Frequently Asked Questions

fstop CRM is a platform designed for photographers and videographers, by a photographer. In a world of HoneyBook and other expensive CRMs built for big agencies, there was nothing out there made specifically for creatives like us. fstop is an intentional CRM designed to make photographers' and videographers' lives easier so they can focus on their craft and not worry about the administrative and business side of things.

fstop currently costs $21.99/month. We will try our best to keep costs between $21.99 and $24.99. Our next updates will include a companion mobile app, and we're trying to avoid tiered pricing. One price, everything included. In a world of so much price segregation, we want to do something for the community.

fstop CRM is packed with features. It includes automations, customizable templates, and a smart variable system that auto-populates your inquiry details whether you're sending responses, contracts, or invoices. It's all done with the click of a button. fstop is also non-intrusive. Your current systems stay in place and fstop simply attaches to your contact form or forms on your website.

fstop is different in two major ways. First, it's specifically designed for photographers and videographers, keeping in mind their needs and where they often spend time doing admin work instead of creating. Second, it heavily competes on pricing and is super affordable for both established and newer creatives. fstop also enforces positive workflows and industry best practices for newcomers, such as properly onboarding clients, sending contracts for any type of shoot, and collecting deposits. It's a positive effect on the community.

fstop is designed for any and every photographer and videographer. Whether you're a wedding, engagement, family, studio, graduation, product, or commercial photographer or videographer, this works for you. fstop is not specific to a certain type of work. It's built for all creatives in the industry.

Most certainly. fstop is a great place for photographers and videographers just starting out. It will teach you industry-standard practices and expose you to professionalism and professional etiquette. It also safeguards you by encouraging you to send contracts and keep track of payments from the start.

No, you do not need any technical skills to use fstop. The platform is designed to be super intuitive and non-intrusive. If any situation does arise, you can always contact support and we will personally help you through any issues you may experience.

Yes, fstop works on all browsers.

Yes, you can use fstop on your phone. We also ask for your patience as we're currently building a dedicated companion app for an even better mobile experience.

You can connect fstop to your website using a simple webhook code. This works on pretty much all popular web hosting services like Squarespace, Wix, ShowIt, and WordPress. Just insert the code into your form's submission settings and you're good to go. For more details, visit our website.

No, you don't need to switch any tools to use fstop. It's a non-intrusive system that connects to your website's contact form and takes care of everything from there. fstop is not a gallery hosting service or a payment processing system, but it handles your branding, email templates, invoicing, and sending galleries through customizable templates. We intentionally chose not to be a gallery hosting or website service because we know many photographers and videographers have been with their current providers for years. Migrating away from a long commitment like that is a huge task and it's something we don't want our users to go through. We want the experience to be seamless and easy.

Yes, fstop comes with a 7-day free trial which gives you a chance to explore and experience all of our features. After that, your subscription will become active.

You most certainly can. We recommend following a somewhat standard template for your forms, which you can have across multiple websites. But yes, you can connect multiple forms to fstop.

No, but you can certainly use fstop with multiple form links. The whole idea is to have a clean management system that doesn't overpopulate or overcomplicate things. We highly recommend using fstop with just one email address.

You most certainly can reset your fstop setup, although we hope you never need to.

Your inquiries are tied to your contact form on your website. fstop connects directly to your form in a super non-intrusive way. Any inquiry you receive on your website automatically shows up in fstop, you get notified, and you can automate responses if needed.

Once your website form is connected with fstop, every new inquiry will automatically notify you on the platform and send you an email alert. The inquiry details from your form are auto-populated into the system. From there, you have built-in features like automated replies that can direct inquiries to your pricing page, experience page, or book-a-call page. You can also send them a customizable template email with one click. When you're ready to onboard an inquiry into a client, simply change their status to booked.

You most certainly can. You can track inquiry statuses such as contacted, not contacted, follow-up sent, booked, or not booked. This helps you keep track of where each inquiry stands in your pipeline.

Client management is super easy and all in one place. Once you onboard a client, you get a dedicated client page with all their information. Beyond the basics like name, date, address, venue, and package booked, you can also track money charged and money owed, create timelines, assign shooters to the client and send them Google Calendar invites to join the shoot, send branded gallery templates, and generate invoices.

You most certainly can. Notes can be used for your own reference and can also be shared with shooters you assign to a client.

fstop can send you notifications for events like new inquiries received and contracts signed.

Yes, absolutely. Our contract builder is very extensive and intuitive. fstop uses a smart variable feature that auto-populates your contracts with client details. All you have to do is design your contract once, and every time you onboard a client, simply generate their contract. It will always be auto-populated with their information and you can send it along with a branded email template. Once the client signs the contract, you can also automate sending them back a signed copy as a PDF with your branded template.

The contract builder is super intuitive and easy to use. It has set elements that are easily movable. The biggest feature is smart variables, where you only have to design your contract once. Every time you onboard a client, their information is automatically fed into your contract. All at the click of a button. Gone are the days where you have to manually create a contract for each client you onboard.

You most certainly can. Each contract template is selected while onboarding a client, so after onboarding you can pick the template that fits their shoot. This applies to different categories as well. You can create one for a wedding, one for a graduation shoot, one for a family shoot, and with the click of a button it will auto-populate your client's details into the contract. With another click, you can send it to the client.

Once a client signs a contract, you can view the signed copy. From there, you have the option to download it or mail it to the client using your customizable templates. You can also automate sending the signed contract to the client along with the PDF attachment.

Yes, you most certainly can download contracts as PDFs.

The email templates follow a workflow. Over the years, we've recognized that there are a set number of templates a photographer or videographer should have. Based on that, we've created workflow templates and delivery templates, all customizable to match your branding. Most of these templates also come with a call-to-action button, which when your client receives it can link to your website, their contract, your final gallery delivery, or your payment options.

Automated replies are tied to your templates. For example, the initial inquiry response can automatically send an email to the person who inquired, which can include links to book a call, view pricing, and more. All of this is customizable. You can also automate sending the signed contract back to your client once they've signed.

You most certainly can send gallery links through fstop, but we do not host galleries ourselves. For example, if you use Pic-Time or Pixieset, you can copy the gallery link and send it to your client using customizable templates that match your brand. You can also add images of the client to your gallery delivery templates for a personal touch.

Yes, you most certainly can. One of the main reasons we built fstop was that most other platforms lacked customizability. With fstop, you can customize your branding to match exactly how your website and brand look. This isn't limited to just colors. You can also customize your fonts, logos, and email templates that go out to your clients.

The branding section is pretty straightforward. You can upload your logos, upload the fonts you already use, and customize your text colors and signature. All your important links such as your website, review page, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, and Vimeo are entered once and automatically populated across your contracts and email templates. It's a seamless experience with only a one-time setup.

Yes, you most certainly can. You can upload your own fonts to match the current branding of your photography business.

You most certainly can. This was a fun feature to add. You can customize the look of your CRM to match your branding or any fun color combinations you want. You can always revert back to the basic light or dark themes if you need.

Smart variables are a tool we built that powers automation across the platform. Once you design a template or contract using smart variables, they automatically populate with the data the CRM receives through an inquiry, such as name, email, and location. It goes beyond that once onboarding is done. Information like hours booked, pricing, and other details are also auto-populated, helping you seamlessly create contracts and invoices without manual entry.

The dashboard is your business at a glance. It shows you data like new inquiries received and upcoming events, and displays your Google Calendar. It has a handy to-do list and an editing queue feature with a multi-step process where you can track your projects through statuses like shot, edited, color-graded, delivered, and more. You also have a calendar view that shows you your entire month at a glance.

The editing queue is a handy feature that automatically adds your client the day after their shoot. From there, you can track each project's progress using statuses like shot, backed up, culled, edited, sent, confirmed, delivered, and more.

The to-do list is a handy feature available on your dashboard. It's a simple tool to help you keep track of the miscellaneous things you deal with as a business owner on a day-to-day basis.

Yes, your calendar is available right on your dashboard. It connects to your Google Calendar so you can see all your upcoming events at a glance.

You most certainly can. The photography industry is diverse with all sorts of shoots, and you're free to add any custom event type you'd like.

The settings section takes care of administrative purposes. It ensures your Google account is connected and lets you customize the look of your CRM with dark and light themes along with other options. You can enable or disable in-app notifications, add event types to your workflow, set up customizable automations, and track your storage. You can also replay the setup tour whenever you have questions or reset the application in case you need a fresh start.

Yes, most certainly. Most features are tied to Google's ecosystem. The calendar on your dashboard is connected to your Google Calendar, and any booking you confirm automatically populates there. All emails are sent through your own Gmail, so your clients will never receive random emails from the platform's name. We also support Google Calendar invites for shooters you assign to a client. You can email and invite them with the click of a button.

Invoices are super intuitive. Each client has a dedicated invoice option that automatically populates with their information. You also have the choice to generate custom invoices which you can send to anyone if needed, all with your branding and customizable templates.

Yes, you can track incoming payments and invoices on fstop. The platform keeps track of your payments tied to the contracts you generate and deposits you collect. At a glance, you can see your total revenue through contracts, deposits collected, and remaining balances to get a clear picture of your payment inflow. We also have status trackers for deposits and final payments so you always know what's due. We are not a payment processing system because everyone has their own preferred method and we don't want to intervene with that, but we can definitely help you stay on top of what's coming in and what's outstanding.

The finances section gives you a snapshot of your incoming money at a glance. You can track total revenue, deposits collected, and outstanding balances. You can also track them with statuses so you're always on top of things.

In a way, yes. While it's not full team management, you can assign shooters to a specific client and email them all the details seamlessly with the click of a button. They'll receive everything they need to know, including the client's name, date, address, start time, end time, and more.

You can onboard shooters by adding their name, phone, and email. You can add people you work with regularly, whether they're shooters or assistants. On the client page, you can assign them to a job and send them a Google Calendar invite once confirmed, so no one you booked ever backs out and says they forgot to put it down.

Yes, your data is secure on fstop. First, we don't collect any private information to begin with. No payment information is stored on our platform. All your data is safeguarded using industry-standard tools, and most of it is protected at the platform level. Even the creators of fstop cannot view your information such as invoices, contracts, or client details.

Yes, you can cancel your subscription at any time, no questions asked.

fstop is always a work in progress. We have a lot of updates lined up which we aim to release soon, with little to no increase in subscription price.

You can contact support through the help section on the platform. Simply submit a support ticket via email and we will personally reach out to you to answer any questions or help you with any issues you may be having.