June 18, 2013
After the runaway success of the livestream from Portland, my fellow Blogcademy headmistresses and I decided it was high time to do another one. So, on Monday 24th June at 1pm EST (that's 6pm if you're in the UK) we'll be broadcasting live from Blogcademy's NYC HQ!Read more...
June 14, 2013
Did I mention that I'm off to New York next Wednesday for the next round of Blogcademy workshops? Gosh where is the time going this year?! I'm so super excited. NYC might just be my favourite city in the whole world, and of course I get to see some of my favourite people in the whole world while I'm there too.Read more...
Matt Irwin for Vogue, Russia
June 11, 2013
I didn't grow up in America so I never really understood the whole cheerleader thing... well except what the movies told me of course. Correct me if I'm wrong but it's my assumption that they're basically squads of popular girls who dance around, wear really high ponytails (do even higher kicks) and who's main goal in life if to make the football team feel special. Putting our cultural differences aside, I can see the appeal... well, for the footballers at least. I mean who wouldn't want some gorgeous babes telling them how awesome they were every time they scored a touchdown?Read more...
June 7, 2013
Yesterday I was in North London shooting an editorial for the brand new edition of the print magazine. Issue 3 can't come soon enough, especially since we completely sold out of issue 2 recently, can you believe that!? I don't want to give too much away but it's pretty different, and hopefully something you won't be expecting from Rock n Roll Bride. OH BOY, I can't wait to share it will you all!Read more...
Devlin Photos
June 6, 2013
Are you always busy? When that group email or Facebook event invite gets sent your way, are you never able to go because you have to work? Weddings are a weird industry, everyone knows that you work a lot of weekends but then it is also expected that you are contactable first thing Monday morning. If your marketing campaign has been successful and the bookings are healthy, you may well find that suddenly weeks and weeks are stretching in front of you with no proper break. Every wedding you take on has a significant amount of admin and for us photographers, there is that mountain of post production. Throw in a few double or even triple header weekends and that mountain can quickly become Everest.Read more...
Made U Look
June 4, 2013
I've decided to go into business with three other girls who I met online and have since become great friends with. We all run our own businesses independently but this will be a collaboration between the four of us. I'm really excited about it because we all have different skills and I think we can all bring something different to the table. I was wondering if you had any advice about going into business with friends (I know you've done it with Gala and Shauna with The Blogcademy and you all met online too!) The business idea was actually mine so I guess I'm the driving force behind it but obviously I can't do it on my own. My main question is how do we spilt the finances or decide who gets what? Do we split it evenly because that is the fair thing to do, even though each of us will have a different level of involvement and workload? We roughly know where everyone's strengths lie and even though it will totally be a team effort, it was my idea. Some of the others are more driven towards the networking and exposure that this venture might bring rather than the money but at the same time, I don't want it to become awkward further down the line with the potential of someone not pulling their weight because they aren't getting paid.Read more...
May 31, 2013
Being friends with other bloggers is totally awesome. I was reminded of this just yesterday when I had a lunch date with the gorgeous Emily of Fashion Foie Gras, who I met at the Cosmopolitan Superbloggers Masterclass. It's the same as when I hang out with Gala and Shauna (19 sleeps and counting!) because we don't have to worry about feeling weird wanting to photograph our outfits or document our hang-out, talking through the benefits of twitter vs facebook or discussing the latest internet drama. To us this is all totally normal behaviour!Read more...
Brighton Photo
May 29, 2013
May 24, 2013
I've learnt a lot about what it takes to launch a new business of late. Not so much with Rock n Roll Bride, which I kind of fell into by accident, but with The Blogcademy, the bloggers workshop that I launched with Gala and Shauna in the latter part of last year. Its actually really crazy to think how far we've come, the lessons we've learnt and the changes we've already made (to the promotion, the online presence and the curriculum that we teach!) but it's been really valuable having to do it so quickly.Read more...
Devlin Photos
May 23, 2013
Made U Look
May 21, 2013
The first press release was written in 1906, created by the Pennsylvania Railroad who had just experienced a major accident in which 50 passengers were killed. They quickly released a statement to the press in order to nip any rumours that might be published in the bud. A sensible idea you might think, and yes, it most definitely was. However fast forward 100 years, and similar statements are being released by companies left right and centre, but without this same vital reasoning. These days every small start up business in the world thinks that PR lesson number one is to nail the perfect press release. I'm here today to tell you why I think this is a wrongful assumption and usually a completely pointless exercise.Read more...
May 17, 2013
Made U Look
May 16, 2013
Why is it that one bad review can negate all the great things people say about you? One mean comment, one snarky tweet, one dissatisfied customer? You know this already, but just in case you've forgotten it I'm going to remind you again: you can't please everyone so don't waste your time trying.Read more...
Made U Look
May 14, 2013
I don't know about you, but I always do my best thinking in the bath. I'm sure it's something to do with switching off, being away from technology and allowing my mind to wonder. Regardless, as I soaked in the tub one day last week I started to think about business plateaus, or more specifically, what to do about them.Read more...
Made U Look
May 13, 2013
Goodness, what a rollercoaster The Blogcademy has been already, and today we're about to take another upside-down corkscrew followed by a loop the loop because we're adding even more dates to our 2013 world tour! Your headmistresses are nothing if not diligent, and when we announced the full wack of dates back in March, there were some outcries that we weren't going down to any of the Southern US states... Well, your wish is our command and so we've added an Austin date in August. BRING. IT. ON.Read more...
May 10, 2013
Yesterday Gareth & I hotfooted it to Brighton for a mini shoot with the inimitable Lisa Devlin for our magazine. Did I mention that I'm working - hard! - on the next issue right now? Oh yes, I am soooo super excited about it because I just know it's going to be even bigger and better than the last two editions. I'm actually taking the idea in a brand new direction and I'm super duper psyched to see what you all think about it! Onwards and upwards and all that...Read more...
Made U Look
May 9, 2013
While there are infinite and varying possibilities as to why your business could fail, there are just three that will all but guarantee it.Read more...
Milou & Olin
May 8, 2013
After a blissful few days in Portland, it was time to hit the road and fly down to Los Angeles for the next stop on The Blogcademy world tour. I'm not gonna lie, I've visited LA once before and didn't really fall in love with it, but I was looking forward to experiencing it with my girls and seeing if my mind could be changed. I mean obviously the weather made it much more bearable, it was a scorching 25 degrees a lot of the time which was rather blissful, especially when hearing that it was snowing heavily at home!Read more...
Made U Look
May 7, 2013
May 3, 2013