How to organising the work of a photographer: 7 keys to success

Becoming a good photographer is undoubtedly the basis for the success of any photography business. But to turn your passion into a profitable and sustainable profession, it’s not enough just to take amazing photos. It is just as important to know how to manage a series of key tasks that every creative entrepreneur must master. One of them, and perhaps one of the most crucial, is learning how to organising the work of a photographer efficiently. These management actions, even if they sometimes remain in the background, are fundamental to achieve the professional stability that you want so much. Having control of your time, planning your projects well and keeping order in your workflow will allow you to focus on what really matters: growing as a photographer and making a living out of it.

To help you take that step and take your business to the next level, at Arcadina we have created a practical guide with 7 essential tips to organising the work of a photographer. In it we show you how to structure your day to day, manage administrative and technical tasks, and achieve greater productivity without losing your creativity. We are sure it will be of great help to you.

 

Learn how to organise a photographer’s work with this practical guide and start succeeding!

Do you know how to organising the work of a photographer? Find out why it is essential

 

When you have a constant workload, it’s easy for your day to fill up quickly with the more obvious tasks of the profession: shooting shoots, editing features, delivering assignments, responding to clients, among many other jobs. However, if you want to organising the work of a photographer strategically, it is essential that you go beyond these operational tasks. There are a series of complementary actions that, although not directly related to taking photos, are just as important for the development and sustainability of your business. We are referring to tasks related to marketing, planning, administrative management and continuous improvement, aspects that are often neglected due to lack of time or lack of knowledge, but which are key both to take off professionally if you are just starting out, and to consolidate your career and maintain a constant flow of clients if you have been in the sector for some time.

These activities to organising the work of a photographer in the best possible way not only require you to know what to do, they also require you to have good time management skills. Learning to plan your week, setting aside time to work on your business (and not just day-to-day deliveries) and maintaining a balance between the creative and the strategic will make all the difference. Being clear about how you organise yourself will allow you to move towards your goals without urgent work consuming what is really important.

7 keys to organising a professional photographer’s day successfully

 

Beyond the time you spend on photo shoots, from the moment the client walks through the door until you deliver the edited images, if you really want to create, consolidate or grow your photography business, it is essential that you incorporate into your daily routine a series of actions that, although not directly related to taking photos, are essential for building a solid and profitable brand. We are referring to those tasks that are less visible, but absolutely necessary, such as planning strategies, managing your online presence, working on your positioning or establishing more efficient internal processes. These are actions that underpin your business and differentiate it in an increasingly competitive market.

The challenge in organising the work of a photographer, as you well know, lies in time. Because if there is something that is usually scarce in the life of this type of professional, it is precisely that: time to stop, to train, to analyse, or simply to plan with perspective. We know that dedicating hours to a marketing course or designing a business strategy can seem like an impossible mission… or maybe not so much?

To help you find that necessary space and start including these tasks in your daily life without chaos overtaking you, at Arcadina we have prepared a practical guide with 7 simple actions that you can start implementing today. Tasks that, although they don’t involve a camera or editing, will allow you to make a living from what you like most with greater stability, focus and professionalism.

1# Grow your photography business by setting goals and sticking to them

There is no more demotivating feeling than waking up on a Monday without knowing what lies ahead in your working day. This uncertainty not only generates stress, but also reduces your productivity. That’s why, if you want to learn how to organising the work of a photographer, one of the first habits you should acquire is to plan your week in advance. And for this planning to be effective, you should ideally work with well-defined goals and objectives.

To get off to a good start, we recommend that, at the beginning of each year, you take a break from your routine and reflect on what you really want to achieve over the next 12 months. Set clear, realistic and measurable goals, but also ones that challenge you a little. For example: increase turnover by 20% or attract an average of 3 new customers per quarter.

Once you have those annual goals on the table, break them down into smaller tasks that you can distribute in your monthly and weekly work calendar. This approach will help you stay on track, avoid improvisation and make steady progress towards your goals.

In addition, at the end of each month (or each quarter), it is advisable to take stock of your professional activity: check whether you are meeting the objectives set, analyse what has worked well and what needs to be improved. This regular monitoring is key to not deviate from your plans and to adjust your strategy if necessary . And so that this routine does not become overwhelming, also divide your monthly goals into simpler and more concrete actions that you can spread throughout the week. This way, your planning will be much more realistic and manageable.

Here is a practical example to help you better understand how to apply this method step by step.

Case study: creating and planning a goal for your photography business

Let’s suppose that one of your goals for this year is to increase the visibility of your photography courses for beginners and for this purpose you have decided to create a YouTube channel where you are going to show your work and some tips for your potential students.

Your annual goal is to increase your visibility by 20% compared to the previous year. If you have to face this challenge, you won’t know where to start or what actions to take, so it is important that you get used to, on the one hand, breaking down each of your ideas and, on the other hand, dividing the tasks into months or weeks.

• Step 1: Create a YouTube channel. Month of January.
• Step 2: Create content for the channel. Months of February, March and April.
• Step 3: Publicise the channel. Month of May.

This could be a first planning of your big goal, then in each month of work you will have to break down each task in more detail, e.g. for step 2:

• Create a list of possible ideas for creating a YouTube video.
• Writing a script.
• Video recording.
• Edit the video.
• Upload it to YouTube.

Organise your work week with foresight and focus

Once you have your annual and, at least, quarterly goals well defined, ideally, once a week (for example, on a Friday afternoon) you should plan all the workload you are going to have in the next working days. In this planning you have to take into account:

• Organise your diary and make a note of how much time each week’s photo shoot will take up. This way you won’t miss any appointments and you won’t overlap several photo shoots. If you use Arcadina’s booking calendar service you can avoid this step or reduce it considerably since all the appointments made through your website will appear directly in your usual calendar.
• Always reserve time in your schedule for editing work. Depending on the number of reports you have each week, you can modify and adapt these hours in your calendar.
• Include the goals you have planned to improve your photography business in small weekly actions, this way it will be easier for you to carry them out.
• During the weeks when you have less work to do, take the opportunity to improve some aspects of your digital business. You can renew the photos in your portfolio, upload an article to the blog or give a new look to the aesthetics of your website.
• Always leave time for unforeseen events. Illnesses, delays with a session or even the arrival of new clients who show up unexpectedly.
• Etc.

Track your goals and progress on a weekly basis

To keep track of your progress, you can help yourself with some of the tools that you can find on the Internet for free, such as: Trello, Toggl, asana, etc. or a simple Excel sheet in which you can write down all the tasks that you are going to do each month. As you progress in your weekly work, mark the tasks that are already completed. This way you will be able to check very quickly if you are fulfilling the planning of your goals and how far you have left to reach them.

At first, you may think that this kind of tasks are a waste of time and that you manage just fine as you have been doing so far, writing down all your tasks on your yellow post-its. But when you make this activity a weekly habit and see for yourself how you optimise your time, we are sure that you won’t be able to do without this productive habit. Because starting each week with a clear idea of all the work you have ahead of you will give you much more peace of mind and will make you value every little achievement you make.

The idea of this work methodology is that you set small daily goals and check day by day (or at least once a week) that you are achieving them. This way you will end the day with the feeling that you have done a lot for your digital photography business.

2# Make your business work for you: automate repetitive tasks and gain efficiencies

In your work as a professional photographer, there is a reality that you probably already know: there are tasks that, although not directly related to your passion for photography, are essential for your business to function properly. These tasks, which tend to be more administrative or strategic, include for example:

• Financial management: create and send invoices, control receipts, manage payments and prepare documentation for the manager or quarterly closing.
• Marketing and visibility: find new clients, manage advertising campaigns, keep your blog updated or take care of your presence on social networks.
• Business development: explore new revenue streams, create service offerings or design strategies to increase your turnover.
• Customer service and supplier management: answering emails, answering calls, preparing quotations or coordinating deliveries.

And we could go on with many other examples…

While all of these tasks are necessary, they should not take up the majority of your time. Ideally, as your business grows, you should be able to delegate or automate many of them so that you can concentrate on what you are really passionate about: creating. To help you in this process, here are a series of ideas and tools that will allow you to carry out these tasks in a faster, more agile and efficient way, without robbing you of your energy and creative focus.

Day-to-day tasks you can automate in your photo business

• Automate the emails you send to your customers and to those who are not yet customers and are looking for more information. You can also prepare a list of regular replies so that you don’t always have to write the same thing.
• Create templates of your quotations and contracts so that you only have to modify the details of each client.
• Consider creating a list of subscribers (by email, SMS or WhatsApp) to massively send offers, news or announce new services to people who are interested in your services.
• Include as much information as possible about your sessions on your photography website to minimise the time you spend answering emails or calls answering the same questions.
• Schedule your social media posts so you don’t have to check Facebook, Instagram or Twitter every day.
• Include in your website an automatic sales system for your photographs, so that while you spend your time on other matters, you will be able to continue selling photographs through your website.
• Etc.

Organise all your session information, dossiers and frequently asked questions

When launching a new photo shoot, it is important that you define a series of aspects, such as: how long will the shoot last, will it be a temporary or permanent shoot, what will be included on the day of the shoot, more than one client, several wardrobe changes, etc., will it be a studio or outdoor shoot, what products will you include for your clients, digital photos, enlargements, etc., how will you offer these products to them? Digital photos, enlargements, etc., how are you going to offer them these products? Are you going to have a digital platform or are they going to have to come to your studio, etc.?

As you can see there are many answers that you are going to have to define when launching a new report to the market and the ideal is that all this information, once you have planned it, is also very clear on your website so that potential clients have all the information in their possession to decide whether they are interested in hiring you or not.

In addition to including a section on your website with all this information for everyone to see, you will also be able to create a “hidden” page or landing page, like a dossier, to share the URL with the people you want. And thanks to the WhatsApp Business service that you can include in your Arcadina website, you will be able to send all this information privately to any user who wants to ask you a question through your site’s WhatsApp.

Turn your website into an online shop to sell your photos

Whether your business focuses on selling photographs for various types of clients, such as nature, landscape or sports shoots, or whether your speciality is social photography, it is an excellent opportunity to offer the possibility to sell your images in public galleries. This allows you to generate additional income from stock photos or your latest travels, while you concentrate on other important tasks. By making your photos available to anyone with access to the Internet, you open a door to a global market without having to invest additional time.

On the other hand, if your main focus is social or studio photography, and you don’t usually take photos with the intention of selling them to strangers, offering your customers the ability to buy, select, download and order directly from their homes is a very interesting option. Today, with the rise of online commerce, digital transactions are the norm, and giving your customers this convenience can make all the difference. Private galleries not only enhance the customer experience, but also allow you to automate processes, such as order management, which will help you free up your schedule and manage your time more efficiently.

Offers online booking of photo shoots

Another task that takes up a lot of your time in the studio when you are not shooting a photo shoot is client management. Answering phone calls or emails to check your schedule and make an appointment is a job that you can save yourself thanks to the booking calendar. Thanks to this service your clients will be able to choose the photo shoot they are most interested in, select the day and time that best suits them and leave the booking paid for.

Moreover, you will also be able to create and send session contracts online. Can you imagine the amount of time you will be able to save thanks to these 2 Arcadina business solutions?

3# Make the most of your working hours and eliminate distractions

 

Although we may not always be aware of it, every day you may be wasting more time than you realise on tasks that don’t add real value to your photography business. Activities that seem harmless or even productive on the surface can become real obstacles to your daily performance. A common example? Logging on to social networks with the intention of replying to a message from a client or checking your latest post… and ending up watching videos or browsing content that has nothing to do with your objectives. This small distraction, repeated several times a day, can mean hours of lost work per week. And it is not the only one.

These “time thieves” can be both external (such as constant notifications, interruptions or tasks imposed on you by others) and internal (procrastination, lack of organisation, jumping between tasks without a clear order, etc.). Although they often go unnoticed, they have a big impact on your productivity and take you away from what really matters: growing your business, improving your work and having more time for yourself.

Here are some examples of these time thieves that you should detect and control if you want to optimise your working day.

Practical tips to increase your productivity as a professional photographer

• Reading emails that are not important, being distracted by social media or your mobile phone are small habits that we have acquired automatically and that are making us less productive in our working day.
• Just as you do when you’re on a photo shoot, avoid distractions from your phone when you’re doing other tasks, such as editing photos or improving the content of your photography website. To do this, it’s as simple as disabling social media or email notifications on your phone.
• Do you know if your photography website is getting a lot of visitors? Nowadays there are programmes that analyse every step a user takes on your website. You can also automate these queries to use the right amount of time to analyse this data.
• Did you know that there are ways to stop advertising emails from arriving in your inbox? As well as not annoying you and taking up space, they will help you to avoid being distracted.
• Having each customer’s information well organised will save you a lot of time. You can create folders in your email and on your PC to organise each client’s information and the emails they send you. You can’t even imagine how much time you will save searching for their emails.
• A trick that can also work for you is to plan small chunks of time (e.g. late in the day) to read emails or check your social media and reserve the first hours of the day for more important work or work that requires more concentration (such as editing photos, looking for clients or improving the content of your photography website).
• Etc.

Rest is an essential factor in maintaining good performance, especially in tasks outside the creative field

We know that all the marketing, business management, accounting, etc. tasks that, in short, are not directly related to taking photos bore you and whenever possible you leave them for another time. As we have already mentioned, creating a calendar of daily tasks will help you face these challenges with much more encouragement, but as with everything in life, we also encourage you to take it easy.

Our recommendation is that when you start with a task, no matter how tedious it may seem, try to finish it completely before moving on to something else. If you leave it unfinished and move on to other things and then come back to it later, the total time you will need to complete this goal will be much longer.

In order not to lose focus, one option is to take short breaks from time to time, especially if you find it difficult to tackle a task, such as writing an article. For these cases you can use the Pomodoro technique, which consists of doing small 25-minute tasks with a 5-minute break between each one. This way you will be able to progress little by little in your most tedious tasks without having the feeling that you have been sitting in the chair in the photography studio all morning.

Develop the habit of prioritising your tasks to make better use of your time

When planning your working day, it is not enough to make a simple to-do list: it is essential that you learn to prioritise. Not all tasks have the same impact on your business, and knowing how to differentiate which ones are really strategic will allow you to progress more effectively towards your goals.

A good way to do this is to ask yourself: Does this task bring me closer to an important goal? For example, if your goal is to get three new clients this quarter, perhaps the most relevant thing to do is to work on a recruitment campaign or improve your portfolio. On the other hand, if you receive an email from a client with a query at that moment, even if it is important to maintain a good relationship, you can probably respond a few minutes later, once you finish the key task you are already focused on.

The key is to maintain balance: it’s not about ignoring operational or urgent tasks, but making sure that the really important things don’t always get left for “when you have time”. Learning to prioritise is also learning to protect your time to move forward on what really makes your photography business grow.

4# Training should always be part of your objectives as a photographer

In addition to the training as a photographer that you should never miss throughout your professional career, it is important that you also take into account when choosing a course or training a series of less artistic and creative aspects such as: marketing techniques, client acquisition, business management, SEO, social networks, website creation, etc. The truth is that the list can be very long, but at least one of these topics at the end of the year you should touch more in depth in order not to be left behind and get the stability you need with your digital photography business.

Nowadays there are hundreds of classroom and online training courses on almost any subject you are interested in and if you do a little research you will have no trouble finding quality training courses focused on improving the business of people who are starting out on their own.

As part of the creation of a specific website for photographers with the option of including a digital business with multiple functionalities, some time ago at Arcadina we launched a very interesting training course. Below we are going to share with you an article where we explain it in more detail.

>> Get to know Arcadina’s most comprehensive training for photographers

5# Raise the visibility of your photographic work and get more people to discover you

To continue with this guide on how to organising the work of a photographer, it is crucial to talk about a fundamental aspect: the visibility of your business. No matter how many spectacular photos you take or how satisfied your clients are, if you don’t get the world to see your work, all the effort you put in will fall short. That’s why it’s essential that you set aside time in your schedule to plan activities that will increase your visibility. Whether it’s through social media, advertisements, feature articles or updating your website, these actions will help you grow your online presence. Here are some key strategies to achieve this:

• Keep your website up to date: make sure the content and images in your galleries are up to date and represent the best of your work.

• Create a YouTube channel: share valuable content, such as tutorials, behind-the-scenes or practical tips, to attract more people interested in photography.

• Be active on social media: post regularly, interact with your audience and organise virtual exhibitions to generate more visibility.

• Write relevant articles: create content of interest to your potential customers, which will also improve your search engine ranking.

• Use online ads: Google and social media ads are a great way to expand your reach and attract new customers.

• Identify where your customers are: research which platforms they spend their time on and focus your efforts on those channels.

By incorporating these strategies, you can significantly increase your visibility and ensure that your work reaches more people.

6# Take care of your personal brand and communication with the client

Personal branding is one of the keys to standing out in the competitive world of photography. Your professional image is not only reflected in your portfolio, but also in how you present yourself and how you interact with your clients throughout the whole process. To take care of it you have to take into account a series of aspects:

• Define a visual style: your brand should have a clear visual identity that remains consistent in all aspects, from your website to your social media. Choose a colour palette, typography and graphic elements that represent your photographic style and are easily recognisable.

• Create an authentic brand voice: your tone of communication is just as important. If you’re a photographer specialising in weddings, for example, your voice might be warm and emotive; if you work in commercial photography, it can be more direct and professional. The important thing is to be authentic and make sure your voice comes through in all your interactions, from emails to social media posts.

• Work on clear, friendly and professional communication: the way you communicate with your customers should be clear, respectful and professional. Answer their questions precisely and without unnecessary technicalities.

• Offer a complete experience: your customer experience should be seamless from the first contact to the final delivery. Make sure every interaction is seamless, from the initial consultation to the moment you hand over the photos. Personalise every detail so that the client feels valued and well cared for.

By taking care of all these aspects, you will build a strong personal brand that will not only attract more customers, but also ensure long-term relationships.

7# Set aside time to think and grow your business

And as a final tip for organising the work of a photographer, let’s talk about time. As a photographer, it’s easy to get caught up in the daily grind of shooting, editing and meeting clients. But for your business to grow, it’s vital to set aside time for reflection, analysis and planning. Success depends not only on your skill behind the camera, but also on how you manage and grow your business.

• Take time to review your finances, marketing and goals: every week, set aside time to assess the state of your finances. Review revenues, expenses, and profit margins. It is also essential to evaluate your marketing strategies: are you reaching the right audience, and are your advertising campaigns working? Reflect on your short- and long-term goals, making sure you are making progress.

• Reflect on what is working and what you can improve: analysing what is working allows you to replicate those successes and identifying areas that need improvement will allow you to make adjustments before they become bigger problems. Perhaps your workflow needs optimisation, or your pricing strategy is not aligned with the market.

• Be inspired, innovate and take firm steps towards your dream business: use this time to be inspired. Research new trends, learn from other entrepreneurs and look for innovative ways to offer something unique to your customers. Creativity should not be limited to photos; you should also innovate in your business approach. By investing time in thinking strategically, you will get closer to building the photography business of your dreams.

By integrating these practices into your routine, you will not only improve your business, but also ensure that you keep moving towards a successful and sustainable future.

Knowing how to organising the work of a photographer will be key to the success of your digital photography business

As you can see, working as a photographer is not just about taking pictures. You could say that this is the pretty face of this profession. But, as you know, if you want to dedicate yourself professionally to this vocation, you must dedicate time to other less pleasant but very important tasks and learning how to organising the work of a photographer is the first step to reach that longed-for stability.

Because if you know how to optimise your time and learn to delegate and automate certain tasks, you will be able to improve your photography business by spending less time on those jobs you are so lazy to do.

• Plan your work each week and forget about writing down your bookings on a piece of paper. As an idea you can use the Google Calendar app that will allow you to check your tasks and appointments from any mobile device, PC or Tablet and connect it with your Booking reservations.

• Automate the tasks that are repeated over and over again, such as sending emails, reporting information, creating quotes, creating social media posts or articles on your photography blog. And if you find that you still need more time for your shoots, delegate this type of work.
• Offer your clients the possibility to book a photo shoot without having to contact you.
• Avoid distractions during the most productive times of the day and follow the schedule you have set for each week.
• Spend some time looking at other colleagues’ photos, whether they are in your field or in other fields. This will help you to be more creative and get ideas from here and there.
• Practice new editing techniques with Photoshop and don’t forget about AI.
• Never stop looking for customers, they are the basis of your success.

• Set aside time and always try to leave time for leisure.
• Create a strong personal brand and take care of communication with your customers.
• And spend some of your time thinking, creating and growing.

At Arcadina we are always here to help you and as well as offering advice on how to make your digital photography business a success, we can also help you set it up. Would you like to try our business solutions for free? You have 14 days to see what they look like inside.

 

 

 Today we are going to share with you the testimony of Víctor from Pepe Fotógrafos.

>> How does a wedding photographer achieve success? Víctor from Pepe Fotógrafos tells us about it

And to end this article we would like to know what actions you take to organising the work of a photographer? We would love to hear from you in the comments.

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