A short read on the Chicago-based lifestyle photographer’s point-of-view.
Having a primary platform or tool to organize and manage most of your work goes a long way. For Lissy, Pixieset brings consistency and structure to her freelance practice as a one-stop shop for automatic bookings for new/returning clients, 3rd party calendar syncing (iCalendar, Google Calendar), and contract creation, while also being a user-friendly tool for client-facing actions like photo approvals, invoice processing, etc.
Organizing the business side of your practice is just as important as your creative work. Lissy dedicates Mondays to admin tasks, which helps set her week up for success. Updating project statuses, handling invoices, following up with clients or collaborators, and creating contracts are some examples of tasks she’ll accomplish in this designated time. She recommends setting aside a consistent day or time block each week and sticking to it to stay organized.
For the purposes of setting boundaries, expectations, and having a paper trail of a signed agreement between you and your clients. If the realities of the work/service you are providing ever start to go out of the agreed-upon scope, the best thing you can do is speak up and use that contract as a source of truth to stay within scope, or add on services at an increased rate/fee.
Submit an entry by Friday September 11th, 2026.
Design by Haley Meister
PEER PERSPECTIVES • A STAGE HANDS PILOT SERIES
(PART 1 OF 3)