The Media 1099 Podcast

Similar to having accountability partners, creating your very own book club can be a great way to stay motivated in your self-education.  Today, we're going over some of the books that have stuck with us this year.  

Q2 of 2020 has been one of the most interesting quarters to date.  We're not only assessing our goals, but also reflecting on the current events of the last few months.  It has been a testing time for so many, and we hope everyone comes out of this a better person.  

We're reviewing our Q1 goals for 2020 and penciling in our Q2 goals.  Don't be afraid to lock in your short term goals on paper and share them with an accountability partner.  It has the power to turn your aspirations into achievements.  "Anything that can be measured can be improved" - James Patrick.  

As content creators, we live in a world of immediate publishing and rampant infringement.  Understanding Intellectual property is an important part about being a creative entrepreneur.  Today we're lucky to have IP attorney, Andrew Nelson, join the program to break down some intellectual property basics, from patents to trademarks to copyrights.  

www.fortislaw.com

email:  ANelson@fortislaw.com 

Instagram:  @anelson100

The world economy has already seen changes as a result of the global pandemic, COVID-19.  We're discussing our first reactions to how this impacts the freelancing community and what to do with client loss.  

We've cleared 80 episodes producing this podcast, and none of it has been easy.  In this episode, we discuss the trials and tribulations of growing a podcast brand; from writing, to post production, to marketing, to monetization.    

For a lot of us, networking face to face is not easy.  It makes us uncomfortable because we feel like we suck at it.  What do I say?  How do I stand?  What the hell do I do with my hands?  There's no one-size, fits all answer.  The ultimate solution is to continually go out and practice.  Today we're discussing a recent networking experience and the takeaways from it.  

Pushing all your chips in on self-employment comes with many challenges, both financially and personally.  Today, Matthew Baker, senior VP of Corporate Strategy and International expansion at Freshbooks accounting, will help you de-risk that move by prioritizing habits that have proven to work best for successful businesses and entrepreneurs.  

www.freshbooks.com

The transition into a full self-employed lifestyle can provide challenges for everyone.  How do you manage the time to build healthier habits that offset that unhealthy ones?  In this episode, we dive into our challenges that we've faced and how we aim to improve our physical, mental, and emotional freelancing health.

In today's landscape, many photographers and creatives have a reactive marketing mindset, in which they post some form of promotion and expect to get calls flooding in asking for their work.  The reality is we have to be diligent, intentional, and proactive in our marketing approach.  Today we have award winning photographer and entrepreneur, James Patrick, joining the program to discuss marketing strategies that have helped him sustain a consistent six figure photography business year in and year out.  

James Patrick's work can be seen at:

www.jamespatrick.com

www.fitposium.com

Instagram @jpatrickphoto

Beyond the Image Podcast

Taxes can be intimidating for freelancers, particularly creative, right-brained ones.  Today we're trying to simplify quarterly taxes so that you can minimize financial stress and anguish.

Reflection is an important facet to your goal setting.  The successes and failures you experience will have a big impact on your direction going forward.  Today we're reviewing our 2019 and our goals for 2020.  

Algorithms are constantly changing for social media platforms, but the business models generally don't.  Their mindset is to keep you engaging with the app as long as possible.  The more time you spend on the app, the more ads you will be exposed to.  Understanding this is crucial to leveraging your own social media strategy.  Who is your audience?  What do they desire?  How can you get them to engage?  In this episode, we discuss some of our social media goals for 2020.  

What have we been reading since we last got together to talk books?  Join us to find out what reading material has inspired us in the latest Media 1099 book club episode.  

Michael's Books:

• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
• Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
• Finish by Jon Acuff

Robert's Books:

• The Tao of Seneca; Practical Letters from a Stoic Master
• Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teachings of Zen Master Seung Sahn
• American Indian Myths & Legends by Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz

Have you ever wondered what cash flow was?  Have you ever wondered how a business could be profitable but run out of money?  We're diving in on why cash flow is super important for full time freelancers.  Grasp this concept, and you can prevent irreparable damages to your 1099 business.  

Be careful with consumerism freelancers!  It's the holiday season, and it's easy to be tempted by the many "great" deals popping up in your emails and social feeds.   As full time 1099's, it's important to understand how important your money is and how fast you can burn through it if you spend frivolously.  Are there alternatives to spending the money you worked so hard for that will reinvest into your business?  Can we minimize gift giving or spend more on less tangible assets, like marketing and production speed?  In this episode, we discuss what our plans are for this holiday season and some of the pitfalls that ailed us in the past.  

The first part of our wonderful in-depth interview with commercial/editorial photographer, Matt Brown.  We sat down to discuss his upbringing in photography, his approach to business, and his many opinions on the evolving photography industry.  Part 1 includes the following topics, conversations and more;  

- Photography upbringing

- Sneaking into the Superbowl

- Side hustles and financial discipline

- Finding the right equipment

- Mentorship; being critiqued and becoming a critic

- Working for the Anaheim Angels

- An honest take on the sports photography industry

- Feeding the social media beast

- Setting your rates at dirt cheap

- What colleges fail to teach young artists

In part 2 of our in-depth interview with commercial/editorial photographer, Matt Brown, we dive into building new skill sets to keep you in demand, and developing creativity outside of photography to keep you fresh.  Part 2 includes the following topics and conversations;

- Gaining inspiration 

- Sharpening the saw outside of photography

- Learning business

- What pictures are off limits

- Portrait talk

- Game day run down of a team photographer

- Family balance

- Best investment you can make

Today, we're talking about the 2019 Adobe Max Conference and how these products and services can help us create better content.  

In recent weeks, we’ve noticed some major shake ups in the journalism industry, with a couple major publications taking aggressive action in regard to its employees.  Sports Illustrated laid off many of its journalists recently, and in contrast, the LA Times has agreed to improved terms for its employees.  Today, we’re going to discuss some of these trends and what it means for current and aspiring journalists.

It's that time of year where Robert and Michael review their 2019 progress as accountability partners.  Have the goals been met?  Have the goals been surpassed?  Have the goals changed?  Is the podcast where they want it to be?  Is goal setting even the best method to achieve success?  Tune in to listen to their discussion on habit building and goal setting.  

We're so excited to bring on more creative guests today, especially ones with business savvy.  Ty Washington, managing partner of Wave Tech Media, joins the podcast to discusses his journey from starting a small photography business in college to developing it into a full service multimedia firm.   We talk leadership, team building, strong entrepreneurship traits, and his firm's emphasis on strategic communications, photography, videography, graphic design, and social media strategy and implementation.

Wavetechmedia.com

Today, our friend and colleague, Benedick David, dropped by the Media 1099 studio to talk about getting into professional photography. We riffed on a bunch of topics, ranging from client pricing, to relocating to a new market, to pre-shoot anxiety and much more.

Benedick’s work can be seen on Instagram at benedickdavidphotography

There are new changes to California employment law with the AB5 going into effect at the start of 2020.  With this bill, California businesses will face more scrutiny and restrictions in how they classify their workers.  Are you an independent contractor or an employee?  In this episode, we talk casually about our initial thoughts and how this may or may not impact the creative freelancing community.  

An introspective look at the newspaper industry and the 30 year career of USA Today Photographer, Robert Hanashiro.  Whether it's transitioning from film to digital, or from the Olympics to the Academy Awards, Robert's career has seen a little bit of everything.  Tune in to hear this revealing interview with the wonderfully charming, Robert Hanashiro.  

Instagram; @kahunabert

If you are the only asset in your business, you are not an entrepreneur.  You are a contractor and a freelancer.  And if that is ok with you, more power to you.  We love the freelance life.  But we're also striving for more.  In this episode, we discuss how we can increase our asset column in simple ways and create multiple revenue streams to sustain better business.  

Have you heard the saying "saving is for losers"?  The premise behind this message is simple; the average interest rate for a savings account earns you on average a 0.09% return, while the national rate of inflation sits at 3.22%, so each year you're effectively losing money.  And as true as that may be, we still whole heartedly believe in learning to save money regardless.  Cash reserves and proper funding for emergencies and big purchases can be incredibly helpful in sustaining a healthy freelancing business.  

It's always great to get talent in the studio, and today, we're lucky enough to have LA photographer, Matt Gush, join the podcast to talk about juggling the college marketing circuit, profiting from stock photography, pursuing photography projects in archaeology and freelancing everywhere in between.  Matt's work can be seen on instagram at @mattgush.  

Minimalism can be summed up as the the pursuit of less in an effort to live a more purposeful and free life.  While minimalism is most commonly associated with eliminating physical items from your home and work place, the same concept can be applied to your creativity and thought.  Today we're discussing some of these concepts, and how focusing on fewer tasks can lead to better productivity, and how a smaller artistic palette can actually spurn more imagination. 

Improving the quality of your pricing estimates and invoices doesn't seem super glamorous, but it can help you stand out from the crowd and build trust with your clients.  It can even help you get paid faster and more reliably.  In this episode, we discuss some tips and tricks to help you be more professional in your paperwork.

How are you meeting the goals you set for yourself at the start of the year?  Are you creating more, are you improving your business?  In this episode, Michael and Robert discuss the first half year and what areas they're looking to improve on for the rest of 2019.  

Most creative freelancers start off with a proposal of trading work for experience, rather than money.  Maybe it will help you build relationships and get your foot in the door, or maybe it will platoon your career before it ever gets started.  In this episode, we address whether working for free is a universal evil, or a beneficial stepping stone to gain much needed experience.  

Being an entrepreneur or self employed professional can often require a lot of personal sacrifices in order to achieve your goals, but it doesn't have to be soul crushing either.  If you don't have much free time, it's important to manufacture more of it to allocate towards recharging your batteries and exercising personal growth.  In this episode, we discuss how time away from work has helped us improve our careers and balance our lives. 

We're diving into the first ever Media 1099 Book Club gathering, where we find out what Michael and Robert are currently reading and how it pertains to their battles as freelancers.  

Stuck in a rut?  Try workshopping your career.  Benjamin Franklin once said "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest."  Whether you're a photographer, designer, or musician, workshops are incredible and easily one of the fastest ways to reach your artistic and networking goals.  They can provide a level of education, inspiration, and camaraderie that learning on your own sometimes falls short of.  In this episode, we discuss our time at Sports Shooter Academy, one of the premier photography workshops in the country, and how it continues to bear fruit in our careers even years past.      

Today we're talking with graphic designers, Justine Taylor, and Blanca Navarro about building a freelancing mindset.  

Today, debt has become the most aggressively marketed product in the history of the world.  If you were born after 1970, chances are you've grown up your whole life, seeing it as a "way of life".  It can create tremendous growth for many, by providing opportunities to attend colleges and universities otherwise inaccessible, or to build and scale businesses that just need some leverage to penetrate the market.  While those areas of need are valid,  without the appropriate respect or proper management of debt, your business and personal life can be platooned by its crushing weight.  In this episode, we'll talk about everything from student loans to credit cards to car payments, and how freelancers can set themselves up better for a healthier life and business.

A lot of people set goals for themselves at the start of the new year, and we're no different.  With the tax filing deadline coming up, we thought it would be a great time to review our first quarter and see where we are in terms of reaching our goals.  

With such a low entry cost to production and a variety of affordable equipment at your disposal, starting your own podcast has never been as easy as it is right now.  As we celebrate our first benchmark (episode #50!), we review our entry into podcasting and the many lessons learned.  If you're looking to start one of your own, we hope this inspires you.  

Being a freelancer can be a lonely process at times.  It's a lifestyle that can evoke fulfillment and joy, but simultaneously induce anxiety, stress, and even depression.  In this episode, we dive into some concepts on how to maintain a positive mindset in a frequently negative world.    

Advertising your photography services through Direct Mail Marketing may not be the trendiest, nor cost effective, method in the Social Media era, but it seems to be an effective one for many freelancers and small business owners all the same.  But what's the ROI?  How many leads will I convert and how fast will this turnaround be?  In this episode, we discuss the benefits of print promo and direct mail marketing to really zero in on your dream client list.  Big shoutout to the folks at Modern Postcard for helping us out with the education and inspiration to take our games to the next level!