Feature Update: Jobs

With the latest release of StudioCloud, version 3.1.290, there have been additional features added to jobs. Those features are listed below.

• Group operations have been added to quickly convert clients, prospective clients, and leads to a different client type.
• Group operations were added to quickly select clients, prospective clients, and leads that are linked to an active job or are not linked to an active job.
• Group operations were added to create jobs for clients, prospective clients or leads as well as to set the initial job pipeline when the job is created.
• Job pipelines and job pipeline deadlines have been  added to the leads table
• Job pipelines have been added to the edit client, prospective client, and leads window.
• If the job pipeline is selected from the client, prospective client, or lead window then a new job will be created if one doesn't already exist.
• Jobs can now be marked as completed from the edit job window instead of just from the group operation jobs table.

Feature Update: Setup Wizard

With the latest release of StudioCloud, version 3.1.290, the setup wizard has been updated to include new samples which can be used to quickly setup a new business in StudioCloud or to add additional features to an already existing business.

The new samples contain the following items:

• Email Templates
• SMS Text Message Templates
• Job, Event, and Invoice pipelines
• Calendar Types and Calendar Sub-Types
• Contract examples
• CloudAlert email and text message reminders
• CloudForms sample forms

Additional samples will be coming in the future and will receive a new blog post when they are released.

Q&A Photography Workflow

Photography Workflow Question and Answer

This is a question and answer post on how to setup workflow for portrait and wedding photographers. 

Photographers With Employees

I am a portrait and wedding photographer with employees. I want a system that will track clients all the way through the entire process from initial encounter to picking up their order. I also want to be able to assign employees to different steps along the way. 

The best method in this situation is to use jobs. 

Option 2 of the following tutorial provides instructions on how to do that.

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00779/103/

I am a portrait and wedding photographer with employees. I want a system to track the leads that come in and the steps that I need to do to convert them from a lead to a paying customer. I do not want to track anything after the client is booked but I do want to assign employees to different steps and have a project deadline.

The best method in this situation is to use client projects. 

The following tutorial explains how to create a client project.

 https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00240

I am a portrait and wedding photographer with employees. I want a system to track the things that need to be done before and after a photo shoot or wedding and I want to assign them to employees. 

The best method in this situation is to use an event project.

This tutorial explains how to create a project for an event. 

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00504/109/

I am a portrait and wedding photographer with employees. I want a system to track the things that need to be delivered to a customer after the customer has ordered 

The best method in this situation is to use an invoice project.

This tutorial explains how to create an invoice project.

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00661/0/

Photographers Without Employees

I am a portrait and wedding photographer without employees. I want a system to track the leads that come in and the steps that I need to do to convert them from a lead to a paying customer. I do not want to track anything after the client is booked. 

The best method in this situation is to use client pipelines and associate them with the lead.

Option 1 of the following tutorial provides instructions on how to do that.

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00779/103/

I am a portrait and wedding photographer without employees. I want a system that will track clients all the way through the entire process from initial encounter to picking up their order. 

The best method in this situation is to use jobs. 

Option 2 of the following tutorial provides instructions on how to do that.

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00779/103/

Question: I am a portrait and wedding photographer without employees. I want a system to track the things I need to be done before and after a photo session or wedding. 

The best method in this situation is to use event pipelines and assign them to photo sessions or weddings. 

This tutorial explains how to create pipelines.

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00512/0/ 

This tutorial explains how to assign an event pipeline to an event. 

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00781/109/

Question: I am a portrait and wedding photographer without employees. I want a system to track the things that need to be delivered to a customer after the customer has ordered. 

The best solution is to use an invoice project to track what needs to be delivered to a customer. 

This tutorial explains how to create an invoice project.

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00661/0/

Feature Update: Jobs & Pipelines

In the latest update of StudioCloud numerous enhancements have been made to pipelines and jobs. Below is a summary of the improvements:

• The new client, new prospective client, new leads, and new events windows all now have a job pipeline combobox. If a job pipeline is selected from those windows then a job will automatically be created when the client or event is created and they will automatically be associated with the job. The job will also have the job pipeline assigned to it.
• This tutorial shows what the combobox looks like for the edit client and edit event windows.
• https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00764/196/
• If a job pipeline has the checkbox "Default Pipeline For New Jobs" then the job pipeline combobox in the feature above will be automatically selected when you click the new client, new prospective client, new lead, or new event window. Which means that jobs will automatically be created for new clients, prospective clients, leads, and events when the save button is clicked.
• The pipeline stage windows have been updated to be easier to setup pipeline stage actions.
• Pipeline stage actions now support removing an assigned employee from a job, project, or task instead of just assigning employees to them. This is useful if you want to assign an employee to a job at one pipeline stage and then remove the employee so that whichever employee is free can take the next pipeline stage.
• Jobs have been updated to support job deadlines as well as pipeline stage deadlines. Job pipeline stages have been updated to support pipeline stage deadlines as well. This is useful in situations where a pipeline stage needs to be completed in a specific amount of time regardless of the job deadline.
• Jobs have been updated to support employees being assigned to them.
• Jobs have been updated to also support emailing or sms text messaging employees.

New Feature: Mileage Logs

StudioCloud is excited to announce that the latest version of StudioCloud now includes mileage tracking. This feature is one of our most requested features on the feature request forum.

Please note that this feature is currently only available in the StudioCloud desktop business software.

Here is a short breakdown of what is included in mileage tracking:

• Using the odometer of a vehicle you can track the distance traveled
• The mileage logs can be given a custom mileage type such as business, charity, personal, etc.
• The mileage logs can be associated with a job.
• The mileage logs can be associated with a vehicle.
• The mileage logs can be associated with a driver.
• The mileage logs can be associated with a location.
• The mileage logs can be tagged.

Here is a tutorial on how to create a mileage log.
https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00776/192/

Here is a tutorial that explains how to associate a mileage log with a job.
https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00777/198/

Here is a tutorial on how to create a mileage type.

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00775/198/

Here is a tutorial on how to create a driver.
https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00774/198/

Here is a tutorial on how to create a vehicle.
https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00773/198/

New Feature: Jobs

With the latest release of StudioCloud, version 3.1.275, we have implemented a new feature called jobs. Jobs are used to group clients, events, invoices, and/or projects together.

Some examples of when jobs could be used are below:

• If you are a wedding photographer a job is ideal for tracking a wedding because many weddings often include more then just the wedding event itself and often have more then just one invoice associated with them. For example, the wedding might also include a bridal photoshoot or another type of  pre-wedding photoshoot.
• If you are a portrait photographer a job is ideal for a portrait shoot that might include an initial client consultation, the photo shoot, and a sales/preview session.
• If you are a tattoo artist a job is ideal for a multi-session tattoo or for a single session tattoo that might also include an initial client consultation.
• If you are a massage therapist a job is ideal to group all of the massage sessions together in one central location.

Here are some other uses for jobs:

• If you want one central location to track everything that is happening in your business then jobs would be a good fit.
• If you are a photographer that wants a system to archive a dvd of images for a photo shoot then using the job number would be a great archival method. A good naming system would be to use the job number with a combination of the client name and/or the photo shoot date.

Here is a tutorial on how to create and edit jobs.

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00764/196/

Here is a tutorial on how the job numbering system works.

https://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00766/196/How-to-change-the-Job-Number.html

New Feature: ePayments

StudioCloud has updated ePayments to no longer be flash based and, as such, we now support ePayments on iPhone, iPads, Android phones, Android tablets, as well as any internet browser.

We have also added in additional options listed below

• You can send ePayments for invoice balance dues
• You can send ePayments for payment dues
• You can send editable epayments where either you or the client can enter the amount that they desire to pay directly into the epayment.

Please refer to this tutorial for instructions on how to use the new features. http://app1.studiocloud.com/support/index.php?/article/AA-00435/0/