Well hello there November!! I know I'm not just speaking for myself when I say 2016 has FLOWN by. I can't believe we are already full swing into the holiday portrait session madness! If you guys are anything like us, you're slightly drowning in photo shoots, emails, phone calls, and.... retouching!!! Outsourcing retouching has always been a long term goal for me, but I never really knew how to go about doing it. What company should I hire? How would I deliver the images? Do I have to cull them first? I had a million questions. Thankfully, we brought Leon Sandoval on the show this week! Leon is the owner of Essential Edit, a company that provides post production services to photographers! They offer everything from culling to color correction to full retouching, so he was the perfect person to chat to about outsourcing retouching! Key Takeaways:

1. Why outsource retouching? Outsourcing retouching essentially allows you to shoot more and work less! The more you shoot, the more money you can make. Let's face it, most of us didn't decide to become photographers so we could spend time in front of the computer, we chose to be photographers to spend time behind our lens! So by outsourcing retouching, you're freeing up more time in your schedule to spend behind the camera! Retouching companies (like Essential Edit) are a great way to go because you don't have to spend time with one person, training them exactly how to edit & retouch your images, and hoping they do a good job. This company is full of professional retouchers... so you can rest assured they're going to retouch & edit your photos to your liking!
2. How do I make sure their retouching style remains on-brand for my company? All companies are different, but Essential Edit is awesome because they will color correct 12 sample images for free before taking on a full job from you. This way you make sure their color correction, tones, contrast, etc is exactly your style & what you're looking for. This also helps ensure consistency in your work, which clients love to see.
3. How do you know you've found the right retouching company? This part is all about trust. You have to trust the company (or person) you hire 100% or else they aren't the right fit for you. They should offer some type of sample work so you know their retouching is appropriate for your images, and ideally they wouldn't charge you for additional edits. For example, if you send an image to them and they retouch it & you aren't totally happy with it, they should offer to fix it for free. This helps establish trust in their company too because you know you won't be paying for images you aren't happy with!
4. Don't be afraid to let professionals take over parts of your business! For example, most photographers starting out tend to try to do EVERYTHING on their own... usually because they don't have the budget to outsource yet! I know when I started, I created my own website, logo, business cards, etc. However, once I became established I knew I needed to improve these things to professional quality, and I hired a company to do that for me. Retouching is no different! Allow professional editors to come in and take over that part of your business & you'll be pleasantly surprised at the change in your workflow & the extra time you have to spend on other things!
5. Be open with your clients about your outsourcing: By letting clients know you're hiring professional retouchers for their photos, you open yourself up to more of a profit margin. You can tell them that basic retouching and color correction is included, but then you can price additional services accordingly. By charging them more than what you're paying your retouching company, you're making more money without really doing any work! Also, they know the sky is the limit, and if they're willing to pay for crazy retouching work, you are prepared to offer it to them and aren't limited by your own Photoshop abilities!

This episode is one of our longest ever and is jam-packed with great information from Leon, so be sure to tune in! We also chit chatted about our Audible sponsorship & some of the books Leon is currently reading (he's reading a LOT!), so we'll list those below & you can check them out! Relavent Links:

• Essential Edit
• Autonomous Smart Desk
• Rich Dad Poor Dad
• Do Cool Sh*t
• Hooked
• The Power of Habit