Ready Steady Pro Returns (to a new home)

Depending on how it is you came across this blog and my work, you may or may not know about Ready Steady Pro.

Between 2013 and 2015 I ran a pretty successful Photography Podcast. I recorded and produced the show as well as hosting it too. Many of you who will be reading this blog post as an email in your inbox (thanks for subscribing by the way!) may be following me from the days of Ready Steady Pro and it may be something you are already familiar with. But for those of you that haven't heard of RSP, allow me to tell you a little more about it...

What was Ready Steady Pro about? 

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Frank Doorhoff, David DuChemin, Valerie Jardin, Steve Saporito, Neil Buchanan-Grant, Damien Lovegrove, Andrew Hellmich and a whole bunch of other fantastic photographers and business experts lent me their time so we could put together 20 insightful and in-depth interviews & round-table discussions, all with the intent and focus of helping photographers to establish and grow a photography business. In total there are over 25 hours worth of audio to listen to and learn from. So whether you shoot weddings, portraits, stock, landscapes or sports; the knowledge these guys shared with all of us through RSP was invaluable!

The average episode reached around 8,000 downloads/streamed plays through iTunes and countless more on the website, whilst other episodes, such as the interview with Frank Doorhoff (13,400 downloads) and my conversation with Valerie Jardin (21,780 downloads) were even more popular!

Photography related podcasts are in no short supply. So, I tried to set Ready Steady Pro apart from the others that were available at the time by aiming most specifically at those photographers who were starting out. Further more, I had guests on the show who were in that exact position themselves too (save for those already established names you may already know about). Those who were still hustling to get their photography business off the ground and profitable. It was a sort of 'for the people, by the people' approach, whereby Instead of the podcast being run and edited by a large media network it, it was instead a simple 'we're in this together' type show. This often meant I was in a position to ask the questions that the listeners wanted to ask, because I too was a listener of the show.

The format was (is) a combination of both round-table discussions with a group of photographers and then one-on-one interviews to dive deeper into certain aspects of what it takes to build and run a photography business. Topics varied from discussions about social media and how to use it effectively for your business to talking about customer services. The guests that you may not have heard of certainly warrant listening to though. I've found as many gems in those interviews as I have with those photographers who have found a level of fame in the industry. As mentioned I had Frank Doorhoff and Valerie Jardin on the show, I was also fortunate enough to have people such as Steve Saporito, Damien Lovegrove, Neil Buchan-Grant and even David DuChemin. All of these guys were super generous with ther time and had so much wisdom to share (as well as some great stories too!).

Why did Ready Steady Pro stop?

For a long time Ready Steady Pro had it's own website and maintained it's position in the 'New & Noteworthy' Section in iTunes (a very proud moment for me). But, following a house move to a new area it all had to stop. The new open-plan layout wasn't ideal for podcasting as I would keep waking the children in the evening's when interviewing guests and having discussions; the sound would carry through the house and keep everyone awake. As a result the consistency with which episodes were recorded and released dwindled until I decided that rather than releasing an episode every 3 months and paying a small fortune for hosting the podcast and its' website, that it would be better to shelve the project and re-visit it at a later date. It's better to do something as best I can and consistently as possible, or not at all. (At least, that's how I see it). 

Ready Steady Pro was a project that required a lot of time and maintainenance to keep it going. Although I drafted in help for the Facebook community, and opened up the website to contributors I realised that unless I drove the content it wouldn't move forward at a pace that satisfied me. Generating that new content consistently was getting harder and harder. 

What has changed? 

Nothing has changed as such in order for me to want to being RSP back to the world, it's just public demand has pushed me to make these episodes available once again: I receive at least one email each week asking me 'What happened to RSP? ' or 'Where can I listen to RSP?'. So, as a result I've decided to re-publish the episodes right here on my website for people to view. I'll likely re-submit the show to iTunes as well at a later date.

Over the coming weeks I'll re-release an episode per week (up to episode 20). For now though I've put the first 8 episodes of the show are up on the website for you to get your teeth into. I assure you also that the show get's better and better with each episode too! It's even evident in Episode 10, where I spoke with the first 'big name'; Frank Doorhoff, that I was nervous as hell! But eventually It all starts to settle down. 

Where I can listen? 

For now you can listen right here on the website. Just head on over to the Podcast feed and hit play. In addition you can also download the episodes to take away and listen on your favoured device, if that's your thing. Moving forward I'll be submitting the show to iTunes and Stitcher Radio too, so you can once again listen to new episodes using your favourite podcaster subscription app.

Some of the later episodes were recorded via Google+ Hangout and those episodes remain available on YouTube too. But for those of you that prefer to listen to audio-only, perhaps whilst you're on the go, you can listen to those episodes in the usual way. (I'll let you know each week if an episode is available on YouTube too). 

If you have a suggestion as to where else I should be posting the show, please do get in touch to let me know.

Will You let me know when new episodes are released?

Absolutely! I'll be posting new episodes to the blog, so if you already subscribe you will receive an email direct to your inbox each time I release a new episode. New episodes are going to be released on Monday's.

So, whether you are new to Ready Steady Pro or even if you are an original listener I hope you find lots of value in the content!  As ever comments, feedback and suggestions are welcome in the comments below...