Hey you! I know you’re bustin’ a move to manage all aspects of your business as you function as the CEO, Social Media Specialists, Marketing Team, Website Design, Finance Department…you name it, you do it. I get it. I’ve been there. But I got to a point where I felt like I was drowning in my business because I couldn’t do it all. I’m a finite human that has limits. Always have been, always will be. Maybe you’re there too? Or getting close to that point and not sure how you’re going to make this whole business thing work? Or maybe even questioning why you’re doing it? If that’s you, and you know something needs to change in order for you to continue on, I want to let you in on a little secret that I’ve been told many, many times by many, many successful photographers:

outsource.

My definition of outsourcing is delegating. You CAN (and should!) delegate certain parts of your business!! You can outsource many different aspects of your business, but an area that we love to delegate is editing images. I’m going to be honest with ya…I don’t LOVE editing. After we shoot a wedding I’m pumped to edit the first 100 images or so and then it starts to feel really draining. After a bit, it started to take a toll on me personally and in turn on my business. And that’s where outsourcing comes in beautifully!

so, how do we outsource our editing?

After Drew and I shoot a wedding, I will edit 150-200 of my favorite images & those are the images I use for their blog feature the Tuesday after their wedding. Drew then culls (aka sorts through the images to weed out any duplicates, blurry images, etc.) the rest of the wedding & sends the Lightroom catalog (we’ll really break this process down in a future post!) off to our editor, Adam. Adam will see the 150-200 images I edited and be able to use those edits as a reference while he makes his way through the rest of the wedding. Once he’s edited the remaining images, he re-sends the catalog back to us within a week via Dropbox. Note: We use Dropbox because that’s what’s easiest for our editor and what he uses with all their clients. You’ll just have to figure out what systems & processes work best for you AND your editor. When doing your initial research, I would definitely ask questions about what programs and process they use. Once we receive the catalog that contains all the edited images, I export them and deliver the couple’s entire gallery through Pixieset (Instaproofs and Pass are other excellent options for delivering online galleries!) and everyone is happy 🙂

Editing costs anywhere from $0.25-$0.35/per image so it’s definitely an investment, but to me, it’s SO worth it!! Do I regret it spending that money? Absolutely not. Do I recommend it? 100%!! I cannot tell you what a relief it is to delegate something that is extremely necessary, but not my gifting to someone who does it really well! We found Adam on Edit Source which is a site created by Katelyn Jame‘s (if you don’t know her, I definitely recommend you do a little creeping- she’s an incredible photographer and educator!) editor, and it’s a great resource to find the right editor for you!

Next week, you’ll hear from Adam himself on his 3 tips to have a great experience with your editor! I’m excited to share his wisdom with you! 🙂 We’re cheering you on as you figure out what areas you can delegate in your business so you can do what you do best!!

Xoxo

Mon