Last Thursday and Friday, I had the great pleasure of attending the Seattle Fast Track Roadshow Workshop. For those who are unfamiliar, the Fast Track Workshops are led by Dane Sanders, North Beach wedding photographer and author of Fast Track Photographer. I was introduced to Dane’s book by my fellow photographer and Wedding Bee co-blogger, Jenna Cole, when I was just starting my photography business. She recommended the book as a good source of information about what it takes to be an independent photographer, build a business, and market a brand. And that it was!
When I discovered that Dane was running a Fast Track Roadshow Workshop in Seattle, I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to learn more. The Workshop expands on the ideas presented in the Fast Track Photographer book: Building a business around your personal core competencies, understanding the importance of business systems, and creating communities of supportive, like-minded people.
In the two-day workshop, we were provided with access to critical tools with which to build strong business practices, such as ShootQ, Pictage, SmugMug, ShowIt, ShowItWeb, ShootDotEdit, Kevin Kubota’s Bootcamp Book, forums, and more. More importantly, by getting to know each other as fellow photographers in different stages of building a business, we started our own local community and support group.
Lately, I’ve been caught between some major roadblocks in my home and work life. Thanks to Dane’s Workshop and the people I met there, I’m finally starting to feel confident and competent. I know the business end of… well, business, bums out a lot of photographers, but I’m learning that I enjoy business strategy, behavioural economics, and marketing psychographics almost as much as I like photography.
On top of discussing personal competencies, branding, and business, we also had a shoot-out with two lovely models. Audrey and Pete braved the cold and rain… and twenty paparazzi in their face for the better part of two hours. They were total rockstars despite the, uh, less-than-ideal conditions. Here’s a teaser from our shoot, and much more will shortly follow…
by Kat
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