4 COMPANIES THAT I CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT AND WHY YOU NEED THEM IN YOUR WORKFLOW

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3/23/17

Good morning friends, fellow creatives, clients, and anyone else who is awesome and stumbled upon my little nook on the vast world wide web.  I am so happy you are here and that you are following along with me on this journey.  And let’s be honest, being a small business owner is not always easy, and it’s not always easy to manage efficiently. I like to give credit where credit is due, so I want you to meet some of my friends and companies that I could not live without.  They help keep my business up and running, and that provides YOU (my clients) with beautiful, user-friendly avenues that make it easier on us both.

1. TAVE

So without further ado: meet Tave!  Tave manages all of our workflows.  With a visual platform that allows us to view each step of each of our workflows, and yes, check off each task as they are completed, it is a MUST when trying to wear all the hats like many of us small business owners do.

Tave also tracks all of you wonderful clients of ours, any other leads that may come in so we do not miss a single lead or inquiry.  As many creatives know, relying solely on email to track leads, many get sent to spam, get lost in the abyss of the internet or who knows what. With Tave, we have a streamlined process in tracking each and every person that tries to contact us.

Tave also helps manages with invoicing and contracts.  We hardly have to think about what step to do next, as many of our client communications are automated and integrated with our workflows. It is an incredible tool to have and helps to make us more efficient, helps us hit our deadlines, and just makes life easy…and we like easy.  Also, have I mentioned how incredible the tech support is with Tave?! It is by far the best in the industry and we are so grateful for the Tave team. As a thank you to our readers Tave has graciously given you a discount to try them out! Use THIS link and code CARRIEMCGUIRE  an extended 60-day trial and 10% off a monthly plan for 12 months after the trial ends.

2. SHOOTPROOF

 Client view gallery homepage

Next, meet our friends over at Shootproof!  Shootproof because we live in the digital age, we understand how incredibly important and valuable digital files are for our clients.  With Shootproof, this company provides us with the ability to share beautiful online galleries with our clients.  With a modern, yet timeless and classic aesthetic, Shootproof is the leader in the industry and we just cannot say enough about how beautiful the galleries are.  It does not stop there, either.

Shootproof also gives our clients the capability to share their galleries with family and friends.  This helps tremendously with our wedding clients who have family and friends from out of town. No more hassle of CDs, DVDs, and USBs.  Shootproof provides the capability to be just fingertips and seconds away from their gorgeous galleries.  Within these galleries, it has a streamlined process of ordering prints and products with just a few short clicks.  Shootproof, you make our hearts beat for you.  We are so grateful for your company.  Now they are even more awesome because they are giving you 15% OFF  your first year with my code  MCGUIRE17

3. PHOTOMECHANIC

Photo Mechanic is the next lifesaver!  Ohh Photo Mechanic where have you been all my life?!  As a professional photographer, the first step in the post-processing process is culling/sorting each gallery’s images.  There are just not enough words to fully express the amount of time I have saved. Unlike Lightroom and ACR, you do not have to wait for the pictures to render, Photo Mechanic is almost instant.

And not only that, if you are anything like me, and when you see that JAW DROPPING image float across the culling process and you feel like you HAVE to get your hands on it to start editing, you cannot do that in Photo Mechanic.  There are no editing options, so I can cull the entire gallery without getting distracted.  Thus, speeding up my process. I believe in this company so much that I would like to give away a FREE license to Photomechanic! All you have to do is leave a comment on the blog about your favorite company that has helped your workflow! Winner will be chosen at random on May 9th!

4. BLOGSTOMP

And lastly, BlogStomp, how I love thee.  With their quirky sayings making me smile and making my day just a tad brighter, you are the end all be all to arranging blog post images in a professional, modern, and beautiful collage.

Not only does BlogStomp have an incredibly easy user interface for creating collages, it literally takes just a few clicks to create them. Goodbye, are the days of hours spent in Photoshop trying to do this manually.

And another amazing feature- you can post directly from BlogStomp into your website for a seamless and easy process.

Want to check them out? The code will score you 20% off in their store! Use code STOMPITUP

Click here to visit the BLOG STOMP site.

*Wait! there is one more!*

GRAMMARLY

OK, I know I said 4 companies, but after writing this blog something dawned on me! The very company I use to check all my spelling and grammar was left out! Trust me when I say that I CANNOT live without Grammarly. Truth be told, I am not the best at grammar. The weekly progress reports I get are so helpful too! They tell you how many words you write, trends in your writing patterns and what your most common mistakes are. This helps me so much because now I am more aware. There is a little green “G” at the bottom of everything I put online, including facebook posts! How cool is that?! I encourage you to give it a try. One more thing that is pretty amazing, they even have a plagiarism check to ensure that you are writing original content. Check it out, trust me it will give you peace of mind next time you write.  You can sign up for a FREE account HERE.  I opted for the paid subscription because there were so many great features!

These are just a few of my favorite companies in the photography industry.  Should you have questions, do not hesitate to reach out!  Cheers to an amazing week, friends!

-Carrie

  1. Rachael says:

    This is an awesome blog! My favorite would have to be tave as well! I am able to hold all that I need every though I do not know all the ins and outs of it. All of these companies look like something that could help improve my business as well. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

    • Carrie Mcguire says:

      I am so glad you Love Tave as much as I do! Good luck with your entry! You soooo NEED THIS !

  2. Brian Bash says:

    Awesome blog!

    I don’t have any of these programs, but my favorite that I use now would be pixieset for delivering galleries to clients! But you better believe I’m about to get blogstomp and tave!

    • Carrie Mcguire says:

      Ohh great! I am glad I could provide you with more resources Brian! use those links for your discount. Good luck with your entry!
      xoxox

  3. LOVE IT! I JUST SWITCHED TO SHOOTPROOF A FEW MONTHS AGO, SO MUCH EASIER WHEN DELIVERING GALLERIES! I’M ACTUALLY LOOKING INTO TAVE. NOW I HAVE TO GO CHECK OUT THE OTHER TWO!

  4. Alexes eide says:

    I really need to try Grammarly and photomechanic!! Thanks for sharing this! I struggle with my workflow.

    • Carrie Mcguire says:

      Your welcome! You can try Grammarly for free with the link and Photomechanic is a must if you are a photographer. I don’t spend hours culling anymore. My favorite part is immediate rendering of your images.

  5. Karissa says:

    I love this post! I would love to use photo mechanic! I would say my favorite company I’ve been using is blog stomp!

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