Last week I blogged about saying no to Facebook messages because in the end, having client communication in multiple places keeps you unorganized and cheapens the experience for the client when you seem unorganized. Easiest way (for ME) to stay organized was to keep all communication in one place, and that was email. Each Bride gets her own subfolder in a master folder. Today, i’m going to explain to you my system of email folders for my Brides.
The system is pretty straight forward, therefore, EASY! WhileI have it set up for weddings, that doesn’t mean that this can’t work for any type of photography. When I was actively advertising for high school senior sessions I had a master folder for my Seniors.
I should also warn you, I’m THAT person when a CRAZY, out of control email gives me great anxiety. So those who can handle the little red dot of doom on your phone, my system may not work for you. But then again, maybe it will.
Staying Organized with Email Folders
My email folder system is pretty easy and straight forward, at least in my head it is! It’s taken a little bit to figure out a system that works for me, but once I did, it REALLY works!
First allow me to explain it, then i’ll attach some screen shots for you.
- My folder breakdown looks like this:
- Clients
- Weddings
- Each Year
- Inquires
- Closed
- Seniors
- Graduating Year
- Portrait
- Weddings
- Clients
- Each wedding year has their own folder (i.e.: 2015, 2016, 2017)
- Each Bride has her own folder starting with her wedding date (i.e.: 9.9 Mary Jane)
- Email communication about timeline has it’s own folder – this allows for easy reference for the day of timeline
- Inquiries
- Each Bride has her own folder starting with her wedding date (i.e.: 9.9 Mary Jane)
- Closed Folder – This folder is for Brides who went with other photographers
- Each Bride has her own folder starting with her wedding date (i.e.: 9.9 Mary Jane)
Pretty simple right? Titling the Bride’s folder with wedding date listed first was something that I recently started. It allows me to easy check to see if I have dates booked when new inquiring Brides email. This also keeps the Brides in chronological order which helps with multiple tasks in my workflow.
Here’s the visual for all the visual learners 🙂
Remember friends, just because this works for me, doesn’t always mean it’ll work for you! If you think this will help keep you organized, give my system of email folders a shot. Maybe in the process, you’ll find a better way! If you do, shoot me an email and let me know what you discovered in your own email folders.
