Zenfolio Expands BookMe with Automated Workflow and Commerce to Save Photographers 40 Hours Every Month

Menlo Park, CA – Zenfolio, the market leading website builder and business resource for photographers, is launching an enhanced version of BookMe, an advanced tool that automates booking, scheduling, gallery creation and commerce for professional photographers.

“BookMe is a key resource underpinning our strategy to build a service that transforms the way photographers operate their business,” commented John Loughlin, Chief Executive Officer.

The latest Zenfolio tools leverage machine learning, intelligent automation, enhanced photo tagging and sharing, with a focus on an intuitive, easy-to-use interface designed for mobile access and social media compatibility.

BookMe streamlines and simplifies a photographer’s daily workflow by automating a multitude of functions that traditionally added hours to a photographer’s workday. “Think about the amount of time a busy photographer spends just booking a session with back-and-forth calls or emails with clients, and that’s just a small portion of the unproductive time spent on admin. BookMe puts our new technology platform to work for photographers by automating all the steps for scheduling, payment, gallery sharing and e-commerce package sales – time that could be better spent behind the lens instead of behind a desk,” said Munib Siddiqi, Chief Product Officer.

On average, BookMe can save two hours in administrative work per client session. For photographers that schedule 20 sessions a month, BookMe saves them over 40 hours. It also saves time by consolidating all of the functionality and tools in a single, integrated platform versus signing in and out of multiple services to achieve the same capabilities.

• Booking & Payment: Saves One Hour per Client Session – BookMe syncs with Google Calendar to show a photographer’s availability, available session types, and photo packages so a client can book and pay for a shoot and print package in a snap. No more phone tag or back-and-forth emails.

• Auto-Generated Client Galleries: Saves Half-Hour per Client Session – BookMe auto-generates a client gallery behind the scenes at the moment of session booking. The gallery intelligently knows which BookMe package was pre-ordered by the client. After the shoot, the client logs into the gallery, where they can proof and choose photos to order.

• Automatic Fulfillment: Saves Half-Hour per Client Session – after uploading photos and sharing the client gallery, orders can instantly be redeemed, processed by the lab and shipped directly to the client.

The BookMe button can be added to any photographer’s website, even those not hosted by Zenfolio, and can be customized with the photographer’s logo and color palette to perfectly reflect their brand. The user interface is simple to operate and adapts responsively for all desktop, tablet and mobile screens.

“BookMe is a gamechanger, it saves time and provides a seamless customer experience. The process of booking a photographer can be tedious. With BookMe, a customer can book their session instantly and that results in increased booking volume,” says Katie Van Buren, Professional Photographer.

BookMe is available to Zenfolio subscribers as an integral part of the intelligent workflow built into the newest ProSuite plan for professional photographers, or can be added to the PortfolioPlus and Portfolio plans designed for aspiring or part-time pros.

Cheryl Dell'Osso

Cheryl is the Director of Content Strategy at Zenfolio and the Owner/Photographer at Portraits by Cheryl and Seniors by Cheryl in Raleigh, NC. Cheryl has mentored countless new photographers looking to build successful photography businesses.