Review: Blinksale for Wedding Photographers
Monday January 9, 2006 by Erik Dungan
It’s a new year, and our first product review just might help you keep your 2006 resolution. No, I’m not popping diet pills or donning running shoes for you – not this month, at least. For now, it’s your finances we’re concerned with. If you’ve committed to better managing the business side of your business, read on.
Enter Blinksale. Touted as the easiest way to send invoices online, Blinksale is part of a new breed of online applications, known as Web 2.0. Offered by Firewheel Design, Blinksale allows you to create, send and manage invoices – all from inside a web browser.
Blinksale
Online invoicing
Blinksale.com
Cost: Accounts range from free to $29 per month
Our take: 4/5 Stars
Cost
Blinksale is a monthly subscription service and offers a handful of plans to meet the needs of small businesses. A free plan is also available and, although the features are limited, may meet the needs of part-time photographers perfectly. Pay plans start at $6 per month – and all plans includes a free 30-day trial period. In our mind, this fact alone makes Blinksale worth trying.
Blinksale in Action
It’s important to note that Blinksale is not a comprehensive accounting program. If QuickBooks is already an integral part of your business, you may not need Blinksale (and you were probably hoping for the diet pill review). For the rest of you, however, Blinksale has some features that may make life a little easier.
Blinksale is centered around clients and invoices. After creating a Blinksale account and configuring your business preferences, you ncan begin managing your clients and creating invoices. We found both client and invoice management extremely easy and intuitive. In my initial test, I was able to create a sample client and invoice in less than 10 minutes – probably closer to 5.
All pay plans allow you to manage an unlimited number of clients (or companies), each with numerous associated contacts. As a wedding photographer, this structure works well. Simply enter each wedding as a client – Franklin/McPherson Wedding, for example – then attach any necessary contacts (bride, groom, mother of the bride, etc.).
Invoicing is where Blinksale really shines. Users can create 3 types of invoices: service invoices, product invoices, and time invoices. Depending on how you price your photography services, any combination of the three may work for you. In my tests, I found a service invoice suitable for shooting a wedding. A product invoice may be more appropriate for post-wedding sales of prints and albums.
When creating or editing an invoice, you can easily set options such as sales tax, shipping fees, due dates, and late fees. The look of your invoice can also be customized by choosing from a variety of pre-built templates and by adding your own logo. Once an invoice is created for a client, it can then be sent via email to any contact. As full or partial payments are received, simply let Blinksale know and your remaining balance is automatically calculated. Should invoices go past-due, Blinksale alerts you and allows you to email reminders to your clients. If you’re like most wedding photographers, you require deposits and payments at various intervals. Blinksale makes this entire process painless.
In my tests, I found only a few minor drawbacks. Should you need to deliver an invoice in person, there is no option to print an invoice from within the Blinksale interface. When emailing with technical support, I was informed this feature would be added shortly. In the meantime, a simple workaround is possible: simply have an invoice sent to your own email account and print from your email client.
Conclusion
Blinksale is promoted as the easiest way to send invoices. In my opinion, it definitely walks the walk. Every aspect of managing clients and invoices is easy and intuitive – even for novice PC users. Unless you or most of your clients are averse to using email, the features and price of Blinksale just might save you some time in the office – and help you keep that new year’s resolution.
Pros
- Free plan and 30-day free trial on pay plans allow you to use it risk-free
- Extremely intuitive interface
- Upgrade or downgrade your monthly plan at any time
- Customize your invoices with templates and your logo
- Client & contact manager is ideal for wedding photographers
- Invoices flawlessly support various currencies, tax, shipping, and due dates
- Ability to enter full or partial payments as they arrive
- Export invoices to Microsoft Excel and other formats
- Integrate PayPal payment buttons with your invoices
Cons
- Currently, no print option within the interface
- Invoices are email-centric: this may not be idea for clients who aren’t Internet-savy
Editor’s note: WED Shooter will periodically review products, services, and technologies we feel beneficial to wedding photographers. Reviews are in no way associated with our current advertisers.
