We are so excited to welcome our friend Janelle to the Outsourcing With Love blog today!

 

Janelle is the founder and owner of Janelle Joy Private Editing.  After being a photographer for 14 years she saw a huge need for personal photo editing and decided to launch Janelle Joy Private editing back in 2016.  She now runs a thriving and successful editing business helping wedding photographers from all over the world take back their time, enabling them to upscale their business, create better client experiences, and have a personal life in the process.  In-fact, the high-demand for Janelle’s personal and unique approach to private editing ended up growing from a one woman show to now having a team of 6 editors in a period of just 1 year! Janelle is in all the details and definitely delivers a premium experience and service to all of her clients.  Janelle and her team work with extraordinary high-end luxury photographers all the way down to the every day wedding photographer. She thrives by the motto, “Time is a luxury we can’t afford to waste. So use it wisely and purposefully.”

 

Outsourcing Your Photo Editing…  

How do those 3 words make you feel?  Do they give you hope? Do they give you excitement?  Do they give you comfort? OR Does it give you fear? Is it fear of losing control or fear of the unknown, or both?

Don’t worry. You are not alone if outsourcing gives you pause.  I’m here to help you better understand what it means to outsource your editing and why it’s essential if you want to run an elevated and effective photography business.  If you answered hope, excitement, or comfort, then YAY you are on the path to discovering the wonderful world of outsourcing!

So, there are 3 VITAL reasons why outsourcing is essential and an ultimate game changer in your business.  They are, TIME, PROFIT, and CLIENTS. What do I mean?

 

TIME:

Let’s talk about TIME first.   Time is a commodity that you cannot acquire more of, so it’s important not to waste what you have.  I want you to take a moment and think about all the hours you spend on editing… It’s ok, I’ll wait….   Did you come up with a rough number? It’s probably a lot, right?

Through my market research, on average, a full-time wedding photographer spends roughly 375+hours a year on JUST. THEIR. EDITING! Yep, you heard that right, 375+ hours.  Crazy, right! For example, if you are in business for say 5 years, you just spent about 12 months of your work life on only editing.  That’s a year, you guys!

If you could free up those hours, think of what you could do with them!  What would you do with them? How many of you wished you had more time with family and friends, especially during the busy season?

 

PROFIT:

So now that we covered the hours you could be saving if you outsourced, let’s talk about your potential profit. With extra time comes extra profit. What can you do with that extra time to gain more profit? Well, here are some ideas:

 

• Book more weddings & portrait sessions
• Increase your hourly rate because you are using your time more effectively
• Start offering additional streams of income like mentoring, workshops or courses
• Massively increase your visibility to attract more clients overall

 

You already know that “time is money.” When you start thinking about the details of how more time directly translates into increased profit for you and your business, you can see how hiring a private editor pays for itself pretty quickly!

 

CALCULATE YOUR OWN NUMBERS:

Would you want to calculate your own numbers and see what outsourcing could look like for you?  Here is a custom, easy to use calculator, that I created for you to input your numbers and it will show you how many hours you could save by outsourcing AND what your potential income increase could be! You can access the calculator HERE! I can’t wait for you to see your numbers! I think you are in for a surprise!

 

CLIENTS:

Beautiful photographs are a luxury item, not a necessity. So, the experience of working with you should feel like a luxurious one. You’re already giving your clients a great experience but freeing up your time through outsourcing will help you make it AMAZING and unforgettable.  With your newfound extra time and profit, you can think up additional ways to design that premium experience

Another thing to think about is are you serving your “May” clients the same as your “October” clients?  Meaning are you giving the same level of service and attention to all your clients even during the busy season?  So often during busy season, it’s almost survival mode and all those extras you would like to do for your clients fall into the “wish I could” bucket.  Don’t let that happen! Referrals are the lifeblood of your business and if you serve your clients well, it is what will make you stand out in a saturated market and help your business flourish.

 

 

“I WANT TO OUTSOURCE, BUT I’M WORRIED NO ONE CAN MATCH WHAT I DO…”

 

So now that I’ve gone over the 3 main reasons to outsource, I wanted to quickly touch on a fear that I hear often, and that is, “I don’t trust that anyone can edit like I do.  OR Is it really my work if I outsource? The answer to both of those questions is a big YES. Yes, it’s still your work and yes it’s possible to have someone who can edit just like you would.

 

HOW?

 

Obviously, I’m a huge believer in private 1-on-1 editing.  Hiring a private editor who has the right processes in place and having the 1-on-1 relationship is the key in being able to match your editing.  We work with over 50 wedding photographers all with varying styles from light and airy, hybrid, dark and moody, true to life, etc… and we can edit for them all.  Why? It’s because of our solid processes and our 1-on-1 photographer to editor relationship with our clients.

 

Last, “Is it really my work if I outsource?”  YES!!!! I can’t stress this enough! Your editor is and should be applying your unique editing recipe that YOU created.  No one else created that recipe, you did!  You are the one showing and telling them how to edit your images using your editing recipe and all your preferences.  You get to tell your editor how you like your greens, your blues, your contrast, shadows exposures etc… it is and always will be your vision, your work!

 

So, STOP WEARING ALL THE BUSINESS HATS!  You can’t do it all! Let someone help you, which ultimately will help you succeed in business and in your personal life!

 

If you have any questions, I’m happy to answer them!  You can email me at janelle@janellejoy.com.