In this article, we will share how to know it’s time to reach out to post production companies to outsource your photo edits.
You can’t keep up with demand
Whether you’re working for yourself, in-house, or both, there might come a point in time when you simply can’t keep up with the workload that is when clients and colleagues are pulling you in different directions, and everybody needs everything yesterday.
You’ve maxed out your photographer’s bandwidth
If you already outsource product photography and editing, you might find that your photographer has a limit in terms of workload. A talented product photographer can only have a maximum of 50 photos edited per batch. If your needs are more than that, you may consider outsourcing photo retouching services.
FYI, Innovature photo editing team can deliver 2000+ images per day with quality assurance of minimal percent (.05) of error chances.
Your photographer is too expensive but you don’t want to sacrifice the quality
More than half of those who outsource do so to reduce costs. In fact, 59% of respondents to a survey say their company uses outsourcing services because it’s a cost-cutting tool.
In many cases, outsourcing your photo editing gives you the best of both worlds: savings and quality. Simply find a photo retouching company that can keep up with your level of quality at the right price.
For example, you can have our Innovature graphics artists, technicians, photo retouchers and designers work for you starting just at $2.5 per hour rate.
You have to meet a tight deadline
Last-minute product launch? On the way to a trade show? A sudden influx of client work?
Whatever your impossible deadline, there are ways to outsource photo edits quickly. At Innovature, our fast turnaround time is between 10 to 24 hour delivery.
You’re too stressed
The leading cause of stress? Workload.
It’s easy to fall into the routine and feel like stress is a normal part of the gig but it’s not. Stress can wreak havoc on your health, and if work is too stressful for you, it’s time to make a change. Outsourcing photo edits are a great way to ease some of the burdens and hand off part of your workload to someone else.
You’re stuck creatively
Employee burnout is a real threat to productivity and professional success.
67% of employees report feeling burned out at some point in their career. And those workers are 63% more likely to call out sick and 2.6 times more likely to be active job seekers.
If you’re feeling burned out and unmotivated at work, consider outsourcing the photo edits you dread doing or that take up the most amount of your time. This could free you up enough to feel motivated about the work you do every day.
You’re working a lot of overtime
We all dream of the ideal work-life balance: a fulfilling career that lets you pursue your creative passions, with plenty of free time to spend with friends and family and on hobbies.
But in fact, more than half of Americans work overtime, 47% on weekends. 81% wish they had more time to spend with loved ones, and the friends and family of 31% of those folks are actually bothered by the amount of time they spend on work.
Thankfully, outsourcing can address workplace challenges and improve satisfaction. You can spend less time editing, and more time enjoying your life outside of work.
You spend hours doing repetitive edits
Repetition is tedious, so outsource those routine tasks. Nitty-gritty photo edits like background removal and drops shadow can be taxing, both on your time and mental well-being.
A survey finds out that nearly 24% of professionals spend less than 5 minutes on each shot. However, 20% spend more than a half hour and that equals to 16 images in a single day if you’re not working on anything else. Imagine doing that day in and day out?
You have seasonal fluctuations
The holiday season is a busy period for any brand. The winter holiday months are responsible for driving 20% of overall retail sales, and retailers need to prep a ton of collateral to prepare. That means a lot of photo editing.
You might have other busy seasons, too. Fashion brands have sales fluctuations based on winter, spring, summer, and fall. Trade show season and regular product launches can also create a surge in demand for photo editing, making it an ideal time to outsource.
Don’t wait until you’re in the midst of your busy season to start outsourcing. Find a reliable provider of fashion photo editing services beforehand, so you can become acquainted with one another and hit the ground running when it’s time.
You’re expanding to more commerce channels
Today’s retailers can’t survive with just a single or even a couple of commerce channels. Since consumers now have an average of nine shopping channels to choose from for every purchase, and nearly 75% of them use multiple channels every time they buy something, which suggests that having two marketplaces can nearly double revenue.
More touchpoints, more customers, more sales. But each channel has its own image requirements. And guess what? Pretty much none of them are the same. That means you not only need to familiarize yourself with each channel’s guidelines, but also spend extra time sizing and editing each product photo accordingly. Do you want to save your time on those tedious tasks?
You want to shorten turn around time
Are you looking to improve your turnaround time to impress clients and stakeholders? Or is it simply to optimize your current workflow? Whatever the reason, outsourcing can help.
Here’s an example: Innovature can deliver 2000+ images per day, our fast turnaround time is between 10 to 24 hour with quality assurance of minimal percent (.05) of error chances.
Outsourcing allows you to have more time to focus on other things while ensuring your editing is done quickly and efficiently.
You’re outside of your expertise
Not everyone knows Photoshop. While powerful, it’s a heck of a program to learn.
It’s okay if Photoshop isn’t one in your skillset. Learning Photoshop takes hours upon hours of time that you could have been spending on more valuable and impactful business tasks. Moreover, outsourcing a professional editor allows you to obtain a level of talent and skill that might not be available in your area as he/she, more often, acquires the latest editing software and might be more familiar with the current trends.
You want to focus on growth
Whatever “growth” means to you — more clients, more sales, more customers, a promotion, more money, management, new skills, anything — outsourcing will free you up to focus on it.
Here comes why delegating tasks is the best solution. This will allow you to focus on what you do best while outsourcing the mountain of repetitive edits to others who are professionals and have the right skills to begin with.
So, why bother hiring anyone, anywhere?
