I Love ShootQ!

I just discovered that I think I’ve said this everywhere else on the internet other than this blog, but I have to profess my love here as well … I *love* ShootQ!!!

I first discovered ShootQ back in the summer of 2007 when I attended the Elevate 2 workshop. (Many countless incredible things and wonderful people in my life can be tracked back to that workshop.) Andrew of LaCour was actually the one coding the software at that time (programmers handle it now) and we all got a preview of what the software could do, and I couldn’t wait to sign up for it! I respect ShootQ immensely for having the wisdom to launch their software slowly and carefully, making sure that the user experience was the best possible and making sure they could handle the volume of customers they worked with. Back then, they actually required that you attend a set-up Party to even sign up for it. I went to the first one to come to the area that fall, and I’ve been a customer – and a huge fan – ever since!

Whenever you contact me through the form on this site, the information goes into ShootQ directly. I can then respond through ShootQ as well – from anywhere! (Well, as long as I can get online. So almost anywhere.) I send out all proposals through the site, and contracts are completed and signed electronically. As soon as that happens, you are sent log in information for your client page, along with a special access code so that you can see your information – a copy of the contract is always available, the invoices are there to review, and when I send out Questionnaires, that is where you go to access them. When it comes to weddings, I normally send out three questionnaires – one with questions to help me get to know my clients, which is great for planning really personal and custom engagement sessions, one for initial wedding planning information, and one a few weeks before the wedding to verify final details. I love that at any time, you can access and review information there! I can even upload files and share them, and there are more features in the works!

Speaking of features – and the inspiration behind this post – ShootQ launched version 2.3 today and it is AWESOME!!! I squealed and danced around when I read the latest feature list!!! Now, when I send a proposal, you can customize it, adding various items and seeing immediately an estimate. While I’ve always been happy to customize things, this gives instant feedback, which I love! (We will be setting this up over the next week or two – it isn’t live yet.)

For photographers, there are a ton of features on the back end. You can keep a current database of contacts and use Mad Mimi to manage marketing campaigns directly from within the site. If you track how clients find you, you can see reports to help you see what advertising is working for you and what isn’t. For example, in my annual review of my budget, I discovered that of the people that find me through Weddings in Houston, over 60% hire me for their wedding photography. That is excellent, and it tells me that working with them is a good choice for me! My favorite feature has to be all the billing items involved – generating invoices, an easy way for my clients to pay invoices online, tracking invoices, and the ability to import it all into QuickBooks is wonderful.

It is great for Elaine & Brittany too – we use it as a way to track the status on a variety of items, they can log in and see everything as well (I choose to set it up that way, but you can select your team’s access levels), and it just helps us all stay on top of things. Contracts are always at our fingertips.

My *favorite* thing about ShootQ? The people behind it and the way they run their business. They are always so willing to listen to our feedback and have released so many features in version 2.2 and 2.3 that were based on requests I saw in the forums. It is amazing to me to see how hard they work to make it the best experience possible for us.

I honestly could not run my business without ShootQ. It automates so many things for me, without making things too automated (I prefer to keep the personal touch as much as possible!) and just makes everything run better for me, my team, and for you, my clients. It really is like having another employee to help manage things. If you’re a photographer or videographer and you decide to check it out, please be sure to tell them that I sent you! And if you already use ShootQ because you’ve heard me talk about it so much, leave a comment and let me know!

And because every post is better with a photo, here is one more from this past weekend! (Similar to one of the shots from their engagement session which I loved!