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Honeybook Review

Honeybook: How I Organize My Small Business Behind the Scenes

Back when I first started my photography business there was no organization or carefully thought out methods behind the scenes. I was winging it and making things difficult for myself and my clients! I was asking for checks only – because I had no way to process credit cards. I was sending PDF contracts that had to be printed out, then either scanned back to me or physically mailed. I was keeping track of all due dates in a handwritten calendar and hoping I remembered every step of my client experience. Overall, I was just setting myself up to fail when my business expanded!

Luckily, I found Honeybook (grab a discount with my code!) pretty quickly and it turned my whole business organization around quickly! Honeybook is a huge timesaver and ultimately it led to the organization and systems that keep me on track behind the scenes! This client management software gives you a one stop shop for managing every aspect of your clients’ experience working with you. Here’s a breakdown of some of my favorite Honeybook features!

 

Pipeline & Projects

Honeybook has a pipeline where you can view where all of your current projects are in your process from a bird’s eye view. This has been a lifesaver for me! On average, I typically have about 60-70 projects going through my pipeline at a time (everything from current open inquiries to clients whose galleries I’m editing). Being able to glance quickly at everything and know how many are in each stage keeps me up to date on my workload and upcoming tasks I might need to focus on. This pipeline can be easily customized too so if you have specific steps you want to include you can add them in!

Each client in the pipeline also receives a project space. This is where they can log in and see all of their files and email communication from me (it syncs with Gmail!). I can also see where they are in my workflows so I know what step of my process is coming up next. Which brings me to….

 

Workflows

In Honeybook you can create workflows for each type of client. So, for example, I have a workflow set up for my wedding clients. It’s 25 steps which takes places over the year that I usually work with a couple as we prepare for their wedding day. It includes everything from my onboarding steps to asking for a review after their gallery is delivered. Each piece of the workflow is built by you, so when you’re setting up your workflows in Honeybook you can set reminders about when certain tasks need to be done. This way when you click into those project spaces you’ll see exactly what steps are coming up next!

 

Reminders

But you don’t just have to click into the project space to see what steps are coming up next! Honeybook also automates reminders for you in a task section. Each week I start out by reviewing up coming deadlines in the task section. I can see what clients need which emails and who has an upcoming session.

Honeybook also sends auto-reminders to my clients as well! I never want clients to be surprised by upcoming deadlines for files or an invoice date so I have my system set-up to send them a reminder a few days beforehand. This takes the task off my plate, gives me more time back and insures that I get paid on time!

 

Templates

Finally, I’d be leaving out one of the best features if I didn’t mention Honeybook’s templates! In Honeybook you can create templates for almost everything – brochures, invoices, contracts, emails, questionnaires and more! This means that for parts of my client process that get repeated often I don’t have to waste time rewriting content that I’ve already created. It’s saved in Honeybook as a template and when I’m ready can be sent to a client. However, the best part is that I don’t have to trade personalization for automation – before each piece is sent I have the opportunity to edit and personalize messages and files going out to my clients. This saves me time, but makes sure that I still am giving personal attention to every client I work with!

Overall, I can’t recommend Honeybook enough to my fellow small business owners! Not only is it a powerful tool that I wouldn’t be able to run my business without, but the customer service is incredible! They go above and beyond to help you onboard your existing business materials into the system and are there every step of the way to help if you have questions or an issue arises. The team is constantly releasing new features and frequently asks users for ways to improve! On top of this, my clients have also LOVED using Honeybook during their wedding planning process. I’ve gotten rave reviews that their documents are in one location, all our emails are in one thread and that it’s such an easy to use tool.

If you want to try out Honeybook for yourself click here for a free trial! This link will take you to a place you set-up a free trial and if you decide to use Honeybook you’ll get 50% off!

 

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I'm a Virginia wedding photographer serving the DMV and worldwide. I strive to balance the composed with the candid and capture vibrant, timeless images for my couples.

hi, i'm maddy

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