Hi All!
It’s been 3 months, 5 podcast episodes and 30 posts on the blog since the last update which was back in November so I thought it was about time that I provide a new update on Ready Steady Pro
The Podcast has gone Quiet
First of all, let me tackle the first obvious thing: yes, the podcast has gone quiet.
You may recall at the end of the last episode, episode 14, where I spoke about the need to sometimes put the camera down and enjoy some time with the family. Well, the idea of putting the camera down also extends to the idea of putting the mic down too. As you may know my wife and I had our second child on January 4th: a little baby boy. We’re ecstatic! We already have a little girl who turned 2 only a few days before her brothers arrival so as you can imagine, and as those of you who have children will know: it’s tough going at the moment. Adam (our son) is just getting to the stage now where he is sleeping through the night now. In truth he was sleeping through at first, but I think I jinxed that in the last podcast episode. So, until my wife and I are feeling a little more like humans, and less like Zombie’s, the podcast is pretty much on hold. But don’t worry though, I am still planning in the background and I’ve recorded a couple of episodes ready for release, it’s just a case of putting the finishing touches to them in Garage Band and releasing them to iTunes.
If you’ve not yet heard the podcast – where have you been? We’ve got some great interviews with big names such as Frank Doorhoff and Valerie Jardin, but we’ve also got some incredibly insightful interviews with some great talents such as Rob Grimes, Lel Hurst and Lee Jones (to name but a few). Add to that the round-table discussions we’ve been having about pricing, printing, social media and knowing your target market (and more) and what you have is over 15 hours of educational, thought-provoking and inspirational listening. Head on over to iTunes and check out the Ready Steady Pro Podcast now!
Wedding Season is on the Horizon. Some Inspiring posts to get you thinking about your business in 2014
2014 has very much begun. I don’t know about you, but my January came and went in the blink of an eye! It’s that time of year, especially for the Wedding Photographers among us, where photographers are starting to ramp up their advertising efforts and are taking bookings for the year ahead and next year too. If this is you: best of luck! I hope you’re getting lots of bookings. If you’re not though, do have a look through the blog at posts such as ‘What’s your Unique Selling Point (USP)‘ and ‘Why is wedding photography so expensive?‘. It’s my hope that these posts will get you thinking about your businesses marketing and pricing. Be sure also to have a read of the article I released earlier this week, titled ‘SEO Tip for Blogging Photographers‘ – hopefully thinking about the way you blog will drive some more traffic to your site and will result in a few more bookings:
Ready Steady Pro will be at The Photography Show (UK)
The Photography Show will be taking place at the Birmingham NEC for 4 days from March 1st through to March 4th and I’ll be there with Neil Graham (who will also be playing the role of camera man for a few interviews). I’ve got interviews lined up with a few big names in the industry – photographers as well as camera manufacturers and retailers. I’m also hoping to connect with many of you: the Ready Steady Pro community as well. I’ll have the 5 Q&A questions to hand and we’ll be asking people as we walk around to give their thoughts on turning pro and share some of their experiences from their journey’s so far! This should make for some great entertainment as well as something helpful and educational for you all.
The Ready Steady Pro Q&A
I mentioned the Ready Steady Pro Q&A. This is a series we’ve got running on the blog whereby we ask photographers from all backgrounds, niche’s, skill levels and experience 5 simple questions. This gives you the chance to share your thoughts on what you’ve learnt so far and what things have helped you out the most. Each Monday we release a new Q&A post on the blog and share your answers, some of your photographs and links to all of your online presences with the internet. This of course has SEO benefits, but more than that it’s a great way of helping others. So do head on over to the Q&A page on the Ready Steady Pro website to see the questions and learn how to submit your answers.
The Ready Steady Pro Weekend
You may remember back in the November update that we mentioned the idea of a Ready Steady Pro weekend: we want to host an event packed with all sorts of photographic and business related activities. The RSP Weekend will be the perfect opportunity to practise off camera flash, discuss pricing and marketing, social media strategies, finances and so much more. Not to mention that it will be a blast. It’ll be a networking and training event as much as It will be a fun & social affair. At the moment we’re tentatively highlighting dates in October, but we want to know from you if you’re interested in taking part and when you want the event to happen. Depending on the level of interest we’ll get to work getting everything organised and booked in. The form to register your interest is at the bottom of this post. Please do let us know if meeting a group of like-minded photographers from the Ready Steady Pro community would be of interest to you. It’s you that will make this event happen!
Ready Steady Pro Street Photography
Street Photography is one of the most available types of photography: Streets are everywhere! It has been mentioned a few times now that we should have a street photography day in London so we’ve organised a date: Sunday April 27th. If you’re interested in coming along drop some details into the form below and we’ll keep you up to date with dates (You aren’t required to commit to this, so what have you got to lose by registering your interest?)
Ready Steady Pro’s ‘Photographer in Focus’
Another feature we’ve launched on the Ready Steady Pro blog is the ‘Photographer in Focus’ series. Much like the Q&A posts this aims to put you: the photographers in the Ready Steady Pro community and listeners of the Podcast, in the spotlight. Each Wednesday we’re going to launch a new ‘photographer in focus’ post that will last for a week. Here we want to encourage people to have a look at your website and your work. We really want to help shine a light on some of the incredible talents we have in the community by shouting about your work here on the blog. If you want to submit yourself to be a photographer in focus simply head over to the Photographer In focus page and let us know a little more about yourself.
Write for Ready Steady Pro
Since November we’ve had a number of guest writers on the Ready Steady Pro blog. For example RSP community member and guest host from Podcast episode 13, James Hepworth was kind enough to share his review of the Canon EOS M mirrorless camera. I was very grateful to James for sharing his wonderfully written review and I must say it was very well received. It’s clear to me now that readers of the blog also enjoy the gear reviews too. The mirrorless revolution is unavoidable at the moment so it was particularly appropriate that the EOS M was reviewed on the blog. You can check out that post from James here. Thanks James for writing for Ready Steady Pro!
If you want to write an article for Ready Steady Pro simply check out the Get Involved Page here: http://readysteadypro.co.uk/get-involved/write-for-ready-steady-pro/
Ready Steady Pro TV (Well, YouTube)
And finally for today’s update: future podcasts are going to be recorded as a live Google+ Hangout. It used to be that the audio on Google+ hangouts had a lot to be desired. But things have improved dramatically and the audio, as well as the video, have come on leaps and bounds, making Hangouts On Air from Google a genuinely viable way of hosting these interviews and round-table discussions. Don’t worry, the audio will still be taken and put into iTunes for you to Download to your Podcast apps. But, this does mean you can also tune in to recordings live and take part in the Q&A as the show is being broadcast! YouTube is also where you’ll find all of the video interviews that we make at the photography show too. So keep an eye out for those in mid-March.-
That’s all folks!
That’s just about it! So, thanks for stopping by. Keep an ear to the ground for new Podcast episodes, be sure to register your interest in the London Street Photography Day (below) and RSP Weekend and, if you’re at the photography show at the beginning of March be sure to come say hi to Neil and myself as we walk around the trade show floor. We’ll also be found in the Bowens Pro lounge, over by the Guild of Photographers stand and in the Joe McNally talk on the Monday.
Until next time! Best of luck in your businesses!
Ready Steady Pro 