Marlo's Review of HoneyBook CMS
Here’s a basic overview of why I’ve selected HoneyBook to be my CMS including what I love (and don’t love) about it.
PROS
Friendly and user-focused CMS for entrepreneurs
Easy onboarding service and great support
Dynamic pipeline-focused system
Integrates business management, invoicing, automation, and payments
CONS
Costs more than other small business CMSs
Might not suit larger businesses or teams
Limited integrations
Let me first start off by giving a bit of context around what my process was before making the shift to HoneyBook. For years I ran my business on PDF invoices made from scratch, sent contracts using Adobe Sign, tracked income and expenses on a spreadsheet and managed projects on my desktop calendar. I was as grassroots as it comes. So the shift to an online platform felt very un-natural and tough to embrace. I had to let go of some of the customizations I was used to in order to make room for automations.
The very first thing I was drawn to in HoneyBook when comparing it to other platforms was the very user-friendly interface, but don’t let this friendly design fool you. This is a serious business tool that integrates CMS (customer management system) with lead and project tracking, invoicing, proposal creation, contracts, scheduling, online payments, and automated workflows all in one tight little package. Personally, I cannot handle looking at a complicated interface even if it has all the bells and whistles. So the ease of use and clarity HoneyBook offered had me sold.
HoneyBook also claims to focus specifically on providing services for self-employed creative entrepreneurs rather than marketers and sales associates for larger organizations. In my opinion HoneyBook trumps many other small business CMS solutions because they seem confusing and complex that were created with specialists and experts in mind.
My membership covers me for an unlimited number of projects and customers, so I won’t be punished for increased content as my business grows. I also do have to worry about going back into old projects and purging info in order to make room for incoming work.
What’s included in this is client and project management workflow plus automations. The on-boarding and customer support made the initial set-up a dream. I simply sent them all of my marketing documents and contracts and 2 days later they had uploaded them as templates for me in the resources section. When I start a new project I open up a new project folder, enter the project and client name, start date, etc. I’m then taken to a new project portal that contains all client communications and documents that are shown in an activity feed. Other project views include a files section where I can upload contract templates, create invoices and set payment schedules, and send follow up surveys to measure customer satisfaction.
HoneyBook also has a built-in payments processor with competitive processing fees (3 percent for credit card transactions). You can set your tax rate to be the default for your province or modify them for any clients that fall out of your geographic tax rate. Access to various templates used for brochures, invoices, contracts, and proposals is also included. HoneyBook subscribers get unlimited projects in their pipeline, unlimited contacts, unlimited team members, as well as unlimited template creation capabilities. Other features include a calendar with Google integration, automations, scheduling, time tracking, financial reports, and lead capture forms.
Personally I love the automations and lead capture forms. I modified their capture form template to suite my specific questions for new clients and embedded it into my Squarespace website contact page. Whenever someone fills out an inquiry form, HoneyBook not only sets them up as a new lead capturing their contact info, it also sends them an automated email thanking them for reaching out and let’s them know I’ll be in touch shortly to set-up an intro call.
Also on tap are a selection of pre-configured workflow automations that can help maintain a 24/7 customer contact and response solution. Once set up, these automations can automatically send emails at certain times or respond to certain client triggers. Add to that the ability to do bookkeeping, build reports, set up task lists, and perform calendar management and you'll quickly have a convenient multi-tool for solo entrepreneurs.
HoneyBook's availability on mobile devices is one of its key strengths. Many small business CMS providers skirt around offering mobile apps by pushing mobile users to browser-based solutions, which often aren't any good. With HoneyBook's mobile apps, you have access to all your information on-the-go. You can respond to new inquiries, create projects, communicate with clients, and even monitor and receive instant payment notifications from your tablet or smartphone.
Some things I don’t love:
Being used to creating custom invoices exactly how I wanted them to look and feel with my branding was tough to let go of. There is some aspect of personal branding included, but you don’t have full control of the design. The HoneyBook online payment processing interface is clean and beautiful however you are limited in how the information presents itself. If you set up a project as a single invoice with milestone deposits you cannot break each deposit into their own invoice. For some of my clients this was an issue, so I had to set up each milestone deposit as it’s own separate invoice.
If you start a new project that has more than one client participating, all communications in the project such as contracts, invoices and surveys are automatically sent to all parties. The work around if you need to only communicate with one of the involved parties is to open what is called a “related workspace” to invite individuals. Not ideal but it’s the only solution.
The monthly fee for HoneyBook is around $40 USD per month, however if you use my affiliate link here you can get an extra 20% off the price tag.
HoneyBook's white-glove setup capability for new users, its intuitive pipeline-driven approach to managing deals, as well as its wholistic approach to business management makes it the best CMS for my needs. However, this all-under-one-roof approach has its limitations. Third-party integrations is a key weakness if you're dependent on other apps for your work. The other problem is the lack of a growth path if you intend to add employees to your business, especially in marketing and sales. This is a software platform aimed primarily at solo operators, so plan your migration path if growth is in your future.
Despite these limitations, if you fit the HoneyBook target customer profile, this platform is easy, packed with features, and extremely friendly. That’s my overview of how I’m using HoneyBook to run my creative business. Hopefully this was helpful in your own investigations. If there is something you’d like to know about HoneyBook that I haven’t covered in the review, please drop me an email and I’ll be sure to answer.
xo Marlo
Co-Founder, Creative Roots Co.
