Sharing resources for creatives during Covid-19 because life doesn’t stop!
BEING UPDATED DAILY - FIRST RESOURCE UP FOR BUSINESSES / SOCIAL MEDIA
(Last Updated 23rd March 2020).
What interesting times we are living in. (For those who want to skip the bumpf the juicy resources are at the bottom - for those who care
My inbox is full of emails with the words: Message from the CEO - Covid-19 from what feels like every business, company, website and person I have ever interacted with (or at least interacted with since GDPR 😜) - coronavirus even has been given the microbe emoji 🦠
But in amongst all of the messages of support, of “we are still here for you and we will be doing everything we can to keep running”, of we are a small business and don’t know what the future holds but will serve you until the end, I have seen a slew of help, resources, free gifts and additional bonus material.
I have shared bits and pieces as I have found time with those I think will most benefit from it, but I am starting to have problems finding the links as emails get buried and threads on Facebook get buried and drowned out by sales, fear mongering, memes and funny toilet paper pictures and gags like Private Eye.
So…. I decided to make a list of resources and links to keep everything easily accessible and shareable - whether you are a hobbyist, a business owner or you have just been given 3 months off work and decided to pick your camera back up check out the list below!
P.S. - I am not an affiliate or earning anything from sharing these resources with you - as I said I am merely sharing anything I think could hold value to you that I have seen, been emailed about or heard mentioned by others. As such I cannot vouch for the quality of any offer, provider or creator - so please do your own due diligence and work out what is a good fit for you!
P.P.S. All offers are by their creators who may take them down or change the terms at any time so please always read the T&C’s - as what I have written below due to the ever-changing COVID situation may go out of date at any time….
Resource sections below:
Help for Businesses
Photography Education
Social Media
Connect
Health & Wellbeing
Resources and help for businesses:
Covid-19 Support Resources & Support Groups
📘Association of Photographers Coronavirus Guide
At this time of unprecedented uncertainty, the AOP wanted you to know that they are here to provide support and a network for you so have set up an area on the AOP website dedicated to Covid-19 to bring you information, some reassurance and guidelines to help you navigate the difficult times we are currently facing.
There is general guidance for everyone along with government and business advice.
Please bookmark & share this link because the more people that this resource reaches, the better for everyone.
📘Creative Industries Federation - 6 Month Free Membership
Creative Industries Federation is offering free membership since the 17th March 2020 in light of the Coronavirus implications upon freelancers and creative microbusinesses and are actively campaigning the government to help and protect freelancers income.
*Not just for photographers - they are a membership body that represents, champions and supports the UK’s creative industries, influencing policy making, undertaking advocacy work and bringing together the various creative sectors they believe together we are stronger!
📘Surviving Covid-19 for Photographers: with Coles Classroom
Photography businesses looking for a place to ask questions/sound ideas/share best practice - the mentor team at Coles Classroom (which also has over 200 free articles and basic tutorials available normally) have opened a Facebook group for any photographer seeking solidarity and support as we navigate into the unknown together.
The Facebook group Surviving Covid-19 for Photographers, with Coles Classroom is welcoming Coles Classroom Pro members and non-members alike. The majority of people are in the USA, Canada & UK at the moment with businesses in Weddings, Portraits, Family, Maternity, Newborn, Lifestyle sectors but also includes branding, boudoir and headshot photographers to name but a few. There are no rules on locality and discipline. Only kindness, sharing and helping!
Photography Education
Business & Hobby:
📘Coles Classroom Pro - Free membership until April 8th 2020
A gift as you deal with the isolation caused by COVID-19 - Not a trial and no payment details required.
This should give you something to do to extend your skills during the restrictions, closures and lockdown including:
Training classes to get better at using your camera or different types of photography and skills such as newborn, wedding, portrait, boudoir, landscape, off-camera flash
Training classes on editing and using Lightroom & presets, Photoshop & actions
Backstage pass - virtually attend photoshoots with explanatory voiceovers, see posing, understand equipment choices, and see in-home, outdoor and more shoots for different types of photography and learn top tips for culling and editing!
Breakout training - deep dive into important things like being a parent and business owner (CURRENT) consistency in your portfolio, Facebook ads, SEO, and more
FB group support to share photos, get critiques, ask questions, find answers, see what other people have done before you, gain inspiration and make friends for life!
Or if you miss that offer 4 Free Classes including 3 steps to Pro Photo’s, 5 Steps to Booking Clients, How to always take Tack Sharp photos, and 3 proven tricks to stress-free weddings and incredible posing and 100s for tutorials to get you started.
📘 Photoshop Virtual Summit - Online teaching streaming live for 5 days only - 13th to 17th April 2020
Dave Cross has organised an online summit with 20 expert instructors taking 40 sessions over the 5 days and the whole things will be streamed online so you can level up your photoshop skills.
Topics to be covered include retouching, compositing, automation, Lightroom, fine art, workflow, printing, and many more.
Follow the link to see a list of instructors, specialities and to sign up to get your free access ticket!
📘 CREATIVELIVE - Streaming classes free 24-7
This isn’t just a covid resource but is pretty awesome with top industry professionals and educators so worth mentioning.
Courses are for all creatives and even have life and business class streams so I’d hazard a guess they would be useful for non-creatives and any online business person looking to up-skill!
The live stream channels are: Photo & Video; Art & Design; Money & Life; Craft & Maker; Music & Audio and the some classes are so long providing so much detail and value they stream over more than one day.
Whats the catch - why do I get high value content for nothing? CreativeLive use their free streamed awesome content like a try-before-you-buy - and their theory works - I have bought a number of high-quality classes here which have helped me to uplevel my game. You do have to create a free account to stream more than about 10 mins of content but don’t need to add your bank details prior to a decision to purchase (I HATE that when they are like give me your card to see my free content - but don’t worry as these guys DO NOT play that creepy detail stalking game! ✅)
Obviously if you prefer to watch on demand Creative Live allows you to purchase classes individually ranging from $15 to over $100, in multi-save bundles but if you like to jump around or want to learn multiple new skilly there are options to purchase a monthly ($39 )or annual (normally $299 currently on offer for $150 at time of writing) members pass which include most (but not all - check the terms) classes on their website.
So with extra time on your hands sat at home is the perfect time to sit and spend a day in class for free! Perhaps even sign up for the newsletter to find out the upcoming weeks livestream schedule highlights and to find out about current offers!
(P.S. Scroll to health and wellbeing at the bottom for Creative Lives current COVID-19 offer)
Resources for Social Media:
Free Resources
📘Later.com - Scheduling software for web / ios / android
Later is used for scheduling posts on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn & Pinterest now includes Linkedin.Bio Lite with the free plan to connect a link to each post. Work out a week’s posts in one sitting. Save time by cross-posting.
📘Add Emojis to your posts:
Get Emoji - Shows you all the available emojis, simply highlight and copy the one you want / need.
➕ Useful when you want to see emoji’s by category on your desktop that you can just view in-app on your phone.
➕ Great when you don’t have the predictive on your phone showing you the right emoji to add
➖ Lots of scrolling
➖ Having added all the skin tone variations of people icons they have recently removed them again.
Emojipedia - Perfect when you know what your are after and want to quickly search for a specific emoji.
➕ Shows you a list of relevant emoji’s when you search
➕ Click on the desired one to see a list of how it renders on every platform (e.g. Windows, Google, Apple, Samsung) and even on different versions of the software.
➖ Lots of scrolling on the main categories (under the search box)
➖ Requires knowing what word to use when searching
Get Emoji
Emojipedia
Resources to Connect:
📘Zoom - Video Conferencing with screen-share capabilities
The free plan includes up to 40 mins group call with up to 100 attendees or unlimited time for 1 to 1 call’s which makes it great for video calling your bestie/mum/isolated friend for the coffee and chat you used to meet in that lovely little boutique coffee shop for.
Premium plans currently (March 23rd 2020) start at £11.99 p/m for an individual account or £15.99 for small businesses or groups needing up to 10 hosts.
This has been great for many during lockdown including churches facilitating online community groups, prayer meetings and services where they want involvement from people in there own home localities without complicated tech as attendees (dependant upon your settings as the host) don’t even need an account or a computer as it also works on most modern smartphones via an IOS/Android app.
A giant comparison table for zoom desktop vs mobile features can be found here.
Resources - Health & Wellbeing:
Images from Creative Live advert - click to follow link
📘Creative Live- hEALTH & wELLNESS cOURSES FOR FREE
Creative live is known as a platform which streams free content 24-7 on multiple channels for creatives under the topics of ‘photo & video’, ‘art & design’, ‘money & life’, ‘craft & maker’ and ‘music & audio’ on the basis that if you want to watch it again or miss a bit you either buy the individual course ranging from $15 to over $100, or you get a monthly pass for $39 or annual pass for $299 (currently on offer for $150 at time of writing).
Coming soon in the the education section for some photography course recommendations.
However at the moment they are giving free access during the pandemic to 6 Mental Wellness and 6 Physical Wellness classes: you just need to create a free account and be logged in to see more than the sample lessons.
Stress is Optional - Cynthia Ackrill
Meditation for Everyday Life - David Nichtern
Designing a Healthy Lifestyle - Parneet Pal
The Science of Happiness: How to Live your Best Life - Laura Delizonna
Manage Stress Through Mindfulness - Rich Fernandez PH.D.
Exponential Living - Sheri Riley
Achieve Ultimate Human Performance - Ben Greenfield
Eat More, Exercise Less & Lose Weight - Jonathon Bailor
Yoga Strength Basics for Beginners - Dylan Werner
Body Strong - Ashley Galvin
Let Go - Briohny Smyth
(I cannot yet recommend any of these other than Tim Feriss - I am purely letting you know of their existance).
#stayathome #staysafe #protectthenhs