I know that when we run a business it can get chaotic really fast and then you end up sitting there trying not to pull your hair out, thinking WTF! Over the years I’ve found some of my go to resources that honestly I can’t live without for my business. I wanted to share them with you, so you can start thinking about resources that could help you streamline your business more. Without further ado let’s check them out!

#1 Adobe Photoshop/Lightroom

I have used photoshop my whole career and Lightroom when it came around. These two tools help me with all my photo editing. I do most of my photo culling and basic edits in lightroom and finish them off in photoshop. If you don’t already use these programs here is my link for you to try them out: https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/photography.html#

#2 17hats

Without 17hats I think I would still be struggling with trying to keep up with who I’ve emailed, where each client is in their project progression, meetings I need to set up with clients, questionnaires to send, etc, etc you get the picture. In using 17hats I’ve gone from trying to do everything myself to an almost completely automatic system. I have specific workflows for each process in my business to help my clients have an easy onboarding process and to help myself in keeping it all organized and ready to go in a timely manner. Just click on the link below and that will take you right to the sign up page, where you can save more than 50%! Want to learn more about 17hats? Just check out: https://www.17hats.com/card/kgbbkbkzhk

#3 Google Workspace

Using Google workspace has allowed me to create workspaces in my drive and keep a professional appearance in my email. Any game plans I mock up, pre-written blog posts, price guides, etc I keep in my google workspace so I can literally use it anywhere I go and I’m not always having to carry my hard drive with my files on them, plus it also helps keep me organized! Try it out for yourself and look more professional: https://referworkspace.app.goo.gl/XJMZ

#4 Shootproof

This has been one of the biggest game changers going into the digital world as a photographer! Back in the day *insert my old lady voice here* you would burn images to a CD or USB stick for your clients. A lot of times you would get a call saying they lost said CD or USB and you could be really nice to remake one if you still had the files OR say sorry we don’t archive. But with shootproof that nonsense is all in the past and clients can now download high resolution images from their custom-personalized online gallery. Gone are the days of clients hounding your for something they lost because it’s literally at a fingers touch for them now! You can even create packages if they want to order prints from you! Talk about a win-win situation. http://shpr.ws/B5r

#5 Flodesk

There are so many different email marketing platforms out there but the one I have found to be the easiest to use, that is also just really beautiful is flodesk. They are technically still in the “beta” phase but the platform is constantly growing and has been one of the best email marketing platforms I’ve used. If you would love to try it out for yourself here is the link to get 50% off your subscription: https://flodesk.com/c/ST91WM

#6 showit

For the longest time I used the WIX website platform and I mean for YEARS! It served me well until I wanted to uplevel my website and fell in love with showit. I saw multiple other photographers using the platform, so I decided to do a trial of it and absolutely fell in love! They have quite a few templates to choose from that are fully customizable and have so many partner web designers if you choose to have someone build it for you. Plus their support staff is nothing but amazing in helping you get set up with going live & helping you set up your blog. https://showit.co/

I hope that by sharing some of my favorite resources with y’all it helps you with choosing a platform OR to start thinking about which platform is best for you. I cannot stress enough how helpful each one of these resources is for my business and to take the stress off of myself.

I’d love to hear if this helped you! You can email me at hello@lacivillarreal.com to let me know, I responded to each email myself because I LOVE talking with y’all! If you want to stay in the loop with other tips, advice and upcoming news please subscribe to my newsletter list, I’d love to have you in my community! You can subscribe HERE!