I also encourage you at the very end of the podcast to ask your questions whenever they come up! Just post them down below in the comments and I will get to them in the next week's episode. ❤️

Have a beautiful weekend

-

This Episode features these links:
Tattooartist: Laurie Frank
Collab with Letter Shoppe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I share exciting news about the Patreon surprise letter and what exciting things will be coming up next week. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I hope all of you are well out there. I send you a lot of love ❤️ 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Also I make. slight detour in the newest developments on Insta. Who else saw those changes that were made? What do you think about them? 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Vollgas Studio Website is still in process. So it is not quite ready yet! But if you want to enjoy the Vollgas Community letter just let me know! 

The letter is only available if you agree to it. I can't just use your mail from Patreon. That wouldn't be legal moral. So if you want to receive it either sign up here or just leave a comment down below. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PS: The image is the view from our balcony!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BTW: That's my mum on the image. 🤩

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Books I read:

The Artist's Way - Julie Cameron Anybody up for buddying up and doing the "Morning pages"? 

An article about her and her work 

A thing I forgot to mention: I am taking a step back from self-help books in general but " The Artist's Way" seemed like an Idea to look at that is simpler and older. Something that taps into the roots of things. It is a simple reminder so I gave it a try and choose the things that could work for me, like the morning pages. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Book of the week:
The Midnight Library - Matt Haig We listened to it from our way back from Norway to Germany. What an amazing book. We are not completely done yet but till we are in Switzerland it will be wrapped up. 

Podcast I discovered:
Ada - Heute das morgen verstehen  The Tiktok episode is really interesting!
The Guilty Feminist This one is always fabulous but the recent episode abut Size blew me away once more. I loved it. Thank you, Deborah Francis White. You are a pleasure. BTW if you love her as much as I do already tonight there is a stream you can watch LIVE.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Check out my website: https://www.andreaforgacs.com/ 

Book I started reading:
Wilder Girls - Rory Power This book is sooooo weird and a bit visual but I already love it. The mystery is real and intense and they are building it up to page by page. It is one of these books that is hard to put down because you really want to know what will happen. At the same time you really hope you will not be disappointed by the plot. So I am excited to share it with you. And btw it is queer. VEEEERY Lesbian.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I am sharing with you the next steps to building my business without Instagram and how I will get closer to the messaging that I want to stand for. I will share some first insights into new challenges on Patreon and why language was another distraction keeping my eye away from the price. 

It is all about simplifying. Isn't it? 

The Marketing Bridge Video I promised you 

Music I listened to: 

Only new music this time - Becca Mancari - Good Woman 

Books I read: 

Still on the same one from last week. 

Movies/Series I watches this week: 

The Social Dilemma - Please watch! This is absolute  necessary for everyone to know to make a conscious choice around Social Media.  

Cobra Kai - I am obessed! When you watched Karate Kid in your youth. This is a very fun series to watch. It even features a kick ass fat woman. I am proud of Netflix. Although I wish she would get a bit more screentime and maybe a love interest. And yes I almost through the first and second season. Damn you, automated play! 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Komm sei dabei, während ich am Freitagabend ein Bier trinke, und über Business rede.

Musik der Woche:

Ich habe eigentlich keine gehört. Ich war diese Woche sehr inspiriert.

Bücher diese Woche:

the creative career path - Andy J. Pizza Ein großartiges Buch für Kreative, in dem du löernst, wie du auf deinem kreativen weg Geld verdienen könntest

Middlegame - Seanon McGuire Ja, ich bin immer noch dabei und es ist gut! Wirklich sehr, sehr gut. Es begann ein bisschen langsam, aber jetzt bin ich besessen und ich hab gesehen, dass es eine Serie ist, auf die ich mich mehr freuen kann. Eine eindeutige und absolute Empfehlung!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join me today while a I drink a Friday night beer and talk about business. 

Music of the week:
I actually didn't listen to any. I was way to inspired this week. 

Books this week:
The Creative Career Path - Andy J. Pizza  Awesome liitle book for creatives to learn about making money on their career path
Middlegame - Seanon McGuire Yes I am still on it and it is good! Really really good. It started a bit slow but now I am obsessed and I saw it is a series so more to look forward to as. A definite and absolute recommendation!
 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one is fun and quirky and worth a listen because I am finally over the Instagram topic and can move on to something new. 

What I listened to last week: 

Top 50: The Breeders - Last Splash - I do not like this one at all.
New Album: Valerie June - The Order of Time Love this album. Her voice, the music. Listened to it over and over again. 

Books I am reading: 

Against Creativity - Oli Mould  I am currently reading this and it is quite insightful. A different perspective and what we perceive to be creative. I give you an update when i am finished. 

Middle Game - Seanan McGuire I am only 8% in and i find it quite intriguing. It is this alchemist mystery thing that plays a bit with time jumps and quotes and letters. I kinda like it till now but it is abit harder to read to what I am used to. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Was Ich letzte Woche gehört habe: 

Top 50: The Breeders - Last Splash - Ich mag diesen überhaupt nicht.
New Album: Valerie June - The Order of Time Ich liebe dieses Album. Ihre Stimme, die Musik. Habe es immer und immer wieder gehört.

Bücher die ich lese: 

Against Creativity - Oli Mould  Ich lese das gerade und es ist ziemlich aufschlussreich. Eine andere Perspektive und das, was wir als kreativ empfinden. Ich gebe dir ein Update, wenn ich fertig bin.

Middle Game - Seanan McGuire Ich bin nur zu 8% dabei und finde es ziemlich faszinierend. Es ist dieses alchemistische Mysterium, das ein bisschen mit Zeitsprüngen, Zitaten und Briefen spielt. Ich mag es bis jetzt, aber es ist etwas schwieriger zu lesen, als was ich gewohnt bin.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wie ich mit dieser Instagram-Entgiftung kämpfe und verzweifelt nach der Insta-Aufmerksamkeit suche und wie ich lerne, meine Inspiration zu verlagern und sie aus Quellen zu beziehen, die tatsächlich inspirierend sind. Und natürlich die neuesten Nachrichten darüber, wo wir gerade sind und wie das Wetter so  ist 😆

Links die ich erwähne: 

Camper Nomads
The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women 
Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time 

Alben der letzten Woche: 

Ich konnte mich doch nicht entscheiden, deswegen gibts jetzt die beiden Tops und ein neues Album das ich noch nie gehört habe. 

Top 150: 150. The Roches - The Roches (Warner Bros., 1979)
Top Rock 50: 50. Alanis Morissette- Jagged Little Pill (Maverick, 1995)
New Music: Anna Aaron - Heart of Darkness (Radicalis Music, 2020) 

Folge der Women of Music - Stories by Andrea Playlist. 

Bücher der letzten Woche:

Hold Back the Tide - Melinda Salisbury  : Es ist nicht so gut, aber unterhaltsam, wenn du nichts anderes zu lesen hast. Psst: Es geht um Vampire, aber in einer einfachen Form

Ruin and Rising (Grisha 3) - Leigh Bardugo : Die ganze Serie ist ganz gut zum lesen und schön geschrieben. Es gibt Grischas (Hexen und Hexenmeister) und Ritter und Liebesgeschichten. Aber alles geschrieben aus der Perspektive einer Frau, und eine Frau ist auch noch die Hauptfigur!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BTW: The Podcast is also available in German! Simply wait for the next post. 

Links I mention: 

Camper Nomads
The 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women 
Women Who Rock: The 50 Greatest Albums of All Time 

What I listened to last week: 

I couldn't make up my mind, so now there are the two top charts  and one new album, that I have never heard before. 

Top 150: 150. The Roches - The Roches (Warner Bros., 1979)
Top Rock 50: 50. Alanis Morissette- Jagged Little Pill (Maverick, 1995)
New Music: Anna Aaron - Heart of Darkness (Radicalis Music, 2020) 

Follow my Women of Music - Stories by Andrea Playlist. 

What I read last week:

Hold Back the Tide - Melinda Salisbury  : It's not that good but entertaining if you have nothing else to read. Psst: It's about Vampires but in a simple form. 

Ruin and Rising (Grisha 3) - Leigh Bardugo : The whole series is wroth a read and quit nicely written. There are Grisha's (Witches and Warlocks) and Knights and Lovestories. But all written from the perspective of a women, with a women being the leading character. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links mentioned:

Frauenland Magazin 

Step Out Podcast 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Things I mentioned: 

Jaron Lanier - Ten Arguments to delete your social media accounts right now. 

Pride Special Blogpost 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sidenote for listeners: The image you see is the second bike. 

Quick update: I will be publishing the podcast new on Saturday mornings because I feel that the week is a bit disturbed by the Wednesday/Thursday publishing day and it feels more natural to update you in a week per week basis at the end of the week.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links I'm mentioning:

Blogarticle - How I prepared for leaving social media. 

Request you data from Facebook 

Dear Girlboss, we are done (affiliate link: no price change for you and some tiny coin for me)

Ello - The creators Network 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I bought courses that would explain how to get More engagement, turn my followers into fans and raise my overall appearance in front of my crowd. I learned that having a constant stream of stories is the right way to go so I showed my self and my life everyday all while engaging with my fans and posting new work.  I learned to use the interaction button, do polls and build story lines. I learned how to tag the right way, use the right hashtags and write captions that inspire. I estimate today that I spent about 1 - 2 hours a day on marketing myself on instagram and that does not include the browsing yet and checking out what others do. 

I had about 7000 followers wich were constantly growing and I started to also finally see some turnaround with sales on my website. I was at the top of my game!  

Then something happened. 

From one day to another I was not able to log into my account. I was hacked and the hacker threw me out of the account, charged my PayPal for ads and then Facebook noticed my account and threw me out. If it was because of the hacker or because I had illustrated nipples in my art I will never know.  -> You can read more about this here.

I suddenly was out of the game. Months of work to grow my account, all those contacts, all my strategies suddenly worthless. I was shocked and did not understand the whole impact yet. 

But there was also another feeling I recognized: Relief. 

I was on a forced break and I as much as I was devastated by the loss of my one and only marketing tool I was also so relieved that I did not have to continue doing my one hour insta routine any more. 

So there it was. That emotion. I tried to ignore it hard! After a week I opened a new Insta account. Added some work, tried to force myself to dive into my routine again and failed miserably. My whole body told me no.  I resisted hard. I love being in front of the camera. Sharing my art and my stories with my die hard fans but I was also resisting the routine and tools I had to implement to make sure there attention stays with me. 

So I took a deep breath and looked my resistance hard core in the eye and asked it: Why wouldn’t you want to restart your feed on instagram? 

My Resistance answered: 

1)  *Instagram failed you and I don’t trust it anymore.* 

If they did it once, they will do it again. And you are not the only account they delete or censored. More and more critical voices are censored and their accounts repeatedly disabled. Those are mostly images that showcase people and scenes that do not conform to what society sees as normal and are reported for it.   [Your Post Has Been Deleted – Censorship on Instagram | Vogue Italia](https://www.vogue.it/fotografia/article/your-post-has-been-deleted-censorship-on-instagram) Do you really want to play a role in the growth of a company that purposefully silences voices from your own community and communities you support? 

[Artists take stand against social media censorship | The Art Newspaper] 

2)  *How is you mental health doing?*

 The daily task of coming up with compelling content that your audience want’s to see influences your daily mood. You are constantly thinking about the next post and the next story.  What will drive the most traffic to your feed and to your new post is influencing your mental health. And it is not only that. You can’t stop yourself from visiting feeds of artists that are further ahead than you. From people that are where you would like to be. You scroll through the feed wich leads you regular feeling empty and disheartened. Why create if there are so many people who are better then you? [Social Media and Mental Health: Time for a Digital Detox? | Psychology Today] 

 Wich leads me to the next problem: 

3)  *Your work is suffering because of two reasons.* 

1. *Admit it! Sometimes you create art only for the feed.* The arts purpose on insta is to drive your audience to like that image. And therefore be seen and shared. So you create things consciously and unconsciously that you think people would like to see. This is not necessarily a choice. Your brain wants that dopamin hit so you will create what it tells you to to get that. 

2. *You’ll automatically copy what you see.*When your biggest input  is instagram or other social platforms  (and it automatically is when you look at it for more than an hour a day)  you will create art that is influenced by what you see on those platforms. It is really hard to avoid this when you are constantly bombarded by this. This Is proven by the simple fact that more and more illustrations and photos look so similar. Yes there was always the phenomenon of new artists copying established once to learn, but never before in history did we have so much bombardment of art that we can see every day.  [everything on instagram is starting to look the same: insta repeat proves it](https://www.designboom.com/art/instagram-photos-look-the-same-insta-repeat-07-30-2018/) I believe that it fundamentally changes your work and automatically makes you one of many instead of allowing your work to be truly unique.

4) *Does your work truly belong to you?*

 So not only do you give instagram a right to store your browsing history and store your data but it can also use your work whenever it pleases for any reason they like: 

[Do You Own The Content You Post To Instagram? Should You Watermark It? | by Mark Dalton | Mark Dalton | Medium] 

And not only Instagram. The biggest issue you faced when you were posting regular, were companies that used your work and reposted it to advertise their own products. Sometimes they asked, sometimes they didn’t. You loved when private people communities or online galleries share your work, but In the moment they make a profit of your work they have to pay you. At least in theory, in reality nobody ever does. Which brings me to the next point: 

5) *Is you work valued?* 

For years now artists and creators made content that is freely available for anyone. Just think about the many illustrations you solely created for the purpose on posting it on Instagram.  [Freeconomics — Why free content is bad | by Øyvind Hellenes | Mission One | Medium]  

Most of the times these illustrations made a a lot of likes but did not sell one single poster on my website. Why? Because why pay for it if you can get it for free? Of course there are a few people who manage to live from their art. But from my perspective you need to have at least 100 000 followers to make that happen, if you ever reach that peak wich is getting harder and harder every day. In the meantime you create more free content that is not valued for its time and energy that was put it. It’s a simple a brief moment in somebodies feed that is maybe, just maybe appreciated with a like and even more rarely with a follow. Does that make your art valued?

6) Facebook uses your data to pay itself but who pays you?

With the daily browsing you give away all you data to a company that sells it to 3rd parties like companies, stores, small business and basically everyone who makes an add on their platform. They are making money off you but who pays you? Definitely not the platform! So either you work with a company that sponsors your posts, selling their product to there fans or it is the fan that turns into a customer if they decide to buy something from you that you created, right? And at what cost? Your fan, follower and customer need to put themselves in the same hamster wheel that you are in, seeing advertisements for things they don’t need and compare themselves to others and occasionally feel inspired if the algorithms allows them to be. Is that really the most sustainable way to connect to your fans? 

So that’s the moment where I jump in and tell my resistance :
But what about all the possibilities and opportunities for creators to connect and make an income?

The resistance answers: 

Of course there is an amazing world of people on these platform that you can connect with and share your thoughts. It helped you so much to see body liberated women and a diverse queer community to be ok with your own body and sexuality. It was amazing to be inspired by other artists and connect with them through these platforms. 

Social Media in itself is not evil!

But the tool and algorithms it uses nowadays to make money have such a negative impact that I ask you if it is worth it. If it is worth the attention and the pressure on your mental health. If it is worth your creativity and freedom of expression?

When social media started it was a perfect gateway to feature yourself as an artist and to get recognized and shared but ultimately nowadays it grew to be a fraud. It is only designed to truly make an impact for the social media company itself everything else is only a convenient byproduct.  But for most creatives this system does not work anymore and it makes you even more lonely, burned out and poor than you might be without it. I don’t say let’s all leave it. But I believe we need to change the assumption that good content can be free and start charging for what it is worth. That is a true connection and  an exchange that will lead to higher quality art and content for the people who are brave enough to make that step. [The Creative System Is Broken — Together Let’s Put Creativity over Everything | Patreon Blog]

So the resistance asks:  What will you do?

And I have decided. I am not going to put you aside and I will listen. Currently the negative impacts outweigh all the positive once. As much as I love each individual person I met on Instagram, I believe there are others ways in which I can stay in touch with them and they with me, Social Media can’t be the only way for an artist and I want to find out wich other ways there are.

Starting by quitting Social Media till the end of 2020. And if it works out maybe forever.

This is an experiment in wich I will try to find other ways of connecting and making an income that do not include social media in its classical form so Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, Snapchat and Twitter. I will be talking about my experience, how I will be doing it and what steps I am taking on this blog and on here on Patreon. 

I don't need to tell you anymore who awesome this Platform is! 

I believe in it a lot simply because it think if we want to create fair social networks there is just one way: paying for it yourself, and therefore choosing what you see and when you see it like a movie, a newspaper, a magazine or an art piece. 

I will share more about my first steps towards leaving social media in my next podcast and in a blogpost soon.

What is your experience with Social Media? 

Would you leave if you have the chance?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I also talk about the details of my SEO strategy and how I implemented it on my website so far. And I share my thoughts about Instagram and why I am still hesitant of starting it fully. 

Links I share:

Wix SEO 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Links I mentioned: 

Beyerdynamic Headphones (This is an affiliate link, but has nothing to do with my opinion about these. I simply love these headphones and I love taking away from the big cooperations 😚)

Full Body Yes 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I also talk about the difficulties of niching down and how I plan to balance between showing me and the things i am passionate about and making an impact in other peoples lifes and creative businesses. 

Links I talk about:

1000 True Fans 

Tim Ferris - 4-hour Workweek 

Sorelle Amore 

Sunny Leonarduzzi - Rethinking Social Media 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I also share how the BodyStori.es are evolving and what I am planning to do with this new project. 

Links I mention:

BodyStori.es  

New Instagram 

Andrea new Blog (in german and english)

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I also talk about email marketing and the importance of not relying on social media. 

A quick update that was not in the episode because it just happened right now:  It is confirmed. I was hacked and my Facebook Ads account was used to pay Ads that I did not post. So not only is my Facebook and Insta gone, some of my money is too. Working on that right now. Stay tuned. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a very short one and I am so sorry about being late and being short. I promise I make it up to you with some deeper insights in this week. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I also talk about the developments in the Body Stories Project and some exciting future plants for art pieces, all about ..... (for that you need to listen in 😘). 

Hear you there!

Links from the podcast: 

https://www.bodystori.es/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I also talk about choosing the right language as the main language for your business and the two top tips I heard about that issue. And of course wich version I went for. 

And to finish up there are some tips around social media and especially stories that might help you on your journey with Instagram. 

Things I mentioned in the Podcast: 

My new bilingual website 

Book Tip: The War of Art 

The Body Stories Insta with absolutely nothing on it yet 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I also share details about the evolution of my art. How I tried so many things and how I finally feel like I settled into a style that I am confident and proud of. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I will also share more details about the Body Story Project that I am working on. (Pssst: I am revealing maybe one or two guests) And how it is going at the moment. ❤️

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.