I am not meticulous. I have more ideas running in my brain than outlets for them. I would have had a separate task list to remind me to reset every software program with the correct workflow status for every order.

I noticed something different this summer. Now that my workflow is flowing, and everything is tracked in Táve I spend less time doing icky business stuff. I use ProSelect to process my orders, then I import into Táve, and right there I can assign it to the correct client, the correct job, and fix the pricing errors that I made (cuz I make errors sometimes). I send my order, create a task so I can see in my task list that it’s in process, and wait for my order to arrive. Cool part is that those are just some of the features that Táve has condensed into one program for me, and there are many more programs from which you can import orders, and to which you can export data.

Then I sit at my desk wondering what I have forgotten to do. Nothing. I just spend less time on each task, and I don’t forget things. It’s hard to believe. Well not that hard to believe since my task list, calendar, and upcoming jobs are all right on my homepage.

As you should know by now Táve is an official sponsor of this year’s Wedding and Portrait Photographers International convention, lovingly referred to by all as WPPI. The first year I went I was so intimidated that I brought a non-photog friend with me. Not everyone has that luxury so if you are striking out on your own (or even with a buddy) I would like to offer some helpful info and ease your first time fears.

1. Everyone was freaked out their first time: And if they say they weren’t they are dirty liars. The advantage to everyone’s having freaked out is that 90% of the people you run into there are willing to give you helpful advice so you don’t feel so alone. The other 10% are hacks.

2. Wear comfy shoes: Everyone there will be wearing comfy shoes. We all know they are ugly, and we are all over it. Merrell’s, Soft, Born, etc. One year I spent 20 minutes in a vendor’s boot chatting about comfortable foot wear. MGM has some very long hallways.

3. If there is any way you can, stay at the MGM: The long walk back to a hotel is not worth the money you save, so unless you get a killer deal or find a room across the street stay in the hotel at which you are convening.

4. Don’t make commitments the first day of the trade show: You will go broke doing this. Grab the flyer, make a note, take some time to sit in your hotel room mulling over your options. I always make my last trade show day “shopping day.” This is unless you know exactly what you are going there for, or unless it’s Táve. Commit to that right now.

5. Take advantage of Platform Classes: They are included in your registration so you should hit as many as you can. If they weren’t what you were needed or expecting you can always slip out the back and hit another one.

6. Save money on food: Bring snack bars and water bottles to carry with you. There is a drugstore right down the strip if you don’t want to fly with them. I also like to find someone to split meals with. Vegas portions are huge and cheap meals are hard to find there.

7. Leave space in your suitcase for the SWAG you’ll be taking home: Catalogs, buttons, pens, magnets, maybe some prizes or trophies. You just never know.

8. Rockstars are people, too: Don’t act silly or giddy around the famous photographers. You will see them everywhere. They are human beings like you and I. Treat them with respect, smile and wave. Don’t whisper and point. Outside of this industry no one knows who they are. They carry around the same crappy point and shoot cameras that we do and their snapshots look just as bad.

9. Bring business cards, lots of them: You will want to give them to vendors and other photographers you meet.

10. Be yourself: Don’t try to be cooler than you are in real life. Dress up if you want to, but only if you will be comfortable. Everyone loves a show, unless they can tell it’s just an act.

See you there! I will be giving out free hugs to anyone who wants one* If you have some AWESOME WPPI tips to share please do, but only AWESOME tips, please.

*Limit one per customer. Certain restrictions may apply.

I have an Android phone and my life is in it. Including Táve!

It may be called Táve iPhone Access, but it works swimmingly in my Android browser, which is awesome when you are running late for a bridal shower and have to access your client list to postpone your location session because the rain is pouring down. The only regret is that I did not discover until recently the awesomeness of the mobile feature, which lets me access my account quickly from anywhere.

Just visit www.tave.com in your iPhone or Android browser and you should be automatically taken to Táve iPhone Access at tave.com/iPhone.

There are a bazillion reasons why I love Táve, and eventually I’ll share them all with you, but one of my favorite things is that it’s helping me “go green.”  A lot of people will sneer at that, but for me being green isn’t a marketing angle.  It’s how I was raised, and it’s how I live my life.  I’ve got solar panels on my house, I recycle or reuse anything I can, and I try not to waste.  Before Táve I swam in paper.  Notes to myself, phone messages, client records were stacked all over my office.  Táve allows me to store most of that in that big beautiful cloud.  My contracts are signed and stored digitally, I can add any kind of note you can imagine to the clients’ files, I can forward email correspondence directly to my client files so I have records of what I told who and when.  The best part is that I can actually FIND the information when I go looking for it.

Not only have I decreased my paper usage, my ink usage, my trash output and my storage space needs, I am also reducing my own and my client’s carbon footprint, by using the client access system.  A new client used to mean a consultation in my home, then after their decision was made, another trip back to my house to sign paperwork and pay the deposit.  Now I send them quotes online before we meet, so they can see the system, meet with them, and explain how they can use the online system.  They go home, log in, pick their package, sign their contract, make their payment and they don’t have to make another trip.  May not sound like a lot of savings, but if each photographer saves one trip per client per year that’s a lot of gas and emissions we are eliminating.  I now email my clients their statement with a link to the client access and all of their payments can be made online.

We’d love to hear from those of you have used Táve to “go green” and what changes it has made for you on that front.