I want to work more effeciently with data base info. I am looking for ideas to keep a database for vendors, Brides, portrait clients etc. I was wondering if you guys sync computers or would use a web based system be easier to access from any computer, iphone etc. and always be updated. What will let me send a targeted newsletter or email to say only vendors, or only Wedding clients etc ?

Also if you use your current email system on your web hosting company and want to change you are kind of screwed so what is the best program. And to make things more complicated what if you wanted to use a mac and might have to use a windows system also (hence web based system)?

thanks

This is an interesting topic! And honestly there are a number of options out there, but let's keep it simple to start with.

If you're on a Mac, you have Address Book which will sync to your iPhone. All of your contacts can stay here, and separated into various groups (clients, vendors, personal, photographers, etc). You can be even more detailed and break down the types of vendors, for example, or you can simply notate why type of vendor they are in the notes section of the contact, and do a spotlight search when needed.

Groups sync to the iPhone as well, and hopefully by the end of the month we'll have a good third party search feature on the iPhone that will allow us to pull these contacts up with ease.

The simplest email system that is web-based but can also be used on a PC or Mac is GMail. GMail offers IMAP support now so that you could have your IMAP account set up on a PC, on a Mac, and also work in the web version, and everything you do is synchronized on all three platforms. Having the email accounts set up on computers will allow you to file important emails on your computer, whereas the web version doesn't have folder management.

That's a start, but let me know if you need more info or ideas, or maybe go into more detail as to what you're looking for, and I'll follow up!

Another option would be something like ConstantContact.com which you can use to send out emails to different lists. There is a fee though, I believe - so it is a matter of deciding if it is the right option.

You mentioned that if you use your host's web-based mail you don't have it if you move; are you referencing your personal email or your email list? Because most hosting companies (and even Gmail) will allow you to download your email onto your computer, so moving isn't a problem. I believe you should also be able to export any email lists that they host for you; contact your hosting company for specific details on how to do it though, as it varies from one host to the next.

Hey Steve!

I was really glad to see this topic on hear, because it really has had me scratching my head lately. I'm really feeling like I want a way to pull all of this "stuff" together into once place. Some of it is related, and some is just random...but it all needs a home!

We've been using Successware...without much success. I was disappointed with program from the very first moment I opened it. I truly feel that there is lots & lots of data entry, and not much in the way of data usage. Mostly, I feel that Successware gives a nod to lots of great ideas, but really comes up short on the user friendly side of things.

Little things that I've recently become aware of:
1) Online contracts
2) Online booking
3) Online calendar sharing

...most of these items are covered by Shoot Q. But I've heard that their system is $50 per month! Wow! I mean...that is $600 per year! Doesn't it seem like a group of photographers could pull together & develop their own system?

And I'm totally digging what you are saying about mailings. Just this WEEK in fact, we had to create an Excel spreadsheet of all of our vendors to do a mailing! This so should have been in a database WITH our clients. The whole thing should be easy...but it's not. From inside the SAME program, I should be able to generate a mailing LIST or create an email list...all with a couple of clicks.

And what about shipments, ya know? I have to maintain a seperate shipment log of when I ship digital files, when I ship proofbooks, recording the tracking number, marking it delivered. This could all be handled by ONE screen in a custom application...check boxes! It would be SO easy!

Same ideas could apply to workflow steps, contracts. Also, I haven't really found a system that I like for seperating funds in Successware...like when I get a retainer, I want to earmark that as a "reserved" payment, and set it to the side. So I had to create a spreadsheet to track that too!

I could keep going like this for hours...it just seems like there has to be a system that doesn't suck, and doesn't require an ongoing monthly expense. Anyone want to start talking about this with me? We'll front some cash!

~ Charles

Nathan I will look at G mail thanks - I like the mac idea as I am switching but I am part time right now and sometimes do a little photography business from work on a windows platform. just want everything in one place that is the same all the time and easy to organize and pull out when I need it.

Charles we need a lightroom for a database kind of thing for lack of a better example.

I bet Jeff and Jula woods have a great system if anyone knows them well.

Quickbooks covers a lot of the vendor and client contact list issue. You can create, print, or even export to excel your full client and/or vendor list if you want. You could also choose to sync your contact list to Address Book or Outlook, from which you can then export to a CSV or text file to be imported into Constant Contact or something comparable.

You may pay 50 a month for Shoot Q, but you're paying for so much more than just database management! In fact, Shoot Q was developed by photographers who know what it's like to run a business and what kind of information and functionality they would want at their hands. A referral program and client controlled booking are just two features that are huge!

The other thing that you can do Stephen is start using Google Calendar as well, and there are a couple of programs that will allow you to sync Google Calendar with Outlook on the PC (Sync My Cal) or iCal on the Mac (Spanning Sync). This way you'd have a lot of your date online if you wanted (email and calendar), but it could be accessed from both computer platforms as well.

Thaks will check it out