I am so impressed with Siteground‘s website hosting features, I have never needed to look anywhere else. All of my domain names are directly registered with them, and I buy my hosting needs at the same time. I have multiple websites and they all go through the same Siteground account for easy access. Their customer service chat feature is above and beyond. Highly recommend them.

There are several great online management programs for photographers but this one trumps them all, because it does the work of several other programs. It’s the best all-in-one for photographers. Emails, client portal, contracts, contact forms, online scheduling, galleries, album proofing, lab integration, slideshows AND payment processing. Anything you can think of is built right in. That’s because this program was designed for photographers by photographers.

Say goodbye to Pixieset, HoneyBook, Dubsado, Shoot Proof and more. Sprout Studio covers all of it and then some.

Bonus: Get 20% off your monthly or annual plan when you signup below. No credit card required to get started. Try it and compare to other programs you’ve tried.

If you’re not quite ready for a robust system like Sprout Studio, break up the features and do it on your own terms. Flodesk is an email management system which allows you to keep track of your photography clients and send them emails. By asking your clients to opt-in to your email list and providing value (through newsletters or promos), you will build a marketing strategy that you can tap into when you are advertising sessions and giveaways. An email service provider is a must if you are serious about your photography business.

Try Flodesk free. After your free trial, my link gives you 50% off the monthly cost. I have found Flodesk to be the most cost effective email service. The email templates are so easy and the prettiest I’ve seen (and I’ve tried several service providers).

Want another suggestion for an email service provider? I also use and love Convertkit, and so do many other creatives. It’s more robust than Flodesk and has more features. Flodesk has prettier templates though;)

Try Convertkit free. The free plan includes unlimited landing pages, sign up forms, up to 1000 subscribers, and unlimited email broadcasts. A great way to get started with email lists.

Swift Galleries has singlehandedly been responsible for the majority of revenue in my business. It’s a program that allows you to create mock galleries on a wall, inserting actual photos of the images from a session. You can move the images around and resize them to create your own galleries. This helps people visualize their art on the wall and decide which photos and sizes look best together in what sizes. You can even upload a photo of the client’s actual wall to design it.

My first sales session paid for 8 years worth of the Swift Galleries subscription.

Sign up for a free trial on their main page here. Use every feature with no credit card for 14 days.

Pixieset is an excellent option if you want some stand alone features. It offers modern stunning galleries, customer management features such as invoices and contracts as well as billing. We love their phone app feature, which has always been a client favorite.

Try Pixieset and get 250MB of bonus space added to your storage when you sign up here.

Here’s a payment option if you’re just starting out. Accepting debit and credit with Square is so simple, especially on the go as a photographer. I take payments through my iPhone, no device necessary. Just download the app and you’re good to go. Recurring payments and payment schedules are easy to set up too, and I’m happy with their processing fees ( which is so worth it. More options like credit card = more sales).

Bonus: Get free processing (no fees!) on your first sales for 180 days up to $1000 when you sign up below.

My free organization tool. This gem keeps me on top of upcoming due dates related to annual goals, photoshoot launches and project coordination. You can make boards to keep track of different aspects of your upcoming or completed shoots and anything in between. You can share your boards with others – I use it to assign tasks to my virtual assistants and team members as we tackle projects.