Is HoneyBook Right for Your Business?
When it comes to managing your business, you need systems to save you time and money. While there’s a variety of products that can help you send out invoices, my hands-down favorite is HoneyBook and I’m going to tell you all about it and why.
HoneyBook is a fantastic and affordable software program designed for creatives and freelancers who want their backend systems automated in an easy way. Said in simpler terms, it helps creatives like us send out proposals, invoices, contracts, and get paid — all in one simple but robust platform!
What is HoneyBook?
HoneyBook is a cloud-based CRM (customer relationship management solution) designed to help you automate your workflow. It’s an all-in-one system for you to manage inquiries, send contracts, questionnaires, emails, and get paid. Designed by and for creatives and freelancers with all sorts of backgrounds, it’s a super easy-to-use platform to simplify the systems in your business!
Why HoneyBook?
Personally, I love two things about HoneyBook more than anything else: it’s easy to use and it truly works for anyone. So many management software programs can get cumbersome and clunky, but HoneyBook is user-friendly.
Although it has many functions and abilities, it feels easy to understand and use. Even the dashboard is straightforward. I love the automation sequences that we’ve built to easily onboard and offboard new clients, allowing us to provide a clear and supportive experience from beginning to end.
What do we love about HoneyBook?
For you list lovers, here are my favorite things about HoneyBook:
It's easy to automate your onboarding (and offboarding) process via workflows and automations. From the moment someone fills out the contact form on your website to the moment you’re collecting the first payment, it can all be automated. (Not sure what to include in your onboarding process? Learn how to improve your client experience!)
You can see all of your communication with each client in one place, plus files, too. No more digging in your inbox for that one e-mail you quickly read but lost track of.
It's easy to send invoices and set up automation for different payment plans… and who doesn’t want to get paid easily?
Contracts are included! Connect it with your proposal and you’ll never forget to have a client sign a contract again.
Templates! So many templates. You can create multiple templates for brochures, invoices, contracts, proposals, emails, questionnaires, contact forms, and more.
It connects to Quickbooks, which makes bookkeeping and tax season a breeze.
You can track your leads. One quick glance shows us most of our leads are coming from Instagram and referrals - how cool!
It has a scheduling tool built in - so you can say goodbye to Calendly or Acuity. You know I’m all about streamlining.
Their customer support is super responsive and will do whatever they can to help you if you have any questions.
Competitors:
As I mentioned, there are other competitors on the market. And while I’ve looked into all of them, I keep coming back to HoneyBook because it’s SO easy to use and has amazing features. Here are a few of the other products out there for your comparison:
Dubsado: A management software inspired by photographers, $40/month ($400 a year paid in full).
Táve: A management software inspired by photographers, $21.99/month ($263.88/year).
Bonsai: A management software inspired by freelancers, $29/month ($348/year).
Keap: A sales management software that also includes e-mail marketing, $79/month ($948/year when not running a promo).
HoneyBook now has a starter plan at $8/month (or their essentials plan at $39/month - $384/year) but you can get your first year for 50% off by using my referral link!
Why does HoneyBook win?
HoneyBook does everything I need it to and more — especially with the latest addition of Lead Forms, which means I can accept a payment for a coaching session the moment someone inquires to work with me. I also love the following features…
Automations
Scheduler
Smart files and beautiful proposals
Contract and invoicing
Automated payments and automatic payment reminders
Mobile-friendly app
For the price and bang for your buck, HoneyBook is the clear winner in my opinion.
Ready to get started?
HoneyBook offers a 7-day trial period. We recommend you set aside a few hours to truly dive in and get a feel for its possibilities, so pick your free trial period wisely.
I spent a full day learning the different CRM programs I was testing a few years ago, and I’m so glad I did! When you fall in love with HoneyBook and you're ready to dive in, use my referral link for 50% off your first year.
And if you know you need to upgrade your workflows and systems but don't have the time to handle the setup, branding, and client onboarding process, do what we did and hire a professional!
We highly recommend setting up a HoneyBook VIP Day with Kelli from Kay + Co. Studio (tell her I sent you!). She can handle the branding, brochure designs, proposal details, and automated workflows to make signing your next client a breeze.
Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this blog post, which means we may receive commissions for purchases made through these links. We wouldn’t recommend them if we didn’t personally believe in them and use them for our business. Thank you in advance for your support and we hope you find our suggestions valuable as you grow your business!
