As a photographer, there are a few services that I simply cannot live without. One of them, of course, is the Adobe suite — tinkering with photos in Photoshop and Lightroom is at least 50% of my job. Another one is Samy’s Camera, my favorite local camera store with friendly workers and an always-reliable rentals department. In the past year I’ve also been using this service called Dubsado, which is a great all-in-one CRM (Customer Relationship Management) program.
Before I used Dubsado, I would keep track of all my gigs by myself and several different spreadsheet programs. However, it was hard to be consistent and contracts/invoices would always manage to slip between the cracks.
Now I’m proud to say that Dubsado has me on top of my game as a photographer! (In fact, I’d recommend it for any freelancer out there — graphic designer, caterer, florist, you name it.)
Here are some things that I can do after about a year of using it consistently:
1) Keep track of leads
Inquiries no longer float by my inbox. Every contact that I get is sent right to the top of my inbox, and I’m able to organize where clients heard about me, so I can strategize for future leads.
2) Set up an automatic workflow
Every client now has a series of tasks that I’m automatically keeping track of, from initial contact, to contract, to invoice, all the way through to shooting, editing, delivering, and blogging. (I’m definitely behind on my blogging, but Dubsado is helping me stay on top of it!)
3) Make contract/form templates
I do a lot of different work as a photographer. Weddings are my main jam, but I also do work for magazines, schools, non-profits, and other random individual clients (portraits, families, etc). With Dubsado I can easily make contract templates that apply to each genre of photography / type of client, and just switch out the client details with every new gig. Easy!
4) E-signatures!
This feature is the one that makes my clients the most excited. All contracts are sent with an e-signature option, where you simply type the name; all of the signees can also download a PDF for their records. This makes contracts a breeze for everyone!
5) And much much more!
I’m honestly only utilizing about 1/3 of Dubsado’s full features, and I’d still say it’s 100% worth it for the ease of the contracts and invoicing alone. My studio manager is working on integrating more of its features for me, including scheduling, accounting, tasks, and a time tracker… so hopefully all this business stuff will become automatic, leaving me with more time to do what I want to do: take awesome photos!
So! If this all sounds good to you and you want to check it out….
My affiliate link is here (we both get discounts!)
[Note - This is NOT a sponsored post - I simply love this service :) ]
If you’re looking for the rates: it’s $35 a month, or $350 a year, and if you sign up through my affiliate link you get a free trial for up to three clients.
Cheers!
