The big dilemma then becomes: how do you automate but keep things feeling authentic? In other words, how do you not sound like a repetitive robot by making things automatic? 

Don’t automate it all.

Especially when working with designers, a more one-on-one experience is expected. The jobs are higher price points and each project is more unique, so you’ll want to avoid automating too much with these interior shoots. Still, there are parts that can be at least semi-automated to save you time on the back end.

Your first task is to take a look at your full client process and see what parts of it are the most repetitive. Essentially, which parts are the least personalized? For example, your contract is most likely a standard contract that gets a few fields changed for each client. This means you can find ways to automate the contract so you’re not spending time writing or copying/pasting for every single signature.

Once you’ve gone through and found the areas that are most repetitive and least personalized, make sure that you’ve still got plenty of personal interaction. Of course the shoot itself will be personalized, but do you have personal “touch points” built into the process so that your client knows that you’re right there with them? Maybe this includes the quoting process, the final photo selection process, and then a follow-up call/email. Whatever this looks like for you, make sure you’re still collaborating with your client so they get the full personalized experience.

I want to also note a couple of things:

• This process will look a bit different for everyone. You may be more involved in the early part of the process and leave the delivery and follow-up to templates and automation. Or you may prefer to be really involved in dissecting their final photos and making sure they are 100% satisfied until the very last second. Or you may prefer to sprinkle some interaction and check points throughout.

• Your process can change! It’s your business, and it’s always a learning process. If you’re not sure where to automate, try one approach and then reevaluate. You’re just working towards finding what works best for you and your clients. To this end, don’t be shy about asking your clients for feedback! Ask them how they liked the contract signing process - was it easy? Was it clear? Was it quick? Let them know you’re working on making the whole experience better for them and your business, and you want to make sure that what you’re doing is a good fit. They’ll let you know if there were any hiccups in the process for you to correct.

Automate vs Templates

You may think of bots and sales funnels when you think of automation, but it doesn’t have to be that way! Templates are the perfect way to add a bit of automation into your process with out making your client feel like they’re a faceless number in your business. The difference is that “automation” is when you create a system that does the task on its own. Think about Out of Office auto-replies to emails or the immediate Thank You emails after an online purchase. These are automated so that they happen when a trigger (like your online purchase) happens. Templates, on the other hand, are still hands-on to an extent. You have a template that is saved, and then just change the details for that specific client or job. It does require a bit of you being hands-on, but it eliminates a whole lot of time!

A few ways to incorporate templates:

• Introductory or quote emails to new clients
• Contracts and Property releases
• Invoices
• Shoot prep email
• Instructions email for selecting final photos
• Follow-up email

Looking for help with your client emails? We have a bundle of client email templates in the The Grove Shop! Check it out to start streamlining your own workflow.

Reevaluate your delivery process

There are several ways to deliver or present photos to your client after the shoot. If you do an in-person sales session, consider your presentation methods and the forms that your client fills out to commit to their selected photos. If you do an online gallery, consider what parts of the selection process can be automated. If you do an online gallery that is fully-edited, consider whether you want to allow the client to be able to immediately download their selected images. For any method of delivery, consider using a platform that allows you to automate timed emails. (Shootproof has been my platform of choice for many years and I love it - for invoices, contracts, galleries, and delivery. There are a number of options out there, but you can sign up for a free trial of Shootproof here!).

Again, you’re looking at what steps get repeated with every single client so that you can see what sort of automation or template you can set up for it.

Consider your editing

I quickly mentioned presets, and they really do save you time! Often, they can serve as a great starting point before you begin doing really fine edits for all the final tweaks. Creating your own presets is simple and quick, so it’s something you should absolutely be doing. For lower priced jobs like real estate or vacation rentals, you should absolutely be using presets to do the bulk of the editing work. This helps to keep your time invested to a minimum, ensuring that you’re actually making a profit from these smaller shoots. For high-end clients, presets often give you a solid - and consistent - starting point for any specific adjustments that that photo may need.

Beyond presets, though, you may find that it’s worthwhile to outsource part of your editing. Maybe you outsource the photo editing for any real estate photography jobs you take on, or maybe you outsource the basic edits for your high-end clients so that you can then just go in and make final tweaks to the photos. You may find that the time it saves you is worth the small cost; maybe that time is better served in marketing efforts, doing more shoots, or the cost of editing can be offset by slightly higher rates to your clients. If you do decide to outsource, be sure to send a sample image to several editors so that you can find the person that creates a look that fits your brand… and does it consistently. Ideally, you want to find someone with whom you can have a long working relationship!

Automating Social Media

No, I’m not talking about using bots that like every photo on the planet or who follow everyone in the country to then just unfollow a day later. Also, I’m not talking about buying followers or likes or comments… ever! There are a few ways to semi-automate your social media, though. Let’s focus on Instagram for this one since it’s most likely the main social media platform you’re using right now. A few ways to automate or streamline:

• Create post drafts on IG.
  Once you have some shots from past projects picked out, take a few hours one a month or once every couple of weeks to sit down and create posts with these photos. These are essentially going to be “filler” on your feed, meaning that it’s not going to be your latest and greatest shoot but it’s going to be eye candy to keep your feed active. In Instagram, press the + to create a new post. Create the post - grab the photo, check the crop, add a caption, add hashtags, tag people or businesses, tag the location… and then click the back arrow at the top left of the screen. Then click that back arrow at the top left once more. Instagram will ask you if you want to save as a draft or delete, so select to save it as a draft. Now, next time you to create a post, your draft will appear above your camera roll and you can just click through to post! All the info will be on it already. Create a bunch of drafts of future posts so that you can quickly post something when you’re just not inspired with new material.

• Use a third party to schedule posts ahead of time.
  Instagram does allow a few apps to post automatically for you. I’ve used Tailwind before and enjoy it, although it doesn’t allow for carousel posts (posts with multiple photos).

• Work it into your workflow.
  Rather than setting aside time for just social media posting, add a step in your workflow for each project. Maybe once you deliver client images you immediately set aside 3-4 of your favorite photos from that shoot. You’ve already got your selection and can then set aside a time later on to create posts in batches. By making that decision during your project workflow, you won’t be slowed down later by having to go through projects and do any time consuming decision-making.

Conclusion

Automation has gotten a bit of a bad rep over the years, but it doesn’t have be one extreme or the other. I’m a huge believer in delivering a quality experience to each client and making every single project a collaboration. On the backend, though, there’s no reason that you should be reinventing the wheel every single time! Finding small ways to create templates can be a perfect way to begin streamlining that workflow. And those small ways sure do add up to a whole lot of savings for your bank accounts and your stress levels.

xo,

Natalia