they were received etc. Even ask for any negative feedback. I always try to learn from the negative feedback."
Matt Wilson - photographer
Photo by © Matt Wilson
"I use QuickBooks for my accounting software which gives graphs and charts of your progress."
Jules Wilson-Haines - photographer, stylist
"I have a 'Starred' section in my email, so anything that needs to be followed up, I'll 'star' and then regularly check through the list."
Sandy Wood - photographer
"Lists and spreadsheets. Keep all receipts etc. organized month-by-month as you get them, not in a pile to be sorted once in a blue moon."
Natalia Ashton - nutritionist, photographer, author
"I use a few tools to track my business relationships. But I created a PowerBi tool that analyzes my business progress and habits by importing my accounting data. There can see my top customers, what services I mostly sell, and the frequency of each product that I sell."
Robert Alvarez - photographer
"Keep a continuous to-do list, and check it every day. I set aside one day a week for admin and do a monthly reconciliation to ensure clients have paid my invoices."
Leeanne Mason - food photographer, photo chef, food stylist, content creator
Photo by © Leeanne Mason
"Having a good system to issue quotations and invoices will greatly improve your business tracking processes."
Victor Chin - food photographer
Photo by © Victor Chin
"Monthly check-ins and updates especially with admin, the more planned in they are the easier and quicker they are to do."
Emilie Dorange - photographer, designer
"I'm a quite organised person, so I don't have trouble tracking everything through my Numbers sheets. I have got separate pages for pitches, jobs in progress, jobs done, paid or not paid jobs, income, expenses. Also it helps me to easily do my taxation at the end of the year."
Tibor Galamb - photographer, director
Photo by © Tibor Galamb
"I personally use Quickbooks and Blink Bid. Quickbooks is great for simple accounting. Blink Bid has an awesome adaptable template great for photographers with usage, terms and conditions sections that you can really tailor over time."
Mary Turner - commercial food photographer, stylist, chef
"I use spreadsheets and Trello to help keep business processes organized."
Emily Miller - food photographer, recipe developer
"I suggest investing in an accounting software such as Quickbooks. This has really allowed me to streamline my expense tracking, invoicing, tax payments etc. Plus it makes the financial year end so much less stressful!"
Murielle Banackissa - food photographer, food stylist, cookbook author and blogger
Photo by © Murielle Banackissa
"Follow the trends and grow yourself with it."
Sanja Alisic - blogger, food stylist
"Always answer on time and make the client feel that you really care about their projects."
Nicolas Newmark - professional photographer
"I'm a super organized person, and after decades of trying to find the best agenda or notebook to be organized, I found NOTION and it changed my world, I can track every single thing among my team, Google Calendar and Slack"
Karen Loza - food photographer and stylist
"Listen to your heart, keep attention on how you feel... maybe that's the best measurement for success."
Lara Virkus - food photographer
"Using Trello to keep track of prospects, leads and clients and also make sure all the details as agreed pricing, shot-list etc. are in there instead of somewhere hand written in a notebook. That way you have a quick access to the information when you need to."
Anoeska Vermeij - photographer
Photo by © Anoeska Vermeij
"A good online calendar with reminders to follow up on various emails and potential projects."
Suzanne Clements - photographer
"Check in with your business processes regularly. Weekly or at least monthly, take time to make sure you have things organized. From upcoming shoots and marketing to finances, don't let things go unmonitored too long, otherwise, you're just creating more headaches for yourself later on. If you chip away and check in regularly, it's easier to manage."
Joanie Simon - photographer
"We love using Quickbooks for billing clients as it also is great for taxes and keeping track of clients."
Aline Ponce & Mike Hulswit - professional photographers
"Build your own system, write down your own processes in Notion, Google Docs, etc. so you can make your own checklist and follow them. I've bought these templates from other photographers, which is an investment, but sometimes, investing in such things saves you money on hours."
Susi Bálint - stylist, photographer, writer
"Implement a project management system. Utilize tools that allow streamlined task tracking, deadline management, and effective communication with clients and team members."
Maxine Lock - photographer
locklickimages.com.au
Photo by © Maxine Lock
"I suggest a spreadsheet with potential client names, addresses, email, and actions you have taken i.e. - dates contacted. Keep a folder of emails sent so you know where to find them."
Birgit Mayled - photographer
"Always create goals. Tangible goals with numbers and dates and deadlines. Even if they are annual goals, check in every 3 months to evaluate where you are and what the progress is. Make any changes needed and don't just leave the check-in for the end of the year. Periodic check-ins are essential to track progress."
Dyutima Jha - food photographer, food stylist, podcaster
"Well these are my first few months that I work full-time as a photographer, but I do set a yearly goal, what I want to accomplish. So I know what I want to earn every month to accomplish that goal."
Maurizio Previti - photographer
"Here's my advice for monitoring business processes: fully leverage project management tools. There are comprehensive workspaces that allow you to organize tasks, manage projects, and collaborate seamlessly. These tools streamline the process, enhancing communication with clients and ensuring efficient project management."
Alessandra Zanotti - food photographer, food stylist
Photo by © Alessandra Zanotti
"Organize all in one platform."
Mihails Pavlenko - food and product photographer
"Microsoft Excel can sometimes be your best friend. It’s definitely mine."
Shwetha Elaina - food photographer and stylist
"Maintaining separate folders for each client, maintaining proper invoices and proper delivery processes will help a lot."
Gouthami Yuvarajan - food and product photographer
"Have a separate e-mail and file/book to track work."
Anisa - photographer, recipe developer
"Determine your target customer and monthly expenses. Additionally, focus on marketing analysis that collects information about your audience, product and market. It helps you determine what works and what doesn't."
Monika Grudzińska - photographer, food stylist
"As my business is really small, I am not using any special tool. But I see as an important part of the small business to have a schedule. I planed windows for specific activities and I am trying to automating regular tasks (answering emails, invoicing etc.). Another point is planning my time to achieve a healthy work-life-balance, and Google Calendar is a big help in this point."
Alena Prichystalova - photographer, blogger
"Use whatever medium is most convenient to you, make a template and fine-tune if needed."
Veera Rusanen - photographer
"Track your growth."
Sangita Bhavsar - food blogger, photographer, stylist
"Following my KPIs: how many new clients do I have each month, how many shootings do I have per month, how many new requests I receive each month…"
Massiel Zadeh Habchi - food photographer and stylist
"In my daily life I use Notion to help me keep track of my work: my pitching process, my current projects, my personal shooting etc. I have a table with the name of each prospect that I highlight and I add the following information: type of company, the offer I am offering, the name of the contact, the email, date the email was sent, reminder date 1, reminder date 2, reminder date 3. For each of these dates I create a reminder which is responsible for giving me a notification on the day I am supposed to send the reminder email."
Constance Ibañez - food stylist, food photographer, food event creator
Photo by © Constance Ibañez
"I like to batch work so I’d have a dedicated time in a week to do specific task work such as pitching / following up / onboarding clients / doing administrative tasks. There are few softwares such as Notion and Streak that help with managing tasks."
M. Aimee Tan - food photographer, videographer, stylist, content creator, recipe developer
"I use Notion to track everything in my business. I love the database-driven system that helps me keep up with tasks, clients and projects."
Lauren Short - food photographer
"I love Trello boards, this software helps me to keep track of everything."
Marika Cucuzza - food photographer, content creator, recipe developer, food stylist
"A calendar and a planning folder. My calendar contains all the important meetings, phone numbers and things waiting for confirmation. In the planning folder I add the implementation ideas and dates of upcoming projects. I manage these two regularly and their control and coordination helps to keep track of my business processes."
Liliána Tóth - food photographer
Photo © Liliána Tóth
"Take time every few weeks to stop and reflect on whether you are happy with the way these weeks have gone professionally - whether the division of personal and professional time, the working hours, the working time, the pricing of your assignments have been right. If there is anything wrong, think about how you can change and improve it so that you feel better about what you do and how you are rewarded for it. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to feel good about your work and the place it has in your life."
Katarzyna Anders - food and product photographer and stylist, recipe developer, content creator, blogger
"I like to use an online client management system where I can keep all the information, files, communications and payments well organized and available. I even track my income and expenses there and do my full bookkeeping within this system."
Andrea Gralow - professional commercial and editorial food photographer, videographer
"Always keeping a record of numbers - for example: number of clients, cash follow, engagements etc. Keep a record of everything."
Indrajeet Nishad - food photographer and stylist
"Streamline business processes by utilizing tools like Notion for efficient tracking. Clearly define workflows and set up comprehensive databases to monitor tasks, progress, and outcomes. Regularly review and update your tracking system to adapt to changing needs, ensuring a seamless and organise approach to managing business operations."
Anna Janecka - photographer, food stylist
"Invest in project management tools that enable you to create workflows, assign tasks, and track progress in real time. These platforms often offer collaboration features, document sharing, and timeline visualization, making it easier to manage and monitor complex processes. I like Notion for organizing my business. Dubsado or Bonsai are great for client management."
Darina Kopcok - food photographer, educator
Photo by © Darina Kopcok
"Automate as much as you can. Have some sort of routine even if it feels unnecessary and boring."
Mojca Klepec - food photographer
"Maintaining a cost and income tracking sheet is crucial in our line of work. While the creative aspect is fulfilling, we're ultimately working to support our cost of living. Profits serve as a vital key performance indicator (KPI). If you don't notice opportunities to improve your income, it signals a need to scrutinize your business model. This deeper examination allows you to identify areas that may require adjustment, ensuring that your income aligns with your desired lifestyle, providing a worry-free foundation for living your dream life as a creative professional."
Melinda Bernáth - food photographer
"NOTION
Notion is my go-to tool for my business. I keep detailed records of key processes, deadlines, and outcomes."
Anita Zivkovic - food photographer, photography coach
Photo by © Anita Zivkovic
"I use MS suites to organize everything."
Harsha Sipani - commercial photographer
"An Excel document? Haha."
David Pahmp - commercial advertising photographer
"Always be organised whether that means having a specific process on the computer or notebooks."
Dina Hassan - food photographer, videographer
Photo & BTS by © Dina Hassan
"I have a lot of different spreadsheets to keep my admin workflow organised. I know nowadays there are tons of apps but I’m still an old Excel lover."
Monika Jonaite - food- and product photographer, food stylist, recipe developer
"The only physical elements in my business management are occasional print store receipts I need to keep for a certain amount of time by law - otherwise, I only work with online solutions.
- I use an all-inclusive service to take care of my business banking, invoicing, automated e-invoices and online store. Real accountants fully take care of the bookkeeping, included in my chosen plan.
- I build complex databases in order to seamlessly monitor leads, pitching, projects, collabs, content etc. and add related remainders. I also track my expenses and calculate up-to-date profitability - which is key to accurate pricing.
- I love Google Calendar (with Calendly integration) for day-to-day time management, and I highly recommend the Task feature to visualise what must be done each day + automatically add weekly, monthly and yearly recurring tasks. If you feel you accomplish nearly nothing each day, I recommend looking at the previously completed tasks that appear strikethrough - this way you will get a realistic picture of your efficiency instead of guessing."
Reka Csulak - photographer, mentor
Photo by © Reka Csulak
