fotofafa and $50 (times ten)

There are just not enough hours in the day. Emailing, shooting, culling, editing, blogging, designing, ordering, packaging, shipping, and that’s just part of it. There just isn’t enough Jean to go around.

You’ve probably heard me mention this before, but there was a time in my photography career that I just couldn’t possibly do one. more. day. No sleep, very little eating, no exercise, no time for my Love and my Babies. I love my job so much, but in order for me to keep loving it, keep my business running smoothly, maintain my sanity, and get my life back, I had to give parts of it away. I needed help.

Enter outsourcing.

Enter freedom, happiness, and extra time. Exit near mental breakdowns, guilt, and stress.

It is no secret that outsourcing is essential for running my business smoothly. I tell my friends, I tell our workshop attendees, I tell anyone who will listen. However, I must disclaim that I am a picky one. If I am going to give up pieces of my business and entrust them to others, they dang well better do an amazing job. That is where one of my favorite companies comes in…Fotofafa. Fotofafa is an image editing and album design company, and I have worked with them for the last few years. I had tried two or three other editing companies in the past, and just felt frustrated and unsatisfied. I decided to try one more time, with a company called Fotofafa, and was instantly hooked. Amazing customer service, great proofing system, and awesome quality of work. As with anything, it took a few weddings for us to get our styles meshed, but now it is as simple as sending my images in, approving them or requesting changes on their proofing system, and getting the images back for me to upload to my clients in a quick turnaround time.

Thanks Fotofafa for helping me get my life back. AND, thanks Fotofafa for offering TEN $50 gift cards to my readers! If you would like to try Fotofafa, enter a comment on why you would like the gift card, and I will randomly choose 10 people to get a $50 gift card off your first order with Fotofafa!jeansmith_fotofafajeansmith_fotofafa2

 

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  1. amy j. says:

    wow…what an awesome giveaway, jean!!! i’ve heard you talk about this company before & i’d love to try them out since i could definitely use that extra editing time for time spent playing with my baby since he won’t be young forever!

  2. Heather says:

    Great giveaway! I love the name fotofafa. So fun to say!

  3. Natalia says:

    oh, thanks for this!
    I also want my life back but still have no courage to outsource, your certificate gives me the chance to make the first step!
    Post-processing is the main reason I can’t have more sessions, it eat my time!

  4. Kristina says:

    Awesome giveaway! I have been in search of this exact thing! I have already tried one company and was not truely thrilled :/ With a little one at home and my full time job is a SAHM I need every minute I can!

  5. Jacqueline C. says:

    I would love to outsource!

  6. Nicole says:

    I would love to Ty it bc like you, I don’t have enough hours in the day as well. I’m kind if picky with my editing as well, so if your happy, I’m happy. Can’t wait to try them!!

  7. Rachel says:

    Because there just aren’t enough hours!

  8. Erin says:

    One of my goals for this year is to outsource some of my workload. I’d be VERY interested in outsourcing the editing side. Thanks so much for sharing your experience – glad to hear fotofafa is working out for you!

  9. Jen says:

    Jean Smith, you rock. This blog post is exactly what I needed to see. A bit of inspiration because I am at the point right now that you were at, too much business, not enough time. I am at a crossroads here of making decisions for my business and struggling with the ‘giving up control’ part. I would love to give fotofafa a try and that is awesome-sauce that they are giving away these gift cards! I would love a chance to win one! 😀

  10. I need to be shown it’s OK to not be such a control freak & to let go of a little bit of what’s on my plate. So it’d be awesome to have a little extra time… I’d devote it to my adorable pups’ greeting card line 😉

  11. Fotofafa says:

    Hooray! Thanks for your support, Jean!

  12. Denise Riley says:

    I would love to try Fotofafa’s Photoshop services, though the culling service is tempting, too. I’m horrible when it comes to sifting through my images to select the best ones. Thanks for the giveaway!

  13. Jenn Sawtelle says:

    It is so cool that you are doing this. I would LOVE a gift card because I have been on the brink of trying them SO MANY times since I first read that you use this company. I love photography and I DETEST how MUCH time editing takes me — I have a system it still seems to take forever — and I hate how I feel like I am “stealing” time from my kids and family because there is always more to do. But I am also afraid to let go of some of the details. . .

  14. Rachel says:

    I’ve been thinking about this, and actually looked up your editing outsourcing just the other day. It might be a mandatory thing, quite soon! Thanks for sharing.

  15. Stephanie says:

    This sounds great! As a new (amateur) photographer, I would love to try Fotofafa and get pictures perfect without wasting extra time trying to learn Photoshop 🙂

  16. Dina says:

    I am new to all this, but am sure I will need help with album design. I think it would also be beneficial to see how they edit a photo compared to what my edit would look like. This gift card would give me an opportunity to test it out. I am there to take photos, not to spend hours editing, so if they are better than me..why not!

  17. I couldn’t get by without outsourcing either and would love to give Fotofafa a try!

  18. Liz says:

    It is so much work. Although I enjoy the post processing sometimes, I sooo agree of how much time it takes away from our daily life! I used fotofafa once, and it would be nice to give them a second try. My first experience with them wasn’t that great. Images were blown out and overexposed. This would be a double incentive, getting some time back and getting a little discount and try them again.

  19. Whats up! I just would like to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you’ve right here on this post. I can be coming back to your weblog for more soon.

  20. Grace says:

    Oh how nice! I am definitely finding that I really need to take this jump into the outsourcing world! I love to be creative and edit my own work but with more and more photo shoots and weddings being booked I know that my time will be stretched way to thin to keep on track.

    I have researched several photo editing companies but I would gladly try Fotofafa if the opportunity presented itself. 🙂

  21. stefanie says:

    would love to tryit out and see if i can drag myself away from the computer and spend more time with my kiddos!! 🙂

  22. Dana says:

    I love creating works of art while peeriing thorugh my camera but then when it comes to sitting down, uplaoding all my photos, weeding out the really, really bad ones, then weediing out the really bad ones, then weeding out the bad ones (you know the drill), and then the thought of having to edit the rest just sucks the joy out of my art (most of the time). Working a full-time job + doing my photography just doesn’t cut it so any so of time-saving measures would be a blessing!

    Plus I REALLY like saying “fotofafa”!

    Thanks for this opportunity Jean and FOTOFAFA!

  23. Lisa McCully says:

    Awesome! I was just researching for two wedding I’ll be doing later this year!! Woohoo!

  24. That point that you mentioned where you could not do “one.more.day” I know all too well. I have been nudging myself to take the outsourcing leap and knowing that it has worked for you makes my decision much easier. I would absolutely love to give Fotofafa a try! Thank you!!!

  25. I am looking for a better way to manage all the time I spend in my office. I have adorable twin boys and want to be present more AND be able to make a living. Thank you for opening my eyes to fafa, I’m stoked to read more.

  26. Rachael Boer says:

    I’d love to give them a try and gain back some more time with my littles!

  27. Rachael says:

    Why do I need fotofafa?? Because I need my sanity back!! My life back…sleep!! 🙂

  28. Jason Duchow says:

    I would love to cut down to 80 hours a week or less, this might be the ticket!

  29. Lisa says:

    I have been looking for an option like this – would love to give them a try!

  30. Lisa says:

    Sounds like a great service! I’d love to give it a try – always looking to streamline my process!

  31. Just as wedding season is approaching, I am opening a boudoir studio! Outsourcing my editing would be an absolute lifesaver!!

  32. Kari Breker says:

    This sounds like an awesome service! I have three boys age 3 and under who I stay at home with. Photography is something I do part time – meaning I find every possible moment while my boys are sleeping to edit, etc. and it’s getting exhausting! I was unaware services like Fotofafa even existed – thanks for the giveaway!

  33. As I was reading your blog post I literally got tears in my ears. You were describing life as I know it (I also teach full time) and the idea of not being swallowed up by editing would be a dream come true. I am also very particular but your endorsement has encouraged me to give it a try. Thank you for sharing!

  34. Elle says:

    Have wanted to give Fotofafa a try! Thanks for the opportunity!

  35. Amy Nelson says:

    Thanks for the opportunity to try this out! Sounds like a great service.

  36. I have 2 children under three and a needy husband. I love my business (www.delalanephotography.com) and strive to do everything with excellence. But something has to give! I’d love to give outsourcing a shot! Thanks for considering me. 🙂

  37. Eleni says:

    I would love the chance to try out fotofafa!!! Even their name sounds fun!

  38. Maryrose says:

    Would love to try them since you’re always raving about them!! I have some weddings coming up and would love to use them!

  39. Kara says:

    I know I will definitely need to outsource some of my work sooner rather than later & this would be a fantastic opportunity to see if Fotofafa would be as good a fit for me as it sounds like it has been for you 😀

  40. Kasey J says:

    I would love to have this before I have a mental breakdown 🙂

  41. Trevor says:

    Thanks for this. I would love to try this out as I am sick of editing late into the night, only to have to wake up four hours later to go to my day job.

  42. Mary says:

    I’m such a fan of your work!! I hope you will still be shooting weddings when I get married!

  43. Julie Walker says:

    Editing is starting to take my life over, as you have said my family and even my day job is starting to suffer. I love photography, its my passion..but not my full time job..YET. I hope for that someday. Fairly new to the buisness and i am learning alot, outsourcing to companies like this may just be my thing. Thanks for all the info you offer.

  44. Diana says:

    I’m just beginning my pro journey and was researching this exact topic yesterday! And lo and behold…here you are with an answer!! As a full time SAHM of two I KNOW that I will need some outsourcing!! Hoping to win a chance to try yours out!

  45. jean says:

    Hey guys! Thanks for all of your comments, loved hearing what you had to say!

    The ten receivers of the $50 gift cards are (chosen randomly)…

    Amanda Tranmer
    Eleni
    Heather
    Rachel
    Jen
    Jenn Sawtelle
    Elizabeth Wallberg
    Jason Duchow
    Dana
    Maryrose

    Thanks and congrats!!!

  46. Juanita says:

    There are so many options it gets overwhelming as to where to start; this looks like you have found a wonderful source. I would love to try Fotofafa. 🙂 PS I enjoy following your posts and admire YOUR work.

  47. Leah says:

    Being a college student who is also doing shoots every weekend, I’d love to save some time by outsourcing – but of course I’d want it done right! I have looked into it a bit but didn’t know which company to put my trust in…maybe this is the one!

  48. Laura Finley says:

    Oh how I would love to try Fotofafa for editing! As a mother with little ones and working another job. This would save me so much time! I would love the opportunity to give them a try. Thank you so much for this doing this giveaway!

  49. Joshua says:

    I’d love to try them out, but have been nervous to do so. I’ve seen that a few photographers including you have used them and had great results. However, it’s hard to hand over the final editing process to someone else. It would be nice to try them out to see if they would be a good fit for us!

  50. Laura Baker says:

    I think so many of us are in the same spot! Wanting more time with family but obligated to our wonderful clients. This sounds great! Thank you for the giveaway.

  51. Dana says:

    EEEKS – I just saw that I was a winner! Thank you!!

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