Productivity Tools and Apps for Wedding Photographers

It's hard to believe but we are entering the second quarter of the year. Where does the time go? The first quarter usually means a lot of prep for your upcoming season so I wanted to share a few of my new & old favorite productivity tools that help kept me on track the last three months.

I hope they are helpful for you too & if you have any suggestions, I'd love for you to leave a comment and let me know what your favorite productivity tools are. Enjoy!

Productivity Tools and Apps for Wedding Photographers

No. 1 - Full Focus Planner - I started out the New Year with one of the Classic Standard in Black Full Focus Planner by Micheal Hyatt. I was looking for a daily planner to keep me on track with my daily tasks, quarterly goals, and something small enough to fit comfortably on the desk. I had something similar from another company but I never used it because it was simply too big. After a few weeks, I knew this was the perfect planner for me and finished it at the end of March and purchased a yearly subscription where they automatically replenish your planners every 80 days. So smart but I wouldn't expect anything less from Micheal Hyatt. If you haven't read Your Best Year Ever - I would highly recommend picking up a copy of his book too!

No. 2 - The Template Tribe - I might have a degree in Graphic Design but it doesn't mean that I want to design my own Canva templates on my own, so when I found The Template Tribe, I was so relieved! Not only are their Canva templates beautifully designed (simple, modern) but they have Canva templates for everything including e-guides, online courses, lead magnets, and so many more that ANY small business owner could use. They offer a monthly membership that gives you immediate access to all of their templates. It's a great resource that saves me so much time creating new products in the shop. They also have some great freebies for you to try before you decide to sign up.

 Tip: You will need Canva Pro to use and edit these templates

No. 3 - Later - Instagram Planning App - I have been using the Later app for over two years now and I have to say it's probably one of my favorite apps I use. I spent about 1-2 hours a week creating new content for Instagram and using the Later Instagram Planning App makes it so easy for me to create new posts, schedule, auto-publish, and geo-tag my posts so that I don't have to think about it once it's done. I also started a second Instagram account for Tea with Jainé so by using Later to plan both accounts, it truly is a lifesaver.

No. 4 - Tailwind - Pinterest Planning App - I am finally back to pinning my new blog posts on Pinterest with the help of the best Pinterest app out there, Tailwind. Not only does it make it fast to pin your work to your boards, it knows the best times to actually pin them so people will see your work. Lately, my recent pin views are off the charts and I know it's from using Tailwind along with my own Pinterest techniques. It's a must-have for any wedding photographer!


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Podcast Interview Luisa Navarro - Create Something Captivating

I’m so excited about the latest podcast episode with Luisa Navarro of Create Something Captivating. We are talking about how to use Instagram for wedding photographers. How by showing who you truly are and engaging authentically with your followers will grow your audiences, trust, and your business. You are going to LOVE this episode and Luisa!

One of the best App’s for planning your Instagram feed, is Planoly. Luisa and I both L O V E this app and use it daily. You can plan the look of your feed in advance, save your most used hashtags, geo tag, and mention users, pre-plan stories, and so much more. Planoly is an incredibly powerful app for anyone using Instagram for their business.

You can listen to Tea with Jainé on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and all other major podcasting platforms. We’d love for you to leave us a review to help other listeners find out about us. Want to support Tea with Jainé? You can make a monthly contribution by using the Support this Podcast button in our profile.  Thank you so much for all of your kind support!! xo

Instagram Advice with Luisa Navarro

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Speaking at IGNITE 2019 Workshop

I’m so excited to share that I’m going to be speaking at the upcoming IGNITE 2019 workshop hosted by NJ SPARK on Saturday, April 23rd, 2019. Each year this incredible group of women host a FREE wedding photography workshop and I’m so thrilled to be teaching one of the breakout sessions. Yay!

I’m going to be teaching attendee’s how create content for Instagram with images they already have and how to schedule, plan, and auto post with Planoly to get your life back and OFF social media. Ahhh, I’m SOOO excited!! The conference has already sold out (it’s free but the 75 spots are all full) but they do have a waiting list if you want to sign up to find out more and hopefully snag a spot! xo

Jaine Kershner - Brklyn View Photography

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Best Instagram Apps for Editing Photos and Stories

After I shared my favorite tips how to use Instagram for your wedding photography business, I received a few direct messages asking me to recommend my favorite editing apps for Instagram. There are a gazillion apps out there so I thought it might be helpful to share my top apps that I frequently use to plan, edit, and share my photos on my Instagram grid and stories. 
 

Best Apps for Planning Your Instagram Feed

Planning and Auto Posting Your Images:
I've mentioned this a few times but I use Planoly to plan my Instagram grid in advance. I like that I can visually see how my photos are going to look prior to posting them. I created a photo grid for myself that I like to follow which helps me speedup my planning workflow. Instagram has also given third-party applications, such as Planoly, access to auto-post your images, which is a true game changer. Other applications you can use to do the same thing is Iconosquare and Later.

Best Apps for Editing Photos in Instagram

Editing Your Photos:
When I want to add a photo I've taken using my iPhone, I will use a photo editor to brighten, straighten, crop, my images before I share it on my account. My favorite app is Filmborn by Mastin Labs. This can give your photos a "film-like" look but I really just use it to brighten my images and remove some of the dark shadows and contrast. Afterlight is also a great app for Instagram to brighten your images and adjust the highlights, shadows and contrast. Both apps have in-app purchases for more options.

Best Instagram Apps for Adding Text and Borders

Adding Text and Borders to Your Photos and Instagram Stories:
By far, my favorite app to do this is Word Swag. It's so user friendly and they have a lot of great font options, backgrounds and sizes to choose from. Additional options are Over and A Design Kit for more fun font options and additional stickers and cool colored backgrounds. You can never have too many options, right? If you want to make a cohesive story showcasing your wedding or photography, you should try the Unfold app. You can add white borders, text, multiple images to one slide and much more. It makes your story really stand out among the crowd!

Best Instagram Apps to Edit Videos and Create Slideshows


How to make Slideshows for Instagram Stories:
It took me a while to find an app that I could easily make a 15 sec slideshow for my Instagram story that was  fairly easy to use. I finally found InShot and paid to remove the logo inside of the app which is well worth the $1.99 fee.

How to cut your videos for Instagram Stories:
If you don't want to keep creating 15 second videos for your Instagram Stories, you have the option to record one video and then have Cut Story or Storeo clip your full length video into 15 second intervals automatically. Once the app is done, you can just upload each clip to your Instagram feed.

Best Instagram Apps for Hashtags and Adding Sparkle

Add Some Sparkle to Your Story:
If you know me, you know I love my glitter and I really love using the Kira Kira app to add a little bit of sparkle to my stories. It's great for adding a bit of bling to the ring or beaded wedding dress. It's super fun and I might be addicted to using it!

Automatic Hashtag Generator for Photographers:
My last recommendation comes with a warning, do not solely use this app to create hashtags for your photos. Focal Mark is an application that will automatically generate instagram hashtags that are the most popular to the content you are posting. This is specifically designed for photographers. You can tell it what your subject is, what location the photo in and what camera type you used. Next, Focal Mark will search Instagram and give you the best hashtags to use for your photo. However, you do have to pay to access all 30 hashtags which is the max you are allowed to post inside the app. My advice would be to use this app for part of your hashtags (let's say 15) but then use different hashtags that you found on your own for the remaining 15. This way, it's more authentic and you have less of a chance of being shadow banded by Instagram. (oh, it's a thing - look it up!)

I hope these Instagram app recommendations where helpful and help you create some great content for your own Instagram account. Do you have any apps that you love and would highly recommend? Please leave them in the comments below. We'd love to hear from you!


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Top 3 Wedding Photography Software Recommendations

Saving time means that your are saving money and I'm all about saving money, especially when it comes to your business!! Over the years, I have discovered some amazing software applications that have significantly sped up my wedding photography workflow and I wanted to share my top three resources with you. I hope they help you in your business or spark an idea on how to streamline your own workflow!

WeddingPhotographySoftwareMustHaves.jpg

No. 1 - 17 Hats (Client Management Software) I put off upgrading my "system" of how I managed my clients for a long, long time. How long? Embarrassing long! I was using several different apps from Apple (iCal, Mail, Notes, Pages and Numbers) to keep track of my inquires, weddings, booked sessions, invoices and expenses. It was becoming very overwhelming and I would wake up in a panic because I wasn't sure if I had crossed all my "T's" and dotted all my "I's". With a in-depth demo from one of my closest friends, I began to see the light and 17 Hats was about to become my main squeeze. I decided to tackle setting up my client management software in January (a relatively slow time for wedding photographers) so I wouldn't be rushed or in the middle of a deadline. I watched several "how-to" video's, made some emergency texts to my friend, and within two weeks, I was ready to go. I easily integrated 17 Hats Leads Form into my website and I can now track all of my new inquires. I created several workflows for each type of session I photograph and setup my calendar to sync with my iCal (sorry, Apple, I can't quit you ;) My questionnaire's are finally easy to use and I can eventually use 17 Hats for my invoicing and billing but I'm not there just yet. Baby steps... 17 Hats has made my life so much easier and way more efficient that I want to kick myself for taking so long to do it. So, take my advice, if you have more than 5 weddings a year, offer mini-sessions, photograph a ton of families, look into a CRM that is right for you! 17 Hats was the easiest for me to setup myself. I tried Tavé (too difficult) and I've heard wonderful things about Dubsabo. I should mention that 17 Hats is not perfect and missing some features from their competitors BUT they are implementing reporting soon, which is really my biggest complaint. However, you can easily export your data and make your own reports using a pivot table (PIVOT! Hello Ross Gellar Fans ;) so for myself, it wasn't a deal breaker. I signed up at the end of the year with a full two year subscription when they were running a promotion which saved me money! Oh, and if you use my referral link, you will save 10% OFF your year subscription.

No. 2 - Planoly - Oh, how I love Planoly, let me count the ways! Instagram is one of the biggest and best tools for my business. It's how I get my work out there the fastest, interact with clients, vendors, viewers and just about ALL of my couples. However, using Instagram can feel like a full time job and figuring out your grid layout can become challenging. It's a visual tool so it really does need to look visually pleasing. Enter Planoly! A cloud based visual planner for Instagram. It's amazing and so easy to use. It's a paid service ($84 per year) and you can schedule, plan, and post all of your images. Recently, Instagram allowed third-party applications, such as Planoly, access to Auto-Post images directly to your feed without your approval. For me, this was a game changer! I love being able to schedule & auto-post my images in advance. I do, however, have to go back in and tag images with locations, vendors, and clients because you cannot automate that process but since I'm on Instagram every single day (let's be honest!) it's not a big deal. There are other Instagram programs you could use - Later is free - but it's really what works best for you. Also, you can use several of Planoly's other features such as shopping links, reporting and analytics. So fancy!!

No. 3 - Calendly - This might be one of my all time favorite applications ever! Calendly is a cloud based online scheduler and it rocks my world! Why do you need an online scheduler? Because scheduling phone calls with potential couples can take forever trying to find a date and time that works for everyone. It can also be very frustrating for the couple and I want to make things as easy as possible right from the beginning. By using Calendly, I send out a link to my calendar that has my availability for the next two weeks. Next, the Bride can easily see when they are available to chat and choose a date and time that works for them. Last, they click the time, book the appointment and I get an email confirmation - BOOM - we are all set!! I have to admit that once I implemented this system into my New Inquiry process my meeting rate increased 10 fold. The best part, Calendly is FREE for the first calendar. They offer upgrade features that you can pay for (email & text confirmations) or you can simply leave it as is with one event type and keep it free. 


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