Urban Safari
January 27, 2015
The Blogcademy Online launches this Thursday (eeek!) so to celebrate and get you all warmed up, I thought it would be fun to do another Q&A post. But to throw a cat among the pigeons, I decided to record myself talking through my responses, instead of just writing them!Read more...
We Are Bubblerock
January 13, 2015
A new year is upon us so it's the perfect time to clear the decks and start to make plans for progressing your business. The "new year, new me" mindset will only get you so far though. You have to set some goals and have some plans, but then you actually have to go out and make them happen too. It is in no way easy to make radical life (or career) changes, but it certainly can be done. So here are seven resolutions you can make for yourself right now to help you completely dominate the year ahead.Read more...
December 9, 2014
I'm not a bookworm by any stretch of the imagination. You're much more likely to find me with my head in a laptop that the latest bestseller. So when it comes to recommending business books, believe me when I say these really are the best of the best. Most books (business or otherwise) lose my attention after the first few chapters, but these five paperbacks are all amazing. You should definitely check them out!Read more...
Letters on Love
December 2, 2014
They say that first impressions count, and no more-so is this apparent than online. While in person, we might put someone's slightly chaotic nature down to being nervous, or actually find it quite charming and endearing, online we are used to everything being a bit more polished. If your online presence is a mess, people are much less forgiving.Read more...
November 25, 2014
Verona Lain
November 18, 2014
It's mid- November. If you've been in business a while, you'll already know that this is the time of year where everything in the wedding industry slows down to a glacial pace. Brides and grooms tend to put their wedding planning to one side in favour of all things festive. The enquiries dry up, and that metaphorical tumble weed seems to blow past your website more often than you might be used to.Read more...
Florian Klauer via Unsplash
November 11, 2014
As a small business owner utilising visually driven social media platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook is undoubtedly important. However I've started to notice a massive decline in the one thing that started it all; blogging. While I used to love reading my favourite business owners blogs, these days more and more of them appear to be neglected. Their owners have abandoned them for the bright lights and instant gratitude of social media.Read more...
Shell De Mar
November 4, 2014
There are two major realisations that I'd consider to be the key factors that took my blog and my business from 'just another anonymous wedding blog' to what it is today. And they might surprise you. They're nothing to do with content, or SEO, or social media...Read more...
Hannah Witte
October 28, 2014
Val and Sarah
October 21, 2014
Dear Kat I understand the irony of my emailing you about this, but I need your help! I'm a wedding photographer and my business is going pretty well. I've been shooting full time for two years now and I'm really proud of how much I've achieved. It's taken a lot of work, but it's been worth it! My problem is, I'm now starting to get a lot of emails or private Facebook messages from friends and strangers asking if they can 'pick my brain'. Sometimes they fire questions at me, but most of the time they're asking if we can meet for coffee or if they can come and see how I work at a wedding! While I'm honoured that people think I'm worthy of asking advice, I can't help but feel annoyed about it. I've worked my BUTT off for the past two years to get to where I am, and these people seem to want me to give them all the answers for free! Don't they realise there's no quick answer and that hard work and time is really what it takes? You must get a lot of this too so I was just wondering if you had any advice on how I should deal with it?Read more...
Shell De Mar
September 30, 2014
Blogger's block happens to the best of us. Instead of staring, blankly at your computer screen, here are 30 things you could write about instead!Read more...
Ella Uzan
September 23, 2014
I got an email last week from a reader who wanted advice on how to get started in the wedding industry. "For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be part of the wedding biz", she wrote, "But where do I begin? I am pretty crafty and I just love all aspects of weddings. I must spend most of my waking hours sifting through your website, Etsy and Pinterest. I've saved thousands of pictures of bouquets, décor of every theme, you name it. I want so desperately to be a part of it, I just don't know where to start."Read more...
Shell De Mar
September 9, 2014
I've done a few 'ask me anything' style posts in the past, but I thought it was high time to do another one. I wanted to keep this one career specific, and so I asked my Facebook fans to hit me with their toughest questions related to running your own small business.Read more...
Holly Booth
September 2, 2014
In July, my fellow Blogcademy headmistresses and I embarked on one of our most ambitious trips to date: three weeks, three countries, four classes and about 18 hours spent in airports!Read more...
August 26, 2014
One of the things I learnt pretty early on when I started to monetise this blog, was that having multiple income streams was a good idea. While I continue to earn the bulk of my income from banner advertising and sponsored content, only relying on this every month wouldn't be that smart. I mean, what if all my advertisers suddenly decided to go elsewhere? Around mid-2012 I started to brainstorm other ways I could make an income from this site. One of those was selling products. I dabbled with a number of things but the most significant for me have been The Blogcademy, my print magazine and my headpiece collection with Crown and Glory.Read more...
Shell De Mar
August 26, 2014
With the madness of wedding season finally coming to a close, I'd imagine that many of my wedding supplier readers will be thinking about their marketing strategy for 2015. To help you start of the new year with a flurry of enquiries, I'm offering discounts on some of my most popular advertising options for the rest of 2014!Read more...
Jessica Withey
August 19, 2014
It's the height of summer and wedding season is in full swing. Everywhere I look my wedding industry friends are lamenting about how busy they are, how tired they feel, and just how much they're really looking forward to winter... and a well deserved lie in! Whatever industry you're in, there are likely to be particular times of year that are much busier than others. So how do you survive, no thrive, when you feel in completely over your head?Read more...
August 12, 2014
I thought that if I said it out loud, it would force me to actually go through with it. I started this year with one big goal: to write a book. A massive undertaking at the best of times, but with a schedule like mine? Madness. Yet I reasoned that I could definitely get it done. I thrive on being busy.Read more...
August 5, 2014
Iris Apfel, American businesswoman, interior designer, and fashion icon is a pretty amazing woman. At the ripe old age of 93, she still consults and lectures about style and fashion, and she continues to rock the same imitable style that she became so well known for.Read more...
July 29, 2014
Dear Kat, I need your help... advice... anything. I'm an aspiring wedding planner. I'm just out of university and when a friend asked me to help her plan her wedding I was thrilled, honoured and terrified all at the same time. I've always wanted to go into events and even though I've never planned anything as big as a wedding (and I told my friend this) I was super excited to be involved.Read more...