Today we have a special guest post by Catie of Catie Ronquillo Photography in Dallas!  Catie shares a little about her workshop experience to better help those thinking about attending a workshop.  Check it out below!  Thanks for sharing Catie!!

Website:  www.catieronquillo.com

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I Attended a Workshop… Now What?

It’s exciting when you sign up for a workshop or conference. You start to countdown the days until you get to attend, meet the speakers or presenters that you admire, and make new friends with the other attendees. Finally, the big day comes. You pack up your car or hop on a plane to the workshop destination. The workshop or conference is everything you expected, and more! (hopefully!) Before you know it, the event is over, your brain is swirling with new ideas and concepts, and you have to return home.

I attended Conference 12 hosted by Seniorologie in October. It was a wonderful experience. Leslie and Courtney made sure that the attendees had a great time by keeping it small (60 attendees), having a diverse group of speakers teaching on all different topics, and organizing an awesome range of styled shoots. We also got to check out products from the sponsors of the conference and there was an image competition. Not to mention some great swag. The location was also pretty perfect. It was within walking distance to a bunch of great restaurants (and a Starbucks!) and the weather was ideal.

I took loads of notes from the different speaker presentations. It was also great to see and learn from the teachers about how they shoot, how they edit, and how they run different facets of their business. Probably the most valuable aspect of the entire conference was getting to chat candidly with both the speakers and the other attendees. People who are in the same trenches as you, working on building sustainable businesses, and totally understand you, perhaps beyond what a loving (non-photographer) spouse or significant other might be able to empathize with.

So what do you do after the confetti has settled and you’re back at home after having an amazing time?

Here are my top tips for what to do after a workshop or conference:

1.  Review your notes within 2 weeks of coming home
Okay, so this may seem obvious, but who else goes straight back into work mode after returning home? It’s easy for those notes to get lost in the shuffle of editing, emails, and appointments. Also, while it’s fresh in your mind, review the notes you took and write down the other bits and pieces you remember from your memory. This will help the information you learned stick even better.

2.  Edit those photos and share your favorites
This has happened to me so many times. I’ve attended events or shootouts or workshops and because the images are for me, and not a client, they usually get put on the back-burner until I have time to edit them. But, if you can find yourself an extra 30 minutes to an hour, pull your favorite images, edit them, and share them. People want to see what you’ve been up to during your time away. Maybe you tried a new technique or found a different way of doing something. Don’t let those photos “collect dust”!

3.  Write out your goals
Okay, so you went to the workshop or conference for a reason, right? Maybe it was to learn how to structure a certain part of your business, improve your marketing efforts, or just work on shooting skills. Whatever the case may be, you went to the educational event for a reason. Well, you went, and now is the time to write out your goals based on what you learned. Perhaps it’s photographing a certain number of seniors or implementing a partnership marketing relationship.  Maybe it’s scouting for new locations or starting a new senior model program. Create some goals for your business. Now is the perfect time as we begin to close out the year!

4.  Make an action plan
Goals without action are simply words on paper, am I right? So make an action plan. For every goal that you’ve written out for the year, make a list of steps that need to happen in order to accomplish your goal. For example, if your goal is to start a new senior model program, your action plan might look like this:
1.  Determine structure of senior model program
2.  Determine incentives or costs for program
3.  Determine selection process
4.  Ask current client base to nominate senior model prospects
5.  Organize information meeting
By breaking your goal down into actionable steps, you’ll feel less overwhelmed and more motivated to get things done. You’ll move your business forward!

5.  Execute
Last, but not least, in order for all of this to work, you need to execute your action plan. Set dates next to your action steps to help keep you on track of your progress. You’ll review and refine your steps and maybe change something up through trial and error. But you’ll never know if something is going to work unless you give it a try! So take your plan and follow through.

For me, I walked away from Conference 12 with a lot of great ideas and a lot to think about. I’m working on restructuring my senior model program, as well as revising communication workflow with clients. I’m also working on welcome packets for the next class of seniors – Class of 2017. Now, to get it all done… I’m ready for you, 2016!