Knowing When to Quit

Kat

May 15, 2012

I started smoking for the stupidest and most predictable of reasons, the reason I would assume most teenage girls do in fact...in order to look cool. All the anti-smoking adverts and scary warnings about blackened lungs and throat cancer didn't deter me from lighting up alongside my school friends as we walked through the park to school. My addiction raged for 13 years but 20 days ago I decided enough was enough and I quit. Just like that. No patches, no nicotine replacements. Screw the softly softly approach I thought...I went cold turkey and just stopped.

Speeding up Workflow by Outsourcing Editing

Lisa Devlin

May 11, 2012

The Inspirations: Bran Cook of Motherbrown PR

Kat

May 9, 2012

This week I chat to Bran Cook of Motherbrown PR, all about her fabulous life and career (and she is fabulous!) She also was kind enough to share some invaluable PR tips with us too, I know you're gonna love this..

How to Advertise with Wedding Blogs Successfully

Kat

May 8, 2012

I'm often asked by advertisers what they can do to improve the results for their sponsorship and often its the same mistakes people make over and over. These are not hard and fast rules by any stretch, but here are a few tips and ideas I've picked up over the past few years... Find the right fit It's vital that you pick the right wedding blog(s) to advertise on. You need to pick ones that promote the style of wedding that you want to work with as well as ones that reflects your own business ethos.

Pinterest for Photographers

Lisa Devlin

May 4, 2012

Are you pinning? I hope so but if you are thinking, what is she on about now then you need to check out Pinterest. Simply put, it’s an online pinboard for images found around the internet. You can start a board for just about anything but Pinterest has some suggested themes to get you started like Home Decor and DIY & Crafts. Lots of people and businesses are getting on board with Pinterest and it’s not surprising. It may be one of the newest social networking kids on the block but it was the fastest site ever to reach 10 million unique views in one week.

The Inspirations: Miranda Eason, Editor of You & Your Wedding Magazine

Kat

May 2, 2012

This week I'm honoured to be speaking to Miranda Eason, editor at You & Your Wedding. Despite being a wedding blogger, I'm still (and probably always will be!) a huge fan of magazines and so it was really exciting for me that Miranda was able to fit our chat into her extremely busy schedule! If you've been wanting to get into writing or working for a magazine, or thinking about getting your wedding business featured in a wedding magazine then read on...

Zero

Gareth

May 1, 2012

Rock n Roll Bride, a little haven of kick ass weddingness in a cookie-cutter, pastel and often puke-worthy wedding world. You’ve likely all seen this mantra, it sits proudly on the front page of this website and quickly sums up what this place is about, with articles ranging from rainbow petticoats to New York steampunk.

Shooting Your Passion: A Guest Post by Steve Gerrard

Kat

April 27, 2012

In a previous life I stumbled into a career as a club DJ that took me around the world, saw me open for Oasis at Wembley Stadium and release my own mix CD (if you're interested it's called Thinking Out Loud and you can probably get it in your local charity shop for about 50p!) I loved every minute of it but none of it was really planned. It developed naturally from my love of music. And from me wanting to share music with anybody who'd listen. My passion became my career. And quite a successful one at that.

The Inspirations: David McNeil

Kat

April 25, 2012

Wedding photographer David McNeil and I have been friends for a long time, waaaay before I started my blog or he started shooting weddings. We worked together at the shopping channel and having someone, basically alongside me for the whole time I've run my business, has been pretty amazing. We've advised each other (David is notoriously brilliant at advice!) and seen each other grow into our businesses and make a success of our passions. It's been pretty magical really. We've shot together, we've traveled to Vegas together and we've learnt a serious amount of stuff about this crazy little industry of ours together. So, who better to interview this week than the man that I've seen start from diddly squat and grow into his business like a complete and utter pro?

Measuring Success & Being Grateful

Kat

April 24, 2012

Last week I was invited back to my University to give a talk on blogging and social media, which I wrote about here. Quite apart from the usual nerves and the unusual emotions of being back there, it started me thinking about success or more-so how one might quantify it. On the way I texted my best friend, who I'd met at Uni, to tell her where I was. "Ahhh how exciting," she replied "How long since we left, 6 years? How the hell did we both end up all successful and stuff?" and so I started writing this article in my head...

Get Yourself Noticed: A Guest Post by Photo Professional Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Terry Hope

Kat

April 20, 2012

In today’s competitive market you need to be noticed and, as Photo Professional's editor Terry Hope explains, there are lots of cost effective ways you can exploit that will help put your name out there In today’s competitive market you need to be noticed and these days there are lots of cost effective ways you can exploit that in order to help put your name, and your business, out there. There have probably never, ever been more people out there offering photographic services, and while it’s great that what was once such a closed profession is now so wide open to everyone, it also means that the competition has never been stiffer, and you’re going to have to do something pretty special if you want to stand out from the crowd.

The Inspirations: Choccywoccydoodah’s Christine Taylor

Kat

April 18, 2012

Do you dream in chocolate? Then, surely you must be aware of the unequaled talented that is Choccywoccydoodah. Famous world-over for their creations in confection I am a huge fan, and even more-so now I've got to know the team behind the yummy personally. I'm was seriously excited to speak to Creative Director Christine Taylor as part of this series, and when you read through our chat below I just know you're going to fall in love with her too.

Accepting & Declining Work and Whether to Work for Free

Lisa Devlin

April 17, 2012

As an emerging photography business it can be hard to spot the times when you'd be better off saying no to potential jobs. It’s amazing some of the offers than can come your way so how do you gauge the times when it's not in your best interests to take something on?

How to Write a Press Release That Will Actually Get You Featured: A Guest Post by Debbie Carlisle

Kat

April 13, 2012

Before I entered the heady world of the wedding industry I worked for nearly two decades (gulp) as a journalist. I worked as a reporter and then news editor on regional weekly and daily newspapers and also wrote health and beauty features for a glossy magazine – all of which means I have spent a frightening proportion of my life reading press releases. Press releases are a great way of sending information and news about your company, product or service to journalists and bloggers quickly and easily. While it is no substitute for face-to-face meetings, a well-written press release backed up by strong images is a godsend to busy journalists who don’t have time for countless meetings and networking events and can just cut and paste your copy into a last-minute gap on a page. On the other hand, a poorly-written or presented press release can do more damage than good, leaving the recipient tearing their hair out, reaching for the delete button or, in the very worst cases, blacklisting the sender for being rude and stalker-ish (no really…)

The Inspirations: Tattooist Mike Harris

Kat

April 11, 2012

I always loved sleeve tattoos on women, so when I finally got up the courage to get one done myself I really did my research to get the very best artist I could. Mike, and the London studio he was working in at the time, was recommended to me by a heavily inked friend when I said I was looking for a cartoony, colourful and fun design - nothing to serious, just like me I guess! After spending 18 hours together I got to know Mike pretty well. I was surprised to find out he was so young but this along made me respect him even more. He is incredibly talented, devoted to his career and seriously inspirational. The perfect candidate for this week's Inspirations interview if you ask me!

Husband & Wife Teams and How to Make them Work

Kat

April 10, 2012

Last week I revieved the following email from Green Room reader Kristi, "I would love to see a post about husband & wife teams (or working with your spouse/partner etc) but in a super honest way. I feel like all the husband & wife teams out there only talk about the good and not the real challenges. I myself have always hated the phrase 'husband & wife team' because it makes it sound like we were matching jogging suits and finish each other's sentences. When that is totally not us. We are more likely to argue about the shot one of us missed or the one of us choosing to many of our own photos etc. Please can you help?! P.S Viva la Rock n Roll Bride! Well Kristi that's what I'm here for - and we all know I'm going to be as super honest as possible! As one half of an accidental husband & wife team (the initial plan for Rock n Roll Bride was never for us to work together) there have been lot of steep learning curves that we've had to navigate along the way. We've had to make changes to how we live and work, mostly without any forward planning (I'm sure 'proper' business people are shuddering right now) but I do think we somehow have made it work. Like with anything business-related I think it's very easy to look at other husband & wife combos and think they've got it made, when of course, deep down, we all know they're only sharing the good stuff and keeping the real nitty gritty and blazing rows under wraps. It's certainly not all high fives and long lunches in our house, but there are a few conscious decisions and changes that we've made along the way, all of which have made a huge difference to our work/life balance.

The Green Eyed Plateau-Puss // How to Overcome Inertia and Jealousy: A Guest Post by Amma of Beyond Beyond

Kat

April 6, 2012

Hi, my name is Amma and I would like to confess that sometimes I have green eyes. Yes, I know that biological anomaly that I, as a child of African parents could have emerald green peepers – but I’m talking about professional jealously and how you get over it. As, some of you may or may not know – I still have a day job; as day jobs go mine is not half bad and given the state of female unemployment at present; I certainly know which side my bread is buttered; so I am more than happy to plod along – albeit sometimes sulkily as a 5-9er until I hit my professional tipping point. Now, without getting into the nitty-gritty of it all – I had some personal stuff going on that really meant that despite streaking the sky like a comet when I first began my foray into business. I got forced to slow down, in fact not just slow down – I had to hit the brakes and I experienced a mega slide into a career plateau. Although, work requests and projects were coming in thick and fast, there was no way that I could take it on, and circumstance meant that ‘my stuff’, blogging, and the day became an all encompassing festival of woe.

The Inspirations: Abbey Warner of Sugalily

Kat

April 4, 2012

Abbey Warner is one of those incredibly giving and beautiful people. She is someone that I can always count on to dish the advice as well as have a dirty gossip with! I love her dearly and I'm totally chuffed to have her in The Green Room today. Women don't come much more inspirational than my friend Abbey. Hi Abbey! I'm so excited to have you as part of my Inspirations series. Can you tell us a little about yourself - Who you are, what you do etc? Hello! I am Abbey, a little bit of the team that makes up the Sugalily design studio, which is based in Derby, right in the middle of England. I also spend at least one day a week in London town, meeting clients. Within the business my role is as Creative Director, doing {most of} the design and looking after our wedding clients.

How to Win Friends and Influence People: Social Media

Kat

April 3, 2012

The late, great Dale Carnegie once wrote, "You will go further in two months by becoming genuinely interested in just two other people than you will in two years trying to get other people interested in you." This quote blows my mind. It's so damn spot on (after writing this article I actually went out and bought the book as I've never read the whole thing - I can't wait to get stuck in!) As a side note, can you believe that it was written in 1936, but it's still just as relevant today? Amazing! The section of my workshops and talks where people always seem to ask the most questions is the bit about using social media. People always want to know a) how to get more followers or 'likers' and b) what to actually write about so people don't think they're a weirdo. Yeah seriously.

Babies & Business: A Guest Post by Lucy Ledger

Kat

March 30, 2012

Our baby wasn’t really planned – it was a half assed plan if you will. I knew I wanted babies but I had just left my full time job to run my business and being the household bread winner just keeping things going for my share of the income was as much of a challenge as I wanted. Plus I wanted the success of the business to grow after a long hard year of working two jobs to get it off the ground and watching it flourish as a result. This was supposed to be a wonderful time when after all my hard work, late nights and lack of social life I could really celebrate what I had achieved… you know, with fizzy stuff. Clink clink.