I’m here to share one of my BIGGEST SECRETS today. One of the top ways I save time and can WORK LESS and grow my business? It’s this: automations in my photography business. It’s such a great feeling to work IN your business instead of ON it! With automations, you can spend more time with family and friends, working with clients, or doing whatever it is you want that isn’t work!! 

Use Templates for everything! 

Whether it’s emails, invoices, contracts… Seriously, everything can have a template! For example, on my Trello board I track every client and in order to do that, I have a card that’s a template of my workflow I can copy every time I book a new client. It keeps everything consistent but it also saves me TIME! My emails? I have a base template created that I can add something personal to before I send it.

I organize all of my email templates in Honeybook! Don’t forget if you want a free trial and $200 off Honeybook, use my link! I store my workflows, questionnaires, email templates, and so much more here. Having everything in one place means that my business is way more organized and I save time! I honestly don’t think I could run a consistent business without Honeybook!

Batch Working!

When I say batch working, I mean focusing on the same type of tasks all at once instead of over a week. I do this especially with social media! I sit and write one to two weeks of content at one time, once a week. It helps me stay in the mindset of the type of task I’m doing. I use Later for this. It’s my FAVORITE tool for social media!! I seriously love that I know social media is done once I’ve spent a half hour writing for the week. 

Remember, we all WANT to believe multi-tasking is productive, but the reality is that it’s not at all productive. Switching back and forth between tasks a lot can feel the same way. Your brain has to switch between the tasks and it can be harder for you. I get more done when I work in batches personally and it’s such a relief to know that content or work is done for a few weeks at a time is completed!! 

You can find micro and macro ways to apply this to your business. A quick and easy way to start doing this is your inbox!! Instead of answering every time an email comes in, set aside 2 or 3 times a day to go in and answer ALL of your emails that have come in instead. Then you won’t have to jump from whatever you’re doing to email mode and you can focus instead on what’s in front of you!

Integrate your Programs! 

The third main thing I want you to think about when it comes to automations is the concept of integrating and automating your programs. We all use a bunch of programs in our business – let’s be real. So, why not get them to work together? That’s integration. An easy example is creating your contact form in Honeybook and then adding it to your website. When a lead comes in, it auto populates information in the new project, adds the date to my calendar, and everything I need is ready to go once I go to answer their email. It’s SO seamless and I don’t have to waste time adding all the information manually!! 

Another great example is Zapier. It takes programs and links them together – I love to think of it as a little imaginary assistant connecting all my software!! I use this to have an automated response go to my clients after they fill out the contact form so I’m in their inbox right away! I also use it to link my Calendly calendar where my clients book a session to my Trello board. It then creates a new card and I don’t have to do ANYTHING! The new workflow steps are added to their card and I didn’t do anything at all! How amazing is that?!? 

Also, seriously if you aren’t using Calendly yet to schedule your sessions, meetings, and phone calls… get on this!! You can set up when you want to shoot or have time available for calls or meetings and they can go in and schedule. You don’t have to email back and forth with anyone and there’s no fear of meetings overlapping. It’s SUCH a great tool to use!! I know it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of time lost when you schedule via email, but each one might take 5 minutes… and now if you’re booking multiple calls, meetings, or sessions a week, it adds up – and there goes a whole hour of your work time! 

Workflows

I’ve touched a little bit on workflows throughout this already… but I want to remind you that workflows are SUPER important for your business. These workflows help you see what’s going on with everyone without having to remember it by yourself. It helps streamline your process, your to-do list, and just your life in general. If you’re not already using workflows already, start figuring out how you can add them to literally anything you do in your business! 

Why Automation Matters

Automations allow us to free up time and mental space to work on our business. Or not work at all! When you have systems that work FOR you, you’re able to put your brainpower where it’s really needed for tasks like content creation, editing or your actual hands-on client work. I hope that you’re able to find some ways to save yourself time (and stress!) with automations in your own business!! If you need any help at all or need help brainstorming your own workflows, automation sequences, and anything else, leave a comment below!