MY story
resources List
ask me a question
I just want to curate a life & biz that always feels like summer.
Starting a business is so exciting! Personally, it was the freedom of time and unlimited nature of entrepreneurial income that pushed me to start a business that capitalized on my creative ability and I’ve never wanted to look back.
If you're a business owner or have ever considered starting a business, this page is for you. Today, with more than 13 years in the online space, I've learned a lot about business and how to grow on social media, how to simplify systems and more This is the resource list I WISH I had when I started out in 2010.
You’ll want to look into officially filing for an LLC and your state’s requirements to do business, but on this page, I’m going to share the FUN STUFF: my most-used and most-loved apps, software programs, courses, podcasts + book recs, equipment and more.
I also offer mentor sessions and if you have any questions, you can send me an email anytime!
I went to school for hospitality management & event planning but ultimately fell in love with the photography side of the industry. I spent almost 10 years as a wedding photographer and made the full-time transition to Branding Photography after my husband passed away in 2018.
In 2020 when the world shut down, I pivoted and added a digital component to my business, selling the presets I'd designed to simplify my own editing process along with other courses + resources.
story
my
showit
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The most beautiful, user friendly, drag and drop website and blog platform you ever did see. I’ve been using Showit since 2010 and I’ll never go anywhere else. Not only is their customer service top notch, their integration with WordPress blogging changed the game for me and the ability to build and maintain anything my heart can think up ON MY OWN is priceless.
Use my link + CODE: v2d9fg67 to get your first month free
flodesk
A must-have tool for managing my email list, segmenting customers, creating email campaigns, funnels and workflows, selling, upselling + delivering digital products and more. My most-used, can’t live without marketing tool that took the place of 3 different software subscriptions and put all my email marketing and selling in one place.
Lightroom mobile
Part of the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite
Absolutely couldn’t live without Adobe Creative Cloud. All of my presets work within the free version of the app, but the paid subscription opens up a world of other tools that I use daily, like isolating individual colors, masking and more. For those serious about having full control over the editing of your photos and videos, upgrading is a must!
quickbooks
Quickbooks is probably the most well-known and trusted accounting software. I’ve used it since the start of my business and it makes keeping track of income and expenses, running reports, sending invoices and preparing to file my taxes so easy. I also highly recommend forming a relationship with a CPA who is proficient in bookkeeping.
While I manage my own bookkeeping, I sat with a bookkeeper in my CPA’s office when I first started my business and paid for one-on-one Quickbooks training. I still typically pay their hourly fee to sit with her for an hour once or twice a year and get any questions answered or have her help me with any weird bookkeeping issues. Then when tax time comes around, she has access to my Quickbooks account, can run the needed reports and file my taxes for me. I use the Quickbooks Online version, but there is now also a Self-Employed version.
Click here to get started : 30% off your first 6 months.
stanstore
Stan is the easiest all-in-one program I’ve found that allows you to sell courses, digital products and bookings all in one place hosted in your link·in·bio WITH external links to other sites. It has multiple design styles + allows you to drag and drop links in your desired order and sections.
If you upgrade, you can also offer affiliate links, payment plans and more.
agree
This is the program I use for all of my contracts. It has many built-in templates and also allows you to build and save your own templates. It is quick and easy to create a new contract + send it over to a new client to e-sign. It has the option to do invoicing as well, but since I use Quickbooks to send invoices and receive online payments, I don’t utilize that feature in Agree. There is a free version if you only have one open contract at a time.
Plann
A complete Instagram scheduling, analytics and visual strategy program. There is an app for your phone as well as a desktop program. I’ve tried multiple apps for scheduling: HootSuite, Planoly, and more. Plann is by far my favorite. It allows me to have up to 5 accounts programmed in, which is HUGE for me, since we run multiple businesses + my non profit and I need to stay very well organized. Plans now has an AI Caption Generator and can schedule to Facebook and TikTok.
Get started with a 7 day free trial + click here for a $10 credit!
sendowl
If you’re looking for a very (very) basic digital file delivery system, SendOwl can do a lot at a fraction of the cost of other programs. It’s not as user friendly as StanStore, but the price point may make it worth it for you. This is the program I started with before I had FloDesk Checkouts or StanStore.
canva
While I do a lot of my designing in Photoshop, Canva is the fastest and easiest way to put together graphics for social media and specifically multi-page e-books (which is huge if you want to sell digital products online). I highly recommend paying $15/month for the upgraded version of Canva called Canva Pro which allows you access to so many more features and elements, allows you to input your brand kit, allows you to resell your own templates and import purchased templates, etc. This tool is worth the monthly fee to have a place to design all your graphics, posts, etc. There is a free trial of Pro and I highly recommend checking that out.
software + apps
most-used
my presets for Lightroom mobile
CUSTOM PRESETS COLLECTION
SOME OF THE LINKS ON THIS PAGE ARE AFFILIATE LINKS
WHICH MEANS:
YOU MAY RECEIVE A DISCOUNTED RATE
I MAY RECEIVE A SMALL COMMISSION AT NO CHARGE TO YOU
The Beta Checkouts feature also allows you to sell digital products with upsell features and automatically segment purchasers onto your email list and into your workflows. The Checkouts have less functionality than StanStore, but for basic sales, I use these Checkouts.
Use my link to receive 50% off your first year
Business owners, check out the CREATOR PRESETS!!
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SIMPLY PASSIVE
This course is absolutely perfect for beginners with zero experience in the digital marketing space or people like me who have been in this biz for a while but want to go back to the basics to put some solid automation systems in place to help their businesses grow.
If you are looking for a really really good quickstart intro to digital marketing, to creating digital products that you can sell (that actually COMES WITH a product you can start out selling right away including Master Resell Rights) this course is for you.
This was incredibly helpful foundational content to me even as someone with 13 years experience in this industry.
It walks you through everything from honing in on your niche and optimizing your IG profile, to creating and pricing digital products, setting up your store and automating your sales and emails, creating content, batching tasks and time management.
I loved that this was a zero fluff, here's exactly what you do kind of course. For a relatively short course, at around 5.5 hours of content, it packs a punch.
favorite e-learning courses
level up your phone photos
Download my FREE GUIDE full of tips & tricks to help you make the most of the camera that's always in your hand:
YOUR PHONE!
A complete Instagram scheduling, analytics and visual strategy program. There is an app for your phone as well as a desktop program. I’ve tried multiple apps for scheduling: HootSuite, Planoly, and more. Plann is by far my favorite. It allows me to have up to 5 accounts programmed in, which is HUGE for me, since we run multiple businesses + my non profit and I need to stay very well organized. Plans now has an AI Caption Generator and can schedule to Facebook and TikTok.
one-on-one mentoring
declutter your camera roll
If you're looking to learn more about the business of photography, how to edit, social media and branding, I do offer one-on-one mentoring sessions
SOME THAT I'VE TAKEN + SOME THAT I'VE DESIGNED
EMAIL ME TO BOOK A SESSION
jen vaZquez
Jen is a pro at leveraging Pinterest to scale your business and offers a number of free and paid resources to help you DIY or hire her team to do it for you.
I've taken a LOT of their classes and their free resources are incredible helpful too. They are brilliant at offer creation, copy, sales strategy & funnel building.
Funnel gorgeous
UPGRADE to my ELEVATE your Phone Photos COURSE
creative live
If you love continuing education and learning new skills, this platform is for you. You can opt to buy individual classes or an unlimited annual membership to classes on anything from photography to facebook ads management and everything in between. Or if you register to catch the class at the time it’s live, you can watch for free. It’s a wealth of knowledge for any entrepreneur in any niche.
How to photograph your products at home
PINTEREST STRATEGY CLUB
PINTEREST STRATEGY ACADEMY
fave biz books
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fave biz + productivity podcasts
