17 Hats is the Studio Management System I use to run my Photography Business. It extremely easy to use and it combines the functions of several other programs into ONE so you can manage the majority of your business from one application. I’ll discuss the functions and how I use them to run my business.

CLIENT & PROJECT TRACKING 17 Hats organizes your leads and clients into a Rolodex Contact Card with all relevant info, you can use lead forms and Questionnaires to collect this info or input manually. Once you have a client or lead added you can assign Projects, for Photographers these are Weddings, Engagements, Portrait Sessions and other Events. The Project is where the Workflows, Quotes, Invoices, Contracts, Questionnaires and Email chains live. Plus you can add meetings or notes for each client and even upload screenshots of handwritten notes.

BOOKKEEPING I easily connected my business bank account to 17 Hats and it automatically important transactions, that I can categorize or apply to invoices. I can create Profit and Loss Reports for my tax person and a Sales Tax Report, so I know exactly how much I owe in Sales Tax. If you use Quickbooks or already have an accountant, you can export transactions to Quickbooks.

CALENDER I synced my 17 Hats Calendar with Gmail calendar, so I can view and add reminders from any device. I was able to sync my shared Calendar with my boyfriend and the many Calendars I use daily. I’m able to color code and manage the following Calendars within 17 Hats: a shared calendar of Personal events, my Booked Dates and Client Meetings, a Social Media Content Calendar, A Workflow Calendar with due dates for client projects, my Personal and Business Bill Due Dates.

BRANDS 17 Hats lets you add multiple Brands within 1 account. So you can have different Branding like Logos, Email Signatures, Calendars and Templates. If you have added a Photobooth to your Photography Business you could have a different Brand for each.

TEMPLATES I used to keep the majority of my email templates in my Drafts folder in Gmail. I would have to copy and paste and update each email for every customer. 17 Hats lets you create Templates for Emails, Questionnaires, Contracts and Invoices. For all four you can input tags for things like Names, Appointment Dates and Times etc., so you do not have to edit every template.

WORKFLOWS A workflow is a list of reminders and email templates that I regularly send to clients with due dates. I have created many workflows for different kinds of clients like Wedding , Portrait and Corporate clients because the emails I send to each are different. I love that I can automate emails for things like questionnaires and links to my Welcome Guide. Plus the Workflow lets me set reminders to check in on my clients, send gifts, or schedule meetings and Engagement sessions.

QUOTES I don’t always use quotes but they come in handy when I have a client that wants to see different pricing and product offerings. I’ll send them a Quote with multiple items and the client can select the item or items they want and then accept the Quote, which will automatically turn it into an Invoice.

INVOICING 17 hats makes invoicing super easy. I’ve created an Invoice template for the Wedding and Portraits, which saves me a ton of time. But you can create an invoice with options like scheduling multiple payment due dates, charge for tax, and edit and save services or products.

CONTRACTS I have a Contract template for Weddings, Portraits and Corporate. 17 Hats makes it easy for you to send a Contract, have your client accept and e-sign it then counter-sign for you.

QUESTIONNAIRES I love sending Questionnaires to clients when they first book so I can learn all about them and their relationship. And closer to their Wedding Date to get timeline info. I add these Questionnaires to my Workflow and set it to automatically email my client when they book and 1 month before the Wedding, respectively.

LEAD FORM 17 Hats lets you create embedded and single page lead forms for a variety of uses. I have an inquiry form embedded on my website, that creates a client project, and activates a lead workflow that automatically responds to inquiries and begins a 5 email series designed to turn inquiries into clients. Plus I use Single Page Lead Forms to automatically send Freebie emails and grow my Email List. 17 Hats does not support mass emails but you can integrate with Flodesk to manage your email list.