For those who create content of any kind for their business, the journey can be tough at times. Putting yourself out there through creating things which represent your passion can bring all kinds of issues into the foreground.. Self-sabotage, resistance, hang-ups and insecurities can really take the jam out of your doughnut! That's before you even get in to the issue of managing your time in clever ways to ensure that you actually complete the content and put it out into the world.
Also, another issue - 'content' sounds a little sterile and business-y. It sounds as though it's just material which is created for the sake of hooking people into your brand - material which has no soul and is merely engineered to obtain attention and/or money. Does this mean that we ought to throw the word away? Choose another one? Maybe. But for the purposes of this e-zine, I felt that 'content' was the right fit and explains my intentions perfectly. (Plus, c'mon, the alliterative genius of the word combination, 'conscious content creation' is just dreamy, am I right?)
For the sake of helping you to understand what this e-zine is all about, let me just state that content is the soulful expression of your brand, your skills and your sacred intentions, offered forth as a way for people to understand who you are and what you do. A video, podcast or blog post is a piece of content. You could see an ongoing project or series as a piece of content comprised of smaller pieces of content. Your content is the stuff which pours forth from you - it is relevant, engaging and useful because it's all about your passion. Your content is the way in which you connect with the like-minded, find your clients, build your audience and showcase your superpowers. When someone comes along -a perfect stranger to your brand- your content is the stuff that they will sink their teeth in to. They will use your content to determine if you have something that they want to stick around for - something they can keep appreciating and learning from.
Check out these three excellent definitions for biz content - I found them over on businessdictionary.com:
So, since content represents all of those luscious things, why in the name of The Goddess do so many people find it so difficult to create content and to keep doing so on a consistent basis? Well, every journey is different. Some people may be working with a time-management schedule which leaves a hell of a lot to be desired and doesn't permit them to factor content creation in as a priority. For some, feelings of not-good-enough come in. Toxic comparison plays into this, and so does childhood conditioning and so does resistance to being vulnerable in front of others and being essentially open to their judgement.. Others may simply be unaware that creating content is supposed to be shitloads of fun! It is not supposed to be a clinical, premeditated attempt to get people to like you or invest in you but rather a chance for you to light up and show people your soul, after which the external success can take care of itself.
Seriously, when I make things to spread my message, it often occurs to me that they are the kinds of things that I would make whether I had a business or not. For real. I am just relishing the invention process 100%, but I had to fight for that kind of autonomy, taking up arms against my own little complexes and demons. I had to tell myself that my inner child was welcome as a valued team member on my business journey and that my inner artist could rock up and run the show. I consistently reminded myself that I was supposed to be in a state of joy. The state of joy is not a mistake, it is a prerequisite. I hope that this humble little e-zine can offer fellow heart-centred biz owners the inspiration needed to captain their ships with that same energy.
I remember purchasing my Canon scanner back in 2006 and hooking it up to my laptop, trying to work out how to use it properly. I was so excited! I had been messing around with collage, scrapbooking, mood/vision boards, zine-making, ripping'n'sticking and mixed media experiments throughout my childhood and adolescence and I loved the thought of finally being able to share some of the pages of my workbooks and journals with people on the internet. For me, there is still something incredibly magickal about putting some pages through the scanner and uploading them, either to document them privately or send them to one person in particular, or to use as part of a project for public consumption.
I enjoy the tangibility of ripped paper and handwritten words.. I like the appearance of the drip of coffee I accidentally spilled over a half-finished page, the strip of Tippex which permitted me to start again when I wanted to choose different words, the crumples and flaws and the unique end result of something which unfolded in its own sweet time (and usually, in my case, through the night). I like the fact that a scanner can maintain and highlight that tangibility. Like, you can see the mistakes and you can almost touch and feel the texture created by the glue, the layers, the paint.. Those things are not eliminated in some effort to perfect the product; they are actually celebrated as a part of the fabric of the reality of the universe. That speaks to me!
This particular e-zine is one that I started last October, intending to put it out as part of Wonderworker Week. But November ended up being the month that I packed up in a hurry and moved to my mother's place to stay with her until my new flat became available. Basically, things got chaotic! I packed up my Canon scanner along with my other possessions and the completion of the e-zine was swiftly moved to the bottom of an ever-growing list of priorities.. My life has very much returned to a wondrous state in which the space, time and inclination to make little paper things which fill my heart with joy has returned tenfold. Feeling blessed as heck and with a big smile on my face, I offer this small token of my appreciation to you and hope that you enjoy it.
Much love!
x
____
Stick around and fill your soul up to the top..
- An Interview with the Magickal, Majestic Biz Witch, Joanna DeVoe
- Toxic Comparison is a Crappy Carousel
- What I Know About the Art of Internal Permission
