TEN TOOLS TO GROW
YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS IN 2021

January 12, 2021

I used a lot of new tools in 2020 that really leveled up my business in an exciting way. I wanted to share the tools I’ve been using to expand the sails of my business to ride the oceans of 2021 and beyond. I’ll say openly from the get go, that these tools aren’t cheap, how when you dive in and begin using them, you’ll surely see the value in the money you invest in each of them. I did for sure. They’re great time saving tools that will give you opportunities to focus on what you do best and that’s being a creative creator! The great thing is you can get free trials for a few of these tools so you can try them out before committing to anything too quickly if there are any fears of diving in that you may have.

Since I went full time in my wedding photography business I’ve been on a constant journey to discover ways to improve my systems and educate myself in a way that benefits my creative business for the long haul. From customer relationship management systems (CRM), accounting to email marketing, just to name a few, it was a no brainer for me to spend money on these services and subscriptions. The value they have added to my business is already evident and my customers are raving about the experience I’m providing.

Keep scrolling for ten tools to grow your creative business in 2021…

EDUCATION

In April last year I saw an advertisement on Instagram from Melbourne based wedding photographer and educator Jai Long. I was quickly drawn into his passionate desire for community and knowledge sharing, signing myself up to all his courses, Six-Figure Business Map, Posing & Lighting and Album Academy. They’ve been game changers for my business.

1. SIX FIGURE BUSINESS MAP

The Six-Figure Business Map has given my business real direction for 2021. Having a roadmap is really important and the Business Map has given me my roadmap for success which for me means writing a story for myself that I’m proud and excited to live out, working with ideal clients regularly and allowing me to use my time better so I have time to spend with the people I love.

I feel so confident moving forward and that confidence has come from a shift in my mindset which is a recurring theme in the course. The more positive I am the less I feel like I’m doing work each day and that in itself is exciting to chase. I feel that confident and I believe you will too.

The community Jai has created and that I’m a part of is incredible too. We all share parts of our journey, seek advice from each other and the beauty of it all is that it never feels like it’s competitive. It’s a beautiful, valuable community to be a part of and for me one of the draw cards of the course. We all hang out monthly in Zoom calls, checking in and keeping each other accountable.

There are so many different topics covered in the course too. There’s everything from creating client personas, drafting up business plans, social media management, marketing tips, deep dives into Google Analytics, Pinterest, pricing and money management, productivity, workflow and so much more. You really do need to dive in and check it all out for yourself. I get it though, these things can sound overwhelming but don’t fear, everything in the course is broken down into manageable pieces that you will be able to tackle head on at your own pace. Sure you need to put in the work to see results but speaking from experience as someone who does get overwhelmed, I never had that experience with this course. The twelve month timeframe to complete the course really helps with that.

I’d be lying if I said this course is just for wedding photographers too. It isn’t! Whether you’re a videographer, florist, dress maker or any other creative business for that matter, there’s so much in the course that is relevant and can be adapted for anyone in the creative field.

If you’d like to know more then EMAIL ME. I’d be happy to share anything else you want to know about it. Finally, are you keen on a 20% discount on the course? Click here to use my affiliate link! *These are affiliate links

2. POSING AND LIGHTING

Have you ever been photographing someone and found yourself stuck on what to do next? Me too. We’ve all been there as a photographer. This course helped me to better guide and direct people to get better images, even in a small amount of time. Now when I’m with a couple I feel confident that I don’t have to scrape any kind of creative barrel because I have foundational tools that I can expand on in every shoot I do and this has helped me to focus on spending quality time with people when I’m photographing them. This easy to watch course goes through different ways to guide people using techniques dependent on their personalities (SO IMPORTANT) and even has a couple of live shoots you can watch to see it all in practice before diving into the techniques on your own shoots. Since doing this course quite literally EVERY couple I’ve photographed has enjoyed the experience of being photographed by me!
Click below to receive 20% off the course. *This is an affiliate link

3. ALBUM ACADEMY

I was fortunate to have been encouraged by mentors to make and offer wedding albums in my business from the beginning of my creative journey. While I did my best to wing it and sell these heirlooms to my clients, I never really had much success, until I signed up to Album Academy. This was a complete game changer in my business last year and I saw instant results with over 75% of my couples getting albums in 2020. CRAZY GOOD. Designing albums is extremely time consuming so learning away to do this efficiently and effectively was awesome. I’m proud and excited to offer albums to people now and my clients rave about them and share and show them off all over social media. This course paid for itself! Here’s a link for 20% off on the Album Academy course.

WEBSITE

4. SQUARESPACE

I’ve only been using Squarespace since I rebranded my business last year. The wonderful folks at Hello Hello Studio made my latest website for me, after I’d been languishing in the awful WEEBLY pit of despair for years. They were able to use a template and then customise to Squarespace CSS to give me a unique look and feel. I’ve been really impressed with the clean, professional, intuitive interface Squarespace provides and is actually similar to what I’d been using before but 100 times less clunky or buggy. So far so good with this one!

EMAIL MARKETING

5. FLODESK

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)

6. STUDIO NINJA

INSTAGRAM STORY TEMPLATE APP

7. UNFOLD APP

CLIENT GALLERIES

8. PIC-TIME

ACCOUNTING

9. XERO

READING MATERIAL

10. A MILLION MILES IN A THOUSAND YEARS
PROFIT FIRST
80/20 METHOD