Meet Your Community Concierge

Welcome the newest member of the ShootQ team: Katie Van Buren!

Katie will serve as a concierge and consultant to help you get the most out of ShootQ.

As a seasoned photographer and business owner herself, Katie is committed to creating a community that supports your vision and your business.

We dubbed Katie the "Empress of Empowerment" because she will help you build a stronger, more purposeful business by giving you the confidence and tools you need to succeed.

Connect with Katie to get oriented with ShootQ, harness its full potential, and learn best business practices.

A Denver, Colorado native, Katie started her love affair with photography in second grade. With her first camera in hand, she began to view the world as a series of connections, with relationships at the center. Beginning with her relationship to the world and extending to personal relationships, Katie yearned to capture these relationships through her lens. 
  
Katie honed her photography skills in college and graduated from the Art Institute of Colorado in 1999. In January 2000, she started Van Buren Photography and used her relationship-building skills to grow it into a successful studio.

Katie parlayed her experience as a photographer into a valuable role as a Pictage Pro Consultant. During her time at Pictage, Katie helped photographers streamline their workflow, maximize their sales and apply best business practices. The skills and insights she accumulated at Pictage make her an asset to you and the ShootQ team.

You'll hear more from Katie in the coming months as she gets to know you and other members of the ShootQ Community.

Welcome to ShootQ, Katie!

Gustavo goes Green

San Francisco photographer Gustavo Fernandez is among only a few photographers in the Bay Area who have been "Green Certified."

As an eco-friendly photographer, he says, "it's all about getting both the business and the lifestyle green."

According to Gustavo, "Being a green photographer means changing the way you purchase, develop, produce and provide products and services so you make a positive impact on the environment."

Partnering with ShootQ has helped Gustavo achieve his green goals, by making his studio a paperless operation!

To learn more about Green Business Practices & to find other Green Vendors, check out Green Wedding Providers.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE

Meet Your New Salesperson

What's new with Q?

Sit Back and relax while your customers browse your products and services to create their perfect package!

Let ShootQ Upsell for You

• Let your clients see what they're buying! Upload images for items which are classified as "Add Ons", which can be added à la carte by customers.

• When customers add items to their package, you make more money!

Profesionally Present Your Pricelist

• Send sales leads to your "Custom Package Designer," where they can view your packages or build their own custom package.

• They'll see an automatically calculated estimate. They can send it to you attached to a lead, which you can quickly convert into a proposal.

• Share your pricing via email with the brand-new "Link to Share Pricing" Email Variable.

Multi-Day Shoots, Associated Shoots and Meetings

• Got an Indian wedding spanning multiple days? No problem - ShootQ's calendaring system now accommodates multi-day shoots.

• Create Additional Events on shoots with associated coverage times that can span multiple days and times. These Events can represent additional coverage, such as an engagement shoot or bridal session, or can be used to schedule client sales meetings or other calendar events.

• Events show up on availability checks and outbound calendar feeds.

• Do you have steps in your workflow for bridal or engagement sessions that make your timeline inaccurate? No worries! Apply workflow to Additional Events which run parallel to the main shoot workflow, so they run independently of each other.

Print & Go 


With ShootQ's new Printable Dossier, quickly print a dossier to carry on your shoot:

• Event coverage dates and times

• Which photographers are assigned

• Details on people related to the shoot

• What package the client booked

• Maps to ceremony and reception (for Weddings only)

• Weather forecast (for Weddings only)

• Answered questionnaires

Correspondence Tab Improvements

• We've reorganized the shoot "Correspondence Tab" into separate views for easier use and reading.

• By default, the correspondence tab now shows a synopsis of all correspondence in a chronological view.

• Want to see only certain types of correspondence? Use correspondence category filters (i.e., only show questionnaires) to narrow down the information you're looking for.

Other Cool Stuff

• Client IP Addresses appear next to the client's signature on online contracts.

• Associate a shoot with a Quick Task when creating the task.

• Add leads without specifying a shoot date.

Thanks Jeff for the great feedback!

 

We're thrilled to have Jeff East join the ShootQ Community! 

Longtime ShootQ Community Members Scott and Adina Hayne shared ShootQ with Jeff at a recent workshop. The power of shared ideas is a hallmark of Scott & Adina's philosophy. They are gifted teachers as well as photographers!

Jeff is a talented photographer based in Virginia who has a thriving business. Check out his review of ShootQ to learn about its role in his business development: 

CLICK HERE

Get back to Storytelling at the Roots Workshop!

Join us in Cape Cod July 19th - 24th! 

Roots Workshop

Roots is a week long photojournalism retreat in beautiful Cape Cod where the number of staff nearly exceeds the number of students. Under the same roof of a rambling farmhouse on the water, staff and students alike learn to be better visual storytellers through group exercises and editorial assignments. 

Join ShootQ's Rachel LaCour Niesen and Mark Adams and the rest of the Roots Workshop mentors in Cape Cod! 

As a member of the ShootQ community: Reinvent your business by investing in your craft, and diversify yourself from your competition! Members of the ShootQ community can become better storytellers by taking advantage of a special offer: 4 easy payments of $800 now through December. 

CLICK HERE to learn more! 

Tell us why you think you should get $500 off the Roots Workshop and a 6 months of ShootQ Studio for free! Write on the wall of the Roots Workshop Facebook Fan Page by Friday, June 12. If you receive the most "thumbs-up" on your wall comment, you win!

Are you connecting with your clients using ShootQ's correspondence tools?

Make your outgoing correspondence "hands free" with ShootQ! Save time & make your client communication more professional and consistent.

1) Create custom email templates for correspondence you use over and over again. Insert "variables" like "client first name" or "shoot date" to make the template feel personal. ShootQ plugs in your real information in place of the variables. To do this, go to SETTINGS>>CORRESPONDENCE>>QUICK EMAILS.

2) Schedule automated correspondence on dates that are relative to the shoot date, or happen at certain points in the shoot workflow. You can find this in SETTINGS>>WORKFLOW.

Schedule emails or questionnaires relative to the shoot or booking dates.

Schedule emails or questionnaires by adding an "event" to a milestone in a workflow.

3) Sit back and watch the responses come in! You can monitor emails that are sent on your behalf under the "correspondence" tab of the Shoot record in ShootQ.