With slow season in sight its time to start revamping your photography workflow and systems to make sure they work as well as possible for the new year, if you’re a photographer trying to balance client projects, social media, and your creative work, I know firsthand that the right productivity tools can make all the difference. But with so many apps and software claiming to make life easier, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. I’ve tried just about everything on the market, so today, I’m sharing my go-to tools that genuinely save time, streamline workflows, and allow you to focus on the creative side of your business.

Let’s dive into a few favorites that will make your day-to-day feel lighter, more organized, and way more productive!

Website & Blogging

• Showit is always my reccomendation when it come to building websites. The drag and drop nature makes it easy for beginners to use while not comprmising on being able to customize it. Designed specifically with creatives in mind, Showit lets you create stunning, responsive designs without needing to code.
  • Pricing:
    • $19/month for the Basic plan (ideal if you’re just starting out and don’t need a blog)
    • $24/month for the Showit+Blog plan (includes WordPress integration)
    • $34/month for the Advanced plan (adds advanced features and more blog storage).
• WordPress integrated into Showit for blogging, which allows for better SEO and a robust set of tools for content creation. Hosting is included with Showit, but if you need extra plugins or premium WordPress themes, there could be additional costs.

Why I love it: Showit’s drag-and-drop editor offers endless design flexibility, and WordPress’s blogging power ensures my content is SEO-friendly, helping me attract new clients organically. They are both perfect platforms to add to your photography workflow

Client Relationship Managment (CRM)

• HoneyBook is an all-in-one CRM that handles all of your photography workflow client onboarding, invoicing, contracts, and workflows. It’s tailored for creatives, with beautiful, branded templates for proposals and contracts, it’s grat for photographers BUT can be a little tricky to get set up. If you need help theres lots of amazing resources online ot you can schedule a one time project with me and I’d be happy to set it up for you
  • Pricing: Starts at $39/month or $390/year. A free trial and frequent discounts (up to 50% off for the first year) are available, so keep an eye out for deals.

• Dubsado is another powerful CRM option. It has customizable workflows, proposals, contract templates, and allows for client portals, making it easy for clients to check project status.
  • Pricing: Starts at $20/month (for the Starter plan) and $40/month for the Premier plan. The Premier plan includes unlimited clients and projects. Dubsado also offers a free trial of three clients/projects to test it out.

Why I love these: HoneyBook and Dubsado manage the business side seamlessly, after you get them set up the both have amazing automation fetures that can really help things in your businss run smoothly

Contracts

• Dropbox allows clients to sign contracts quickly and securely online, streamlining the booking process.If you don’t decide to with with a CRM that has the option to send contracts I highly reccomend, and I use it in my own business
  • Pricing: Free for up to three documents per month. Their Essentials plan is $15/month, which includes unlimited documents, templates, and audit trails.

Why I love it: It’s fast, secure, and allows clients to sign from any device, streamlining the booking process. It help keep everything organized in your photography workflow. It also tells you when someone opens a document which is a feature I love.

Graphics and Design

• Canva s a powerful, user-friendly design tool that makes creating graphics for social media, client guides, and other branded content super simple. I have the premium version and would highly reccomend it but the free version has so many options as well
  • Pricing: Free for basic use, with the Canva Pro plan at $12.99/month (or $119.99/year). Canva Pro includes premium templates, stock images, and brand kits for color consistency across all designs.

Why I love it: Canva’s templates and easy customization make it quick to create professional visuals without a design background. With the Pro plan, I also have access to premium images and branding tools which for me I feel is worth the money!

Social Media Post Scheduling

• Tailwind is a social media scheduling tool, particularly valuable for Pinterest, where many photographers drive traffic. It allows you to schedule pins and Instagram posts, analyze performance, and batch-plan content. I recently switched from a diffrent scheduling platform and though tailwind can be a tad pricy it’s the way to go
  • Pricing: Tailwind’s Pinterest and Instagram Plus plans start at $12.99/month each or $119/year. Their Max plan, which includes more features, is $39.99/month.

Why I love it: Tailwind saves hours by letting me plan weeks of Pinterest content at once, maximizing reach with minimal time invested.

Photo Delivery

• Pixieset and Pic-Time both offer professional gallery delivery services for photographers, giving clients a seamless way to view, download, and purchase images.
  • Pricing: Pixieset offers a free plan with limited storage, and paid plans starting at $8/month for 10 GB. Their Advanced plan is $24/month and includes up to 1 TB of storage.
  • Pic-Time starts at $15/month for 20 GB and offers higher-tier plans with additional storage and e-commerce features.

Why I love these: Both platforms create a premium viewing experience for clients, with options for watermarking, print sales, and custom branding. The integration with Lightroom for both Pixieset and Pic-Time also simplifies uploading and proofing.

Email Campaigns

• Flodesk is an email marketing platform that’s easy to use and offers beautiful, modern templates for building client newsletters, updates, and marketing campaigns.
  • Pricing: Flodesk’s pricing is simple: $38/month or $418/year for unlimited subscribers and emails. They often have discounts for new users, so look out for those!

Why I love it: Flodesk’s intuitive editor and visually appealing templates help me create beautiful emails effortlessly. Plus, the unlimited email sends mean I never worry about subscriber growth impacting my cost.

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With the right tools, running a photography business can feel so much more manageable. From handling contracts to delivering galleries and scheduling social media, each of these resources helps you stay organized and focus more on creating amazing experiences for your clients. These tools will help you optimize your photography workflow

If you’re thinking about upgrading your workflow, give one or two of these tools a try! You’ll quickly see how a few simple changes can make a big difference in your day-to-day. And if you have questions or want more recommendations, feel free to reach out—I’d love to help you find the perfect setup for your business!