MY FAVORITE APPS AND TOOLS
As a professional lifestyle photographer, I find that people are typically very curious about the apps and tools that I use both as a photographer and as a business woman. I utilize social media in so many ways for my business and wish I had known years ago what I know now. The following are my favorite apps and tools that are sure to make your business that much more successful!
1. PINTEREST
Pinterest is a social media network that I’m sure you have heard of, but may be too scared to use. Far less self-explanatory that Instagram or Facebook, Pinterest is a hidden gem in the social media world that can take any business to the next level of exposure as well as social media engagement if used properly! As a photographer and a blogger, using Pinterest allows me to reach an audience that wouldn’t typically see my work on Instagram, or come across my blog. The way ads work on Pinterest is really amazing too. Under 5 dollars can get your pin thousands of views bringing amazing traffic to your site!
2. CANVA
Canva is a tool that used to be much more of a hidden gem and is now becoming more mainstream, and it makes total sense why. I love using Canva for everything. Nearly every Instagram story that I post is created in Canva and I just feel that it adds an extra element of professionalism to my Instagram. There is a free version and a paid version, but I find that the free version does everything that I need it to. I also create all of my Pinterest covers exclusively on Canva. This is an amazing tool for small businesses as it is user-friendly, and of course has a free option.
3. PLANOLY
Producing enough social media content gets exhausting. It is so important to post as many days a week as possible. Realistically, you can’t expect yourself to get on Instagram at the same time every day to post content. My best recommendation is to get a social media scheduling tool like Planoly. To be as successful as possible on Instagram it is best to come up with a content calendar of some sort. Once your content calendar is created, an application like Planoly can be used to actually schedule your content so that it is all in the same place. Planoly has taken such a weight off of my shoulders and I very highly recommend it.
4. LIGHTROOM
Lightroom truly has my heart! This application gets my photographer stamp of approval. It is very user-friendly and also has a paid and a free option. This is the perfect way to bring your editing to the next level whether it be photos for advertising material that you are creating or for social media.
Overall, all of these applications and tools will help make life much easier; they definitely have for me. I highly recommend all of these and hope that you have found these tips to be useful! And please send me any questions in regard to those apps and tools.
