I wanted to pull my hair out.
I was in the middle of wedding season about 6 years ago, and had 5 weddings and 3 portrait sessions I still needed to edit.
I had a wedding almost every weekend to come.
I was coming home for dinner, then would leave right after to go back to work, while my husband watched our one-year-old.
I wouldn’t get back until after my son Jackson was all tucked into bed and peacefully asleep. Which sounds really nice, until you realize you’re missing out on bedtime stories & hugs and kisses goodnight.
On top of that, I was waiting WAY too long to get back to potential new portrait clients and new wedding clients.
They were going with other photographers before I could even click reply.
I just didn’t have time…
It was a vicious cycle.
I remember thinking – “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be…this isn’t why I became a photographer.”
[I know I mentioned a gift in the subject line – it IS coming later in this email, promise 🙂 ]
I was trying to figure out how I was going to do it…how it could be possible to solve one of my biggest challenges: editing.
I remembered that earlier that year I had gone to WPPI and watched a class on working less and making more.
The speaker’s name was Jared, and he talked about outsourcing your editing.
I’ll be honest, it had freaked me out.
How would I even do that?
I get so far behind, what if I don’t have time to send them out and get them back in time?
I was picky…What if the images weren’t up to my standard?
But I knew that I couldn’t live the way I was living any more…the time away from my baby boy, the 70-hour-work-weeks… I needed to try SOMETHING.
It was then that I tried my first job with Jared Bauman’s company, ShootDotEdit.
I sent 700 wedding images in (they do portraits as well), and a few days later I got my images back and opened them up in Lightroom.
How did I feel?
FREEDOM! (Like Mel Gibson yelling it in Braveheart)
Those 5 hours I normally spent on a wedding just getting the exposure, color balance and skin tone right?
GONE.
Like literally – gone.
I popped on my favorite “overall” preset, creatively edited my favorite handful for a slideshow, clicked export in Lightroom, and DONE!
That was the beginning of having ALL of my wedding and portrait jobs edited with ShootDotEdit.
But really, the BEST part was I could finally feel like a normal human and work semi-normal hours, read bedtime stories to my one-year-old, and work on actually growing my business…
Because let’s face it – me not getting back to people for days (or gulp…a week or more), and not getting brides their images on time?
BAD for business (me scolding myself back then).
And as promised, here’s a special gift for you, from my friend Jared and his team at ShootDotEdit:
Free 30 Day Trial: http://bit.ly/2Eu3Fyw
Use promo code: go6figure
Happy Brides Refer MORE weddings, more often… Don’t make them wait!
Get Caught Up.
Don’t wait until it’s too late! With our new Style Match service, we can quickly learn your personal style, and start delivering images beautifully corrected to your style as fast as 48 hours, guaranteed less than 5 business days.
Work with Real and Caring Humans.
We know it sounds silly, but it’s a big deal! Talk with caring, real people in our office in (sunny) San Diego. Chat 1-on-1 with your editor. Phone, Online Chat, email, whatever is best for you. We’ll meet you where you are at!
Make Everything Extraordinary.
Whether you define your success as a wedding photographer as more bookings, happier customers, or being able to spend more time with your family, we’re here to help power that success!
Free 30 Day Trial: http://bit.ly/2Eu3Fyw
Use promo code: go6figure
My wish to you is more time with your family, and more time to spend working on your business.
Cheers!
Lisa Edwards
P.S. For a while, I didn’t want my competition to know about ShootDotEdit…
I feel pretty guilty saying that…
But back then, I was pretty insecure about my business.
I could see that I was caught up and able to work on my business, and they weren’t.
It felt to me like a competitive advantage.
And it was…
But as I got to be pretty good friends with another photographer in my small town, I “spilled the beans” as you would say.
It just felt wrong not telling her – it felt like I was in some way lying to her, even though “technically” I wasn’t.
She was the same as me – hesitant, a perfectionist, and unsure about handing things off.
But she finally did – and let me tell you, there’s nothing better than to see a friend thriving instead of struggling.
So I guess the point of this story is that if you’re still unsure, that’s pretty normal.
Which is why this 30-day-trial is so awesome, so you can try without risk.
Free 30 Day Trial: http://bit.ly/2Eu3Fyw
Use promo code: go6figure