Merry Magical Greetings!
Well, maybe not so merry. Perhaps, 'Worried Magical Greetings' is more my speed today. You see, I was doing research about hashtags for Instagram and Tiktok, looking at my analytics for the reach I currently get on Insta, and making my "Work With Me" page on here, when it hit me.
"What if someone actually does email me and they want to work with me?"
"Would I know what to do?
What to say?
What if I fumble it so badly,
that they realize I'm totally new to being a content creator
and it completely turns them off
and then they rescind their offer,
tell all their friends
and I'm basically blacklisted in the industry?!"
Whew, that felt good to get out of my head. Thanks for that! 😅
That's seriously what is rushing through my mind at the moment. But looking at Jimmy Fallon, and imagining him saying 'WOW' and what joke he would probably make afterwards, helps me chuckle at myself a bit.
Like, really? That's what happens to newbs in this industry? Yea, I didn't really think so.
Our ego is really funny like that; think of the worst case and then times it by 1000! And then, they actually make you believe that it's inevitable! Well, at least they try to.
Unfortunately, and fortunately, the only way to learn if I'd make a fool of myself, make mistakes, charge too much, not enough, scare people off, or get ignored by them all together is,
to actually open myself to all of those possibilities.
Then the question really becomes, "Can I handle any or all of those possibilities? The bad ones and the good ones?" Because to be honest, the good ones are just as frightening because imagine you get the yes, then you actually have to deliver....Can I deliver?
Yet another item that's a "won't know until you get there" thing.
Half the battle of having embarked on a new venture, is the trust you have to place within yourself to know that if it goes south, you'll be able to care for yourself on the other side.
And, that if it goes well, that you'll be able to handle it with everything you've got, compounded with what you pick up along the way.
So Then I Suppose It's One Step at a Time Then, Is It?
I have reachable, and high, intentions for this venture. One that opens me up to a lot of people and companies I admire and want to work with. I know they say that if your goals aren't scaring you, then they aren't big enough... BUT THEY'RE SCARY AF, MAN!
(please excuse me while I try to mask my fear with humor)
But, I just need to do things one by one. First, make sure that the 'Work with Me, page actually works and is functional, because that would be embarrassing.
Then, sure up my IG and TT strategy. Hashtags, posting time, layout look, and captions.
Then, create my first media kit with rates for services that don't undermine my worth, yet are appropriate for a new comer to the industry.
And finally...wait. And in the waiting: prepare, learn more, get better, make myself more and more desirable of an artist to work with so that when the rejections come, some not all, I'll be ready to handle them and keep going on to the next one. And when the acceptances come in...I'll be ready for them too, not faking it till I make it.
I said all of that, to say this...
I want to be transparent about this journey of becoming a content creator. So many times, so many of us are going through a regeneration phase where we're building something that is so new to us and we fool ourselves into believing that we're the only ones who went through it like this. We're the only ones who met these obstacles, these thoughts, these blockages and we believe it simply because we're comparing someones middle to our beginning AND that someone (for whatever personal reasons, no shade thrown), didn't post about their beginning at all.
In this day and age, I believe we do each other a disservice by being gatekeepers. Fear of competition, fear of not enough opportunities, and other fears abound when you gate keep how you made it to the point you're at, that inspires someone else. If you're led to inspire, I believe it goes hand in hand with uplifting others as well. Help others so that we have more comrades than unhealthy competitors.
So this is why I'm writing this in the moment I'm having these thoughts, feelings and fears. It's also going to be a great archive piece when I finally do achieve the goals I've set forth, and then some.
So keep your chin up darling, we're all just doing our best with the experiences and knowledge we have up into this moment. That's the best we can do until we learn more, and your best is enough.
Much Love.
Comentarios