I visited Tyler Perry’s website a few nights ago and read
his message board. He usually motivates me with his videos or inspirational
rants. I noticed that over 90% of the people were asking him for money or
begging him to help them promote their book or movie.
Marketing. Marketing. Marketing. Lacking the desire to
market oneself is the graveyard where most dreams go to die. It’s fun to write,
paint, sew, sing, dance, --- yep this is the fun stuff. Nevertheless, getting
that song heard, book read, and movie produced—now that is another job not meant
for the faint at heart.
I have written for
several national and international magazines, newspapers, etc... I decided to start writing for myself after a
dispute with Upscale Magazine. I use to write an article and just mail it to
several publications back in the early 90’s.
Well, what had happened (Improper grammar on purpose. Sometimes
it is needed. Thank you.) is several magazines published the same article and
Upscale Magazine was one of them – and they wanted to sue me.
Yes. So, this is when I learned about North American First
Rights or something. Basically, when I agreed to let them publish my article—my
ideas—my stuff: Are you with me? It no
longer belonged to me. It belonged to them. I can’t remember if their ownership
lasted 5 or 10 years. The money was minuscule from each publication. I couldn’t
buy groceries with that money but I loved writing so much I felt and still feel
like a billionairess when I write.
However, what
bothered me the most was that—I no longer owned my own words. Now, this was
devastating.
This is why I decided
to start my own magazine. The first few
issues were just plain white paper folded in half—maybe 8 pages long—black and
white. I found some old copies in my office yesterday, which warmed my heart.
I laughed so hard that I couldn’t breathe because they
reminded me of when I was asked not to
drop off magazines at Madonna college (by the head Nun) because of an abortion
ad in my magazine. No problem. A dentist office claimed that a few of my
pictures were risqué and offended his clients. Please do not deliver here. Okay.
Anyway—I have received way, way , way more positive compliments
from readers—but the primary problem for
me was: How to monetize my publication without local business owners feeling like they had the “right” to
dictate my content?
The problem with submitting articles on the Internet is that
I was simply giving my content away. Many of my articles were being duplicated without my permission, and
sometimes without my name.
I am so excited about my Authentik Beauty Magazine Jan 2016
issue that I just uploaded to PSPrinting.
(They do awesome work, inexpensively and ship to my house). This issue
will travel across the United States to various
business, clubs, organizations, health facilities, etc. Yes. Yes. In full color—I tried to watch the risqué
pictures this time.
It’s time to market my babies, The Jungle Beauty Goddesses—not
just wait for random people to find me on the Internet. For the very first
time, I am offering products and services—created uniquely by me. Yes—it would be
nice if Tyler Perry, Lee Daniels, Oprah Winfrey, and Shonda Rhimes would stop
working on their dreams and projects to assist me with mine. Now that I think
about it…Really? Nah....
I want to do it my way. In my imagination, I see them as my
peers and equals—not my boss. I see us swapping recipes and drinking tea
together—not me serving them—metaphorically.
I looked at the pictures of my old magazines and they made me cry with joy
because they represent “hard core evidence” that I live my dreams boldly with
everything I got. Win or lose. I see my progress. I learned from my mistakes.
Each time I delivered and wrote the articles for my magazines I did something
different and I learned something about myself that only marketing myself
(owning myself) could have taught me.
