Utilizing Slow Season & Setting up Systems || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

We're hitting the end of "slow season" for wedding photographers here in Lynchburg, Virginia! I'm so excited for the 2018 Wedding Season! I have the most amazing, gorgeous brides and I cannot wait to share the joy of their big day! 

I also really enjoy slow season. After a crammed packed fall each year, it is so nice to have some downtime to celebrate Christmas with my family, and then to have some slower days with a break in editing! I love to take this time to really nail down my workflows and systems for the year, as having these things in place make the rest of the year organized and doable! 

When going through this process, I start my day by writing down the pain points from my previous wedding season and what worked really well. If I have one wedding a month, things are a lot easier, but when there's 4 or 5 in a month, plus engagement sessions, a lot of the little things get dropped or delayed.  My goal is for each of my brides to have the same amazing experience! By recognizing the pain points, I can then brainstorm ways to make that easier for me to ensure it gets done on time.  

I also take this time to write out each and every point that my clients go through. From signing the contract, mailing the wedding guide, scheduling an engagement session, to showing up at the wedding location. Yes, this can take time to write it all out, but this is where you'll notice where you're dropping the ball, or where you'd like to have more contact with your clients! 

I LOVE that HoneyBook now has a workflow option where you can now input and automate a lot of your workflow- which is amazing!! I am able to automatically send emails to new inquiries, send reminders before engagement sessions, and see a list of tasks to do each day. 

There's always a lot to get done in the "slow season" like updating magazines and portfolio images, clean out my office & camera equipment, etc. but setting up my systems and workflows is always one that is SO worth taking the time to get done!

So tell me, what do you like to get done during slow season?

PS: Are you interested in Honeybook? Here's my link to get you 50% off your membership! http://share.honeybook.com/gNBpM  

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

To Do Lists || Lynchburg, Virginia Photographer

Anyone else obsessed with making lists of everything that needs to get done? Right now, I have multiple lists going on in my notebook- you know stuff that needs to get done with the family, my business, cleaning, you name it, there's a to-do list running for it! 

I am 100% a pen and paper girl, there's just something SO satisfying about getting everything out of your brain and onto the paper. And even more satisfying to cross things off as I get them done! Even though it does seem that some days the list just gets longer and longer instead of shorter! ;) Between my Daily Life Lists, my Client Workflow Sheets, and my Power Sheets, it can seem impossible to keep it all straight. 

I have found a few apps that I love utilizing as I'm trying to keep everything in one place so I thought I would share! 

I've shared about my love of Trello before, so I'll keep this short, but this is great for my brain as I use this as a virtual cork board to organize big projects. This doesn't quite work for me with the little details that need to get done, so I keep this running for big projects and ideas! 

From here, I have a daily to-do list on ToDoIst.Com.  Here, I can put in each and every little thing I need to do. From each blog post I need to write, to what I need to put in an envelope and stick in the mail. I know that crossing things off my to-do list helps motivate me, so putting in smaller to-do's helps me get more done! 

I still have my paper to-do lists- especially when it comes to the daily things that need to get done, water I need to track that I'm drinking (ugh I'm SO horrible at this!). What do you use for your To-Dos? 

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

Wedding Photographer Planning for Maternity Leave || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

Happy Monday! Phew- what a busy weekend we had! We’re in full baby prep mode as little guy could be coming any day now! All of the sudden I want and need to get all the things done. Ha!

We’ve been working on the finishing touches for the nursery- but let’s be honest- it’ll be a work in progress for quite a while and then it’ll be in transition as he grows.  I’ve also been working really hard on making sure all of my workflows and systems are working and in place so I don’t have to work as hard as we adjust to life as a family of 4. I’ve been batch working to get everything done and scheduled, and have some super fun blog posts coming in the next few months!

If you’re a small business owner, you know how hard it can be to fully step away for any amount of time, but it’s super important to me that I am able to bond with baby, recover and rest! I’ll share later about what I’m planning on maternity leave looking like for me. To be able to have blogs scheduled, emails automated, and workflows in place allows me to ease back into work instead of trying to balance it all at once, which we all know never works out!

Here are some ways that I’m preparing my business for some time off:

1- Lists of tasks that need to be completed before my leave, and responsibilities that continue on and I’ll need to follow up on while on leave. As of right now, I’m not planning on hiring a virtual assistant or anyone to answer emails for me, so while there may be a slight delay in responses, I’ll put up an away message and know my amazing clients are prepared for it and know I’ll be getting back with them soon!

2- Set expectations. By writing about maternity leave, posting about it on social media and emailing my clients ahead of time, I’m letting clients know what to expect.  I also have an away message up for new clients, and will change it up once I’m taking more time away and responses will be a little bit more delayed.  

3- Reviewing my systems and workflows. You know I always preach about workflows and how they make my life SO much easier! Going over the past year and being able to pinpoint those moments of pain or stress really help with creating changes for the next year. With this, I highly encourage having GMail filters in place, having automatic responses in place for new inquiries, and to take advantage of canned responses to emails where you get lots of similar questions about.  

4- I’ve reached out to some amazing Lynchburg, Virginia vendors and friends to help me keep the blog alive while I’m out. I am SO excited for this- hearing from professionals in all different aspects in the industry to help Brides and Photographers/Small Business owners alike.

5- Decide on a timeline! This is so important because it can be so easy to get used to not working and start dropping the ball on important tasks that need a timeline to get moving again.  I luckily was able to take things pretty slowly the last few weeks of my pregnancy office-wise to be able to prepare.  Knowing when my next weddings are and when I need to start working on things again will help make sure no balls are dropped.  I do have weddings scheduled and on the books in the next couple of months, but have backup plans and am still limiting how many weddings and sessions I’m taking over the year for 2018.  I’ll be easing back into working full time hours again slowly to get used to adjustments!

6- Be okay with asking for help! I know that each pregnancy, delivery and recovery is very different- as is each and every baby.  With Emmie, I was able to use nap times and snuggle times to get some work done. That may or may not be the case this time- and that’s okay. I know I have people on board that can help with emails, management, and whatever else I need and I need to give myself grace and ask for help if I need it!

So, that’s my plan for this exciting- yet scary - time full of so much unknown! I’ll be sure to update after the fact with what I learned worked and didn’t work for those of you who own a business and are looking at taking some time off!

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

Planoly: Getting my Time Back || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

Okay, I know I am late to the game here and so many other people have been using Planoly for years, but I honestly didn’t think I really needed to schedule my social media posts- because I could just pop on and post each day. But, as I’m planning for maternity leave, I wanted to make sure that my business accounts were still being active and I wasn’t having to think about it- because having a newborn takes up all the brainpower. But oh my goodness am I kicking myself now for how long it took me to try this!

I had no idea the time I was spending each day trying to pause my workflow to pick out a photo and a caption and post it to Instagram. And then, it’s just WAY too easy to get lost in scrolling or checking out a story or two, which we all know turns into 15.  But with Planoly, I can sit down and batch schedule a bunch of posts at one time and not have to think about it any more.  It takes me less than an hour on Planoly now to schedule a full month of posts so I can focus on my important tasks during my office hours instead of breaking up my day and spending about 30 minutes or more of my office hour time to post something.

So, maybe you’re like me and dragging your feet on trying out something else new- but trust me with this- you need to at least try it! It’s super user friendly, you can answer comments within the app, see it planned out on the calendar, and even see the number of likes and comments you get on each post at a quick glance so you’re able to know what posts get more engagements than the others.  

Do you use Planoly or something that helps you get so much time back??

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!

Sign up for Planoly here!

Defining your own success || Lynchburg, VA Wedding Photographer

Oh man, this is a hard one for me to write. I don’t want to come across as “preachy” as I’m talking straight to myself in this one, but I know as much as I need it, there has to be others that do as well! Especially this year as I'm only booking a limited number of weddings with baby on the way.  

In this industry, and paired with social media, it is SO easy to look at what everyone else is doing and compare it to what I am doing. To see that other photographer posting wedding images from what seems like being booked every single weekend. To see their gorgeous home, that never seems to get dirty and have piles of unfolded laundry in the corner and stacked up on the living room couch. It’s so easy to constantly be comparing how many shoots another photographer shoots compared to how many you shoot. We compare what other people are charging, trips they go on, social media followers and comments. It is exhausting. And not accurate.

It’s extremely difficult not to get wrapped up in how everyone else seems to be doing better and booking more weddings than you. Then it can seriously spiral from there, that you must not be as good and talented as they are. But really it needs to come down to your own personal definition of success. Your definition of success shouldn’t be the same as anyone else’s- it should be what is success for you and your family specifically.  Everyone’s journey is different and unique.  

There was a time in my life where shooting a wedding every single Saturday (or most of them, anyways) was what I genuinely wanted to do. There was a time when I was working full-time and trying to build my business and my definition of success would have been to shoot more than 10 weddings a year.

It’s so important when running your own business to take everyone else out of the equation and ask yourself- what is success to you? What makes you happy at the end of the day- that says, I feel fulfilled, content and am doing what I need to do for my family.

For me, my definition of success always focuses on my family. I am able to do what I love to do, but also be available for my family. When Michael has a Friday off, we can go on a lunch date (always El Jefe downtown for tacos and margaritas! Can’t wait to go after this baby is born- I’ve missed those margaritas!!) or I can go on field trips and volunteer in Emmie’s classroom.  I love that I’m doing something I am so passionate about, can love on my couples and have my family stay a priority as well! I haven’t always been able to balance everything well- especially when I was first full-time with my business, or balancing both working full time and trying to build my business up. It takes some work and learning to adjust, but you can get there!

Keep your eyes on your own paper. Be encouraged by looking back at what you have accomplished and how far you’ve come- not how far you feel that other people are in relation to where you are. It’s totally okay to grow at your own pace, and be as busy as you want to be!

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Ashley Eiban is a Wedding & Portrait Photographer based in Central Virginia. Serving the Lynchburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, and surrounding areas. Available for travel world-wide.  Ashley is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships built on mutual understanding, trust and lasting friendship.  

Currently booking a limited number of wedding and portrait sessions for 2018 and 2019.  Contact Ashley today for additional information!