TIPS

Happy 2019 y’all!

I wanted to start the new year off with tips for being productive and efficient with your business so I thought there would be no better way than to dive into my LIFE CHANGING client management system: 17hats!

17hats is a business management software made to end the chaos that comes with being an entrepreneur. I love them so much, I just signed on to them for two years! So I thought it was about time I explained my great appreciation for this company.

What I Use:

1. Client Booking: From sending over the quote, contract, and then collecting payment, everything can be done in one place! Each client you input gets their own client portal so they can easily view all their documents and information without having to track down emails. Need them to update a mailing address? No biggie! They can do that from their client portal.

2. Project Workflow: SO much goes into my client experience that sometimes it can get crazy overwhelming. 17hats makes my life 10x easier by letting me organize every step for the various types of photography services that I offer since not all follow the same workflow. I can even add triggers for different steps in my workflow which include automated emails.

3. Contract with E-signatures: Say bye to scanning and faxing! Your clients can sign all their contracts online. And yes, digital signatures are legal! For more information, check out the “Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act.”

4. Invoicing: 17hats links to your Square and/or Stripe so you can do electronic transactions. There’s also an E-Check option for your clients.

5. Bookkeeping: Yep, that’s right! No need to pay for a separate subscription to Quickbooks 🙂 #SaveThatMoney

6. Questionnaires & Forms: Make your own feedback forms and questionnaires for your clients to fill out. Save the template so there’s no need to type it out again! Plus, it allows you to insert client info automatically like their first name and other general contact details. It also allows you to add checkboxes and text boxes for your client to easily add more information.

7. Email Templates & Syncing: No more mass Word Doc with all your email templates! You can save all of them on 17hats. 17hats sorts all email correspondences between you and your client and organizes them into a tab called “Email” under their project folder. Plus, you can schedule your emails 🙂 It’s a lifesaver when you’re writing emails at 1 AM and you don’t want to be weird and click send at an odd hour.

8. To Do List: This is great for when you need to order more supplies, send out orders, or when you have a genius idea and need to jot it down real quick.

9. Team Calendar Management: no more group texts to figure out everyone’s schedule! 17hats syncs all our google calendars onto one page.

This is what it looks like when I log in to my 17hats dashboard (client information has been concealed):

It’s pretty awesome! You can see your weekly schedule at the top. It even has the weather and the time of sunset (!!!), which, as a photographer is kind of a big deal. I need to know the time golden hour is to schedule my sessions but also if it’s raining all of a sudden (because Houston weather is so unpredictable), I can call my client and reschedule their session.

I can also see what quotes, contracts, invoices, and questionnaires are pending or past due so I can send reminders to make sure my clients get that done. You can even see recent client activity like when an invoice gets paid or a questionnaire is viewed.

You’ll notice a business workflow in the middle, which is a part of 17hats’ World of Easier initiative and Business Makeover, a new business course for their customers starting January 2019. I won’t spend too much time discussing it but basically, it walks you through the process of setting up client workflows which is great for photographers who do various types of photography sessions (ie: wedding, engagement, family, seniors, maternity, etc). Pretty rad!

Oh wanna know what’s even better? They have an app for your phone! We don’t always have our laptops on us or sometimes we just prefer our phones. Perfect for those on the go transactions 🙂

The one thing I don’t use is the timer but maybe I will in the future. As of right now, it looks like this because I haven’t set it up yet:

I think it would be more beneficial for those who outsource their tasks like editing. You can easily track per hour then select “this task is billable,” and have 17hats summarize the costs for you.

Ready to revolutionize your business?!

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Alright y’all! I think this is enough information for now. Feel free to drop some comments below! If you do sign up, let me know what you think 🙂 It’s seriously life changing and you’ll finally have time to do that load of laundry that’s been piling up 😉

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Use this link to access your 10% off discount or use the code below at checkout!

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Happy Saving!

PS- This is not a sponsored post. I just really like them 🙂

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