We are in the heat of summer right now, and if you’re anything like me, you don’t really want to spend your summer working. But you do want your business to keep running—and more importantly, to keep making money—while you’re taking time off.

That’s where systems and automations come in. And today, I’m kicking off a short summer series on the podcast to help you simplify the backend of your brand photography business—starting with the one tool I truly couldn’t live without: a CRM.

If the admin side of your business feels messy, inconsistent, or overwhelming, this episode is going to show you exactly what’s possible when you have the right tool in place.

01:26 How I still make money while working way less in the summer

03:15 What is a CRM, and why does it matter for brand photographers?

05:40 Signs you need a CRM ASAP

09:04 Dubsado vs. HoneyBook: Which one is better?

13:11 The automations I use in my CRM that save me hours every week

17:22 Why great client experience (not great photos) makes you premium

20:33 How to start small and still make a big impact with automations

26:04 My favorite time-saving CRM features (and how to use them)

Links

→ Dubsado Free Trial + Discount

→ HoneyBook Free Trial + Discount

→ Join the July 17 Webinar with Colie James (more details coming soon!)

You are listening to take it

personally, a podcast for photographers

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about the personal side of business

and the art of standing out.

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Here.

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I'll help you build a business and a

brand that is uniquely you if you want to

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attract dream clients and stop looking at

the competition to decide your next move.

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If you are ready to show up as a

confident branding authority to help

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you serve your clients and consider

your goals and priorities too.

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If you want to make your mark in a

new, underserved niche of photography,

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then this is the place for you.

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I'm your host, Maddie Ashong, South

Dakota brand photographer and educator.

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I'm a straight shooting

Instagram obsessed.

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Diehard Swifty who has built a multi-six

figure business on the back of brand

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photography all while raising a

family, and I know you can do the same.

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Let's get ready to take it personally.

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We are in the heat of summer right now,

and if you're anything like me, you don't

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really want to spend your summer working.

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However, you do wanna make sure that your

business doesn't stop and specifically

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you don't stop making money while

you're taking time off this summer

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or during any time of the year that

you just wanna take a little break.

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And the key to being able to do that.

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Are through systems and automations.

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So today we are starting a short

series on the podcast covering

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systems and automations in your

brand photography business.

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And we're starting with the big one, the

tool that I truly don't think I could run

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my business without, and that is a CRM.

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So we're gonna dive into why A CRM is the

one tool that every brand photographer

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needs and why it's worth setting up

sooner than later, even though I know

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that it feels like a beast to set it

up, but I promise you it's going to

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save you so much time in the long run.

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If you are feeling overwhelmed

with running your business,

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not the shooting part, right?

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Not like the being with client's

part, but the running it part.

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This is probably.

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Why, if you have ever gotten an inquiry

from a client that you would love to

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work with, but you're just overwhelmed

at the thought of responding, even

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just responding to their inquiry

because you're like, I don't know

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what to say in this reply email.

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I don't know what to send them.

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I don't have a good process when it

comes to my proposal or my contract

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or my invoice, and then I have

to onboard this client and then

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I have to plan the session, and

then I have to shoot the session.

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That's the fun part.

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That's the easy part.

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But then I have to offboard the client

and I don't have a good process for that.

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Or maybe you're listening to me talk

right now and you're like, oh, I'm not

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doing any of this I am just shooting

the session and calling it a day.

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We have to have a conversation

and i'm glad you're here.

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We're coming into this without.

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Judgment of ourselves or other businesses

because here's the thing, CRMs, while

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they are fantastic, and I always

say my CRM was my assistant before I

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could hire an assistant, shout out to

Kenzie, but truly my CRM, my client

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relationship manager was my assistant

before I could actually afford one.

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However, I fully recognize that if

you've ever looked at a tool like

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Dato or HoneyBook before, those are

really the big two that I recommend.

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It just looks very overwhelming.

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It looks like there are

a lot of moving parts.

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Maybe you've even considered using

a smaller or a different CRM because

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it just feels like it would be less

overwhelming and it's easier to set up.

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It is completely worth it for you

to take some time to rip off that

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bandaid and to set something like

this up because of the amount of time

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it's gonna save in your business.

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If you are sending contracts and

Google Docs or invoices QuickBooks

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or emails from your inbox.

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You've got client details

scattered across your notes app,

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random dms, notion documents.

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You need A CRM.

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If you're juggling too many tools,

too many tabs and doing too many

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things manually, you need a CRM.

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And look, I'm not saying like

the CRM is the only tool you're

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gonna use in your business.

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No.

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Like there are definitely other tools

that we use as brand photographers.

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You need a gallery delivery software.

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Like there are other things that you need.

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Your CRM is going to be able to run

so much of the backend of the client

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experience part of your business, which

again, like that's the part that not

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to like beat a dead horse, that's the

part that your client experiences.

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So this is arguably one of the most

important pieces of your business.

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A CRM Short for Customer

Relationship Management Tool.

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This is really the nerve center of your

business and for brand photographers,

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that means one place to manage leads,

some proposals, book clients get paid.

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Deliver prep materials and really keep

track of every client interaction from

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inquiry to offboarding, even to rebooking.

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This is your client command center,

and when you set it up right, it runs

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so much of your business for you.

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I have been.

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Utterly unplugged from my business

for the last probably three weeks.

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If you're a mom in the summer, like

we have full-time childcare and

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I'm still in the car half the day.

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I don't understand.

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So I have been so unplugged and I

have closed over $10,000 worth of

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projects in the last couple of weeks.

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I should actually look up what the

actual dollar amount is, but I know

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for a fact it is over $10,000 worth

of projects, and that's because I

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have systems that are running for me.

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So when you set this up right.

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You have to do so much less.

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You have automated inquiry replies.

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So if someone sends you an inquiry

and is interested in booking, they

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get an immediate email back that

says, Hey, don't worry, your email

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has landed safe and sound in my inbox.

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They get booking workflows.

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So you send a proposal

to start the process.

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You don't have to worry about, oh, by

the way, you forgot to pay your invoice.

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Oh, by the way, your

questionnaire's not filled out yet.

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Oh, by the way, you

didn't sign your contract.

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Like, you don't have to worry

about that because it's automated.

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The reminders, everything is automated.

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Payment reminders, that's a big one.

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If people haven't paid you and you're

finding out about it three days

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later or three weeks later because

you finally see that they haven't

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paid you, that can be something

that's automated within your CRM.

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You don't have to send session prep

emails and like manually send those

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because it's a part of your process that

just runs seamlessly without you and

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so many other things that you can do.

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This is not just about looking

professional, although that is a

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large piece of it because perception

is everything, but it's also about

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creating a repeatable and consistent

client experience that saves you time.

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And increases your referrals.

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I think too often photographers

are slapping labels like luxury or

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premium on the services that they

are providing without actually

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having a luxury or premium service.

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Really, bomb photography is not what makes

you a luxury or premium photographer.

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Great client experience is.

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So now the big question,

which one do you use?

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The two that come up most often.

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And if you Google like photography,

CRMs, you're gonna see dub.

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You're gonna see HoneyBook.

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And those are the two that I recommend.

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I don't necessarily recommend other CRMs.

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Cloud Spot does have a really

great CRM, but it doesn't have all

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of the capabilities of something

like IDO and a HoneyBook does.

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I love Cloud Spot.

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They are my preferred gallery.

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Um, software, uh, but their CRM is just

a little bit different than Dsto and

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HoneyBook because of those capabilities.

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So here's a little bit of a quick

breakdown between DDO and HoneyBook.

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I have been vocal in the past about

preferring Dodo over HoneyBook,

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and Dodo is the CRM that I use.

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Years ago when I made that decision,

HoneyBook did not have as many of

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the capabilities that it has now.

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I have had the opportunity over the

last couple of months to chat with the

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HoneyBook team to take a look behind

the scenes of the HoneyBook CRM and

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kind of like dig around a little bit.

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I had a call with HoneyBook

a couple of weeks ago.

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I have been so pleasantly surprised

at the updates that they have made,

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and we're gonna talk a little bit

more about this in future episodes.

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But really between these two CRMs at this

point, it's kind of a flip of a coin.

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So I would say if you are

on HoneyBook or Dodo, like.

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You're doing something right.

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That's great.

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If you're between the two, pick the

one that you feel like, honestly,

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honestly, pick the one that you think

you wanna spend the most time in.

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You wanna make sure that the CRM

that you choose is a CRM that like

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you like to open it up every day.

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You like to spend time in there.

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I was on A CRM before

I moved to Dato that.

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I just didn't like, the UI was

not great, the user interface,

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it was just not my favorite.

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I didn't wanna spend time in there.

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And when it's your CRM, like you can and

should spend time in your CRM, you're

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not like babysitting anything, but like,

you should be opening it up and looking

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at that probably on a daily basis.

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And if you hate the look of it,

you're not gonna want to do that.

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So pick the one that you

want to spend time in.

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That feels like you could,

uh, maybe understand how it

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works a little bit faster.

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If there's one that as you're kind of

dinking around, like one that seems

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to make sense to you over the other,

pick that one and know that it's

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pretty much a coin flip at this point.

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There are so many things that you can do.

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Try not to get intimidated that there

are so many things that you can do

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because that's where I see a lot of

photographers get stuck they're like,

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there's just so much capability here.

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I'm going to pick something

that is less overwhelming.

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But then it's not able to really

scale and grow with your business.

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And at some point you're gonna have

to transfer everything into Dato or

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HoneyBook to be totally honest with

you, and then you're starting over.

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Take it from experience that sucks.

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So pick one that can grow with you.

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Pick one between Dato or HoneyBook.

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Either one will change your life.

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Truly, it just depends on how,

you want to run your business.

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Let's talk about a few things that your

CRM can automate that will immediately

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free up free space in your brain,

because these things are probably things

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that you're doing manually right now.

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So the first thing is inquiry replies.

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You can send a branded warm welcome

email automatically the moment

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someone fills out your contact form.

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This is a great way to use automated

emails in a way where people expect it.

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So I hear from so many photographers

who are scared to use automations

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because they're worried that people are

going to know that they're automated.

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This is an example of a place where

people expect it to be automated.

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They expect that if they send an email

through a contact form, they get an

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email back that says, got your email.

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I'll be in touch within

24 hours or 48 hours.

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They expect that, so give that to them.

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Use an inquiry response that is automated

that you don't have to think about.

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So if you're away from your desk,

or if it's a Tuesday evening,

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they're still going to get a thank

you so much, email, and then you

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can get back to it the next day.

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You can also automate a lot of scheduling.

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You can integrate your calendar to

offer discovery calls or sessions

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without that email back and forth.

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This is a huge way to

decrease booking friction.

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I've talked before about discovery calls.

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I'm a huge fan of discovery calls in

my business, and the way that I can get

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people on calls quickly is because I

send the Dato scheduler in my initial.

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Inquiry email, and that particular

email is not fully automated, but

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it is templated, so they get that

initial automatic inquiry email.

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Thank you so much.

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Got your message.

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I get back on my computer the next

morning, I pull up that templated email.

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I change a couple of things.

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It already has the scheduler inside

of it, and I fire that off so I'm

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not over here spiraling about how

to respond to an inquiry that I'm

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really excited about because I.

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Use the same template every single time.

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I just change a couple of things.

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So that's another area that

scheduling can be automated.

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So you're not like, does

this day work for you?

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Does this time work for you?

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Oh, that I have a meeting then.

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What about this?

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Nope.

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You're just sending your

scheduler and calling it a day.

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Proposals are a big one, and

we're gonna talk more about this

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in next week's episode where I

have my friend Coley James on.

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She's also the person that I

am doing a webinar with in the

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middle of July, on July 17th.

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And we're gonna dive even deeper into

these automations that you can set up

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in your brand photography business.

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I was not using proposals until I

started working with Coley, and I

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was feeling pretty good about the

automations I had in my business.

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Proposals took it to a

completely different level.

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If you are charging four figures plus

for brand photography, which that's

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great, you should be, but your proposal

does not match that luxury price point.

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We gotta talk.

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We talk a lot on this episode and I talk

a lot in my business about positioning,

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about how people are perceiving your brand

and how they see your brand in the market

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among other businesses and other brands.

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This is one of the ways that you can

continue to truly position yourself.

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As that premium brand photographer,

as that luxury brand photographer

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by having a luxury premium proposal,

send one beautifully branded link

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with a proposal with your pricing,

your contract, your invoice.

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Clients can pay and sign in minutes

because they have all of the

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information they need, and you have

wowed them with the proposal that

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matches the four figure price tag.

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You can also automate prep guides

and reminders as brand photographers.

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There are definitely things that

we do that cannot be automated

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or are difficult to automate.

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I teach putting together

a brand shoot guide.

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I think it is an incredibly important

part of the brand photography

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process, but it does take some time.

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Highly recommend outsourcing

it to your VA if you can.

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But if you're doing it yourself,

like it does take some time, so why

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not automate every other part of

your business so you can spend that

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time on the shoot guide and not be

panicked about wasting time on that.

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Making sure that your questionnaire

is automated to go out, that any

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other prep guides or information

or blog articles or whatever that,

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that is all automated to go out.

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You don't have to babysit it.

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You don't have to remember, oh,

it's time to send the questionnaire.

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That happens automatically.

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And then if they don't fill the

questionnaire out that there's

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a reminder that goes out.

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So you get your information in time to

actually put together the shoot guide.

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You can automate emails like what

to wear to your session, or Here's

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where to park at your session.

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And it's that sort of stuff that makes

clients feel taken care of without

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you having to remember to do it

every single time you book a client.

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And then follow up and thank yous.

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So making sure that you are ending your

session with an automated review request.

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So one month after your session.

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Can't believe it's been a month.

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Would love to get your feedback.

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Would love to like get a referral from

you or have you, you know, if you had a

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good experience, refer me to your friends.

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Having those touch points are part

of what helps your client continue

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to talk about you with their friends

and send more people their way.

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This opens up so many future

booking opportunities, not just with

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referrals, but also with that client.

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Do you have a process in your business

where clients feel invited to come back?

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Do your clients know that

entrepreneurs should have one brand

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session done every single year?

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Do they know that?

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Because if they don't know that,

and if that's not an automated

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part of your business, you're

literally leaving money on the table.

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People are not going.

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To be booking because they don't

understand that it's normal to get

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this session done every single year.

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These tiny moments build a

brand experience that clients

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remember and that they refer from.

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So here's the thing, brand photography.

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It's different from wedding

or family photography.

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Your clients are business owners and

they expect professionalism, especially

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if you want to start attracting more of

what I call commercial brand photography.

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So working with law firms and accounting

firms and dentist's office and doing

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more corporate headshots, they're very

familiar with working with a professional.

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And so you're gonna stand out like

a sore thumb if you don't have.

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A professional process, you're also

going to stand out in a positive way

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if you do have a professional process

because so many photographers don't.

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So many photographers are still

operating from that place of like

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how they used to operate when their

photography business was a hobby.

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Or a side hustle.

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And when you are in that four figure

price tag for your sessions, whether

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you're charging a thousand dollars or

2,500 or 5,000 or 7,000 or whatever

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it might be, you better have an

experience starting with your booking

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process that matches that price tag.

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These clients are familiar with client

portals and branded processes, and

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when you send a Google Doc contract or

forget a prep email, that doesn't feel

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good for them, but when you greet them

with a gorgeous onboarding process,

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a streamlined session prep guide and

these timely reminders, you become

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a trusted partner and that leads to

return, clients referrals, premium

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pricing, all the things that we want.

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If you are still in the, I will set

that up later phase, I would love to

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laughingly challenge you because CRMs are

not just for people with full calendars.

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They are for people who want

to build businesses that scale.

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I.

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Don't understand how you can

possibly scale without a CRM.

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I suppose you could, but

it is a recipe for burnout.

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So even if you're only shooting a

few sessions a month, start this now.

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Make your life even easier now.

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Get those systems in place so when

you do have more inquiries or have

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more clients, you're not scrambling.

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Or you can be like me and like

transition to shooting less and

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less just because it fits your.

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Lifestyle and you still have

a process that ultimately

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practically runs without you.

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Uh, most CRMs do offer like trial periods

or free starter accounts, so that's

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also a really good place to start.

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If you are looking at multiple CRMs,

if you're choosing between Dato or

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HoneyBook, open a free account at both

of them and see what one you prefer.

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In the show notes, I will put my

affiliate link for both Dato and for

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HoneyBook so you can get started.

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So if you're looking for one

business tool that will make the

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biggest difference in your workflow.

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It is A-C-R-M-A-C-R-M will save you time.

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It will save you money.

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I know that if you are in the beginning

stages of, um, like getting tools in your

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business or outsourcing in your business,

I totally understand that buying a CRM

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can feel like a pretty big leap, but

I promise you it will save you time.

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And it will save you money.

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So whether you go with Doto or HoneyBook,

set it up, automate what you can, your

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business is going to feel so much lighter

and come back next week when I have

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an episode with my friend Coley James.

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We have a really fun surprise coming

that I can't talk about yet, but we

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will talk about in next week's episode,

and we've got a couple of weeks of

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really great episodes about automations

and workflows and how you can.

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Help your business feel a little bit

lighter this summer and well into fall.

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Busy season two.

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Thank you so much for listening

to take it personally.

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If you haven't already, would you head

over to iTunes and leave us a review?

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This is the best way to let other

photographers know about the show and

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help keep us creating content you crave.

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And if you want more tips and tools to

build your personal photography brand,

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head over to my website, maddie pong.com.

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Here you can access my downloadable

ultimate personal brand session shot

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list to get your clients singing

your praises and browse my blog for

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more trade secrets to help you hone

your craft and grow your business.

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Love to learn while you listen.

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Visit maddie peon.com

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and click on podcast for all things.

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Take it personally.

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From show notes to recent episodes and

incredible guest profiles, remember

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friend, the most important part of

any brand is the people behind it.

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Branding and business is personal,

so let's take it personally.