Montana Diaries Creative Business Blog
creative business resources, Shownotes, extra media, and links from the pod!
Building a brand that has NO competition ft. Eden Strader!
Eden Strader is a six figure photographer turned business coach who inspires creative entrepreneurs, artists, and makers to build a life of artistic growth, wealth, and personal power with carefully curated strategies in marketing, mindset, sales strategy, and self care through excavating her client's unique brand of magic. Everything Eden Strader is based on the concept that we should be building our dream businesses in order to have our dream lives - not stopping at the business as the final destination.
calling all photographers!
join me for my FREE masterclass: HOW TO UPLEVEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS USING VIDEO
EVERYTHING you need to know about integrating video into your photography biz without buying new equipment, getting super techy, or wasting your precious time!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…
1. Why video is KING online, AKA why YOU should incorporate video into your business strategy
2. The leg up that hybrid shooters have in the photo + video industries and why it IS possible to learn with your existing equipment
3. Action steps you can take RIGHT NOW toward incorporating video content!
HOW TO BUILD A BRAND THAT HAS NO COMPETITION
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
MEET EDEN STRADER
Eden Strader is a six figure photographer turned business coach who inspires creative entrepreneurs, artists, and makers to build a life of artistic growth, wealth, and personal power with carefully curated strategies in marketing, mindset, sales strategy, and self care through excavating her client's unique brand of magic. Everything Eden Strader is based on the concept that we should be building our dream businesses in order to have our dream lives - not stopping at the business as the final destination.
Build a brand that has NO competition!
Welcomeeee back to the pod — I’m so stoked to present this conversation with the lovely Eden Strader. Eden and I align so much on our values in business, it’s honestly insane. We both believe in building businesses that enable your dream LIFE. In this candid conversation, we chatted all about the evolution Eden’s business + brand andddd how she found her voice in the industry AND her life. This is a MUST listen.
A chat w/ Eden Strader:
We chat about Eden’s progression from good-girl mormon/Utah wifey to openly queer NYC badass creative
Finding your unique voice
Showing up online + being polarizing
Vanity metrics vs. bookings
Soooo much in between.
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
A copywriter's take on business, branding, and collaboration ft. Sydney Ludden
A copywriter's take on business, branding, and collaboration ft. Sydney Ludden
calling all photogs + videographers for a free online class — INSIDE LOOK: Our exact strategy for year-round elopement and destination wedding bookings
EVERYTHING you need to know to get fully booked year round by diversifying your portfolio, up leveling your customer experience, networking with purpose, and building a business that supports your dream life
HERE’S JUST SOME OF WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THIS FREE CLASS:
Booking high ticket ($10,000+) destination weddings and elopements (yes, even during a recession)
Portfolio building w/ purpose: how to build a portfolio that helps you book dream weddings
Nurturing vendor relationships, collaborating, and growing w/ your community
Getting the max return on investments in your business: making the most of every dollar you spend to grow your biz
A copywriter's take on business, branding, and collaboration ft. Sydney Ludden
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
MEET SYDNEY LUDDEN!
“I’m a corporate dropout and former brand director with over a decade of experience working in social media, public relations, brand management, and advertising. In 2019, I started my own creative company, Back Label Branding, to help women entrepreneurs launch and scale their marketing efforts. Because of my background, I bring a holistic approach to the picture and love offering advice on marketing strategy. As a copywriter and content creator, I often find myself collaborating with other creatives and it's something I'm deeply passionate about. This is what ultimately led me to also co-found Alinea Collective, a full-service branding agency built on the value of collaboration.”
A chat w/ Sydney Ludden
Hellooooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so stoked you’re here as always — today’s episode is features a chat with Sydney Ludden. Sydney is a copywriter and the owner of Backlabel Branding, as well as the co-founder of Alinea Collective. Be sure to let us know what you think of the pod, and scroll down to get allll of the links discussed in this episode!
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
LAZY MARKETING 101 ft. SEO blogging expert Danielle Johnson!
LAZY MARKETING 101 w/ SEO BLOGGING EXPERT DANIELLE JOHNSON: Learn how to blog with SEO in mind in a way that feels doable, approachable, and empowering using Danielle’s tried & tested strategies! Set yourself up so that your website is bringing you new leads + new money behind the scenes without you even touching it.
calling all photographers!
join me for my FREE masterclass: HOW TO UPLEVEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS USING VIDEO
EVERYTHING you need to know about integrating video into your photography biz without buying new equipment, getting super techy, or wasting your precious time!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…
1. Why video is KING online, AKA why YOU should incorporate video into your business strategy
2. The leg up that hybrid shooters have in the photo + video industries and why it IS possible to learn with your existing equipment
3. Action steps you can take RIGHT NOW toward incorporating video content!
Live with danielle johnson: ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT BLOGGING AND SEO + DOIN’ IT THE LAZY WAY
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
MEET DANIELLE JOHNSON
“I'm a wedding photographer turned creative copywriter, specializing in SEO-optimized blogging for small businesses! Most businesses put blogging on the bottom of their to-do list (if it even makes the cut) because there’s a huge misconception that it’s outdated, or simply because it can be incredibly overwhelming at first. But, not blogging (or blogging without strategy) is costing you a lot of potential customers and company awareness. I write copy & craft SEO-optimized, strategically-planned-out blog posts for small businesses who are finally ready to trust their blogs in the hands of an expert. I also teach entrepreneurs how to blog for themselves & their businesses in a way that gets them results (AKA gets them onto page 1 of Google)!”
LAZY MARKETING 101 w/ SEO BLOGGING EXPERT DANIELLE JOHNSON
Welcome to the very first LIVE episode of the Montana Diaries podcast! SEO blogging expert Danielle Johnson came back to the pod to field questions LIVE — this was SUCH a fun format, and I would love to do it in the future with other guests to give you a chance to ask our guests questions related to their expertise in real time!
This episode was dedicated to what Danielle calls LAZY MARKETING! Learn how to blog with SEO in mind in a way that feels doable, approachable, and empowering using Danielle’s tried & tested strategies! Set yourself up so that your website is bringing you new leads + new money behind the scenes without you even touching it.
Danielle now offers blogging templates in her shop and she was kind enough to give Montana Diaries listeners a discount code! Head over to defycreativeco.com to check out the services and shop her offers, and use code MONTANADIARIES at checkout. I got early access to a few of the templates and they’re golddddd — not even kidding, it saved me hours of time to use Danielle’s template instead of fumbling around on my own. This girl knows her shit.
A chat w/ Danielle Johnson, founder of Defy Creative Co.
Danielle explains SEO + “keywords” like I’m five!
How + WHY to half-ass your blog content
Making the GOOGLE GODS happy
Why blogging is the LAZY way to market (spoiler alert: IG + TikTok are wayyyy more work)
I reveal to Danielle that my top lead source this year is GOOGLE thanks to her!
Danielle ended the episode by fielding REAL blogging + SEO questions from listeners!
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
JOIN DANIELLE’S BLOGGING BOOTCAMP w/ CODE “SHAYNA”
FREEBIE: 50 Free Blog Post Ideas!
FREEBIE: SEO Anatomy of a Post!
GET 20% OFF DEFY CREATIVE TEMPLATES w/ CODE “MONTANADIARIES”
FREE Starter Guide for Photographers Ready to Learn Videography
FREE Premiere Pro Editing Guide for Beginners!
The fastest way to grow an elopement photography and videography business in 2023
The fastest way to grow an elopement photography and videography business in 2023
Hellooooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so stoked you’re here as always — today’s episode is features a chat with my dear friend Devin of Backcountry Bohemians. Devin and I are obsessed w/ what we do andddd we’re hosting a content retreat in New Mexico this June! In this conversation, we go over the obstacles that are holding our fellow elopement photographers + videographers back from growing their businesses and finding the sucess they so desperately want…and that we want for them!
calling all photogs + videographers for a free online class — INSIDE LOOK: Our exact strategy for year-round elopement and destination wedding bookings
EVERYTHING you need to know to get fully booked year round by diversifying your portfolio, up leveling your customer experience, networking with purpose, and building a business that supports your dream life
Join Devin + Shay Thursday April 20th at 8PM Mountain / 7PM Pacific to blow upppp your elopement photography/videography business.
HERE’S JUST SOME OF WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THIS FREE CLASS:
Booking high ticket ($10,000+) destination weddings and elopements (yes, even during a recession)
Portfolio building w/ purpose: how to build a portfolio that helps you book dream weddings
Nurturing vendor relationships, collaborating, and growing w/ your community
Getting the max return on investments in your business: making the most of every dollar you spend to grow your biz
The fastest way to grow an elopement photography and videography business in 2023
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
TWO FULL TIME ELOPEMENT PHOTOGRAPHERS/VIDEOGRAPHERS GET REAL
In this episode of the Montana Diaries Podcast, I chat with Devin allll about investing in growing our businesses, money fears, client experience, values, and finding community.
The fastest way to grow an elopement photography and videography business in 2023
Hellooooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so stoked you’re here as always — today’s episode is features a chat with my dear friend Devin of Backcountry Bohemians. Devin and I are obsessed w/ what we do andddd we’re hosting a content retreat in New Mexico this June! In this conversation, we go over the obstacles that are holding our fellow elopement photographers + videographers back from growing their businesses and finding the sucess they so desperately want…and that we want for them!
Andddd we want to continue this conversation in our free class, and in our New Mexico content retreat! I hope to see you at both!
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
Perfectionism is literally ruining your life and business lol
2023 Content Marketing Strategy for Creative Business — Hellooooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so stoked you’re here as always — today’s episode is on literally my favoirte topic in the universe when it comes to creative business, which is creative business content creation strategy— I really just want to dive deeepppp on content in 2023, and I want to go hard on quantity and on service, so truly helping people on the photo/video side of my business and the business education side — I am such a huge believer in content marketing and I think brands will win when they go hard on content — can you tell I’m deep into Gary V’s universe!? I’m so bought in though, and if I can get you to buy in just a little I really really really think we can majorly impact the success of your business.
calling all photographers!
join me for my FREE masterclass: HOW TO UPLEVEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS USING VIDEO
EVERYTHING you need to know about integrating video into your photography biz without buying new equipment, getting super techy, or wasting your precious time!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…
1. Why video is KING online, AKA why YOU should incorporate video into your business strategy
2. The leg up that hybrid shooters have in the photo + video industries and why it IS possible to learn with your existing equipment
3. Action steps you can take RIGHT NOW toward incorporating video content!
PERFECTIONISM: TASTE VS. TALENT, PROCRASTINATION AND FEAR, MESSY ACTION, AND MORE!
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
PERFECTIONISM IS LITERALLY RUINING YOUR LIFE LOL
In this episode of the Montana Diaries Podcast, I share multiple stories revolving around perfectionism in creativity and business, why I’m so passionate about “messy action,” and other creatives’ perspectives on perfection.
Perfectionism is literally ruining your life lol
Hellooooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so stoked you’re here as always — today’s episode is centered around one core principle that I know in my bones is true and I hope you can internalize: perfectionism will literally ruin your life and business. Fun!
A CONVERSATION ON PERFECTION:
Real stories from my life + business centering on perfection
Taste vs. Talent
Ira Glass on “The Gap”
Messy action
Liz Gilbert: “Done is better than good.”
Okay, friends, that’s really what I have for you for this episode — I really really really hope you’ll leave this episode with a new perspective on perfectionism and you’ll, like…knock it off and just take some sort of messy action today, just make something, literally anything.
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
2023 Content Marketing Strategy for Creative Business
2023 Content Marketing Strategy for Creative Business — Hellooooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so stoked you’re here as always — today’s episode is on literally my favoirte topic in the universe when it comes to creative business, which is creative business content creation strategy— I really just want to dive deeepppp on content in 2023, and I want to go hard on quantity and on service, so truly helping people on the photo/video side of my business and the business education side — I am such a huge believer in content marketing and I think brands will win when they go hard on content — can you tell I’m deep into Gary V’s universe!? I’m so bought in though, and if I can get you to buy in just a little I really really really think we can majorly impact the success of your business.
calling all photographers!
join me for my FREE masterclass: HOW TO UPLEVEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS USING VIDEO
EVERYTHING you need to know about integrating video into your photography biz without buying new equipment, getting super techy, or wasting your precious time!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…
1. Why video is KING online, AKA why YOU should incorporate video into your business strategy
2. The leg up that hybrid shooters have in the photo + video industries and why it IS possible to learn with your existing equipment
3. Action steps you can take RIGHT NOW toward incorporating video content!
2023 CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY FOR CREATIVE BUSINESS: Defining your marketing goals, crafting consistent value-packed long form content, focusing on quantity for short form content
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
2023 Content Marketing Strategy for Creative Business
Hellooooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so stoked you’re here as always — today’s episode is on literally my favoirte topic in the universe when it comes to creative business, which is creative business content creation strategy— I really just want to dive deeepppp on content in 2023, and I want to go hard on quantity and on service, so truly helping people on the photo/video side of my business and the business education side — I am such a huge believer in content marketing and I think brands will win when they go hard on content — can you tell I’m deep into Gary V’s universe!? I’m so bought in though, and if I can get you to buy in just a little I really really really think we can majorly impact the success of your business.
DON’T FORGET TO SNAG THE FREE PDF GUIDE THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE!
CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY FOR CREATIVE BUSINESS
CREATIVE BUSINESS CONTENT CREATION
What is your goal? What do you ultimately want people to buy/do?
How can you serve your audience related to what you want them to buy/do? What questions do they have? What problems? What do they need to know?
Craft 1 piece of long form content each week related to the above
Break it up into a tonnnn of content for short-term marketing platforms like IG, TikTok, etc.
Email bby
Download the guide above to follow along with the episode!
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
Tracking the health of your creative business in 2023
Tracking the health of your creative business in 2023: A biz + life update from Shay, all about process oriented vs. product oriented tasks, KPIs, and more!
calling all photographers!
join me for my FREE masterclass: HOW TO UPLEVEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS USING VIDEO
EVERYTHING you need to know about integrating video into your photography biz without buying new equipment, getting super techy, or wasting your precious time!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…
1. Why video is KING online, AKA why YOU should incorporate video into your business strategy
2. The leg up that hybrid shooters have in the photo + video industries and why it IS possible to learn with your existing equipment
3. Action steps you can take RIGHT NOW toward incorporating video content!
Tracking the health of your creative business in 2023: A biz + life update from Shay, all about process oriented vs. product oriented tasks, KPIs, and more!
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
TRACKING THE HEALTH OF YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS IN 2023
I’m so stoked to present this episode allllll about tracking the health of your creative business in 2023 — join me as I pull back the curtain on my life + business in 2022, my big plans for 2023, how I plan to track all of my goals, and how YOU can implement a strategy for doing the same in a way that aligns with your unique business.
BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD THE FREE GUIDE THAT GOES ALONG WITH THIS EPISODE:
TRACKING THE HEALTH OF YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS
TRACKING THE HEALTH OF YOUR CREATIVE BIZ:
I get v personal w/ pulling back the curtain of my life + biz in 2022
Process oriented vs. Product oriented
KPIs — Key Performance Indicators
Don’t forget to snag the free guide above and follow along!
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
SEO Blogging for Creative Business in 2023 w/ Danielle Johnson
DANIELLE JOHNSON
Helloooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries Podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so freaking stoked you’re here because on today’s episode we have the incredibllleeee Danielle Johnson, a blogging + SEO queenie who basically gave us a freaking masterclass during this podcast episode. Danielle is a wedding photographer turned blogging expert for creative business owners — she calls herself the “solution to your ‘shit, i should really work on my blogging’ problem” and that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. She’s magic. This might be my favorite episode of the pod…ever? I’m not kidding, it completely embodied everything I ever wanted for this podcast haha — I feel like I put Danielle through the ringer, but she was so game — it was a trojan horse of “come talk about blogging and SEO!” except, more like, “unpack your self growth journey and purity culture trauma and then also give me a 40 minute personalized business coaching session.” Ha!! All kidding aside, Danielle BROUGHT IT with the tangible step-by-step instructions on the anatomy of an SEO-friendly blog post and every. single. creative. business. owner. NEEDS. THIS. EPISODE!
calling all photographers!
join me for my FREE masterclass: HOW TO UPLEVEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS USING VIDEO
EVERYTHING you need to know about integrating video into your photography biz without buying new equipment, getting super techy, or wasting your precious time!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…
1. Why video is KING online, AKA why YOU should incorporate video into your business strategy
2. The leg up that hybrid shooters have in the photo + video industries and why it IS possible to learn with your existing equipment
3. Action steps you can take RIGHT NOW toward incorporating video content!
DANIELLE JOHNSON: Growing a business in your twenties, navigating transitional periods in life and business, letting go of purity culture, blogging + SEO, and so much moreeeee (It’s the bat-shit business girl chat of my dreams)
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
MEET DANIELLE JOHNSON
“I'm a wedding photographer turned creative copywriter, specializing in SEO-optimized blogging for small businesses! Most businesses put blogging on the bottom of their to-do list (if it even makes the cut) because there’s a huge misconception that it’s outdated, or simply because it can be incredibly overwhelming at first. But, not blogging (or blogging without strategy) is costing you a lot of potential customers and company awareness. I write copy & craft SEO-optimized, strategically-planned-out blog posts for small businesses who are finally ready to trust their blogs in the hands of an expert. I also teach entrepreneurs how to blog for themselves & their businesses in a way that gets them results (AKA gets them onto page 1 of Google)!”
DANIELLE JOHNSON
Helloooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries Podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so freaking stoked you’re here because on today’s episode we have the incredibllleeee Danielle Johnson, a blogging + SEO queenie who basically gave us a freaking masterclass during this podcast episode. Danielle is a wedding photographer turned blogging expert for creative business owners — she calls herself the “solution to your ‘shit, i should really work on my blogging’ problem” and that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard. She’s magic. This might be my favorite episode of the pod…ever? I’m not kidding, it completely embodied everything I ever wanted for this podcast haha — I feel like I put Danielle through the ringer, but she was so game — it was a trojan horse of “come talk about blogging and SEO!” except, more like, “unpack your self growth journey and purity culture trauma and then also give me a 40 minute personalized business coaching session.” Ha!! All kidding aside, Danielle BROUGHT IT with the tangible step-by-step instructions on the anatomy of an SEO-friendly blog post and every. single. creative. business. owner. NEEDS. THIS. EPISODE!
I also want to tell you at the top here that Danielle now offers blogging templates in her shop and she was kind enough to give Montana Diaries listeners a discount code! Head over to defycreativeco.com to check out the services and shop her offers, and use code MONTANADIARIES at checkout. The link is also in the shownotes if you want to come back to it later. I got early access to a few of the templates and they’re golddddd — not even kidding, it saved me hours of time to use Danielle’s template instead of fumbling around on my own. This girl knows her shit. I’m going to be the goober using my own discount code to buy all of them this winter, not going to lie. Okey that’s enough me time for now, let’s get into the episode.
A chat w/ Danielle Johnson, founder of Defy Creative Co.
BTS of why Danielle calls herself a “proud college dropout”
Transitioning from being a wedding photographer to a general virtual assistant, before niching down to blogging
We talk alllll about the insecurity that comes with outsourcing, and how that tied together with Danielle’s own personal self-growth journey navigating her early twenties in her personal life and business
I interrupt Danielle a lot because I get too excited about deconstructing our childhood and beliefs lmao sorry Danielle but good job giving it back to me
We end the chat with an obnoxious 40 minute personal business coaching session that’s legitimate golddddd and every creative business owner should honestly have to pay Danielle to listen to it — if you want to DIY what people pay Danielle a lot of money for then she literally tells you how
Anndddd that was Danielle Johnson — isn’t she the absolute best? I know I always share one key takeaway after these interviews, but there are so many things sticking with me from this conversation even a couple weeks later. Some things present-day-Shay has been mulling over: the transitional periods we go through in our twenties as we come into ourselves, and how that is reflected in our personal brands and businesses…I think a lot about what it takes to change a mind and how a lot of the time that’s viewed as a weakness, but I never want to lose the ability to do so. I think Danielle is so good at respecting her present self and the mindset changes she’s going through naturally as a young woman, and in doing so she also puts a lot of trust and respect into her audience by allowing them to go along with her during her pivots and changes. I also can’t stop thinking about the integrity behind doing so well for your clients that they don’t need you anymore — as my business evolves into selling more educational resources, I reallllyyyyy think about this a lot. Finally, I just really believe in the longevity of blogging and SEO and while it isn’t crazy sexy, it's vitalllll for creative business. I’m so stoked that Danielle has options at every price point now, so if you want templates on the cheap for more of a DIY style experience then head over to defycreativeco.com and use code MONTANADIARIES at checkout to make the templates even more stupid cheap than they already are, or if you’re a bit further along in business then I would honestly highly highly highly recommend hiring Danielle for her done-for-you service. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topics we discussed here— head over to the Montana Diaries Podcast Facebook group and write a post to continue this discussion, or just introduce yourself over there. Don’t forget to leave your honest review on the Apple Podcasts app — it helps us get more amazing guests like Danielle and I’ll give you a shout out on a future episode. Please go create something today, friends, and I’ll catch ya in the next episode.
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
36: Becoming a successful traveling elopement photographer w/ Emily Kidd
EMILY KIDD PHOTO
Helloooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries Podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so freaking stoked you’re here because on today’s episode we have the lovely Emily Kidd, one of my absolute favorite elopement photographers and the host of a podcast serving elopement photographers, The Road Created — Emily has such a heart for serving other business owners, she’s an amazing business woman, and she truly captures her couples perfectly on their adventures. In this episode of the Montana Diaries Podcast, we discuss building a sustainable business, SEO, Pinterest, and navigating social media marketing.
calling all photographers!
join me for my FREE masterclass: HOW TO UPLEVEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS USING VIDEO
EVERYTHING you need to know about integrating video into your photography biz without buying new equipment, getting super techy, or wasting your precious time!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…
1. Why video is KING online, AKA why YOU should incorporate video into your business strategy
2. The leg up that hybrid shooters have in the photo + video industries and why it IS possible to learn with your existing equipment
3. Action steps you can take RIGHT NOW toward incorporating video content!
EMILY KIDD: Becoming a full time traveling elopement photographer, marketing strategy for travel photography, and what the dream is!
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
MEET EMILY KIDD
“I’m a destination wedding photographer and adventure-seeker. I love that my camera connects me to people in such a unique way. Photography started out as a creative outlet but quickly turned into a consuming passion. I get to hang out with incredible humans who are crazy about each other while seeing as much of the world as I possibly can. Getting to know my couples by grabbing a drink, exploring, and running around with them is one of the many reasons I love my job. I live for the funny, awkward, and sweet moments that depict the authenticity of your relationship. I want to catch the emotions and the details in a way that makes you pause every time you look at the photo and feel it all over again.”
EMILY KIDD PHOTO
Helloooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries Podcast, I’m Shayna and I’m so freaking stoked you’re here because on today’s episode we have the lovely Emily Kidd, one of my absolute favorite elopement photographers and the host of a podcast serving elopement photographers, The Road Created — Emily has such a heart for serving other business owners, she’s an amazing business woman, and she truly captures her couples perfectly on their adventures. In this episode of the Montana Diaries Podcast, we discuss building a sustainable business, SEO, Pinterest, and navigating social media marketing.
A chat w/ Emily Kidd, traveling elopement photographer
Emily has always had an interest in both travel and photojournalism, but she wasn’t sure how to monetize these passions until she found elopement articles on Junebug Weddings. Seeing other destination wedding photographers’ work made her realize that the career she wanted was possible. For Emily, traveling and shooting is a lifestyle — she travels full time, planning her trips based on where she books shoots.
The portfolio building stage for Emily included a combination of paid work and workshops in destination locations — we chatted about the importance of portfolio building to build trust with potential clients/being able to showcase what you can do. Emily also mentions how important it is to make travel a part of her brand.
In order to become profitable and sustain her lifestyle as a full time traveling photographer, Emily continued to do styled shoots but also became serious about marketing and SEO. She took two courses on SEO and Pinterest — a combination of strategic blog posts and regular pinning is still the top inquiry driver for her business. Emily even gave me some great advice as far as creating guides to target specific locations goes; this is a great tip for every type of creative business so listen to the pod!
Emily also has an incredible podcast, The Road Created. She explained that she loves the medium of podcasting for her own learning, and I feel the exact same way. Emily is also passionate about helping other photographers reach their goals — she says if she can do it, so can everyone else.
I highly, highly, highly recommend this podcast episode for EVERY photographer with anyyyy interest in traveling! Emily is so full of amazing information and strategies for marketing for a traveling business, I’m so grateful for her honesty and I know this episode will help a ton of people. Be sure to let us know what you think after listening!
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
32: Experimenting and taking creative risks in 2022
Experimenting and taking creative risks in 2022
calling all photographers!
join me for my FREE masterclass: HOW TO UPLEVEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS USING VIDEO
EVERYTHING you need to know about integrating video into your photography biz without buying new equipment, getting super techy, or wasting your precious time!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…
1. Why video is KING online, AKA why YOU should incorporate video into your business strategy
2. The leg up that hybrid shooters have in the photo + video industries and why it IS possible to learn with your existing equipment
3. Action steps you can take RIGHT NOW toward incorporating video content!
Experimenting and taking creative risks in 2022
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
Experimenting and taking creative risks in 2022
Hellloooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries Podcast, on today’s episode I’m going to be talking about experimenting and taking creative risks — I freaking knowww that creative business can slowly turn into factory work, especially with portfolio consistency and client expectations, so let’s talk about the who, what, when, where, and how of staying creative when you make money from your creativity. This episode is dedicated to Morgannnn, the owner of Elizabeth Samuel Photography, who suggested the topic on Instagram — she asked specifically about double exposures and creative edits. Remember, you can alwayssss let me know what topics you want covered on the pod!
When you make money from your creativity you need a different creative outlet lol
Okeyyy, let’s get into this — I’m obsessed with creativity and business and what it is to make money from creativity, so this topic gets me pretty fired up. Let me start by saying this: When you make money from your creativity, you either need a different creative outlet or you need to figure out how to continue nurturing your creativity that you’ve monetized — honestly, I think you need to do both things because I don’t think the second thing is 100% possible all the time. Let me explain.
I’m an avid reader. My real life, no bullshit, no irony involved dream is to be a novelist — I have stick figure self portraits from early elementary school with speech bubbles saying that when I grow up, I want to be a writer. Except I spelled “writer” wrong, with two t’s.
Soooo I went to college, and I studied english literature and creative writing alongside my more practical communication studies major which yes obviously that’s a joke of a major but don’t tell that to 17 year old me making life decisions, but oh my god did I do anything possible to avoid reading and writing once those things became obligations.
It became obvious to me that it wasn’t good for my brain to make reading and writing a job. Everyone gets so hung up on doing work that you’re passionate about because we’ve made what we do for a living such a huge part of our identity and personality — we’ve made what we do synonymous with who we ARE. Butttt here’s what I realized is true for me: I do like editing video and photos, I love aesthetics and I’m good at planning things while staying flexible because it makes me feel in control, which it’s always good when your occupation is well suited to your pathologies. I like business. It feels good to MAKE SOMETHING for someone that has an impact and makes them feel good and to be able to make money doing that.
But I can’t say my ego or sense of self or concept of myself as a creative or worth in general is tied to, like, wedding films. Thank God.
I have to be honest in saying that I think it’s a mistake to tie your finances to your creativity and, like, artistic ego. And I think that’s what we’re talking about here, when a creative turns their real hobby and their actual creative outlet into something that makes money…and then they lose the joy of play and experimentation and all of that good stuff because now there’s pressure and expectation and, yes, fear attached to doing the thing that they once did for fun. Because it’s a job.
Read big magic
Here’s where I tell you to read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. And, listen, I’m not the type to gatekeep books — if you’re not a reader or you don’t have time, then please consider buying the audiobook and LISTENING to Big Magic — Liz reads it herself and it’s beautiful.
I spoke on this in a recent episode about money, which I’ll link in the shownotes, but Big Magic made me realize that as long as I was supporting myself then I didn’t actually care how I made money. My number one obligation, for my entire life, is to the pursuit of creativity. To being interested and interesting, to creating more than I consume, to keeping my heart open to magic and ideas — to not being beholden to money and obligation and others’ expectations.
But, like, it’s nice to make money with creative business. Welcome to this entire Podcast.
Consume content that makes you want to create
On the back of that book recommendation, let me also encourage you to consume content that makes you feel the urge to create something. Start being critical of the state of mind you get in when you’re consuming — are you watching Netflix to shut your brain off and mindlessly consume? Are you scrolling TikTok to do the same thing? Or do you seek out media that inspires you, that lights a fire under you, that spurs you to action? If you’re feeling a lull in your creativity, if you’re tending toward burnout, all I’m saying is that part of the problem might be the way you’re consuming — not necessarily your creative process in general.
Systemizing your creative business
Speaking of the creative process — you should have one.
I’m sorry, I’m that guy that systemizes creativity. I know, I know — you want freedom and whimsy and inspiration, you’re an arteest.
But actually, I’m sorry, you’re the one who has made your creativity your job. You have a responsibility, for the sake of the health of your business and your own sanity, to come up with systems and frameworks to exist within so that the WORK part of your work can get done and then your creativity can flourish. Structure breeds creativity, I promise.
Here’s another writing example: Have you ever tried writing long form content, like an easy or a blog post, and the blinking cursor on the blank page was just way too overwhelming and you couldn’t write anything at all? Have you tried outlining instead? Have you tried setting a timer and brain dumping? Having something, ANYTHING on the page helps you write faster, spoiler alert. Take this podcast, for example — if I didn’t have a framework… it would never get done. Ever. I have an intro and outro format that provides structure. I usually have a topic, and then I set a timer for five minutes to brain dump points. I then bold those points and consider them mini topics. The one we’re on right now is “systemizing your creative business.” Then, I set ten minute timers to write without judgement under every bolded point. Just throwing up words on the page, everything I think about the bolded point. The timer puts the pressure on for work, but it takes it off for the words sounding good — I’m literally just typing how I talk.
Afterward, I edit and then when I’m recording I’m likely to riff a bit and expand on some things, but the process and structure BREEDS the creativity. The freedom of a blank page just causes paralyzation and overthinking and procrastination. This applies to all creative work, I really believe that.
We like to romanticize creativity, and trust me, I believe there’s plenty of room for the romantic side of creation…but it isn’t all that. It’s work. It’s process.
Experimenting when you make money from your creativity
Now, back to the main point of this episode, experimenting when you make money from your creativity. Is it possible to stay creative, to experiment, to grow, to innovate when you have paying customers and clients that expect a certain thing from you?
Sure. But with caveats.
You do need to deliver work that’s consistent with your portfolio but idk there’s nothing wrong with putting weird experimental artsy shit alongside that other work — this is honestly where being a human comes in and curating your personal branding to make people expect that out of you. During sessions when I’m trying something new I’m literally like “k imma get a lil weird now” and then I lay on the ground usually for some dope ass sick ass angles idk, also the original question that made me think of this topic in the first place was about double exposures and creative edits for video and how I use fractals… you guys, I’m not techy or particularly talented or anything, I try weird shit and have fun and figure out how to stay sane in my job — I don’t ask for permission to try things out or over research or over think, if I want to do something and I don’t know how to do it then I Google it and then just freaking do it, creativity is NOT THAT SERIOUS — if you feel anxious about a client complaining about the experimental stuff you delivered alongside the regular stuff, here’s a fun blanket response, this is for photographers but feel free to shift it to whatever creative service you do: Oh my goodness, I’m so thrilled you loved some of the photos in your gallery more than others! It’s such a huge brand value of mine to deliver content that is consistent with the rest of my portfolio and I’m over the moon you found a few in your gallery that suit you — I also understand you noticed the experimental stuff I included! How fun are those!? Thanks so much for letting me get weird during our session, it keeps me creative! You’ll prolly see the fun ones on my social media, and I’m so pumped to see what you do with the others! Message me when you print them so I can see!
See how I’m coming from a place of positivity, of service, and reminding my client that they don’t have to love every photo in the gallery and I’m fulfilling my contractual obligation by delivering the amount of photos promised in my signature style? There’s no need to be defensive because you didn’t do anything wrong.
If you absolutely do not want to get weird with clients, then you need to style your own shoots and get creative on your own time. The only thing I’ll say to this is I do have a friend who does this often and then shoots and edits super clean with her real clients but thennnnn sometimes feels frustrated that she doesn’t book more creative clients. See the disconnect there?
In conclusion, you guys, creativity isn’t serious idk why we make it life or death, I don’t mean to be blase about your insecurities but maybe that’s something you need — like idk, nobody needs what we do and we aren’t performing surgery or anything and I don’t think you need to overthink this just create create create and put pretty things into the world and weird things and things maybe only you will like because we’re going to die eventually, maybe soon, and your legacy shouldn’t be cookie cutter generic bullshit. Was that helpful?
I’ve been talking about Liz Gilbert too much, I sound like a fangirl and I’m sorry, but there was this great moment in her podcast she used to do where she and her guest, I’m so sorry I don’t remember the exact context — but they were talking about a musician they loved that put out this batshit album that sounded nothing like his previous work, and the guest hated it but then came to admire it because it was experimental and weird and he acknowledged that he wasn’t put on this earth to be a song writer monkey. A modern day example would be Ed Sheeran — I know he’s kinda considered white bread as far as singer song writers go but I do find him brilliant, and he put out that collaboration album where every song was a collab and nothing fit together and it was experimental and odd, and truly I think I skip every song when it comes up on shuffle because it’s just not my thing but — goddamn, good for you Ed Sheeran. You aren’t my song writer monkey.
And to you, my dear listener — you aren’t a factory. You aren’t a photography monkey or a jewelry designer monkey or a painter monkey or a graphic design monkey or any kind of monkey at all besides the bit of genetic makeup we share with monkeys, you’re a creative being. You make money from your creativity so you have contractual obligations and an obligation to your clients to produce work they hired you to do with the expectation that it will look similar to your other work, but other than that? It’s not that serious. You WON capitalism, you’re making money out of nothing, out of things you make. You make a living with creativity. You survive and feed yourself by playingggg — you have to nurture that bit of you that needs to create, to play, to be free so you can avoid burnout and keep winning. Hooray, you’re doing the thing, friend, now don’t ruin it by getting too serious. You’re not a monkeyyyy.
I’m dying, that whole metaphor didn’t really work but ya know? I’m trusting that the spirit behind it might. Leave it to me to mix creativity with competition, you’ve unlocked the exact reason I’m exhausting to everyone who loves me.
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
31: Online marketing for creative business in 2022
Online marketing for creative business in 2022
calling all photographers!
join me for my FREE masterclass: HOW TO UPLEVEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS USING VIDEO
EVERYTHING you need to know about integrating video into your photography biz without buying new equipment, getting super techy, or wasting your precious time!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…
1. Why video is KING online, AKA why YOU should incorporate video into your business strategy
2. The leg up that hybrid shooters have in the photo + video industries and why it IS possible to learn with your existing equipment
3. Action steps you can take RIGHT NOW toward incorporating video content!
Online marketing for creative business in 2022
psssttt…
join us in the Facebook group, your space for talking all things creativity + business!
Online marketing for creative business in 2022
Hellloooo and welcome back to the Montana Diaries Podcast, on today’s episode I’m going to be talking allll about online marketing for creative entrepreneurs in 2022. I get asked about this topic allll the freaking time, but this episode is a special shout out to Whitney Jones, who suggested this topic in the Montana Diaries Podcast Facebook Group! Soooo here’s your reminder to join the group — you can post about anything related to business or creativity, and also ask questions that will be turned into episodes.
WHY I THINK SEO AND MARKETING ARE IMPORTANT/A CONSTANT CONVERSATION IN THE CREATIVE BUSINESS SPACE
Ahhhh, marketing for creative business. Listen, I know it’s easily the sexiest and most fun thing about creative business — everyone wants to try allll of the tips and tricks when it comes to marketing because it’s fun and it feels like a needle mover, but let me encourage you right at the top of this episode to dedicate yourself to figuring out what it would take to be SUCCESSFUL with marketing.
Becauseeeee I feel like a lot of creative business owners make marketing their jobs. Like, every day. And let the actual business things fall to the side.
I also know that social media strategy dominates the marketing conversation but here’s one hard truth: likes and followers and comments don’t move the needle forward in your business. Followers are not clients.
PEOPLE LOVE TALKING ABOUT MARKETING BUT NOT ABOUT SELLING LOL
People love talking about marketing, but not so much about selling. I’ve heard it all — that selling feels icky, that you don’t want to bug people, that it’s rude.
Can we please just act like a business and make money a simpleeeee math equation for a second? How much is your main offer? How much money do you need to make in a year? How many sales is it to reach that amount? Perf, that’s how many people you need to convert into clients or buyers. Everyone wants 10,000 followers but you don’t freaking need 10,000 clients — hopefully just being armed with the knowledge of what your real number is can empower you to serve those people. Now let’s get into my marketing suggestions for you to implement in 2022.
Now, to the actual selling bit: We have to get it out of our heads that selling is icky — you have a produce or service with value. Presenting your offer is valuable to the buyers who need or want your product. Good marketing will get your product or service in front of the people who want to buy it.
Here’s an example: When I was looking for a lifestyle photographer to photograph my newborn in our home, I could not freaking find one. I was searching hashtags like #missoulanewbornlifestyle #missoulalifestylephotographer and #missoulanewbornphotographer and nobodyyyyy was blatantly advertising what I was looking for. I feel like in-home lifestyle photographers have to exist, but they weren’t selling to me. It wouldn’t have been icky or salesy for them to figure out how to get in front of me — it would have been HELPFUL to me.
So what the heck are these lifestyle photographers doing? Slapping up random IG or Facebook posts every day without ever taking the time to talk about their offers? Where is the strategy to get in front of me? Maybe they’re marketing every day, but are they strategizing? Are they selling?
HERE ARE MY SUGGESTIONS FOR OTHER CREATIVE BUSINESS OWNERS IN 2022
Define your offers really well so that you know exactly the types of buyers you’re trying to get in front of.
Don’t make your social strategy the be-all-end-all of your business — being active on social media is great, but you don’t own social media platforms and they can go away at any time. Instead, I suggest implementing a content marketing strategy that can be repurposed across platforms. I talk about this a tonnnn in the episode we just did on batching, so be sure to go check it out — the link is in the shownotes
SEO — Search engine optimization, bb. Soooo taking the steps to figure out how to make your offer as searchable as humanly possible — I do this with weekly blog posts packed with key words I’d like to rank for on Google. The most helpful way to this I’ve found involves video, so if you’d like a more in-depth explanation on that then pleaseeee feel free to snag my free resource at montanadiaries.com/learnvideo ! I can also do an episode on this strategy in the future if you want that, so let me know.
Referrals — Past clients + customers can be a huuugggeee asset, so serve the heck out of them and ASK for their reviews and for them to tell their friends about you. Sometimes an email or a text can get you leads right away — people want to support you, especially if you serve them well. On the other side of this, there could be other businesses that work well with your product or service. Do strategic collaborations or ask them how YOU CAN SERVE THEM in exchange for their referral.
Paid ads — I’ve always been a huge believer in Facebook ads, but I’m diving a bit deeper into TikTok and Pinterest in 2022. My thing with ads is that if they’re converting, then there really isn’t any amount of money that I wouldn’t spend on them.
Other — Other ideas I’ve heard of include getting your brochures or magazines into other businesses that make sense, a photographer in the Facebook group said she’s trying out putting her canvases in businesses in hospitals as displayed artwork, it’s always a good idea to show your face in your community so trade shows and pop ups are always a great idea. But I’m including this “other” category because I’d loovveee to hear from YOU about out of the box marketing strategies you’ve tried or you want to try, so go to the Facebook community and let us know what you’re cooking up and how it’s going!
WHAT I’M FOCUSING ON IN MY BUSINESS FOR MARKETING
Soooo, I thought it might be helpful and maybe a lil fun to take my business through the six steps I just covered so you can see what I’m focusing on marketing wise in 2022.
So, if number 1 is defining my offers — my main offer is elopement videography and photography, with my secondary offers being smaller multimedia sessions like couples and engagements and some branding work. I know how many elopements I need to reach my financial goals, so everything I do for content marketing is focused on serving my elopement audience and reaching that amount of sales. Butttt for my smaller offers, I’ll mostly engage on stories or ask friends in the areas I’m targeting to help me spread the word about specials. I’ll talk a bit more about this in a future episode because I have some segmented financial goals this year making me take on more random sessions. On the education side of the business, my main offer is my course Videography for Photographers and the mentorship calls for creative entrepreneurs.
Point two is where I said don’t make social media the entirety of your strategy, and so what I do is I make sure to have one piece of original content per week on my website that I then repurpose for social media — you can hear all about my content batching strategy in the last episode of the pod. I’ll link it in the show notes — buttt, basically, for the elopement side this might be a blog post about how to pick a destination location for your adventure elopement — soooo, then, I would make IG posts and TiKToks/Reels that steal points from the blog post that week. I might have a YouTube video that goes along with it that gets posted to YouTube, maybe I cut up that video for the other socials. I’ll have pinterest graphics that lead back to the blog post. See what I mean? Make one piece of original content that serves the overarching goal, which is serving potential buyers of your main offering. Strategy driven doesn’t have to mean complicated.
SEO — my SEO plan relies pretty heavily on my blog content and putting in words and phrases that I want to rank in search for. Northwest Montana, elopement videography, video education, Glacier National Park, photography course — these are all example. My biggest SEO tip that serves me well is integrating YouTube videos on my website that contain titles that I want to rank in search for, like Glacier National Park Elopement Videographer. Learn more about this strategy in a free class I host at montanadiaries.com/learnvideo!
4 is referrals and I’m lucky to have incredible couples on the service side of my business who do tend to tag me and talk me up to their friends. Honestly, though, it’s really my vendor relationships that do the most as far as referrals go and I take my vendor relationships really really seriously — I always always always come from a place of service with other vendors. I send them content from our shoots, I offer head shots when I see them on location, I try to gas them up on social media. On the education side of the business, I’m diligent about collecting reviews and using the heck out of those reviews in everything educational I do, like this podcast! I also run affiliate launches where affiliates get a commission for referring people to my paid offerings.
Paid ads — I would love to do a follow up on this point in a couple of months when I have some data to share, so let me know if that’s something you want! I’m going to be running TikTok ads and Pinterest ads for the education side of my business, but I can absolutely do the same thing for the photo/video side to test out some methods for you guys.
Number 6 was the “other” category, and while I don’t really do in-person markets as much anymore, I am testing out the “OPP” strategy with other people’s platforms — this basically just means pitching to get on other people’s podcasts as much as possible to expand our reach.
hey, photog friend!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
8 Chris Mai's Burning Itch: A Filmmaker's POV on Innovation and Staying Creative
Chris Mai is an incredible Portland, Oregon based filmmaker serving the PNW + beyond. On episode 8 of the Montana Diaries Podcast, Chris and I discuss everyyyything from balancing family and entrepreneurship, to looking toward the future and trying to envision an end point. Chris has some incredible heart-centered takes on ambition, innovation, creativity, and “the dream.” This is a MUST LISTEN.
Chris Mai's Burning Itch: A Filmmaker's POV on Innovation and Staying Creative
What is it to innovate?
Staying creative — creating to create. Keeping yourself on your toes. Avoiding “the template.”
We’ll see if Chris kills me for that title, ha!! You’ll have to listen to our chat to know what that’s about.
Chris Mai is an incredible Portland, Oregon based filmmaker serving the PNW + beyond. On episode 8 of the Montana Diaries Podcast, Chris and I discuss everyyyything from balancing family and entrepreneurship, to looking toward the future and trying to envision an end point. Chris has some incredible heart-centered takes on ambition, innovation, creativity, and “the dream.” This is a MUST LISTEN.
Be sure to go give Chris all the love on Instagram and review the pod on your fave platform! We appreciate it so much.
heyyy, photog friends!!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
6 Mary Kantner: Human-centered business and keeping the art sacred
Mary Kantner is a portrait photographer based out of Los Angeles, CA. She is inspired by “imperfections”, in-between moments, and telling a story in her photographs. She uses both film and digital photography fluently within her work.
Mary Kantner: Human-centered business and keeping the art sacred
From Mary Kantner’s website: Mary Kantner is a portrait photographer based out of Los Angeles, CA. She is inspired by “imperfections”, in-between moments, and telling a story in her photographs. She uses both film and digital photography fluently within her work.
Mary joins the Montana Diaries podcast to discuss, well, everything. We talk about being multi-passionate artists in an industry that demands niching down, and how we must allow our human selves to be more complicated than our brands. Mary attempts to put words to what draws her to photography legend Annie Leibovitz, which prompts a fumbling talk where we dissect the difference between technical excellence and emotional authenticity.
This conversation is one of my favorites so far on the podcast, and I can’t wait to hear what you take from it.
5 Shyla Hadley: A candid conversation about what it is to be a person with my college roommate
In this episode, I interview my college roommate Shyla Hadley. Shyla is one of my dearest friends, and was the star of many of my dumb YouTube videos that prompted people to start inquiring about paid photo and video projects. We walk down memory lane a bit before diving into what it meant to support and protect one another over the years, and what it meant to shift roles as long distance friends and merge our lives with romantic partners. This is a fun one!
Shyla Hadley: A candid conversation about what it is to be a person with my college roommate
In this episode, I interview my college roommate Shyla Hadley. Shyla is one of my dearest friends, and was the star of many of my dumb YouTube videos that prompted people to start inquiring about paid photo and video projects. We walk down memory lane a bit before diving into what it meant to support and protect one another over the years, and what it meant to shift roles as long distance friends and merge our lives with romantic partners. This is a fun one!
Links
Montana Diaries Videography for Photographers Waitlist
Hybrid Handbook: Starter Guide for Photographers Ready to Learn Videography
Montana Diaries Creative Vision Workshop
3 Dawn Charles: Photography, Education, and Entrepreneurship
Dawn Charles is an adventurous wedding and elopement photographer turned educator and the founder of Rise Photo Academy, which Dawn calls "Netflix for photographers." She is the creator of multiple digital products and resources for photographers, including her wildly popular DC presets. Dawn joins the Montana Diaries podcast to talk about her progression from photography student, to intern, to business owner. These days, Dawn's main passion lies with helping small business owners find success in their niche.
calling all photographers!
join me for my FREE masterclass: HOW TO UPLEVEL YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS USING VIDEO
EVERYTHING you need to know about integrating video into your photography biz without buying new equipment, getting super techy, or wasting your precious time!
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN…
1. Why video is KING online, AKA why YOU should incorporate video into your business strategy
2. The leg up that hybrid shooters have in the photo + video industries and why it IS possible to learn with your existing equipment
3. Action steps you can take RIGHT NOW toward incorporating video content!
3 Dawn Charles on Photography, Education, and Entrepreneurship
Meet Dawn Charles, creator of Rise Photo Academy and DC Presets
“I’m a former intimate wedding and couple photographer (and a total editing nerd) based in Bend, Oregon, who spent years fine-tuning my craft and struggling to figure this whole business thing out.
But along the way, I realized I didn’t have to do it all on my own. And neither do you.”
Dawn Charles is an adventurous wedding and elopement photographer turned educator and the founder of Rise Photo Academy, which Dawn calls "Netflix for photographers." She is the creator of multiple digital products and resources for photographers, including her wildly popular DC presets. Dawn joins the Montana Diaries podcast to talk about her progression from photography student, to intern, to business owner. These days, Dawn's main passion lies with helping small business owners find success in their niche.
I know you'll get as much out of this chat as I did -- make sure to let us know what you thought after you listen!
“What if I made an all-in-one platform where people from any experience level or any budget can come in and pick and choose what they want to learn about?”
heyyy, photog friend!!
If you’ve been wanting to learn videography with the gear you already own, I have a free guide just for you!
1 April Sky: Following Intuition in Business, Life, and Motherhood
April Sky is a Montana-based photographer and business coach for moms. She joins the Montana Diaries podcast to discuss her journey from stay-at-home mom to thriving owner of two businesses. In this chat, April gets personal about her divorce and the mindset hurdles she faced as a single mom faced with providing for her son financially for the first time.
1 April Sky: Following Intuition in Business, Life, and Motherhood
April Sky is a Montana-based photographer and business coach for moms. She joins the Montana Diaries podcast to discuss her journey from stay-at-home mom to thriving owner of two businesses. In this chat, April gets personal about her divorce and the mindset hurdles she faced as a single mom faced with providing for her son financially for the first time.
April Sky is the owner of Moms Made for More, which is both a community for moms to share their challenges without fear of judgement and a coaching service for mom-entreprenuers lead by April herself.
LINKS
Montana Diaries Videography for Photographers Waitlist
Montana Diaries Creative Vision Workshop
Montana Diaries Hosted by Shayna Lloyd
The Montana Diaries Podcast hosted by Shayna Lloyd || Channel Trailer
Montana Diaries Podcast Channel Trailer
The Montana Diaries podcast is all about storytelling and getting to the heart of creativity, entrepreneurship, and the drive it takes to build a full life for oneself. Host Shayna Lloyd dives into all things creativity, lifestyle, and business, and also sits down with many incredible creatives who come ready to open up about what the "dream" is. Let's talk pleasure and where this all fits into practicality, money, and lifestyle.