Hey there, you beautiful boss babe!

I see you there, rockin’ the late-night editing and email life with your messy bun and perpetually cold cup of coffee. You deserve a hug, lady!

As women, we are trained to be so self-sufficient. We feel like we HAVE to do it all.

Who else will do it if we don’t?? Most of us aren’t taught how to delegate.

As a business owner, delegating can really help make room in your business for growth. One way to delegate tasks as a photographer is to partner with a private photo editor!

If you are feeling like you may be ready to start outsourcing, then I am so excited for you!!

Letting go of the reins and allowing someone else to do the work that has always been YOURS is hard! It is normal to feel apprehensive.

But outsourcing is scary!

Your business is your baby. You’ve built it from the ground up with your blood, sweat, pennies and tears.

As a fellow business owner, I know you have sacrificed to make this thing work; pushing beyond your comfort zone, losing sleep, sacrificing money and time with family as an entrepreneur because no one else is going to do it for you.

Taking the plunge to outsource to a private photo editor doesn’t take away from your hard work.

It means that you are making room for your beautiful business to GROW.

Sadly, we can’t add more hours to the day. So we have to look at what we CAN do to create more time in our lives.

This is where outsourcing can change the game.

We all outsource something. I don’t change the oil in my car, I pay someone to do it for me.

Outsourcing.

Could I do it? Yep. My dad taught me when I got my driver’s permit (perks of growing up with a mechanic for a dad!)

But it’s time consuming, dirty and I don’t like doing it.

But I don’t just pay a random guy off the street. I take it to a mechanic who knows what he’s doing.

It gives me peace of mind that the person working on my car is someone I can trust and that’s it going to get done!

Things to consider

Trust is important when you choose your private photo editor.

You will hopefully be building a long-lasting and successful relationship with this person and trust is KEY!

You are relinquishing your post processing (a huge part of your brand) and you need to be able to communicate openly and honestly.

It can take several rounds of edits (3-4 weddings is not unheard of) for your private photo editor to really learn your style. Anything worth doing deserves the time needed to be done right.

Make sure that you anticipate that timeline so that you don’t set yourself up for failure in your budding partnership!

The most common thing I hear from photographers who tried outsourcing and didn’t like it, is that the editor couldn’t replicate their style.

But when I ask how long they worked together, it is usually only one wedding or session. Rome wasn’t built in a day ya’ll.

It’s also important that you know what you’re hoping to accomplish. You need to KNOW your style in order for your editor to be able to replicate it.

Consistency is key, both in how you edit and also how you shoot!!

A private photo editor isn’t there to make you a better photographer, they are there to make you a better business owner.

What could you be doing INSTEAD of editing??

Love on your clients

What a crazy kind of world it would be if you had the time to truly get to know your brides!!

Take them out to coffee, randomly call to check in on how planning is going, send them a quick note (like in the mail with a stamp)

A high touch experience goes a long way in elevating your brand and can even help you raise those prices!!

Book More Weddings

GIRL. If you actually had some down time during the week, wouldn’t it be easier to book more weddings in a year?

The average photographer spends 15 hours editing per wedding.

That’s a whole lot of time freed up in the back end, allowing you to take on more clients.

Streamline Your Workflows

Systems are gold when it comes to running a business. Establishing or fine-tuning an existing workflow is a great way to save even more time in your business.

Ironically, it’s also one of those things we push off til later because it isn’t a crisis level priority.

Business Planning

Set those goals!! How will you know where you’re going if you don’t set goals?

How will you know you’ve achieved those goals, know when it’s time to celebrate, if you don’t start the process and write them down!

Business planning and goal setting is a crucial part of growing a successful business.

Travel

Shoot a wedding, send it off to your editor and then head out on an adventure, laptop optional.

Self Care

Spend the afternoon in a coffee shop with a good book, get your nails done, go shopping with your BFF. The possibilities are endless.

Ready to find your perfect match?

If delegating your editing to get your life back sounds like a dream come true, please reach out!

I would love to chat with you more about private photo editing and what finding a private photo editor could mean for you!