A freelance photographer is responsible for finding new clients, shooting photographs, editing them, and making invoices.
These small tasks can impede your productivity. However, you can always make most of your productive hours with these productivity tips and keep earning money by doing what you love to do.
1. Automate Time-Consuming Tasks
To become a more productive freelance photographer, you need to streamline all the tasks through automation like email marketing, bidding, and booking. You can utilize various available tools in order to automate these responsibilities.
Stop sending emails manually to your prospective clients and automate email marketing. You can try free online web apps like Moosend, Mosaico, BEEFree, Dyspatch, etc.
You can also use tools and plugins to automate bookings with features like specifying client location, two-way Google Calendar syncing, and multiple payment options.
2. Create Templates for Frequent Email Communications
Do you find yourself writing the same email repeatedly? You can save time by creating customizable templates. These are useful to send to clients at various points in your workflow, such as the introductory email.
Once you have reached that workflow segment, find a suitable template. After that, you just need to include the client's information before sending it. As a result, you can avoid making typos in a hurry and save time by writing new emails each time.
3. Create a Dedicated Workspace
While many freelance photographers work from home, you should not end up editing pictures half-lying in bed in most cases. You might be able to get away with working casually in some situations. However, you’ll be tempted to get distracted over time.
To be productive, you should have a dedicated workspace. It’s best to use a spare room as your workspace. Alternatively, you can set up a desk in your living room or bedroom.
Besides having a dedicated workstation, you also need to stay organized. You should keep your photography equipment in a designated spot so that you can find it easily. Likewise, your desk should be free of any unnecessary items, and the same holds true for your computer desktop.
4. Set Up the Right Systems for Effective Photo Editing
In the photography business, editing photos is one of the most time-consuming tasks. If you can spend less time editing, you can utilize that time to do more photoshoots and land new clients.
The best method to improve editing efficiency is to edit photographs in large batches. You can also create custom keyboard shortcuts for the most-used editing action. These will save you from thousands of keystrokes during photo editing sessions.
5. Maintain a Calendar
Even as a freelancer, you need to maintain a calendar for your schedules. Use apps like Calendly to set meetings and appointments with your clients. Such applications allow you to designate a specific time for meetings.
If you are freelancing besides doing a full-time job, these apps will protect your work time and schedule the freelance tasks on the remaining time blocks.
6. Manage Social Media Posts With a Scheduling App
While working as a freelancer, you must leverage your social media accounts to market your services. However, creating social media content and publishing them during the best time of the day can break your concentration and hamper productivity.
Get out of this situation by planning ahead and scheduling your posts. Prepare content in bulk for platforms like Instagram when it’s convenient for you. You can take assistance from online social media post scheduler tools that will live the posts on your behalf when your followers are most active.
7. Always Keep a Notebook Handy
Photography involves creative ideas, and as a freelance photographer, it’ll be disheartening to forget some innovative ideas because you didn’t note that down.
You may come up with ideas to enhance your photography business or practices at any time. It would be foolish to depend on your memory to remember that later. Also, its immediate implementation may not always be possible by leaving aside the other important tasks.
Therefore, you always need a notebook with you to jot down the ideas you get. It’ll make sure that you can note down whenever the inspiration strikes and have a look at it later. If you are not into pen-and-paper, there are many note-taking apps available for desktop and mobile devices.
8. Build a Portfolio Website
A photographer is an artist, and your photography portfolio will speak louder than any words. Every time someone approaches you and asks for your portfolio, don’t keep sharing random photographs via email or WhatsApp.
You can showcase the best examples of your photography through a well-oriented and structured portfolio website. Next time someone wants your portfolio, share the website to impress them.
While making a portfolio website, make sure it has the following features:
- A responsive user interface (UI) suitable for every device.
- Contact information with proper visibility.
- Your best images with the option to view in the original size.
- Minimal, neat, and modern design.
- Links to all your social media accounts.
9. Immediately Respond to Emails and Phone Calls
Every client is precious for a freelance photographer. Ignored phone calls and delayed response to emails may cost you a potential client. Someone contacting you for a photography service means they have found you and are considering hiring you at that particular time.
Late response means they may approach someone else and hire them instead. Quickly get done with the conversation and get hired. Prompt response will also ensure one task less on your to-do list and complete concentration on the work.
10. Fix a Time to Browse the Internet
As a photographer, you already spend a big chunk of your time looking at the computer screen for photo and video editing. By minimizing your web browsing time, you will reduce the strain on your eyes and brain.
Limit the amount of time you spend on the internet and social media every day. Although reading informative articles may seem productive, it takes away your attention and hinders productivity. You can take help from the apps that control your social media and internet usage.
Thriving as a Productive Freelance Photographer
As a freelance photographer, you can boost your productivity by keeping all distractions at bay. In addition to this, switching to online task management apps can help you become a more efficient freelance photographer.