In this episode, I have Hamish Symington, one of the founding partners and developers of Light Blue and I hope to uncover everything there is to know about studio management software and whether or not it's something you should consider for your photography business. whether or not it's something you should consider for your photography business.
Here's some more of what we cover:
What's on Offer for Premium Members
Premium Members will hear Matt Ebenezer answering a listeners question on workflow and how his extensive list of “to do's” following a shoot list that is affecting the viability of his business. Matt offers solutions that will affect the profitability of any photography business, no matter the genre or the experience of the operators.
What is your big takeaway?
Following this interview, I'd love to know what your biggest takeaway is – what is the one thing that you'd like to implement or learnt from what was shared? Let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.
If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you'd like to ask or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them below.
If you'd like an easy way to show Hamish your thanks, and support for the show at the same time, click the link to create a tweet and automatically let him know you're listening: https://photobizx.com/tweet
The Resources Page
Remember the ever expanding resources page that has a listing of products, programs, hardware, books and directories mentioned in each episode of the show. If you’re looking for something that a guest has mentioned on a previous episode but just can’t remember who or what it was – you’ll find it listed in order on the resources page.
iTunes ratings, reviews and Shout-Outs
Each week before recording the podcast I check iTunes for any reviews and each week I'm excited to see what you've had to say about the podcast. This week I was blown away to see five fantastic reviews!
Thanks you so much to:
Steven Jon Horner of Steven Jon Horner Photography from the USA
Mark from Click Clack Photography in the UK
Joe Shortridge AKA “Toledo Joe” of Joe Shortridge Photography in the USA
Dean from Australia who posted as Zek Elephant
It's these iTunes reviews that make a big difference to the podcast being ranked well and found in the iTunes store. If you have the time and are happy to leave an honest rating and review, head over to iTunes.
Don't feel your comments have to be long, involved or gushy, an honest opinion is all I ask. Don't be shy about leaving your business name in the review either – that way I can add a link in the show-notes and show my appreciation with a proper thanks and a Google loving back-link to your website.
Get in Touch or Leave a Voicemail Message
If you'd like to get in touch, ask a question or make a suggestion for the show, you can email me andrew@photobizx.com, find me on Twitter https://twitter.com/andrewhellmich or on Facebook at https://photobizx.com/facebook – I'd love to hear from you!
Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:
Mail Chimp – email auto responder software
Aweber – email auto responder software
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That's it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you in life and business!
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Thanks and speak soon Andrew
Thanks for another great show Andrew. I am a Light Blue user and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for studio management software. My fav feature is the API integration from my website’s contact form directly into the software – saves heaps of time. I used to run everything on a spreadsheet and was reluctant to change but this is far more efficient. Hamish’s tech support and response time is absolutely fantastic.
Great podcast. It really sounds like studio management software (whatever the brand) would be a huge help in running a successful business.
Thanks for the kind words, Brett!
Yes, Paul, studio management software of any kind is vital to anyone who wants to grow their business. It’s possible to keep track of things with bits of paper and spreadsheets and so on, but if you’re doing more than a handful of shoots it’s so easy to let things slip. With software like ours you can always know exactly what you’ve said to people and when you’ve said it – everything’s in one place.
We’re always happy to talk about what we do, or studio management software in general – if anyone’s got any questions, we’re at support@lightbluesoftware.com.
Good episode,
One question i have is, how is the accounting intergration side of the management handled? Not currently a user but considering studio management software however I would like to be able to have the transations and purchases efficiently transfered to accounting software, i.e. Xero, Quickbooks or similar.
one thing i got from this episode is,, if your going to do this business without a team or even with one you need some thing like this. I cant get it now (until i get a new computer) but i will definitely have a better life with a studio management system.
I know you were worried about having a “inferential” but some times its good to have someone on to talk about there product. then us the listeners can explore there product and others like it. Thanks and keep up the great work.
Craig – you can export from Light Blue to CSV, so you can import that into other systems. The exports we do are at overview level, so it’s totals for the Sales and Purchases rather than full info about the sale items and purchase items, but that should be enough for what you want to do. There’s a video about it at http://www.lightbluesoftware.com/support/tutorials/showvideo.php?tutorial=54-exporting which might help you.
I had looked at something like this before, but I am definitely going to be using one now. I have been looking at Tave because it looks like it fits my needs better (i would like to hear from anyone who has used it or knows any reasons to consider another one instead).
It really depends on how you work, Chris. Táve’s web based, so you can access it from different computers, BUT you need an internet connection to use it, so if you don’t have one, you’re stuffed. That’s where Light Blue comes into its own – you have a local copy of your data, so you can always work on it, but you can share info between computers when you go online.
I am definitely going to check out light blue. I’m a current user of tave which I do like because it’s web based and I can use it from anything…but then I don’t like that I can’t access it without an Internet connection. I tried ShootQ but found it too complicated. I’m looking for that one stop shop so to speak because I am a one man band.
Does it handle multiple brands within the one subscription? I have 3 different brands, weddings, family portraits and one for a very distinctive style of portrait. I would like to manage them all in the one account without having to login and out etc.
Hi Te – I can’t answer your question about the multiple brands but I’ve dropped Hamish a note to ask him to clarify… stay tuned.
Hi Te, it’s Tom from Light Blue Software here.
Handling multiple brands within one business in Light Blue is no problem. We have what we call ‘shoot types’, and you can have as many as you like. Each shoot type can have it’s own branding for your invoices, etc, and a bunch of preferences set for it (e.g. different price lists, default workflows, etc) so they’re perfect for managing different types of work within the same business.
For example, in my own photography business ( http://www.catchesides.co.uk ) I have separate branding, workflows and payment terms for my wedding photography and the corporate work that I do.
I hope that helps! The best way of getting in touch with us directly with any questions is either via our website ( http://www.lightbluesoftware.com ) or via email ( support@lightbluesoftware.com ).
Best wishes,
Tom
Thanks Tom – really appreciate the fast response!
I’m sure Te will be rapt with your reply.