FotoBiz vs BlinkBid

[d2creative]

I'm looking at picking up fotoquote for estimating help but I'm looking to also pick up a studio management software to help with estimates, invoices, client info, etc. I've seen a few comments across the world wide interwebs that suggests BlinkBid as being superior to FotoBiz but wanted to get some current thoughts. I did a search but not much turned up. I could save money by buying the fotobiz/fotoquote bundle. But some olllllld comments suggested that fotobiz was really geared towards stock photography and not so much assignment photography. I figured things may have changed over the years.

Is anyone here currently using either of these or have experience with one or both?

I downloaded the 14 day trial of BlinkBid this morning and it seems ok. I wish there was more tutorials available. I don't see anything of the sort for fotobiz so it's making it really hard to make an informed decision.

[park]

You might also look at Business Management Software for Photography and Graphic Arts Professionals with Image Cataloguing. I've been using InView for almost twenty years and support is great and the software does what I need. They also have a demo you can download.

[d2creative]

Cool, i'll look into that one too.

I found a demo for fotoquote, but there seems to be things missing from it. The only thing under Assignment Pricing is a bunch of coaching tips, no actual pricing. It only gives pricing examples under Stock Pricing. And then i can't find a demo at all for fotobiz.

I finally got through blinkbid and created a fake invoice. Seems pretty good so far. What i did notice though is after i entered a bunch of info the first time the software crashed and when i reopened it, most of my stuff was gone, except for the contact i created. I even had to re-enter all my own personal information. It seems like it doesn't save until you quit the program? I don't see any kind of save button.

[Steelsun]

Here's an online one I bookmarked to try out: Free Business Management Software by StudioCloud - Features
The base package is Free, then an extra fee for certain extra features.

[Blinkbid_Support]

Hey Dennis (and everyone else on here),

First of all,thanks so much for giving Blinkbid a try.We are currently revamping our entire site- and with the upcoming launch of Blinkbid 6, we are doing a complete overhaul of all our support content (including new video tutorials and a super-user friendly user manual).

In regards to the crash that you experienced- we're so very sorry to hear that. It's honestly quite rare that something like that happens with our software.
You should know, however, that Blinkbid always saves automatically during idle time on your computer. Also, when you quitit, Blinkbid automatically backs up your data two times to two different locations. Version 6 will also be offering automatic online back-up as well as backing up at regular intervals, so that no work will be lost if another crash happens.

Hopefully this answers some of your questions, and please feel free to reach out to us at support@blinkbid.com. We look forward to hearing from you!