SSG Business Spotlight on Ike and Tash Photography

This SSG Business Spotlight is sponsored by Rebooku.We are excited to share with you a very special SSG Business Spotlight on Ike & Tash Photography.  Ike & Tash Photography is a husband and wife professional team based out of Tacoma, WA.  We had an opportunity to interview photographer, Latasha Haynes (the wife) to learn her insight on what helps make their business such a success.The world of professional photography can get very competitive!  So, it is crucial that we photographers keep up with what's new and innovative to stand out and be desired.  We need to continuously provide an experience for our clients that they can’t get anywhere else, such as, high quality products and faster services above and beyond that of what our competitors may provide.To obtain and maintain a competitive edge for some of us may require to let some of our tasks go, learn to delegate and/or utilize professional services such as Rebooku in efforts to free up some of our time to focus more on gaining more clients or allowing more personal time with current clients to "show and sell" products and more.  What is Rebooku you ask? Rebooku is a retouching and album design service for professional photographer of which you will learn more about with in this interview through Latasha's experience.Within this interview, Latasha shares her knowledge in hopes to educate other photographers.So let’s move forward to the interview to learn more about Latasha and uncover what advice this amazing photographer had to share! What is the most valuable business advice you ever got?Purchase and utilize "QuickBooks" in efforts to keep accurate records and track our business accounting with this program.   Everything you need to run your business is right here.  You can quickly do your invoicing, bookkeeping, and billing because QuickBooks gives you the things you need most, all in one place. Easily track sales and expenses, accept payments, scan receipts, and be ready for tax time.In no more than 12 words, how would you describe your brand?Modern portraiture for the urban high school senior.Is there something special you do when your business reaches a goal?No, but we need to start!!  This questionnaire made us realize we don’t stop enough to really rejoice in our goals!What is your favorite tool that helps run your studio?We love Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.  It has improved our workflow so much and we could not run our business without it!What product do you sell most of?We sell a lot of loose prints/gift prints (anything size 8x12 or lower) and digital files.How do you nurture your creativity?We nurture our creativity by participating in life – by traveling, shopping, watching the trends, talking with our friends about their visions and more.  We then incorporate what makes sense into our business – there so much that is very inspiring in "just living".What is the best application investment you‘ve ever made?We really love Sticky Albums! It’s a digital photo album app which your clients can save to their iPhones, iPads, and most Androids that allows clients the ability to share their pictures with friends and family while on the go.  Sticky Albums has really helped us also share our portfolio in a pinch!What is the best equipment investment you’ve ever made?We love our D700, it’s our workhorse.  We got it in 2011 and it’s our go to camera – even with our upgrade to the newest and greatest, we still really love our 700 and use it most often.What’s your advice for better profits?Do not include a CD of images in your packaging AND, if you can manage it – do "in home" sales.  We have seen our profits increase by 75% simply by showing edited images in a presentation format and then sharing product options with our clients.  Nine times out of ten, clients have no idea the possibilities that are available to them – a simple conversation and consultation will generally make them aware and will increase sales.Have you had to change your game to stay ahead in the photography world?We are always trying to rethink and access what we are doing.  One thing that we have always committed to is staying true to ourselves and to do things that fit and make sense for us!  We never do anything that doesn’t feel genuinely Ike & Tash. We believe that we have seen success because of these commitments!If you were to go back in time and start over, know what you know today, what do you wish you would have learned early on to help you succeed in your business more quickly as far as image quality?"Finding the light".  No picture is possible without great light.  Now that we understand the concept and how to find it – our imagery reflects EXACTLY what we want to put out.  We believe that understanding light, how it works and falls and sculpts a subject is key to great photography.  Composition and all the other keys to an image come second to amazing light.Where can potential new clients and our reader see more images and learn more about your business?You can learn more about Ike & Tash Photography at:Website: www.ikeandtash.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/ikeandtashInstagram: @ikeandtashPinterest: www.pinterest.com/ikeandtash In efforts to help more photographers discover additional resources to help them obtain and maintain a competitive edge, Ike and Tash were invited to try the professional services offered by Rebooku and provide feedback to our readers.  Here is what they had to say regarding their experience:What else can we say about Rebooku besides it is one of the best services we have tried in a long time.What is Rebooku you ask? Rebooku is a retouching and album design service for professional photographer.  It is designed specifically for baby, children and senior photographers. As you may very well know, us, photographers seem to have a hard time giving up control of any aspect of our business. For some reason, we feel like we need to do it all; marketing, consulting, shooting, editing, sales, book-keeping, delivery, maybe get some rest, oh and have a life on top of all that! Well, I am here to tell you, that handling all of these tasks is far from necessary and that it is crucial to your sanity and the longevity of your business that you let some of these tasks go. Rebooku makes “letting some of these tasks go” an easy and pleasant experience!We live in very competitive market!  So, it is crucial that we keep up with what's new and innovative and part of that is providing an experience for our seniors that they can’t get anywhere else, which includes providing high quality products and services that our competitors are providing, one of which is albums!Albums for us provide an opportunity to create a high-end product with lasting value for our clients as well as opportunity for larger profits. Designing these albums can be such a time sucker and we can get discouraged from trying to sell them because the amount of effort it takes to create them, and that's where Rebooku has lifted a huge weight off of our shoulders.Our experience with Rebooku has been very easy and pleasant. It's like they have something for everyone. We are big fans of simple and clean album design. So the general design stood out to us the most. So we followed the instructions and entered our info, uploaded our 30 favorite images for design, and the Rebooku team sent me back a design that was better than anything I could have put together on my own. They really put together a complete album that was perfect and exactly what I was looking for!  And they did it fast!  Check out some spreads below!If you are looking to add albums to your product line up but are worried about the design process, worry no more. Rebooku is a great tool and one that we will definitely be taking advantage of to allow us to make more money while freeing up time to do the things that we really want to do in our business.In conclusion, we want to thank Ike and Tash for this informative interview and would love your feedback as to what you found valuable with in this interview, suggested questions to ask the next featured photography business, or what topics you may want to simply learn more about in future SSG Business Spotlights.Leave your comments below for a chance to win a FREE trial service with Rebooku! Don’t miss this chance to discover how much time you can free up so you can get out there and shoot more clients vs. sitting behind a computer screen and editing.  One lucky winner will be selected from all the comments posted by the 3rd day of posting this article.  Good luck!SSG Business Spotlight is sponsored by RebookuArticle by Sherri Russell