Leah’s Studio Manager Kathy here.  Leah has had an interesting weekend…she was so looking forward to being able to post about the Workshop today, but alas, sanity dictates that she concentrates on herself today.  It’s been a crazy few weeks and she is slowly getting on track.

Until then, allow me to present something that EVERY photographer should utilize!  In fact, if you don’t have a Google Account yet, you should go make one ASAP.  It will allow you not only to access your email through Gmail anywhere (including any specialty email addresses into one account that can be accessed from any computer) but Google Docs, Google Calendar and especially Google Reader are amazing applications that can be utilized to streamline and benefit every part of your business.

So, to start with…what is Google Reader?  Google Reader is one of many RSS Feed Readers, which pulls new posts from blogs and websites all into one location.    How can this help ME?, you may ask.  Simply put, this will allow you to keep up with blogs of amazing photographers, Go{4}Pro, inspiration and almost anything else that can inspire you!

To get started, you’ll need to find a blog to follow.  Lets choose….oh, just randomly….how about Go{4}Pro?

Now, if you look to the right hand side of the image, you’ll notice the images for Facebook and Twitter.  In between that is the universal symbol for RSS feeds.

Any site that you see this image on, you can click on that image and it should take you to something that may look like this:

If you click “Add to Google Reader” it will add this blog to your feed!  You will then be able to know automatically when new posts are added to the blog and read them.

This is what my Google Reader looks like when I open it up in the mornings.  If you look on the left hand side, you’ll see a list of Subscriptions.  I’ve organized all the blogs I read into several different categories.  This helps me keep things organized.  More importantly, if I don’t read my blogs for several days at a time and only want to read, say, my comics, I can click the bolded Comics title, and just read all the new comics I have.  This is great for when you need to snatch just a bit of inspiration.

If for some reason, the blog you want to follow does NOT have a RSS button (which, check to make sure yours does!  It will make things SO MUCH EASIER for your readers!) you can still add their blog to your reader!

Start out in your Google Reader and click the “Add a Subscription” button.  I know, I know, HOW DARE Google make things this easy!

Forgive the sloppy red line, but you can get the idea!  After you click “Add”, the newest blog posts will appear in the right hand side of the screen!  You can now add it to a category if you like under “Feed Settings”.

And there you have it!  The easiest way to keep up with your inspirational and educational blogs!  And some fun ones too.  So go forth, with this knowledge in hand, and tackle the world, just a little bit more organized!

With Love,

Kathy