GIRL AT PLAY by Alex Beauchamp: Business/Branding Advice

Q&A with Pamela Skillings

From Guy Kawasaki's blogpost, How to Escape Corporate America:

Question: How can I get a job that doesn't suck?

Answer: There are a lot of great companies out there, both big ones and small ones. The key is to figure out what's really important to you at this stage in your life and what you need to thrive. For two years in a row, Google has been ranked as the #1 Best Company to Work For by Fortune. It's a great company, but it’s not the right fit for everybody. If you're not comfortable working in a very fast-paced environment, a dream job at Google might feel like a nightmare. And even at a great company, you have to be careful when choosing your specific job role to make sure it fits with your talents and preferences.

Once you define your priorities, you have to do your homework and identify which companies are right for you. Reading the rankings of best companies is a good start, but you shouldn't stop there. Reach out to your network and see who can provide the real inside scoop on the companies you're considering. It's important to work for a company that you respect. However, when it comes to job satisfaction, it's even more important to make sure that your day-to-day duties and work environment are engaging.

The Boss of You

I'm asked a lot to be in books, to review books, to promote other's books and 99% of the time I decline. Everyone and their mamma seems to have a book nowadays and from what I've seen, a lot seem to just be riding the creative bandwagon which I hopped off long ago.

The thing is, I'm highly creative but I'm also business and it seems that books either address one or the other. Also, a lot of self-employed/creative books geared towards women tend to lack "meat" - they go for making a person feel good with words like "juicy" "blessings" and offer ideas that aren't appealing to me like pink markers, morning pages, breathing deeply and dancing wildly (ok - I like the last one). For someone like me who is a do-er, I want to be inspired with advice I can actually take from people who not just dish it, but have lived and are living it (I can't take another self-help guru with a messed-up life promoting how to live and work creatively!).

Bitter much? Yes but I'm sure you'll agree that there's a lot of bad books out there. And when you're starting out you might be tempted to buy them all (I almost did!).

That is why I am so, so, so thankful that Lauren Bacon and Emira Mear's new book, The Boss of You, is almost here (you can pre-order - so do!).

Over 5 years ago, Lauren and Emira ran an amazing site called Soap Box Girls which let women talk about what women talk about but also had tid bits on business (they really highlighted women-run business) politics and crafting. It was a great zine ahead of it's time. I was so in-love with what these women were doing (running their own graphic business on top) that I asked them to be profiled on Another Girl at Play. Lucky for me they said yes and a great friendship started.

It was in this interview that I received the best bit of business advice I've ever received: Don't undersell yourself!. Women undersell themselves on so many levels that to read this from them really, really stuck. And I've always asked for what I'm worth and have never settled financially or with projects. That's thanks to them.

They now run the site "Boss Lady which has lots of great info. It was also the base for their Boss Lady Panel at SXSW last year that I, along with Jenny Hart and Vickie Howell, were able to be a part of. The five of us meshed so well and we offered great advice and stories - some of which are found in The Boss of You.

Months ago, Lauren asked me if I'd review a proof of the book and if I liked it, would I send a blurb to the publisher. I read the book in one night because I kept thinking, "yes, yes, exactly! This is how it is. Oh I never thought of that. Great advice!" So yes, I wrote a blurb!

Whether you're starting an internet based business, something crafting or a brick a mortar store, this book is something you need - and I don't say that lightly. It doesn't talk down to you and it's not dry. It's personable with real advice to get you rocking out. Isn't that what a great book does?

PS: I'll be attending their May 17th reading in Seattle WA!

Boss Lady Panel Podcast

Jenny Hart, Vickie Howell, Lauren Bacon, Emira Mears, Alex Beauchamp - Boss Lady

Finally the podcast from the panel I did at SXSW in March is up. Listening to it I felt really proud (yes, even with the embarrassment of realising I talked about vomit) of all that we said in it. The advice that Emira, Lauren, Jenny and Vickie shared I think is really valuable and I hope the fun we had really came through.

Successful, creative and self-taught entrepreneurs (from graphic designers, to producers, to crafters) will discuss and offer advice on what it's really like to be the gal running the show. With experience running their own successful businesses on-line and off, each of these women has a wealth of information, advice and success stories to share. The panel will explore what makes business different from a female perspective, the particular challenges the panelists have faced, how to create/maintain a business with/without employees and how to achieve financial success all without boas or pink markers.

Listen Now to the Boss Lady Podcast

Freelancing isn't for everyone

Last week at SXSW I was on a panel called, "Boss Lady." At the end of that panel a young woman approached me with the question of how to start her own company. At the moment she was working full time, had a really busy life and a family that depended on her to keep those two things going.

I offered her the idea of treating her new business as a part-time evening gig; working after all her other things had been taken care of. Her face squinted up at this. This, she said, seemed a little hard because she was already busy. I gently explained that working on your own is one if the hardest things you can do - especially at first. The effort, sacrifice and bravery required are often more than when you start a job with a company that has everything laid out for you. The cushion of a 40-hour work week with weekends off, sick benefits and coworkers to tag team with does not exist. Her face squinted more because she didn't like the sound of all that work; that's not what her idea of being self-employed was.

She had the "9-5 grass is greener" syndrome. The one in which you imagine that if you were on your own, everything would be easy peasy or at least easier. You'd have freedom, creativity, total control, late mornings, time off, possibility. And while you do get to have these things, there is a price to pay for it and that price is not for everyone.

So I suggested that perhaps she wasn't made to be an entrepreneur and I could tell she didn't like that answer because she was not happy where she was. And the opposite of unhappy is happy so the opposite of corporate must be freelance, right? Wrong.

I know a lot of people who work for corporations, company's and star ups that are extraordinarily happy because they have found the right fit and the right company. These people know how they work, what they want to do and then target companies and other people that match their values, ideas and work ethic. And these people who go to offices each day are happy office people - they're sometimes happier than a lot of self-employed people who struggle every day.

I asked the woman if she liked the company she worked for. No, she said. I asked if she even liked the role within the company. No, she said. I asked her if she had thought of defining who she was, what she could do and then taking that to a company that matched and she said no. She hadn't thought of going to a different company with a different job. She had believed (as I once had), that every job would be the same. Every office would be the same. And the only solution to cubicle hell would be to leave.

It was the answer for me at the time, but it's not the answer for everyone. Especially someone like her who really needed financial security to meet so many responsibilities and who also did not want to really work all that hard on something else. But when the idea of finding a different company in a different area and taking on a different career came to her, she smiled and shook her head "yes" for the first time in our conversation.

Sometimes when a person isn't satisfied with something they tend to daydream about the total opposite - if you're single you think being married would make you happy. If you have children that are driving you crazy you think about being childless. If you're in a job you hate you think about going on your own. But I don't think swinging to extremes is ever a really good idea because it's usually just you reacting and not really thinking. You'll end up with the same issues (perhaps more) if you just go to the opposite instead of figuring out what would really work best.

There are great things about working for someone else just as there are great things to working on your own. If you're deciding weather or not to become an entrepreneur, writer or artist, you need to be honest about the amount of work that you'll have to put into it without outside help - especially until you can afford to hire an assistant, a manager, an accountant or land an agent. You'll have to ask if you're prepared to work more than 40hours a week (and it's true, you'll be working in an area you love so perhaps it won't feel like work, but then you run the risk of blurring the line between work and play. Burn out can be a problem). You'll need to ask yourself if you require financial stability which can be hard to come by, especially when you're first starting out. And you'll have to understand how you work - because no one will be handing you work and giving you yearly reviews. You're your own boss.

If you need freedom, creativity, the need to be of service, be independent, run your own ship but can't quite make the leap to freelancer, see how you can rearrange your current life. Can you switch to another job within your company, can you go to a different company, can you work 4 10-hr days and have Friday off, can you go part-time, can you work in an entirely different area, can you work for an entrepreneur or a start-up to gain experience?

Going out on my own was the right thing for me to do at the time and it's worked out extraordinarily well. All the challenges have been so completely worth it because the rewards were more than I expected. But it's not for everyone. I think we all want to do work that we love and feel good about it at the end of the day. And for some working on their own is the way to do it whilst for others it'll be nothing but a miserable time. Vice versa for working for someone else. The trick is just to be truthful about what you need, how you work, and what you are willing to do. Maybe that's starting your own company or maybe it's working for someone else.

Neither is better than the other - it's just a question of what works for you.

(For another perspective, read Summer Pierre's Artist in the Office series.)

Being Financially Sound

Women today make up nearly half of the total workforce in [the U.S.]. Over the past thirty years, women's income has soared a dramatic 63 percent. Forty-nine percent of all professional - and managerial - level workers are women. Women bring in half or more of the income in the majority of U.S. households - a growing trend that made the cover of Newsweek and was front-page news in many of the nation's newspapers. Women-owned businesses comprise 40 percent of all companies in the United States. There are more women than ever before who can count themselves among the country's millionaires, more women in upper management, and more women in positions of power in the government.

Ninety percent of women who participated in a 2006 survey commissioned by Allianz Insurance rated themselves as feeling insecure when it came to their finances. In the same survey, nearly half the respondents said that the prospect of ending up a bag lady has crossed their minds. A 2006 Prudential financial poll found that only 1 percent of the women surveyed gave themselves an A in rating their knowledge of financial products and services. Two-thirds of women have not talked with their husbands about such things as life insurance and preparing a will. Nearly 80 percent of women said they would depend on Social Security in their golden years. Did you know that women are nearly twice as likely as men to retire in poverty? - Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny by Suze Orman

So there you have it - both the good and bad news about women and money. We're making more of it, there's more opportunity out there for us, it's just when it comes to keeping it, making it grow, or getting more of so many are failing.

Often when there's talk of making a living as an artist, the focus is on how you feel, the journey, the blessings. Art and money seem to be exclusive of each other for so many people. Not for me. I want to be creative but I also want to make a great financial living as well as have a great retirement income. Being happy drives me, doing what I love drives me, but if I do not financially make it, if I do not look after the money I make and invest it wisely, than I will not be happy and I will most likely lose the ability to choose what I do for a living. I think a lot of women - especially creative women - don't look at it that way.

My first year as a writer, I made hardly anything because I focused so much on feeling secure as a writer and getting my head space wrapped around that. Besides, all the books I read on how to write, be creative and be happy never talked about money. They never told me how to make it, keep it, or expand it. It was as though the majority of these books were just to make me feel happy about being creative and broke! So my first year was financially tough.

That first year I was also extraordinarily wrecked with guilt and fear because I knew that I could not sustain myself with the low amount of money I made. And I didn't even know what to do with that low amount of money except just worry about it and that bothered me. Just getting by wasn't good enough for me. Worrying about every bill was not fun. There came a point that it didn't matter how great it felt to write something wonderful, worrying about rent always had a bigger place in my mind and heart.

It was during this first year that I contemplated going back to the 9-5 grind and working in a job I didn't really like but I knew would pay the bills. But then I realised that I could make money on my own if I learned about money, took it seriously, invested, thought long-term and worked my ass off in jobs I loved. So that's what I did and now I make several times what I would have made had I taken a corporate job that first year.

I've written before about my lifestyle and how that contributed to my financial success but there's more to it than that. It's understanding banking, investing, questioning fees, looking into retirement, asking the right financial questions to the right financial people, not underselling myself, not giving up my talent for free (unless it's for charity - I still donate time and efforts to two different charity groups a year).

Money and art should not be exclusionary whatsoever. Because I bet you, you cannot be happy with a painting, with your store, with your jewelery, with your book, if you are stressing financially everyday. You do not have to be a millionaire to not stress - if you take charge of your life financially you can be OK with $30K a year. You just have to make decisions that are sometimes tough and scary. But you do need to look at your financial picture.

When I talk to women about business, money hardly ever comes up on their end. I bring it up - a lot. I want women to be financially responsible for not just their families, but for themselves. I don't want women to just financially survive - I want them to flourish. I do and not with a cost. I don't do work I don't want to do (being financially savvy has allowed me to really choose projects I take on), I don't have to cheat any financial system, I don't have to go without, I don't have to have a part-time job so I can be creative. And this happened that second year of me being on my own financially just as it does in my 6th year - because it's not necessarily the amount of money you make but what you do with it. And I always ask women what they do with their money just as I ask what they do with their hearts.

I also make no apology for wanting money. I often hear women do this or not even mention it at all. They just want to be happy and creative but I tell you, nothing sucks out happiness and creativity more than stress. So I work very hard to cultivate financial success and that means on choosing a certain lifestyle, being selective about where I work, and creating a great financial portfolio so that bills now and in 40 years from now are taken care of.

It's not that I want a mansion or 4 cars (just a small place and a prius please!) but I don't want to ever have to take on work that I know isn't something I don't want to do. I don't want to worry about my health, or not being able to travel. I don't want to not be able to help my family or give back financially. I don't want to stress or worry about my life. Working in jobs I love and really having my financial act together prevent all those things from happening.

I encourage you right now - whether you make nothing, $15,000 a year or $500,000 a year, to look at your financial situation. Do you understand it? Do you have it together? Can you do better? There's so many self-help books out there to make you feel good but unless you take actions in other areas, you can't ever have the whole package. And I really, really want you to have the whole package.

Because I sincerely believe you can have the career you want and have the financial life you want if you take charge of both. Even if you won the lotto, if you don't have your act together that lotto money will mean nothing. Money doesn't solve money problems and pretty pens and books with colourful writing doesn't solve life problems. That's all up to you.

These three books I believe are the only one's you'll ever need in terms of getting your head out of your ass, understanding money, and then knowing what to do with it once you make it:

- Awaken the Giant Within : How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!
- Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence

- Women & Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny

Blogs with Ads

When I began blogging in 1996 (before there was the term "blogging), everything I wrote and created online was hand-coded. There was no "publish" button to make things easy, no archiving system. There wasn't any other blogs out there so linking and building community wasn't really easy. But I believed in writing and putting things out there so I kept going.

In 2001 when I left my 9-5 gig to freelance, there wasn't other artists blogging about freelancing, creating, dealing with the day-to-day struggles so I decided I would. I wanted to share information to help someone who might be in the same position as I but, like myself, could not find the info.

Now, in 2007, blogs are everywhere. Everyone and their mama has one (my 63 year old mother just signed up for one!). It's now become acceptable to blog and, in some areas, weird not to. There's some blogs we've come to depend on for information or entertainment; we check these blogs daily, wanting more updates - quicker, faster, more! Because blogging has become a way to reach a large audience, advertisers are wanting to get in on the action. Having a "sponsor" never used to be an option but I'm actually glad it's become one. For someone who wrote for years and years without receiving a direct financial benefit (I reference direct as in being paid for each visitor to the site. I've made a living indirectly from this site by landing jobs), it's nice to be financially recognised for the work that I have and continue to put in.

And for some bloggers, blogging has turned into a full-time job because there's an audience that craves their words. And for those bloggers, advertising is how they are paid for those jobs. After all, don't most of us work to be paid? How many people go to work, come home and then say "man, so nice that I put in all that effort and received nothing!"

You might think for the people/sites that update a lot, ads might be OK but you might still hold prejudice against smaller blogs or sites that advertise. You might think it interferes with content that the author "sold out," that the ads are ugly, that it removes the legitimacy of the blog. I believe these are ridiculous reasons and usually have less to do with the actual advertisement and more to do with personal beliefs and judgements.

I don't believe advertising interferes with content. Can it? Yes. Does it sometimes? Sure. But having a point of view can also interfere with content. Very seldom do we read anything in the news or on a personal blog that is not slanted by the writers' viewpoint. That viewpoint therefore is already interfering with content. It is up to you, the reader, to judge the content; whether you accept it, believe it, or disagree. You need to be responsible for what you read - you always have been. To be so upset that an advertiser can heavily influence content is a bit naive - content is always influenced. And I don't think it happens as much as ad-haters claim.

When I work with ads, I am very upfront about the fact I will not change what I believe in or what I like for any advertiser that comes on the site. At the same time, I must believe in the advertiser that I choose to work with. Which leads me to the second point of people who have ads on their blogs are "sell outs" leaving those without ads as "authentic bloggers who believe in the true purpose of the medium." I believe in order to sell out, you have to have bought in in the first place. I don't buy into a lot of companies or advertising so when I work with advertising, it's a win-win. It's not evil.

Ads can be ugly - especially web ads. I can't argue too much with that. But there is a way to incorporate ads into a site so that it's not an eyesore. And I think we've all seen blogs that have done so which is great - your eye gets trained where to look or not look. You don't like ads but like a site? You know where to focus. I actually like some advertising, especially in magazines. Some of the most creative, beautiful work I've seen outside of museums that hang Van Gogh or Matisse is magazine advertisements. I've taken a lot of inspiration from them. If done right, they can be a work of art just as much as any blog article can be.

And lastly, for those who run ads to be seen as illegitimate bloggers, it goes back to the idea of a sell-out. It goes back to the idea that "indy" is best and "Corporate" is evil. Not so. People are behind both so it's up to the reader to look at the person(s) behind the sites and decide what their intent and purpose is. Is it to be paid for the amount of work being put into their blog (especially when we demand daily updates from them)? Is it to be compensated in some way for 10 years of online idea-sharing that perhaps you might have found useful even just once?

Holly at Decor8.com said this when speaking to the advantage of adverting:

Bloggers: On the flipside, advertising assists bloggers like me to keep going, daily, without let up. It's also a huge push to blog on days when I'm sick or have work or family business to take care of.

How many freelancers do you know that have health insurance or get paid time off? Not many I assure you. What if their revenue from advertising helps them take a day off, helps them take a trip that they write about that inspires you, helps them write about the process of something so that you can leap out on your own?

So many people have had issues with Dooce making money from her site from "ugly corporate advertising." I don't read her site but not because of advertising (just not my area of interest) but I've seen it, and it's pretty easy to just focus your eye in the middle and read her words or better yet, sign up for her RSS feed. But what is the real issue with her making money from her site? What do people have a personal problem with it? Because let me tell you, if I could make the money she makes from just writing a post every day, I would do it. Actually, I would probably get bored after awhile but I'd welcome the ability to test it out! So, are people angry at the ads or angry that they don't have that opportunity?

People have asked me how I feel about the "ad free blog" thing that's been posted on people's sites here and there and I think it's a bit judgmental - especially for those participants who are self-employed. It doesn't make one better to not have advertising just as having advertising with a big company make one superior. But, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with making money for work that you do. And if you happen to blog and can receive money for this, I think that's a good thing.

I don't think sneaky advertising is a good thing; when bloggers are paid money to pretend to like something. It's like those radio commercials where the announcers say they love so and so and it sounds like a personal endorsement instead of a paid advertisement. I have never - and would never - do that kind of advertising. I believe in saying, "here's an ad - read it or leave it" instead of being sly and putting it into a paragraph. But at the same time, that idea comes back to it being the readers' responsibility to discern what is truthful or useful to them, isn't it? Because if they read a sneaky ad and bought X product just because and then was angry because X product sucked, you can't blame the sneaky ad writer, can you?

I run several sites and some sites I have advertising and some I don't. Personal sites, no advertising because it's just for personal entertainment of sorts. But business sites, I'm all about advertising. I'd like to be paid for work I'm putting out. I'd also like to be able to offer friends or small businesses an inexpensive way of advertising (I've actually had a lot of my friends post beautiful ads for free on my sites to help them gain exposure. Is this evil?)

I think what it comes down to in some regards is do people think making money as an artist is bad. This perhaps sounds like a ridiculous question but there is a huge belief that artists must suffer or true artists aren't about the money but about the art. I don't see why you can't be about both. I know I bring up money a lot but it's because I truly believe you can be an artist, say what you really need to say and still make money. The more money I make, the more I can help other artists get their voices heard because I'm more in a position of power. If I'm struggling, I can't hire a writer, an artist, or designer – I have to look out for me. But if I'm doing work that I love (whether it's blogging, writing in a magazine, creating a book, selling a painting, working on a film set) and being paid for that, then I can help others to do the same.

And if advertisements on my blogs can help that, then I'm all for it. And if ads can help you, then I'm all for that, too. And if you don't want to make any money or have any influence on your site, than I totally believe in that as well. I just don't believe in saying one is right and one is wrong or being judgmental about who has or does not have advertising.

Dan Rather Keynote - SXSW

One of the highlights for me at this years SXSW was Dan Rather's Keynote. It spoke a lot about truth in media which is something I think about a lot as both a reader and a writer.

I found it very enlightening to hear the differences in reporting from twenty years ago and now. The biggest difference that I found was how at one point reporters banded together. If a reporter asked a question to say the President and the President didn't really answer it, the next reporter would have said, "Mr. President, you didn't answer So & So's question." Now, if that happened the next reporter would just ask a new question - no one holds the President accountable for answering it. Journalists to a large degree, have become afraid to stick up for one another or press questions or find the truth. And, as an audience, we have become lazy about questioning what we read and if it's the truth.

Hearing this keynote inspired me to really write as organically and truthfully as I can. And I've been thinking about advertising and how that plays into it and I think if you have personal integrity, if you keep at something that is important to you, if you believe in truth and true creativity, then nothing should get in the way - not working for a big news corporation, a small corporation, an advertising company, or for the President. It's all about personal responsibility and beliefs. And I just love the way Dan Rather puts it all together.

How to apply for a job.

You just happen to forget that a literary journal has submission guidelines. Please, oh, please send me your 75 page tome. Please send me your entire pile of poems written on scrap paper plus a few short stories thrown in for good measure. Please single space everything, submit in Comic Sans font, please draw little pictures on your submission. Because us editors make up these guidelines for fun, of course. A diversion between all of our projects, which should be ignored at all costs. We have SO much time on our hands. Of course you can't be expected, writers you, to actually read submission guidelines, oh perish the THOUGHT. But of course, a staff of volunteer readers and editors should read every last fucking syllable of your work. - Felica Sullivan, Editor

I receive a lot of emails asking to work for me. A lot. I would say out of the thousands I receive, perhaps two of them I would even consider if I had jobs available, which at the moment, I do not. The letters I receive are almost always unprofessional, written to a BFF or from a "fan" point of view. A lot of them talk about "feelings" and "blessings" and the "journey they want to take with me." I have people pleading, begging for a chance at something they think I have and that if I gave it to them, everything would be great.

Then I have people who want to write for the popular Girls Guide to City Life and yes, I do need writers there. However, it's been hard to find great people because out of the hundreds of queries I receive again maybe only two are worth looking at because they did not follow the guidelines.

It's not that I don't receive queries from talented people - I do. There's degree's and experience coming from everywhere but somehow, all that goes out the door when it comes to the application process. The people who query almost never query the correct email (which is SUCH a pain because this site and that site are run separately and to switch emails and deal with it - well, I'm not going to). They never follow the guidelines and never submit the right kind of writing. A lot of people come across as insecure "please? Could I maybe write? I don't write good but um, I'd like to if I could have a chance? I'm nice. My mum says so. Honest!"

I'm creative and, for the most part, like a relaxed atmosphere. It's true that I have a chaise in my office for napping, I drink a lot of tea, I wear a lot of pink but I also run a business. And when I talk to people, I make sure I'm professional, I'm on the ball, I have the info they need and nothing less. I work hard, follow the rules at first (don't think of even breaking them before you've worked with people) and that's why all the work I get is referral based. I'm put together so people know they can trust me. They see me as creative but also as someone who gets the job done. I think a lot of people who want to run creative business forget the "business" part of it - especially women. They think if they're nice that should be enough - it's not.

When I have people apply for a job and write to the wrong address, I ignore it. If they don't follow the guidelines, I delete. If they send me a business proposal that is terribly weak it's out the door. I'm busy - I don't have time to weed through potential and I don't think anyone else does either.

I understand that when a person is starting out, you hope to be "discovered." When I was young I used to think each time I walked past an on-location movie set that somehow the director would see me, come running over and say, "That's her! That's the talent we're looking for!" I never got one movie job that way; studying the industry, connecting with the right people, working my ass off on every shoot or in every development meeting - that's what got me in and kept me in.

It's frustrating on my end because when I delete all these bad submissions I feel as though I'm destroying a little bit of hope in someone when I do. But at the same time, I don't want to be "nice" and just say, "Sorry love, not today" because that doesn't help anyone get any better.

I've said it many, many times that it's great to have a dream but just dreaming doesn't make things happen. You have to do to be and there's just no way around it.

So my advice to those who want to write/work for me (or anyone else):

1. Be professional and put together. You can still have personality in your email/query (and people love when you do) and be professional. Don't write as you would to your mother or girlfriend but to a stranger whose respect you're trying to get. No smile's, no LOL's (I get that a lot), and please, for the love of everyone involved, no "blessings."

2. Know the person and/or company that you're applying for and figure out how you will add value to them. Inexperienced people always want a mentor, a guide, someone to show them the way. I can tell you that while I'd love to do this, I do not have the time to teach someone. But if an inexperienced person says, "I know how to file, to edit, to code to something you really need" then I would consider them because then they're not a drain but an asset.

3. Follow the rules. There are guidelines for a reason people. Nothing pisses an editor or potential employer more than someone thinking they can "get around the rules." I cannot tell you how many people write to me at this site for jobs I've posted elsewhere.

4. Be committed. If you start a job, finish it. Give it your all while you're there - even if it's not always 100% what you want to do. Trust me when I say you learn from every job. I don't complain about corporate America anymore because without that experience I don't think I'd be as successful as I am today. I learned a lot about marketing, meetings, communicating, structure, finance, and PR from jobs I thought weren't my passion. Think of something you're doing as a semester at college; it'll teach you something so you can stand on your own someday.

5. Be Professional. Just worth repeating.

Authentic Marketing

In preparation for the upcoming Boss Lady panel I'm participating in at SXSW, I had a long, wonderful talk with Emira today about business. Talking with her was really good; it'd been awhile since I talked business in casual, candid terms with a friend.

We talked about how we worked, some of the challenges we face, what we do about it, what's going on etc. Hearing her perspective on a lot of things was really helpful but the one thing that stuck out the most from the conversation is when she talked about "authentic marketing."

Both of us run our businesses very similar; we both only work on referral only. We've never advertised and we don't market. Everything comes to us by word of mouth and we both currently have more work than we can handle. The only time we have to really "market" is perhaps when someone calls us to work with us. Then we explain what we do but because we love what we do and are passionate about it, we don't have to "sell" ourselves - it's authentic marketing.

For me, this model is essential for my survival because I don't want to be out there hustling. I'm not good at it nor do I don't enjoy it. There are those that do but I'm not one of them. I love talking about the work or the process but I don't talking about the who or the what of it all - especially with people outside of the business arena where it doesn't matter. I don't want attention for who I know or what company I work with but I do want to be known for the work I do - and I feel they are separate.

Last year when I worked a seasonal boutique job, a friend (who is a well known actress) came into the store unexpectedly. When she saw me, she came over to me and we talked. My coworkers (who were also my friends) were in awe that I knew her and all of a sudden my relationship with them changed. Some thought I was "cool" because I knew someone so famous, some thought I was snobby and some got angry/jealous that I would choose to work a $9/hr job when obviously I could make more money elsewhere. Even though I was the same girl before and after this encounter, having a name connected with me changed how my friends saw me. Instead of talking about work or life or girly things, they just wanted dish. And when I didn't gossip they thought I was being snotty/elite or holding back because I actually had nothing to share. I couldn't win.

When I explained to my actress friend what happened, she said that this was the hardest thing about being in the industry for her - no one wanted to talk about the work and a lot of her peers didn't want to be even known for the work - they just wanted fame/attention. She also said that the only thing she hated about making a movie was how she was contractually obligated to go on a press blitz afterwards and talk about everything but the movie. No one wanted to know about the set, the work, the people, the story. Instead they wanted to know who she knew, who she slept with, what she ate for breakfast, what she was wearing, her political views or about so and so's breakdown.

She's in the business of making movies because she loves it but she says by lack of choice she's also in the business of being a celebrity. She tries very hard to keep a private life but people want dish. She's a brand and that's hard for her. And even though I am nowhere near her level of popularity/accomplishment, I understand it. I've become a brand and people want dish even though I made a decision a couple of years ago to not talk about clients (unless they're friends or nonprofits who I want to help get some eyes on) and only on work and useful things that anyone can use. What does it matter, I always ask, if I say I know so and so? Does it make me cool, credible, accomplished? If it's for a client, yes, if it's for a regular reader or a friend, no. Work is work, I think. If you love it, if you're good at it, that's all that should matter to anyone who is not in a position to hire you. Unfortunately, most people expect a sort of bragging to happen on web sites and if you don't, there's something strange about it. If you don't hype yourself up, if you don't talk about what you're doing, if you don't sell yourself, the adage is you'll start to lose traction and work.

This is why I rely on the referral method and authentic marketing; I don't. I love to talk about the work, the process, the ideas. I do not like to talk about whom I know, what I work on, and the wheeling and dealings of my life. I made a decision a couple of years ago that I would no longer talk specifics about projects but instead just about ideas and the process. Because the point of this isn't to parade a client list or just keep announcing this and that, but to help others find work they love and then do it well. Sometimes I succeed that that goal, sometimes I miss the mark. But I try.

When I shared some of my goings-on with Emira I at first felt slightly awkward as I usually do when non-clients find out. I feel that the name-dropping could be seen as braggy or the reason I do what I do but it's not - fame isn't my goal, just doing what I love is. When I work in Hollywood, I have to name names. I have to say companies and that's fine - that's business. But personally, it's not something I want to do because there is no value. In fact, it often leads to a lot of email asking for work, connections, referrals, advice or hate. Just name-dropping doesn't feel authentic to me - it feels like I'm selling. Talking about the work, having someone contact me because of that, and then going into details, that feels like authentic marketing. And that's a huge difference to me.

Room for everyone

[Larry] KING: Now you tried out for [Dream Girls], right.

[Fantasia] BARRINO: Tried out for the part.

KING: But you didn't beat [Jennifer Hudson], she wasn't on the same show you were on.

BARRINO: She was on the season with me. And like I said, I just felt like that part wasn't for me, it was for her. It wasn't my blessing. It was her blessing.

KING: But you beat her?

BARRINO: I did, I won.

KING: Have you seen the movie?

BARRINO: I did.

KING: What do you make of this?

BARRINO: She's amazing. She was amazing on the show. So much talent on the show. Me, her and Latoya, we're all still home girls. But even when we went on the show, I gave her, her props, she gave me props, I gave Toya props, they are both powerhouses.

KING: Because they were saying, Ryan, how did Jennifer Hudson not win? Nothing against Fantasia.

[Ryan] SEACREST: Nobody really loses if they become a household name on the show. If you make it into that final group, you don't lose. It's just a matter of what you can do with what you have been given. And, you know, I'm a big believer in hustling. I'm a big believer in work ethic. I'm a big believer in making things happen and being proactive. Any male or female that makes it into that group and I call it the group of household names, it's really up to them whether they leave on the fifth week or the last week. It's up to them to capitalize on a massive machine that is "American Idol." That momentum is really unprecedented and it's up to the individual to capitalize on it. And you know I believe in that. - From Live with Larry King, January 18, 2007

Why I love this conversation is because it does something not often done by people who achieve success - it has successful people discussing, supporting and showing that there is room for everyone to be successful - especially in the same field. There's no "failing" if someone else does what you do. It doesn't mean you're less than or can't support the other person. Some people have said that Fantasia "lost out" on the part to Jennifer Hudson, but as Fantasia so eloquently stated, it just wasn't her part but she has won in other ways. They're both signers/actresses and they will at times be up for the same roles, but if one gets one role and the other gets a different one, you can't really say someone is less than, right? They're both working, they're both doing what they love, and they're both successful. There's no need to bitch slap here and be unsupportive in case "they take your role."

I've known a lot of very successful people who, once they achieve success/fame, become very insecure about losing it. The thought of "losing out" to someone else is even worse and the things those with success do to try to "prevent" others from stealing their mojo is ridiculous. It's also completely pointless because what they fail to realise it that someone else having success does not take away from their own. It can actually help it.

I'm not competitive at all; I can spend hours bragging about my friends, connecting them to the right people, giving them ideas and so forth. I feel very free in talking about my ideas with people instead of worrying that they'll be "stolen" at any moment. Because of this, I think I've become more successful and enjoyed the road here so much more. Because when you opt to support others no matter what stage of the game you're in, it's bound to come back to you. Likewise if you try to make others look bad and fear the worse.

Publicity

I get asked a lot about publicity; how did I get so much? Why is my name/site everywhere? What did I do? How do I market? Who do I know? When I received yet another email about it, I realised I hadn't ever really addressed it and so here is the question and my response.

Question:

Hi Alex! I found you via the long list of Women to Invite at Conferences on Personified* and am quite inspired by your blog! My sister and I are both creative types and I in particular have been thinking of ideas for a potential portfolio website for a while now.

I do have a question - how did you get so much publicity? Was it happy accident, or did you hire a publicist, or did you do the work yourself? What did you do?

My reply:

I think the basic reason I've received so much constant publicity has to do with timing and need. When I began GirlatPlay.com in 2001 to talk about taking the leap from Corporate America to freelance, there just wasn't a lot of personal blogs out there and there definitely weren't any blogs documenting the business process like mine. People had "sites" that said what they did or newsletters that made their work "polished" but most sites were impersonal and didn't showcase the reality of starting your own business. I created Girl at Play based on my need; I wanted the info and thought I couldn't be the only one who'd be interested. And apparently I was right!

The site and my words just struck a chord with people which lead to a lot of work for me; I've never queried or marketed my work or site. It's all been word of mouth. I write from the heart, I write without thinking about an audience, I do what I love to do and I work really, really hard so that not just people reading will talk about me but those who hire me will talk, too. I think because I focus more on the work and sharing information, there isn't a sense of me trying to sell something to people or an air that is stand-ofish. The site is relateable but more importantly I think, useful. And that's why it continues to do well and why I continue to benefit from having the site.

However, had I started the site this year, things would probably be different because there are so many people blogging, so many women running their own business, and I think that it could be very easy to get caught up in the marketing and competing aspect of it all - which for me never, ever works. The more I worry about what everyone else is doing and how things look, the less I'm inclined to do or the more generic my work comes. I didn't read other sites when I first started so they weren't in my brain. I limit my blog reading and surfing now so that I can focus on what I can do. I think that's the trick - make sure you know who YOU are, what your truth is and how you are useful. Don't worry about competing, marketing, & PR at first - worry about getting stuff out as authentically as you can because if you're copying someone or doing something just to get PR, you'll always be compared to others and your audience won't be able to distinguish you from someone else because they won't care enough to. Just rock everything out as passionately as you can so that people will talk and keeping hiring you.

To this day I don't have a PR person though I'm probably going to change that in 2008 not because I want more PR but because I need someone to handle the incoming queries for me (I admit to being bad about this because I'm not attracted to media attention, it just comes).

I'm not sure if that's helpful to you or not. I don't write business plans, I don't over think it, I don't worry about the site or my audience. I just do what I need to do because at the end of the day, that's all I have. And it's worked so far.

* I don't know what this site is! But it's a great example of having my name out there without me putting it out.

How much do you enjoy?

When I stopped working in Hollywood months ago, I also stopped going to screenings and premieres. I thought because I wasn't in the industry anymore, I shouldn't go. I didn't need to network, I didn't need to see everything, I didn't need to keep up. I had equated going to movies with work which I had equated to no fun.

Despite adoring movies and working on sets, my opinion of it all changed because others kept telling me that what I was doing wasn't enough. If I wanted to be successful I had to take X job, get X title, meet with X person. As soon as I did that, they said, I'd have passed a level and it'd be onto the next one. I didn't really understand what they meant because I loved what I initially did and became confused by the attitude that movie making wasn't fun - it was business! And all that is one of the reasons why I stopped working. Unlike most of Hollywood, I wasn't trying to prove anything. I just wanted a little fun.

So when the work stopped, going to the movies stopped. But then a little while ago I was invited to a screening of Kinky Boots, and, since I'd once lived in Northampton where the movie is based and filmed, I thought I'd go just to see if I could see shots of the city. After the screening was a Q&A with the main actor which was just really thoughtful but also fun. It was after that screening I realised that I could go to a movie just for the pure fun and enjoyment and not because of where it'd get me or how it'd make me look.

Without having others opinions and meanings of movies or movie making involved in whether or not I enjoy something, movies began to once again equal fun. And in the past little bit I've gone to more screenings and premieres which, I must confess, have been not only fun, but useful. I normally wouldn't see these films if I had to pay to go and I'd miss out on so many great little films and little bits of inspiration here and there. So I've learned that by saying yes to the fun, I'm saying yes to always being open to learning which is really saying yes to being personally successful.

So last week I was invited to a of Little Miss Sunshine and, without knowing much about the film, decided to go. Besides, Toni Collette was going to be there and I think she's fabulous (and she was. So tiny!).

The movie was fun. I wasn't expecting to laugh as much as I did - and if you see the last shot of the film, you'll understand. But more importantly, the film also really got me thinking and confirmed even more.

The opening shot of the film is brilliant; it shows a man who is selling his "9 steps" to success. Using the mumbo jumbo self-help lingo, selling his words, using that selling tone. Then if flashes to his class - all six people. Then you follow this man home and his life is a mess, something I wrote about in a previous post which said a lot of self-help gurus sell their ideas but just don't live them. (Which is why I think you should only trust ideas that make sense to you and you can make work but do not trust anyone who just wants to sell you a book - or seven of them). He has a daughter who, by default, is able to compete in a beauty pageant called, "Little Miss Sunshine." The story is of this family and their trip to the pageant and then the pageant itself.

Win, win, win! Is what the self-help guru father is all about. He doesn't want to be a loser, his kids to be a loser, his brother in-law to be a loser. He can point out which steps make you a loser, and which ones make you a winner. Everyone in his family is annoyed by his 9-steps yet, they all hold the same belief that you do one thing to make you a winner, and one thing to make you a loser. Each person in the family holds the belief that if they could just do X, they'd be winners. And when those things don't happen, they fall apart. It's actually a really well-done movie with real characters that, if you allow them, will get you thinking. Especially since they go from holding one set of beliefs about what success and life's purpose is in the beginning to changing them in the end.

The interesting thing about the people in the movie is that the beliefs they first hold are common beliefs that most people have - and you can't blame them, really. After all, I think in America especially, we're set up for this. In school you're taught to pass tests. If you study and answer X, you're a winner. If you don't, you're a loser. If you do graduate from school - winner! If you don't - loser! If you go to university - winner! If you don't - loser! If you have a great big wedding before 30 - winner! If you're single at 32 - loser! If you get a job with benefits - winner! If you're an artists - loser! And so on and so on. We're told that if we do x, y & z, we'll be winners and so we try so hard to follow a pattern to make sure we "win" - after all, who wants to look like a loser?

So we keep looking for that thing that will signify to everyone that we are winners. It's the carrot in front of the donkey type thing. We look for outside validation to tell us what's right, what works, what we should do. And if we don't do those things, losers, right?

But where is the fun in all of this? Did you have fun today? Did you have fun yesterday? I'm not talking about Disneyland fun every day but just some kind of fun where you went to bed satisfied. Did you enjoy your day or were to busy trying to achieve something you don't even really want or can get? Were you trying to grasp a dream, a paycheque, an idea that someone told you you had to have? Or were you making your own choices and enjoyed what you were doing? Were you conscious of your life today or on autopilot doing what you think you have to do in order to be successful? Do you even have your own definition of success or are you forging ahead with someone else's?

For me, the point of Little Miss Sunshine was that perhaps you can't win at what you want to win at. Perhaps you have a dream you can't make real or you won't make a million or you won't start your own business. But you can have fun with your life. You can enjoy your life and you can enjoy the trying just the same.

Life is in the doing. It is not about a certificate that says you pass or you're bona-fide. There is no passing here - just constant learning. No one gets to say who is a winner or who is a loser - only we get to choose that for ourselves. And if you're happy doing crafts at home at night or in a club on the weekends and working at a grocery counter during the day - that's success. You don't have to have a craft business or make millions. If you're happy working in a 9-5 environment and love meetings and crunching numbers that’s fine too. If you're happy painting all day or singing on stage that's great. If it's fun, if it fills you up, if it teaches you and makes your brain keep ticking - yes, yes, yes.

If you're all about the winning, of being a something to prove something to someone else, of getting a stamp of approval or thinking a title will make life better, then you're missing out. There will be a gap somewhere inside. There will never be enough.

Life is not a contest. It is not about beating someone else (there will always be someone better than you, just as there will always be someone worse) and there is no test to pass. Life is about living, doing, and being. And it is definitely about enjoying as much as you can.

So the question then is, are you?

(PS: I'd really recommend this film to every creative person and entrepreneur out there - regardless if you're male or female, young or old. It's different but I think it's actually an important little film. And I'm not saying that because they had free drinks.)

Be Unique

Image by Hel Looks

One of the most common questions I'm asked is how I work. People want to know my routine, what pen I use, what papers are best, what time I get up, what tea I like, how long my day is and so on. I tend to disappoint people when I say I have no schedule, no routine, no favourite pen, no sleep schedule (but I do go on for hours about tea). This is partly due to my personality (I don't like routine but I do love ceremony) and partly due to my career over the past year and a half (travel writing has me in different places every day as does working on film sets).

Often people who are beginning a creative career want to be able to cling to something that has been successful for others. It's why so many creative self-help books are sold. The Artists Way, for example, lays down the law for getting creative. It tells you what to do every day, it tells you how to think, to be. Other books tell you what markers to use or how to wear a boa properly. Better yet, other books tell you how to think each and every minute to guarantee you that success you so badly want.

The problem with these books and most self-help gurus, though, is that they don't tell you how to be you. They tell you how to become something that might work because it maybe did for them (I say maybe because I've met a lot of these successful self-help creative writer/artist people who have lives that aren't wonderful, authentic or even joyous. They just know how to market their work, they often don't know how to live it).

I find those kinds of books really disturbing and it quite literally breaks my heart when I see creative people trying to follow the footsteps of others. Why? Because being creative means you're creative. You do things how you do them. You think outside the box. You put random things together. You do things no one else has done. You play, you think, you dream, you work your ass off to make it real. But as a creative person you don't follow the foot steps of someone else.

If you want to be a doctor you'd better go to school and follow the text book. If you want to send a query letter to a magazine you'd better know the correct way. If you want to invest in Real Estate you need to know the basics before acting on your hunches and likes. If you want to be a by the books person become an accountant. But to make art, to write a story, to create, you don't need anyone telling you how to do this - you just need your heart.

When people want to know my routine or my advice to get a career like I've had I tell them to just dive into what they want to do right now. Be willing to look foolish, to make mistakes, to have things blow up or come out ugly. Be willing to work awhile before your work catches on. Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be willing to try new things, to dream, to laugh, to reach out and be open. Try a schedule, try a non-schedule. Take inspiration from those you admire or work you've seen but don't copy or think they have the answer. Try to make your own way and do what is in you to do.

Try, try, try, do, do, do.

I didn't have a business plan - I didn't even know what I wanted to write in the beginning. I just dived in and over time I developed a business. I listened to people and drew inspiration but I can honestly say that everything I've created has been my own doing. I was just motivated by my art and making a living and here I am. And, for a lot of successful creative people or entrepreneurs this seems to be the way.

There is an article called the "Movable Type, the system I use to run my site):

Accidental entrepreneurs often don't pay attention to the business side of things--for a while, at least. They focus on their creative visions. "When we started Movable Type, we didn't have a business model, and we didn't have a plan," Mena Trott says. "It was all about the product, and we were really motivated about creating a good product. With that, a good business followed."

Years ago I met Richard Branson, the self-made multi-bazillionaire (Steve Harper recently wrote a post about Richard & his book. Take a look) He was opening the brand-new Virgin Records in Vancouver and, after he scaled down the side of the building, I asked him for a bit of business advice. He told me that when he announced he wanted to create Virgin Atlantic people told him he was crazy. All airlines that had tried the cross Atlantic flights has failed and failed big so people couldn't understand why he'd do it. It didn't work, they said. But Richard had a vision and instead of finding out what people did, he asked them what they didn't do or what their mistakes were. After learning this, he didn't repeat any of the same things (mistakes or otherwise), did everything entirely different and put as much fun into as he could. Virgin Atlantic became the first successful cross-Atlantic airline.

They tried, tried, tried and did, did, did.

When I first started I promise you, I bought every book on how to be creative and often stopped reading the books halfway. Before page 32 I'd often feel like a failure because I couldn't write 3 pages every morning - hell I couldn't even get up early every morning! I didn't like writing with a pen at all, I didn't like collaging or keeping journals. I wasn't good at structure; if I sat down to work at the same time every day I'd feel like a prisoner and count the clock but if left to my own devices I could work for 12 hours straight. I didn't like to use "creative lingo" and I didn't have a studio. All the books that told me how to be a successful artist did nothing but make me feel less like an artist.

To save my sanity I stopped reading the books and a funny thing happened - I started cultivating success both financially and personally. I stopped feeling less than or wrong. I stopped questioning my madness and how I worked. I stopped comparing. I stopped wondering if this was the right way or the wrong way or what would so and so do. I stopped believing in all the lies I was being sold and began to just be me - a creative girl who figured what worked and didn't by trail and error. And how lovely it was.

I was thinking of this today because in America, despite it being the land of the individual and personal freedom, I find it's the country that tends to (on it's own) conform the most. We don't want to stick out, do something wrong, be seen as stupid or leave the pack. In America everyone is told you must go to university, get the career, get the house, get the 401K, have the children and pay for their school then retire. And die. That's the right way. And there's 7,569,813,579 books to prove it.

Walk down any street and all the clothing stores sell the same wares. We're told what looks are in, what makeup is it. On TV we're sold that a fat man and skinny woman with 3 snotty children who bicker all the time are the perfect family or that celebrities have it all and you can too if you watch the show to find out what products they use.

In America right now we're being sold this idea of who to be and how to become it. There's very little encouragement to go off the beaten path. As someone who didn't grow up in America, I find this really suffocating and often hard to deal with because I truly believe that in the whole world, America really is the place where you can be anything you want because all the opportunities are here. It's frustrating to see few people jump on this.

I found a site called Hel Looks where two women in Finland photograph strangers on the streets who have "individual looks" which come from high-end department stores to second hand shops. No two people look the same - even best-friends standing side by side have individuality. And these individuals in their bright colours and sometimes crazy platform shoes stand out and not because they read a book that told them too. My guess is that they put things together based on what they were interested in that day and not in what they were told would work.

I can't pull off those looks and I am not so sure I'd want to despite the fact I just spent nearly an hour looking at the photos and being terribly inspired. I'm a Danish girl with a fondness of classic dresses that twirl and perhaps a pin or two here from an antique shop. Even if I'm not wearing brightly coloured jumpers or have three tattoos, I, too, have a unique style. Put together based on my likes and nothing more.

My work also is unique as is how I work and who I work with. I've somehow carved out a pretty interesting little life. How? By trying and doing. By not being afraid to leap off a page. By not wondering if it was the correct way.

What do you need to do? Write? Pick up a pen or sit at the computer when you feel like it and rock it out. You want to paint? Do the same. Want to own a business but can't leave your current job? Start working in the evenings or the early morning and learn about business at your current place of work. Or think of something else.

Don't imitate - it might be flattering to the artist but it is detrimental to your soul. You are unique, I promise you this.

Getting Ahead

"It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste." Henry Ford

Story of Flickr

Interesting little article on Caterina Fake and how Flickr came about. My favourite bit?

"Had we sat down and said, 'Let's start a photo application,' we would have failed," Fake says. "We would have done all this research and done all the wrong things."

Quote

I heard this quote the other day and it's been stuck in my mind for the mere fact it's so very, very true:

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

Belief and Action

When someone posted on the Another Girl at Play Discussion List that they had just gone freelance and were in need of some advice, I had a small offering. I think it's valid advice for anyone and something that I believe works based on experience. So here's what I shared with her:

I believe success is based on two things: action and belief. If you truly believe you will struggle with paying rent, you will struggle with paying rent. If all you ever do is dream but never take any action, you will stay in an office job and never see your potential. If you believe you can make unlimited money and enjoy great things (I mean, really believe this from your core) and follow this belief with action (working, networking, taking risks, following up on all your ideas, baby steps and leaps), you will have unlimited money and enjoy great things. All it really takes is a true belief backed with plenty of action to get you to where you want to go.

While the formula for success is simple (belief + action = success), it's the following up that is often hard. So many people get caught up in their fears or in limiting themselves with their beliefs that they are not able to do anything and therefore can't get anywhere. Instead of taking their beliefs and moving forward with action, they run on the same treadmill propelled by self-sabatoge, excuses, fears, bad beliefs. These people generally have lots of great ideas but little to show for it. They need to step off the treadmill, think about their beliefs and then follow up with action. But the trick is not to just believing anything and doing everything but instead really understanding your beliefs (both personal and professional) and taking actions that match. That is why it is so important to really take the time to really understand what you believe about yourself, your work, and your life.

Ask yourself, what do you believe is your value? What do you believe you are entitled to? What do you believe you can accomplish? What do you believe you can do? What do you believe your future holds? What to you believe is your benefit to others? What do you believe is in you that needs to come out? And your beliefs need to come from your core, your gut, your soul and not from what you've read, have been told by your family or media or the part of the brain that makes you rationalise away what your heart is saying. It is important to note that beliefs are very, very different than wants. You can want something but if you don't truly believe it, no amount of action can manifest it. And ideas are very, very different than action. If you have lots of great thoughts but take not even one little action, you'll always be standing in the same place. So always be very careful and conscious about what you believe and the actions you take. If you don't believe you can do more than struggle, guess what, that's what you'll manifest. If you believe artists starve, you will manifest that. If you don't believe you can do anything, you won't.

Be mindful of the language you use; instead of staying, "I'll never have an art career like so and so" say "I'm going to have a great career that I'm working on right now". Also, don't ever play yourself or abilities down. I find a lot of artists almost apologise for what they're doing or their talents so people don't "hate" them. These same artists are almost always struggling and tend to feel guilty for a life they've worked very hard for. It is very important to stand up for yourself because if you keep yourself down, no one will want to help you stand up. Don't undersell yourself. Really define your worth. Be conscious of who you are, what you're doing, where you want to go long term. And by taking action accordingly, things will fall into place. You don't have to have all the answers or money right now or with each step but you do have to have a strong belief system and the desire for action.

The one last thing I would offer is to enjoy your work as you can but if you find down the line it turns out not to be what you thought or it isn't working the way you want to not get stuck on a path just because you think you have to. Success is also based on happiness and so sometimes one has to be flexible in their ideas to keep achieving success instead of holding tight to something that's not working. If you start out as a artist that works from home but one day decide you'd rather teach art to school children or you begin as a writer and then want to become a photographer, do it. Don't stick to a title, habit or idea that no longer works. Art and soul are so connected and both should constantly evolve so let them affect each other. Change is not only OK, it's natural and important.

Simple Steps

Why Art Matters

To communicate something of what I feel about what we do as artists, as musicians and as human beings. The sun will not fall down from the sky if there are no more [artists]. The world can and will go on without us but I have to think that we have made this world a better place. That we have left it richer, wiser than had we not chosen the way of art. The older I get, the less I know but I am certain that what we do matters. You must know what you want to do in life, you must decide, for we cannot do everything. Do not think [art] is an easy career. IT is a lifetime's work; it does not stop here. What matters is that you use whatever you have learned wisely. - Maria Callas

I was watching Faye Dunaway's play "Master Class" based on the infamous opera singer Maria Callas (Unfortunately the play is no longer going and it's not available on DVD - I only had access to it because Faye dropped it off. You'll have to wait until she makes the movie). And of all the things I've heard about being an artist and what it means and advice given and stories told, I would have to say that this play is the only thing that ever shook my core and made the hair on my arms stand in attention. "This is not an opera! This is LIFE" she says to a student who sings without passion, and sings because someone told him he could and he thought it'd be a great job to make him famous. She goes on to explain to him that because she was living every moment that she sang, she was great. Because he goes through the motions and removes himself from it all, he isn't.

Why this struck me so was that often people tend to want to take on jobs that they think they should, or that they're good at or that will get them somewhere. They tend to think of work as work, art as art, and life as everything that happens outside. But life is everything. Life is the act of living. There is no separation from work, art and life. She goes on to say that a person should know what they want to do in life and live it. That to scatter the mind with half wants and ideas is a waste - choose something and go after it with life. And, when you subscribe to the theory that there is no separation between life and work then one really ought to only do what they love. Isn't that the truth.

Creating a company of values and balance.

When I first began the transformation into a company, it was all about me, me, me as I had felt the four years previous as a solitary writer had completely drained me. It was a one woman show that left me with no buffer from all the people who wanted things from me; from the 200+ emails a day from people wanting advice, to editors wanting stories, to reporters wanting interviews and people just wanting to know me to see where it could get them and other authors who wanted to steal my work (and often did). By the time I decided to stop writing full-time in 2004, I felt that my life had belonged to others; that I gave and gave and gave but hadn't been replenished.

Although all my work had always generated a lot of success and attention, I was never really satisfied because I felt often used, tired, drained, not fun and without passion. I didn't want to make that mistake again because I wanted to do something that energised and made me feel as good as the viewer. When I decided to change direction and create a company, all I could think about was how this time I wouldn't give everything away, I would get to be in charge, I would just do fun things and not worry so much about others and if my content had substance and that everything was real. Besides, I had worked so hard for so long that I just wanted to rebel against all that I had done and instead just have some fun without worrying about what it would all mean. I began a few projects just because they sounded like fun to me - something I desperately needed.

The projects were based on good ideas, some great content and were generating lots of interest. However after awhile of working on these projects I stepped back. I looked at what I was doing only to realise I wasn't really doing anything and that nothing could really come from my current projects because I didn't have a solid reason behind any of it. I was running so far from where I had begun that I went to the opposite side which is just the same situation flipped. It was then I understood that my work had to have balance between giving and receiving because without balance, there could be no success. I began to write down things that were important to me; helping people make the ordinary extraordinary, being useful, being creative, having freedom to do what I want, making money at what I love to do, enjoying life, having fun, helping others live their potential while I strive for mine, creating community, being authentic, cultivating success, doing work that matters. And when I looked at these values and compared them with the direction I was going in, I realised I wanted to keep on the same journey, but I had to take a different road. If I didn't, I would end up like before when I was a full-time writer; having success outwardly, but not from within. All the values had to be met to have full success. Balance.

By bringing my values into my projects, my projects began to change. I began to feel more connected, more excited, and a lot more energised. I began to meet with new people who were on the same vibe and their energy brought new life into the projects and helped me look at things differently. It made me think about more projects I want to do, movies that I'll produce down the road and books that will come out soon enough. Knowing what my reasons were for running a company helped eliminate a lot of self-doubt and fears. Fears such as success, enjoyment, being fluff, having too much fun and cultivating wealth. That last fear was lingering around because it was hard for me to fathom making a lot of money by just doing what I loved. Although I had made a great income as a writer and artist, I knew I could do more but felt perhaps that was wrong somehow; that making bazillions was evil, arrogant and just plain wrong. But I've realised it's not if it's made by the values one has and if the getting is balanced by the receiving.

I had once read about this idea in the book The Ten Percent Solution by Marc Allen and although I always believed the more you gave the more you received, I'd never quite done 10% - I always thought I might need it and was scared to give it away. Instead, I'd give time, goods and small amounts, holding back out of fear that I wouldn't have enough to give because I wouldn't make enough to live. But I know that with balance, passion and commitment, you can get what you want if you're open to it. And now I'm open to it and committed to giving 10% of all company revenue to charity. That's the first public change to go into place and one I think I'm most excited about.

There's a way to be fabulous and fancy but at the same time have substance and give back. The two don't compete, they compliment. Work hard and play hard. Balance, balance, balance, right?