Let me start off by saying that Dubsado didn’t pay me to write this… Although, if you wanna use my affiliate code, I ain’t gonna be mad about it ;)

OKAY ANYWAY

I first started shooting destination weddings in 2018. Truly, it was a dream come true, and even to this day, it’s still my dream job. I honestly don’t know how I got so lucky.

I mean this wholeheartedly when I say I could not do this job without Dubsado.

It was February 2018. I got a random inquiry that I wasn’t expecting from a couple having their wedding in Texas that following June.

I said to myself, “No way. They want me to come to them??” I totally freaked! And I knew I had to lock down this wedding!

In retrospect, these two were beyond accommodating, especially in regards to my crazy booking process at the time:

• I receive the inquiry.

• I email them saying, “I’m available!”

• We schedule a phone call.

• We hop on that phone call, during which time, we talk about the details of their day and the timeline.

  • During that phone call, I gauge their interest and send them a PDF of the contract.

• We discuss the contract. I translate the lawyer-y verbiage.

• We decide how many hours of coverage they want.

• They print the contract.

• Sign it.

• Scan it.

• Email it back.

• PayPal or mail their deposit.

Then the wedding comes. I photograph it. Because the couple had to transfer their money from an international bank, I didn’t get paid the remainder until a month after their wedding.

This late payment meant that I couldn’t begin working on their images, which threw my entire schedule off. I was late on a few other gallery deliveries because of this, too.

I knew this couldn’t become a regular occurrence, and I had heard about online business managers before.

So I did my research, and I could tell you all about why I didn’t pick “the other guys,” but I’ll sum up why I picked Dubsado:

• They’re cost-effective. You pay once per year and you’re DONE. You never have to think about that bill coming out of your checking account on a monthly basis.

• They don’t put their own branding everywhere, which makes me look extra professional – as if I build different contract and invoice portals for each client.

• The interface is clean and easy to understand. I have a suuuuuper basic understanding of HTML and CSS, but I don’t have to deal with any of that by using Dubsado.

• You’re in complete control of when emails send automatically, or when they don’t. You set the payment schedule, Dubsado does the reminding. It’s all in one easy location.

• They’re family owned and operated. Us small business owners need to stick together!

John and I have moved around a lot in the last year, which means my clients are currently all over the country. Using Dubsado significantly reduced how much work I have to do per client, thus allowing me to spend my time on other tasks, like editing, blogging (hi), marketing, emailing, blah, blah, blah. There’s no more worrying about if things got lost in the mail. No more paper files to be shuffled around. Best of all? So much less stress!

All I have to do now is hop on the phone call, sign the online contract, and then they get an automatic email to pay their deposit via PayPal.

BOOM. Easy peasy.

Dubsado has made me more efficient, more user friendly, and easier for my clients, which ultimately just gives them more reason to recommend me to their friends!

So thank you, Dubsado, for helping me live my dream and keep my sanity.

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Do yourself a favor, and sign up. Dubsado is worth every penny.