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Editor's Letters

The FCA Is Growing… With Amazing New Partners!

January 11, 2017 by Phat Chiem Leave a Comment

The FCA Is Growing… With Amazing New Partners!

Once upon a time, a girl sat down, dreamed up a website that would one day help many thousands of creative people get through the endless struggles that we go through in our attempts to birth our visions, dreams, goals and ideas into the world, and created it.

It began as the Female Photographer Association and very soon after that morphed into the Female Creatives Association, as the dream began to take shape and grow.

2016-08-09_0039

But I have a confession to make.

I didn’t know quite what to do with it.

I felt the burden of responsibility, but I had no idea really of how to run an absolutely MASSIVE brand. As the combined following staggered up to 25K, I began to feel insignificantly small.

Instead of realising everything I had achieved in business, I began to look inward, instead of out at the big dreams and visions of my own.

Instead of remembering how I could help people, I started to feel awkward, unconfident, not good enough. I’ve never been very good in the spotlight, always the girl who talks too fast that betrays the confident exterior.

And I began to shrink away. I wanted my own little corner of the internet again, and I made it, set up under my own name.

One that was more ME, more a home for myself, where I didn’t have to fit into a brand that had such clearly defined goals and objectives.

I needed to be me for a while, to dream and create and explore again.

But still… the FCA sat there like an unattended plant.

I ran my courses through it. Continued to post helpful posts. Relaunched my books for film photographers but still… never quite going full throttle on it. Never quite giving it my everything. Torn between the rapidly growing brand of my own and this business baby that I had birthed a few years earlier.

I still… could not let go of the dream and the vision I had for the FCA.. I couldn’t ever bring myself to close it down!

And then one day… in rode a knight. Two, actually.

Storytellers, like me, but bigger, brighter. Actually, that doesn’t do them justice at ALL.

It was actually two writers slash entrepreneurs (an ex-Yahoo editor and a Forbes contributor)!!! who swept in, shone a light on the FCA and saw it for its shining potential — indeed, its ability to continue to impact and help thousands of us creatives with our marketing, biz & skills.

ANNOUNCEMENT: The FCA will now expand under the guiding hands of a fabulous company that goes by the name of StoryCraft! Yes, StoryCraft.

Which, OBVIOUSLY I thought was totally heaven-sent, as for those of you who follow closely you’ll know about my successful course Storyteller-

And the tagline on their website?

We’re storytellers, makers and dreamers.

COULD THERE BE ANY MORE PERFECT MATCH FOR THE FCA?!?! –

More specifically, by the names of Phat (yep, I also wondered if his parents knew how cool his name would become) and Rochelle (whose career path from writer to entrepreneur will be very familiar to many of you).

Storytellers, content creators, creatives, and dreamers.  And a ton of talent and experience at shining the spotlight on businesses + brands.

Say hello to Phat and Rochelle….
Phat & Rochelle from StoryCraft

And I will be supporting and riding alongside them for what I know is going to be an incredible ride. I plan to stay on as an advisor to Phat & Rochelle — and continue to create new courses and content for them as my time allows.

With their leadership, in 2017, the FCA is going to become exactly as I intended; fulfilling it’s mission to help many more thousands of creatives and creative entrepreneurs across the globe to get seen, stand out, and shine.

So, that’s my exciting news for 2017. I’ve been literally dyyyyying to share it, but I’ve had to keep super-quiet on social media until all plans were confirmed.

I’m excited for what this means for the FCA.

I’m excited that a FORMER MANAGING EDITOR OF YAHOO IS NOW LEADING THE FCA!!! (what? Did that actually just happen?!?!)

I’m excited about the future plans we have all been excitedly discussing (and OH they are beautiful. Big, beautiful, inspired plans and goals for this year. MUCH MORE CONTENT + COURSES + INTERVIEWS + VIDEOS + ADVICE + TIPS)

And I’m excited about what this means for you.

2017 is going to be ALL about supporting YOU more in your ambitions and aims >>> don’t miss the next FCA mail.

Charlie, Phat & Rochelle @ The FCA.

P.S… Already purchased one of the FCA’s awesome courses or products? Don’t worry; there are ZERO changes being made for anything you have already purchased and access remains the same. Got questions? Email Phat & Rochelle directly at hello@storycraft.me, or leave your questions in the comments!

Filed Under: Editor's Letters, NEWS & REVIEWS

What Happens If There Just Aren’t Enough Clients?

July 10, 2015 by The FCA 3 Comments

What Happens If There Just Aren’t Enough Clients?

Do you know what scares me witless?

That one day I will wake up and find that the people I LOVE working with have run out.

That’s it, no more photographers, creatives, artists, free spirits, intelligent free-thinkers who understand their photography and creativity can be used as the most incredible GIFT and TOOL FOR CHANGE in their lives.

Because what happens?

What happens to you then?

When you wake up and realise that there actually, just aren’t enough clients?

That one day you wake up and there are just so many fabulous other photographers out there and you *forgot about taking care of your marketing and instead spent all of your money on kit just like every other photographer and then all of a sudden you went from standing out to being just like EVERY OTHER PHOTOGRAPHER, just another product for sale, swimming in an ocean overrun with other photographers

And you think you can just about scrape by if you drop your prices but the reality is THERE JUST ISN’T ENOUGH WORK TO GO AROUND now

Not without struggle

Not without fight

What then???

What happens when you just can’t get clients, because you don’t think there are any??

Is that it??

Is that THE END for your business; for your dreams of success, for your pride, because let’s face it everything else would probably recover but our PRIDE and our HEART???

How would THAT truly heal?

And what else would we actually bloody DO?!?!

I mean, you know you’d think of something. Something always comes up, right?

But it wouldn’t be this. This thing you have fallen head over heels for, ploughed time and money and hopes and dreams into.

BUT- what WOULD you do if your clients ran out?

Tell me.

Or – don’t tell me – tell yourself.

Not sure?

Look, this post isn’t to scare you.

It’s to show you something else.

What if – you were to use this fear – this fear that actually, there just might not be enough clients out there for you – and use it to actually help you?

IF you got to that point in your business where you were to look back and say – I literally don’t have any clients or whatever your big fear is– and you could rewind time to six months earlier to change everything –

What is it that you would need to change?

Or-

what is it right now that you NEED to FEEL in order to MOVE TO WHERE YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE?

We are taught to be so risk- averse.

To always have plan B’s.

Back up plans, pensions, savings account.

But don’t you see?

The world is changing.

Like all of those people here who have brought over their entire life savings here to Cyprus, believing it would ‘go further here’, and then overnight the banks literally took the savings of EVERYONE who had over 100k in their account.

Literally – people’s entire pensions, house sale profits, entire life savings – gone when they woke up one morning. With no warning.

Their Plan A AND Plan B – gone.

‘But the banks are safe! Corporations look after us! I have an insurance policy! I’ve bought a house!’

And your bank might be fine and they might do and everything might be fine-

But the sooner you realise

Nobody else is going to be your Plan B

Only YOU

Because you just don’t know what is going to happen, and yes, one day the day might come when your worst fears about your business are realised.

What then??

The thing is –

You won’t know what then.

You can’t predict or control the future with any level of real certainty.

You’re not supposed to be able to.

So what CAN you do?

What can you do when actually, it seems like this job is often WAY harder than it is meant to be and actually the what-if FEARS are sometimes so big and scary that you completely hold back and play it small and never really fully embrace all that your business IS and COULD BE??

WHAT CAN YOU DO???

THIS is what you can do.

You can take your fears.

And you can use them.

To show you the way.

WHAT are you REALLY running from, and why?

Is it fear of the future? or fear of the past?

Fear of not standing out? being judged? of standing out and being hated? or being lonely?

Fearful of losing money?

We are ALWAYS taught to avoid risk, and so with risk comes fear.

But what about when you wake that day and you stare fear full in the face and you say instead of ‘i’m worried about this’

You say
instead

‘Thank you’.

Thank you for your teachings, for your guidance, for your insight, and wisdom.

Thank you for SHOWING ME THE WAY

Because if you listen to your FEAR

It will tell you

Exactly what you SHOULD BE DOING

In order to avoid its presence in your business + life.

Whatever that is – whatever it looks like –

Whether that’s marketing more or praying more or building relationships more or WHATEVER IT IS THAT YOU KNOW IS THE TRUE ROOT CAUSE OF YOUR FEAR

The root of fear lies within us.

We aren’t born fearful, or afraid.

So what is it you are running from?

Or fearful of?

How can you EMBRACE that fear, and what it is that you KNOW that you need to do, to eliminate that fear?

Perhaps this isn’t about eliminating risk, about forming a plan B

But instead about jumping without a safety net

Without fear of failure

Or loss

or the future

Or what might be and what might never be.

Focussing on your Plan A for you – your loved ones – and MAKING IT WORK

As if there was no ‘Plan B’!!!

Focussing on your Plan A- ONE HUNDRED PER CENT

GIVING IT EVERYTHING NOW

GIVING IT YOUR ALL

Stop waiting for your backup plan to materialise

For your work-life balance to exist

And just. start.

As if there is no tomorrow.

Use your fear not as your primary driver (this should always be Love)

But as your guide, your companion, your ally.

What are you NOT doing? Running away from? Why?

How can you USE this as a tool to understand and completely focus on your Plan A?

Are you focussing on your society-determined Plan B, when really, all you need to do is dedicate yourself to you + your plan A?

I examined my fear and realised that beneath that fear of my clients running out

Was the fear of blending in. Of not being noticed. Of falling away.

Which is strange as I am a massive introvert who actually hates standing out, but perhaps it is the fear that after I am gone, people will never remember that I even existed maybe, who knows? You can go as deep with this as you want. 

What my fear showed me – is that I need to release my true voice. To speak out. To not be afraid of haters, of trolls, of anything whatsoever.

It won’t mean that I will be remembered after I am gone. But just that while I am here – I can reach those that need to hear me. 

Which is how – my clients will never run out. Because there will always be someone that needs to hear you. To see you + your work. To know you. 

Which is why I am posting more, my words are often strong (though said in love) and I write huge long posts like this which have gained far more shares and Likes that my posts ever have before DESPITE the ENTIRE internet world saying ‘long posts don’t work any more’ and ‘people get bored’.

Not MY people

Not MY tribe

Not those that need to hear MY voice

And that’s what I learned from staring fear in the face

Working to understand it

Where it comes from

and then EMBRACING IT

And letting go of Plan B.

So can you do it? Right now? The same thing? 

Not run from your fear anymore

Release your Plan B

and EMBRACE whatever it is that you need to, in order to finally claim the business + success that you deserve?

What do you KNOW you need to concentrate on TODAY so that in six months time – or whenever the worst happens- you don’t need your Backup Plan?

DO IT.

START NOW.

PS.

This will never be easy. It’s ingrained within us to be risk-averse. ‘be careful!’. This takes work every single day. But it is entirely WORTH IT.

To no longer need catching when you fall.

To no longer live in fear of fear itself.

To understand that you have been given the power to choose.

So now, all you need to do – is choose yourself. 

 

Love + Light x


 

 

Want to truly get over your fears and start to TAKE ACTION in your business NOW? Check out Shining Lights here.

Filed Under: Editor's Letters, INSPIRE

Is It Time To Quit Your Photography Business?

June 24, 2015 by The FCA 8 Comments

Is It Time To Quit Your Photography Business?

Is it time to quit?

Let me share this with you.

The reason that I quit shooting weddings.

I’ve kind of shared this before, and there is more than ONE reason I quit shooting weddings, and in fact, I might still go on and shoot more, because there is a huge part of me that misses them but, since last year I made the decision to quit-

You might want to know this.

Especially if you’re struggling right now. And not just as a wedding photographer, but within any niche.

The real reason I quit wedding photography?

I got bored of shooting stuff that didn’t really matter.

I got bored of obsessing about details. 

Of shooting to get featured. 

Of creating a ‘bloggable wedding’.

I even got to that point in my head where I was looking out for beautiful detail over shooting actual PEOPLE which err- hello? Is slightly disturbing.

I love pretty don’t get me wrong. 

But pretty for the sake of being ‘bloggable’?

Creating an empty styled shoot around a ‘theme’ without even some sense of bloody STORY or PERSONALITY behind it, just driven by what we think is PRETTY???

Isn’t there more to us than THAT!?

Than creating styled shoots with no bloody sense of MEANING behind them? Like some narcissus or Dorian Gray where we become completely CONSUMED by nothing greater than our own vain reflection????

Please, someone tell me.

What is the point.

Please don’t tell me it’s art.

Or beauty.

Or perhaps it is beauty in the eye of the beholder but seriously if you’re expecting THAT vain shallow CRAP to sell your business? To grow it to its full maximum potential?!?! 

Let me tell you what happens. 

People get disappointed.  ‘my wedding doesn’t look like the ones on your website’… that’s because you didn’t hire a stylist, a planner, and an entire A list team, you’re not models, and even if you did have all of those things and you were models, your wedding isn’t theirs

You hit a glass ceiling in terms of how much you can grow.

You’re hitting a very narrow target base

You’re setting yourself up for a fall for when the trends change

And

The artist in you begins to wither

And

It’s 

Bloody

BORING!!! 

Ok so this is my shoot for Mag Rouge. You’ve all seen it, might have even read about it – inspired by the tangled emotions a bride goes through on her wedding morning.

Yes. That was MY concept. Not the stylists, florists, caterers, venues or any other of the incredibly talented industry professionals I worked with to make it happen. I am friends with the stylist, and we had talked about doing a shoot, and we started pinning a few odd images. And I remember saying – I don’t want this. I want soul. Kinfolk. Connection.

I wanted MORE than just SURFACE GLOSS.

And do you know what it was triggered by?

How I felt on my wedding morning. Where just for those few, hidden, stolen moments, I felt a sense of loss

Of panic. 

Of fear. 

Of apprehension. 

Of sadness, even.

2015-04-08_0001

This isn’t about how much I love my husband, or whether or not I doubted whether he was my one. He always has and always will be my One. 

But still.

You know what’s real?

Human bloody EMOTION. Moments, memories, an ever changing dance between the light and the darkness. 

And that was what happened on my wedding morning. And more still what happened in my daydreams, and then again still now, sometimes-

Just faint traces of fear and wonder slinking through the windowsills along with the sunlight. Playing along through my mind in faint whispers. 

That’s all. 

 

(Nothing more, or less, than perfect love). 

 

So please. Spare me the bloody candlesticks. The peonies. Those THINGS that exist in abstract isolation without meaning or point. 

Is this truly what you LOVE??? What you are driven by??? Please tell me what’s the bloody POINT??? 

And then I realised. Or perhaps I’d realised all along.

 

That was my story as a wedding photographer.

 

It was always about the story.

 

Not their story.

 

Mine.

 

For me, the uncertainty and fairytale at once gothic and romance and love- dusted, of the heroine alone with thoughts and then, love.

 

wedding photograph bride france

 

It was there throughout every single shot that I took.

 

Wedding or not.

 

It was never meaningless. 

 

It never should be. 

 

And that was why I quit weddings. It’s not the only reason.

 

But it was a big part of it. Because I couldn’t bear to frame myself in a world without meaning or reference and just sheer, utter, pointlessness. 

Couldn’t I just change who I was? Couldn’t I just shoot as I was and shoot for those target clients who love the vision I had and shared it? Work with the beautiful gifts of those that I collaborated with on Undone? Couldn’t I just carry on and not think about it, and ignore the narcissistic artists streak that I myself clearly had?

No.

Because my heart tells me.

It’s time. 

It’s time to work with photographers who are bold. Unafraid. Confident. Who have found their purpose and their truths are shooting everything they love and creating their own magic and meaning which very definitely is purposeful and heart led and passion filled. Or who want to.

And those who want to know what the hell to do with that to truly THRIVE in business AND as an artist.

And this is it. This is what you do. 

Keep shooting. Every bloody day shoot something and publish it. EVERY DAMN DAY!

And write.

Write and if you can’t write then speak.

What matters is that every day, in some way small or some way big, you share what is on your heart and mind and soul.

Whether that’s your poetic visions or your downright awkward opinions or simply your beliefs and views on WHATEVER that is about Photography related or not (because everything is One)

Just share it. Every single day.

Don’t wait for the perfect moment or the perfect truth. 

There is a reason we fish for raw pearls 

Beauty is natural, organic.

It’s meaning-full

The good news about the industry overcrowding is

Someone has to stand out. Some photographers will rise above. 

And it’s not about just talent anymore (we are all talented) and it’s not about the passion (we are all passionate)

Instead

It’s about

Truth. 

The seas will part for those willing to stand in their truth. 

The question is – are you? 

Are you willing and able to share what’s on your heart and mind and what you see every single day? To know that a social media update is NEVER enough?

To open heart and mind wide enough to understand that businesses and industries themselves are transforming literally in front of our very eyes and it’s not what we do now that is enough

It’s who we are 

And it’s how we communicate who we are

And all that we stand for or believe

That gets us an insiders pass

To hearts and minds of our clients.

And then and only then

Will you quit 

And it won’t be the business

It won’t be photography

It will be quitting fear

Quitting traditional business thinking 

Quitting the crowds 

The mass thought processes 

So can you do it??? 

Can you NOT quit but instead – step out and follow a different path- one filled with meaning? 

Along with meaning comes truth and then comes hope.

And that’s why it’s not your time to quit.

Or walk away.

But perhaps instead of clinging on

It’s time to let go

Of excuses

Of procrastination

Of to do lists

Instead become open

To change

To embrace new ways of thinking,

new possibilities,

A new way of being in business as a photographer

Which isn’t about seeing the light.

But being it.

 


Want more support + help? Join The Fierce Photographer Society here– our brand new free facebook group, for photographers who want it all.

Filed Under: Editor's Letters, INSPIRE

The Lonely Entrepreneur

June 15, 2015 by The FCA 2 Comments

The Lonely Entrepreneur

She was three weeks old. Tiny, delicate, still curled up and seashell-pale-pink.

I looked down at her and wanted to never leave her side.

She was the ONLY one I wanted to be with.

Instead, I handed her over. I handed her back to my husband and watched him drive off, and even though I was stood side by side with my second shooter, who is also a good friend, and I was shortly to be surrounded by over 200 people, I felt alone.

And I feel it now.

The same ache, the same loneliness.

Do you feel it? How despite being around even an entire LOAD of people, you still feel that same ache?

And before you write off this post as a bunch of useless and self-indulgent witterings. Like there aren’t enough problems on this earth so much more serious than some indulgent photographer sat in on her island-ivory-tower, moaning about how bloody LONELY she is.

I know.

Don’t I bloody know. 

Which is part of the problem isn’t it?

That we shouldn’t even feel this way. 

The thing is,

we can’t help it.

We were BORN this way.

Well, I definitely was. I was never an extrovert. I always preferred my own company, I was the child who preferred the folk of the faraway tree to any semblance of real life normality, and so for the main part, that’s where you’d find me. Not stuck up the flipping faraway tree, of course, but with my head in a book, despite continual protests from my Mother to go outside and get some fresh air.

I had no desire for that.

I just wanted to fill my mind with words, with knowledge, with escapism, with romance, with daydreams.

Not much changed as I got older, and my mum affectionately told me on several occasions that we were very much like Saffy and Eddy from Absolutely Fabulous, which I used to hate, because hey, what kid wants to be the nerd?

Even nerds don’t want to be nerds.

Until nerds became cool and then over the past few years I’ve actually become quite proud of my introversion, I mean it’s not like I’m a bloody recluse don’t get me wrong, I just don’t get energy from being around other people. 

But this also means

That just because I am an introvert

Because I don’t love huge crowds of people

Because I prefer staying in to going out

Because sometimes parties and big events literally scare me, I mean I get so nervous I get butterflies and feel sick

Just because I am an introvert, that doesn’t mean I don’t ever feel lonely.

So like today.

I have a friend staying with us for three weeks, my brother-in-law arrived today, I’ve spent some time with our incredibly happy and bubbly toddlers and chatted briefly to our babysitter. I’ve also attended a group hangout with my mentor in Bali and some other incredible businesswomen from around the world, and hung out for a time in the FPA incredible membership group.

But still, I feel it.

Doesn’t mean we don’t get lonely. 

And it’s perhaps not the loneliness of even being alone tonight. Despite my husband asking me repeatedly if I minded if they all went out to the cinema, because ‘well, you’d planned to work anyway?’

and yes, I had, but that’s not the point.

The point is,

Nobody seems to get it, do they?

Nobody seems to understand what it’s like to run their own business.

Not family.

Not friends.

Only my online friends and comrades, which incredible as those bonds are, it’s not like they can pick you up and give you a hug it it?

And to be honest, I don’t think I’d want one anyway.

To be honest when I shoot weddings I LIKE the loneliness, the being quite happily by myself behind a camera all day and in fact I’d prefer it if you DIDN’T speak to me, especially not to tell me that you’re a photographer too and to ask what lens I’m using.

Dear Lord. Do I come to your desk during your work day and ask for tips on how to become a computer programmer or whatever it is that you do? No, no I do not.

And it’s not because I’m unsocial, or hate people, as my husband used to think.

I LOVE people. I really do. And I absolutely LOVE helping other photographers. (And I’m bloody good at it)

But there is a time and a place for everything. And when I’m in full flow at a wedding and my introvert senses are already on overdrive at best and at worst giving me a migraine that I know is going to wipe me out the next day because large crowds literally exhaust me, that is not the time. 

But why am I telling you this if I don’t want your help? If I don’t want the comments that reassure me that you are here, listening, reading every word that I say, because I know you very kindly will want to tell me – please don’t feel alone! I’m here! because that’s the kind of person I have reading the FPA.

I’m telling you this-

Because I know how it feels to feel alone.

And especially as a female entrepreneur

As a photographer

Creative

Businesswoman

Whatever it is that you do that involves a huge part of your day hustling your game up and sat at your laptop and not only not seeing people but actually having REAL and MEANINGFUL connections with them and

whatever you call yourself

I know what the ache feels like. 

It feels like

Although you can be surrounded by people

You’ll still feel alone. 

Although you can meet literally and virtually, thousands of people in one day

You will still have moments when you feel so bloody ALONE!

Like this big hole inside of you exists and what it means is not that you want to be surrounded by people

Because that’s just NOISE

But you want just one person to tell you

I GET IT.

I know what it’s like.

To stay up until 3am working.

To work all weekend.

To have best friends and incredible relationships that are made and lived out, online.

To struggle.

To survive.

To make it.

To make it gloriously.

And even when you have faith and you have GOD to talk to

To KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE TO still have that feeling.

A feeling like you couldn’t explain how it feels even if you tried, and you’d not sure if you’d want to bother to try anyway because, well, nobody else would get it would they?

Because you aren’t complaining. You wouldn’t change anything.

Who knows, I think sometimes I even ENJOY the loneliness. It’s not like I try to do anything about it. In fact I moved us a thousand miles to a mediterranean island where we knew NOBODY so I probably even do the exact opposite of what I should be doing if I didn’t want to feel like this.

And maybe feeling this way is a GOOD sign, like perhaps you just simply can’t have success without it, who knows?

What I do know is, sometimes, you need to know this.

That somebody else other than you and the folk of the faraway tree

GET IT.

So this post is for you.

It’s not a hug. It’s not meant to make you feel incredible or like there is some bloody SOLUTION, like a 3 step pathway to becoming less introvert.

Bugger that. Most of the time, I LOVE being an introvert. Hiding behind my camera, writing my blog, doing my creative thing and living out my purpose freely, beautifully, caught in that creative flow where time seems to stand still.

But sometimes

when that hole opens up (and it isn’t often)

sometimes you just need somebody to say

this feeling will pass.

Just like you know it will,

but by exchanging those words.

This post.

this feeling,

this emotion.

You know

that somebody, somewhere, understands.

I get it. 

And it’s not about pity or compassion or empathy or sympathy or any of those things, it’s simply standing shoulder to shoulder by your side and saying to you, right here and now-

listen. 

I understand. 

I feel it too. Not now, not always, but I know what you mean, because, 

I get it. 

And that’s it. 

And it’s not meant to cure or fix or help it’s simply meant to BE

Because as introverts OR extroverts or businesswomen or photographers or creatives, as any and all of those things

The BEST if not the ONLY way

of handling that emptiness

That hole

That darkness

Is sometimes just

To sit in it for a while

and just, BE.

And it’s not melancholic or narcissistic or sad or unhappy, it’s literally just existing in that space for a while, accepting it, and knowing that even if you feel it, you’re not alone.

And that’s why I wrote this post, for those of you that feel the same, those of you who understand.

I wrote this for you. 

 


 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Editor's Letters, INSPIRE, Uncategorized

THE GOOGLE CHANGE EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT

March 21, 2015 by The FCA 3 Comments

THE GOOGLE CHANGE EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT

You might have noticed that a little while ago, Google kind of hinted that sites that were very clearly mobile-friendly are more likely to be shown in search results.

But now, this news got serious. The Google-Gods have now given us a deadline – your website needs to be mobile friendly by April 21st, or your website just won’t appear in search results.

the google change every photographer should know about - the female photographer association


That sounds scary, but when you think about it, that makes sense.

50% of my traffic comes from a mobile device, and I am guessing that is the same for you too.  So it makes sense that your clients are able to access and easily read your site, because otherwise, your client is very likely to switch away and find another photographer whose site is much swifter and easier to read, and prettier to look at.

The good news is that there is an easy way to find out whether your site is mobile-friendly.

Use this link right here https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/

It takes about 30 seconds, and will even show you what your site looks like when viewed on a typical mobile device.

Most modern sites should be mobile-friendly, but if yours isn’t then you either need to take the steps necessary to convert it into a more friendly site, beg/buy/borrow/steal the assistance of a web developer, or perhaps switch themes, profiles, or templates. Which is obviously a bit of a headache when it comes to moving your entire site, but what is worse- the hassle of upgrading or refreshing your site, or having a site that nobody sees?

The Google change also gives you the advantage over the ‘competition’ (if you still to choose your friends + colleagues in that light) because if they don’t know about this change and their sites aren’t responsive… watch as they drop down the listings and out of sight.

I wanted to let you know about this change today as I feel it isn’t something that everyone yet knows about – and it is important that you do, because for obvious reasons it can seriously effect your profitability.

If you have found it useful, please do share it using the buttons below – nobody in business should be left with a site that is invisible!

Filed Under: Editor's Letters, ONLINE

Why I Want You To Stop Reading The FPA

February 13, 2015 by The FCA 4 Comments

Why I Want You To Stop Reading The FPA

Hey, guess what- did I ever tell you how great my life is? Come on, I am sure I have done.  You know, it goes a little like this – photographer gets fully booked, makes great money, writes a book, husband joins wife in business, they all move to a dream island in the sun, found a membership site, maybe pop out a few more books, and then photographer works their butt off at trying to help other photographers to achieve their fabulous life too?

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Oh wait – let me think about that. Yeah, I think I did tell you!

In fact, I think you are probably sick of hearing about how great my life is.

In fact, I think you quite possible think the fact I am mentoring other photographers is a bit of a joke. Hey, I’m certainly no Elizabeth Messina.  What’s so great about ME? What makes ME think I can mentor other photographers? And even more than that, what makes me think I can teach OTHER photographers to mentor other photographers, or to write books? Or hey, even maybe just make a SUCCESS of their business?

OMG WAIT. Your brain cells just exploded-

IS THIS SHINING LIGHTS PROGRAM SOME CRAZY KIND OF SCHEME WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO SPEND ALL OF YOUR MONEY ONLY TO BE TOLD JUST LIKE I TELL EVERY OTHER PHOTOGRAPHER IN THE PROGRAM THAT HEY- YOU TOO CAN WRITE A BOOK + LIVE A DREAM LIFE IN THE SUN? OR perhaps you might be told YOU TOO SHOULD MENTOR OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS? Lord knows, like there aren’t enough photography ‘mentors’ in the world, right. It’s like a new one pops up every minute, blabbering about how great they are on facebook or in my inbox. Eugh, mentors. They’re like the new cockroach, always crawling around popping up where you least expect them, bragging about how nuclear-proof they are. Smug little roaches. Who do they think they are.

I have no idea about cockroaches. But let me tell you who I am, and why I want you to stop reading the FPA.

If you are concerned with ANY of the above being even slightly true- you know the bit about where I talk about – hey! you can write a book too! and be just like me! –

If you are worried that in your inbox, or on these pages, and VERY DEFINITELY within the Shining Lights Programme you might receive the frankly absurd suggestion about HEY- GET WRITING THAT BOOK OR COURSE OR MENTORING SESSIONS? (I mean, what a ludicrous idea. Sharing your gifts with the world).

GUESS WHAT.

You’re absolutely right it’s like that over in the Shining Lights program. Absolutely, one hundred per cent.

So you might as well stop reading right now. Or you can carry on reading the rest of this post, either way- you probably aren’t going to enjoy what comes next as your mind is already made up, so take my advice and STOP READING. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Am I going to encourage a thousand other photographers to also write a book? Am I encouraging a thousand other photographers to hold mentoring sessions?

What do you think. If I believe that a photographer has a gift and a talent to share, and that their life could benefit tremendously from sharing that information, what on earth do you think I am going to tell them??

‘Oh no darling. Don’t you dare go try anything of the kind. In fact, you sit right there where you belong. In that box labelled ‘photographer’ and don’t dare think about trying to climb out’. Accompanied by head pat.

Like I said, you are reading the wrong blog.

Because it is my absolutely belief that we are put on this earth for far MORE than for our giftS and talentS (plural, in case you didn’t get the S) to be pigeonholed and labelled and be told that’s the best that we should hope for.  That right now, what we are doing is enough.

I also have an ABUNDANCE MENTALITY.

So what if one thousand other photographers go and write a book??? If it provides them with a chance of creating a passive income stream that enables them to a) not be reliant on bookings for theirs or their families survival b) enables them to fulfill a life-long dream c) informs, inspired, or educates other photographers into growing and empowering their businesses too,

then do you really think I am going to sit there and tell them no? Because what, heaven forbid – another photographer might also be creating a book? or offering mentoring sessions?

Please tell me you are kidding. Please tell me that you really don’t believe the world is too small to support the weight of one thousand more books. Or one thousand more mentors and coaches. Please tell me that you think that people don’t need more encouragement, inspiration, or support, from somebody who truly believes in them + their potential?

You see, this is where you are going wrong. Not in just your assumptions, but probably in your business too.

You can’t see the unique beauty in everyone like I can. Because if you did, you wouldn’t for a second be worried about what everyone else is busy creating.

I’m going to bring it down to base level for you. Babies. Purely because I love them and like to talk about them whenever I can. (You might not like that either).

The other day, my baby girls were playing with crayons. Summer held up a crayon and I said to her – Sumi, what colour is that? She replied ‘pink!’ I showed the crayon to Istria. Istria, what colour is this? I asked her. And she told me ‘red’. The colour was actually a kind of dark salmon pink, but in Istria’s mind it is red and in Summer’s mind it is pink.

ONE THOUSAND PEOPLE COULD WRITE A BOOK ON THE EXACT SAME SUBJECT AND STILL NO TWO BOOKS WOULD BE THE SAME.

So if you are wondering whether the Shining Lights Programme is like a big factory, churning out photographers with the same aims and the same dreams and basically to create a whole raft of mini-mes following the same formula > bookings > book > workshops > mentoring >dream life which will probably collapse like a house of cards when everyone realises that HEY! they aren’t me after all, and are frankly useless at anything other than taking pictures, and so that is ultimately what they go back to doing…

Then I will tell you this.

The FPA isn’t here to tell people what to do. It’s a guide. The title kind of gives it away ‘Shining Lights’… you know… lights kind of show people the way, if you didn’t get that part either.

And what the program does is ENABLE people to recognise and create their OWN pathway to success – whatever that pathway looks like for them, whatever that ultimate destination of ‘success’ looks like.

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And here is another thing.

I don’t believe there is one pathway that we all could follow. Just like the thousand people creating the same book, and creating something different, I believe we all have a unique purpose and place on this earth.

Photography is one reflection of who we are, and who we are meant to serve.  But that’s not ALL that we are and ALL that we are meant to do, always, forever, the end.

Our journeys change and evolve. We MAY teach others, we MAY create books, we MIGHT go and create graphics or mentoring programs or courses or workshops and each and every one of those things will look different when they bloom because they come from INSIDE OF US.

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They stem from WHO WE ARE. They spring from our true purpose, the reason we are placed here, right here upon this earth. They spring from our energies, our passions, our desires, our heart + minds.

So it wouldn’t matter even if I did create such a winning formula such as give X photographer A and they create B (for book) and end up at Z (millionaire).

No route taken by each person that I work with will ever look the same.

And that’s what I am proud to create, and proud to be a part of.  That’s what we recognise and support over in Shining Lights.

Do you know what my soul purpose is? And it took me years of work to uncover this and when I found out I cried for hours and then I was still and calm in a way I have never been before. I felt as luminous as the sea seen from my balcony after a storm. (Yep, that’s another one of those dream-life references that you just don’t seem sure about. I mean, it’s just too good to be true, right).

I realised that I wanted to empower women to have control over their lives and their destiny. I wanted to show them that they could truly create their own lives and that it doesn’t need to be on anybody else’s terms but their own.

MY big dream is that I want to one day lift up intelligent, smart, gifted daughters of poverty and show them – teach them – guide them – and provide the financial means for them to be able to REALISE that they have the POWER to CHOOSE their own pathway in life – free from ties of the past or fear or beliefs that are really LIES.

Because that is how I grew up. In near-poverty, with lots of mistruths around money and potential and possibility.

And I know now that is a choice that you make. To be powered over, or to claim your power. To rise up to your potential and embrace it, or to ignore it and instead be limited by lies and beliefs.

So if people want to create a book, like I did?

I will hold their hand and say YES and I will GUIDE them as to what they BELIEVE their book should be about. If they want to create mentoring sessions, just like I did? My modules will help them to BELIEVE they can do it and give them pathways and roadways into creating and owning these possibilities for themselves.

Because I would be a pretty poor mentor if I didn’t give people the chance to do that. If I didn’t honour their own choices.

If I didn’t fully and wholly believe, with every faction of my being, that the world can support MORE books for photographers and MORE mentoring and MORE courses and more of whatever it is that my Shining Lights feel compelled to create that isn’t ‘just’ shooting for a commision or booking; and that women using their powerful energies and beliefs and unique ways of working can transform this industry and support the beautiful + unique place that it is. .

And above all I believe and I teach that photographers can use the plentiful knowledge that is available to them in this world and use it to create and shape their own futures.

For me, that’s a beautiful life with my family, here.

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A few more things before I finish this post.

If you still don’t believe this world needs another photography mentor or another book on photography or another course or another logo designer; I need to ask you – would you truly discourage a new photographer to the industry from trying to enter?

Because surely, that’s what unites us all here – our love of photography.  Nobody is standing up and saying ‘oh, there are too many photographers now.’  Not unless you have a complete lack mentality, in which case you are one hundred per cent right.

This program isn’t for you. This whole website is not for you. 

You no longer need to feel offended by my posts. Or by my emails in your inbox.

You no longer need to discuss the FPA to the nearest colleague who will listen, and try to pick holes in it.

You now know exactly what the FPA is, what Shining Lights is about, and why it isn’t for you.

So just unlike my page.

So just stop reading.

So just click unsubscribe.

 

For anyone else who feels that Shining Lights MIGHT be what they need to grow their business, you might want to know we don’t just discuss books and mentoring – that’s a very tiny part of what we do. If needed, and when necessary.

What we are most passionate about is creating a photography business that fulfills us – both financially and from a soul-filled perspective. We work on attracting our dream clients, creating a brand that truly reflects us, increasing our financial abundance (whatever that might look like), creating a streamline + simple workflow, increasing our energies, + a million and more useful things including all of that mentioned above – all upheld by a Mastermind group that celebrates one another’s successes and lifts one another up when we need it + shares useful info and truly invests in one another’s success.

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In fact, I believe in Shining Lights and its value so much, that in a few short weeks the price is DOUBLING. You can find out more about the program here.  WARNING; may come with guidance on how to follow your heart + achieve your dreams.

Filed Under: Editor's Letters, INSPIRE, Uncategorized

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