Disclaimer, this is NOT an all encompassing list. But it is a great guideline to make sure you aren't skipping over big things when it comes to running your business. Creatives especially like to skip over most of these or halfway do them, and that's not okay at all!

1) Vision- have a game plan for what you're doing, WHY you're doing it, and where you want to be in 5-10 years.

Andy Stanley's book Visioneering

2) Legal stuff + taxes- be organized, plan ahead and don't be scared of these things. They're coming for your regardless- and it's cheaper if you just face it head on. It's part of running a business- don't forget sales tax! You need to understand the sales tax laws in your state, and states you're selling to.

3) Basics for product, customer service, and delivery - this needs to be a well oiled machine-- not a guessing game every time you get a client. Write out a workflow- decide what your core values are.

4) Payment/Contracts- might be already supplied, depending on your type of business. We used to mail contracts and get checks as payments. I wanted to avoid another monthly cost- but it was a much better decision to move to 17hats where I can do all that online with a lot of control. The credit card processing fees are worth it because it saves me so much time and headache- not just depositing the check, but also the accounting side of things.

The Lawtog is a great resource for photographers!

5) Plan to pay yourself - often overlooked, then a last minute "I need money!" decision. That's NOT how to pay yourself. Know how much you can pay yourself from each product or service sold.

Connect with us for access to more resources about business + life!

Join our Facebook Group for insiders!

Follow us on Instagram

17hats free trial and 10% off your purchase 17hats has been crucial for growth in our business. It helps us organize clients in an easy way, and handles all our invoicing and contracts. We want to share it with you!

Disclaimer, this is NOT an all encompassing list. But it is a great guideline to make sure you aren't skipping over big things when it comes to running your business. Creatives especially like to skip over most of these or halfway do them, and that's not okay at all!

1) Vision- have a game plan for what you're doing, WHY you're doing it, and where you want to be in 5-10 years.

Andy Stanley's book Visioneering

2) Legal stuff + taxes- be organized, plan ahead and don't be scared of these things. They're coming for your regardless- and it's cheaper if you just face it head on. It's part of running a business- don't forget sales tax! You need to understand the sales tax laws in your state, and states you're selling to.

3) Basics for product, customer service, and delivery - this needs to be a well oiled machine-- not a guessing game every time you get a client. Write out a workflow- decide what your core values are.

4) Payment/Contracts- might be already supplied, depending on your type of business. We used to mail contracts and get checks as payments. I wanted to avoid another monthly cost- but it was a much better decision to move to 17hats where I can do all that online with a lot of control. The credit card processing fees are worth it because it saves me so much time and headache- not just depositing the check, but also the accounting side of things.

The Lawtog is a great resource for photographers!

5) Plan to pay yourself - often overlooked, then a last minute "I need money!" decision. That's NOT how to pay yourself. Know how much you can pay yourself from each product or service sold.

Connect with us for access to more resources about business + life!

Join our Facebook Group for insiders!

Follow us on Instagram

17hats free trial and 10% off your purchase 17hats has been crucial for growth in our business. It helps us organize clients in an easy way, and handles all our invoicing and contracts. We want to share it with you!

Definition: a succinct and persuasive sales pitch.

Why do you need one? It's important to be able to quickly communicate what you do. It can spark interest, and set groundwork for a conversation.

What's the point? At the end, you want the other person to grasp the idea of what you do. Even if you don't fully explain it, that's okay. But if you say, "It's complicated" or "I work with numbers" it doesn't really help people understand.

Cater it to different people- if I'm talking with a potential bride, I'll gear it towards wedding photography. If I'm talking with business owners, I'll gear it towards either commercial photography or this podcast.

Listen to people's responses, and use that to adjust your elevator pitch over time.

Make sure to also show interest in the other person and what they do! Following up with a question is more memorable than anything else.

Susan's: I'm a photographer. I work with weddings, families, and business clients. We also do videography.

Josh's: I produce cinematic wedding films and social commercials. They’re kind of like the ones you see on TV, but just on mostly social media!

Connect with us for access to more resources about business + life!

Join our Facebook Group for insiders!

Follow us on Instagram

17hats free trial and 10% off your purchase 17hats has been crucial for growth in our business. It helps us organize clients in an easy way, and handles all our invoicing and contracts. We want to share it with you!

Definition: a succinct and persuasive sales pitch.

Why do you need one? It's important to be able to quickly communicate what you do. It can spark interest, and set groundwork for a conversation.

What's the point? At the end, you want the other person to grasp the idea of what you do. Even if you don't fully explain it, that's okay. But if you say, "It's complicated" or "I work with numbers" it doesn't really help people understand.

Cater it to different people- if I'm talking with a potential bride, I'll gear it towards wedding photography. If I'm talking with business owners, I'll gear it towards either commercial photography or this podcast.

Listen to people's responses, and use that to adjust your elevator pitch over time.

Make sure to also show interest in the other person and what they do! Following up with a question is more memorable than anything else.

Susan's: I'm a photographer. I work with weddings, families, and business clients. We also do videography.

Josh's: I produce cinematic wedding films and social commercials. They’re kind of like the ones you see on TV, but just on mostly social media!

Connect with us for access to more resources about business + life!

Join our Facebook Group for insiders!

Follow us on Instagram

17hats free trial and 10% off your purchase 17hats has been crucial for growth in our business. It helps us organize clients in an easy way, and handles all our invoicing and contracts. We want to share it with you!

A principle we learned from 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss

1) Social Media- there are experts who do this, in your voice, with the content you want to share

2) Blog Posts- your social media person can help, likely

3) Tax Prep- I hated to make the leap, but now I'm SO GLAD I did. Our CPA started out just doing our taxes, and now he does our monthly bookkeeping too.

4) A piece of your job that you're new at or want to start offering

5) House cleaning/yardwork

Connect with us for access to more resources about business + life!

Join our Facebook Group for insiders!

Follow us on Instagram

17hats free trial and 10% off your purchase 17hats has been crucial for growth in our business. It helps us organize clients in an easy way, and handles all our invoicing and contracts. We want to share it with you!

A principle we learned from 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss

1) Social Media- there are experts who do this, in your voice, with the content you want to share

2) Blog Posts- your social media person can help, likely

3) Tax Prep- I hated to make the leap, but now I'm SO GLAD I did. Our CPA started out just doing our taxes, and now he does our monthly bookkeeping too.

4) A piece of your job that you're new at or want to start offering

5) House cleaning/yardwork

Connect with us for access to more resources about business + life!

Join our Facebook Group for insiders!

Follow us on Instagram

17hats free trial and 10% off your purchase 17hats has been crucial for growth in our business. It helps us organize clients in an easy way, and handles all our invoicing and contracts. We want to share it with you!

SEO -in pictures, in the copy on your website and blog- in blogging consistently

Luke + Ashley did a great video and blog post on this!

Google.  Oh man, this has opened up our world!  When you have a presence on Google Business, it really helps people find you.  

Listen to the episode for a more in depth description of what we're talking about.

FB/instagram/LinkedIn/Pinterest/Email List - wherever you have or can build a following, use it!

It varies by industry, for sure.

It's tough to be real on social media, but it's also a huge opportunity to share things- the more real you are, and the less salesy and perfect, the better the algorithm works in your favor-- even when the algorithm changes.

Don't plan your marketing around the algorithm-- the BIGGEST thing is to connect with people

Make friends IRL and do things with them.

It's not a trick or a shortcut-- and you certainly shouldn't expect your friends to always only buy from you.

In our experience, building true friendships outside of our business world has actually been a great for our business because our friends are our biggest cheerleaders! They want us to succeed, and they share us with their friends.

Connect with us for access to more resources about business + life!

Join our Facebook Group for insiders!

Follow us on Instagram

17hats free trial and 10% off your purchase 17hats has been crucial for growth in our business. It helps us organize clients in an easy way, and handles all our invoicing and contracts. We want to share it with you!

SEO -in pictures, in the copy on your website and blog- in blogging consistently

Luke + Ashley did a great video and blog post on this!

Google.  Oh man, this has opened up our world!  When you have a presence on Google Business, it really helps people find you.  

Listen to the episode for a more in depth description of what we're talking about.

FB/instagram/LinkedIn/Pinterest/Email List - wherever you have or can build a following, use it!

It varies by industry, for sure.

It's tough to be real on social media, but it's also a huge opportunity to share things- the more real you are, and the less salesy and perfect, the better the algorithm works in your favor-- even when the algorithm changes.

Don't plan your marketing around the algorithm-- the BIGGEST thing is to connect with people

Make friends IRL and do things with them.

It's not a trick or a shortcut-- and you certainly shouldn't expect your friends to always only buy from you.

In our experience, building true friendships outside of our business world has actually been a great for our business because our friends are our biggest cheerleaders! They want us to succeed, and they share us with their friends.

Connect with us for access to more resources about business + life!

Join our Facebook Group for insiders!

Follow us on Instagram

17hats free trial and 10% off your purchase 17hats has been crucial for growth in our business. It helps us organize clients in an easy way, and handles all our invoicing and contracts. We want to share it with you!

The biggest secret?  Care for your clients and always put people first!

For businesses that get to know clients really well, each of your clients have a love language, so learn what they are. Most of us cater to a certain type of client-- it's what we attract naturally, and they are all somewhat similar, or have something in common since they're all buying from us.  So many of them might have similar love languages.

Gary Chapman: The Five Love Languages

But this isn't just for companies who get to know each customer well.  For example, Amazon has a wide variety of customers, but pretty much all of them appreciate quick and exact service. That's what makes their client experience great.

What are some ways you love on your clients and make their experience the best?

Connect with us for access to more resources about business + life!

Facebook Group

Instagram

17hats free trial and 10% off your purchase 17hats has been crucial for growth in our business. It helps us organize clients in an easy way, and handles all our invoicing and contracts. We want to share it with you!

The biggest secret?  Care for your clients and always put people first!

For businesses that get to know clients really well, each of your clients have a love language, so learn what they are. Most of us cater to a certain type of client-- it's what we attract naturally, and they are all somewhat similar, or have something in common since they're all buying from us.  So many of them might have similar love languages.

Gary Chapman: The Five Love Languages

But this isn't just for companies who get to know each customer well.  For example, Amazon has a wide variety of customers, but pretty much all of them appreciate quick and exact service. That's what makes their client experience great.

What are some ways you love on your clients and make their experience the best?

Connect with us for access to more resources about business + life!

Facebook Group

Instagram

17hats free trial and 10% off your purchase 17hats has been crucial for growth in our business. It helps us organize clients in an easy way, and handles all our invoicing and contracts. We want to share it with you!