Over the journey of Michelle Nicole Photography, I’m always looking for ways to streamline my business and utilize my time more wisely in areas where I need it more.  For the early beginnings of MNP, I kept track of everything on paper, a spreadsheet, and on my hefty calendar on my iPhone.  As you can see, everything was in multiple locations and organization needed to be a top priority.  In the busier seasons, paperwork started to go astray and priority to log everything in two places moved to the bottom of my to-do list when editing took over.

One of the best things I have invested so far is into Honeybook.  Adopting Honeybook into my business early last year in 2016 after WPPI has been amazing because it has been an amazing time-saving tool.  After using it for about a year, I want to share with you 5 reasons why Honeybook was a great move for my business and why I am sticking with it!

1.  Managing client contracts was my number one reason why I adopted Honeybook.  I was doing it the “old school way” using Microsoft Word and then asking my clients to hand write or fill out PDFs manually.  It was completely free for my business, but after, I would make final paper copies, electronic copies, and store them – and to be honest, this process took a while. I also used a lot of paper!  Later in the year or when it came near to the wedding or event, I referred to my client contracts since all their information was on there.   After adopting Honeybook, within minutes it made it so much easier to personalize each contract filling out the details, collaborate with my clients, alter if needed, and then sign.  It also saved us a stamp from mailing to each other!

2.  Payment is easy and simple for both parties.  Collecting money from my clients can be troublesome!  For those who were paying with credit card, I used Square, but it was manual as I would go to a separate website, create an invoice and send it out to my clients.  It took about 10-15 extra minutes to set up and send an invoice, and I would also set reminders to collect their final deposits.  Along with a final deposit, I would also need to create a new invoice and most of the time it was usually late because I would miss my own personal reminder on my calendar (oops!  I’m totally being human).  Now for Honeybook, right after the contract is filled out and signed if our clients are paying by card, payment was easy for both of us.  A few days after, their funds are deposited right into my business account, and a payment reminder is sent when needed whenever I set my second payment up.

3.  Streamlining business and staying ahead of the game!  Seeing the inquiries come in and my pipeline helped me view what I needed to respond to, follow up on, and power through my next steps.  Honeybook saves me lots of time from my emails, inquiries, contracts, and receiving payments.  I can also collaborate with other vendors who have Honeybook, too!  Currently, I am just using it for my weddings, but I am looking forward to utilizing it for my portraits (with families + newborns) as well.

In the end, Honeybook is a powerful tool helping me out in my day-to-day duties.  They recently released a list of new updates, and I’m so excited to make adjustments to my account to keep it new and fresh!

In the next month on April 17-18th, I will be hosting a two-day photography workshop with two other amazing photographers Jennifer Fujikawa Photography , Michelle Chiu Photography, and myself Michelle Nicole Photography on April 17th-18th at Muckenthaler Mansion in Fullerton, CA!!  We also have so many amazing sponsors that we want to share with you- vendors that have helped us grow our businesses (such as Honeybook!)! AND we might possibly have some special guests!!  We have EARLY BIRD sign ups so act fast, and we have very limited spots!  We are also extending a SPECIAL DISCOUNT for Honeybook users, so contact us for a special code!  Click here to learn more!

If you’re interested in investing in Honeybook, you can sign up here and get 20% off!

** This was in no means a paid advertisement.  These were all my honest and personal thoughts about Honeybook and how it grew my business.