In a world of digital media, why would I start a magazine? What's the point? Isn't that a dead form of media? Well, if you are a fellow small business owner you might also be feeling some of the same shifts that I have been in this world of social media, AI, algorithms, and pay to post advertising, and will understand the reasons behind the need to find a new way of connecting and bringing our communities together, without restriction.
When I started my business Forest Spirit Jewelry in 2011, Facebook and other social media platforms were different beasts. People started small pages, shared their creativity, supported other creators, and built wonderful connections of community with like-minded others. It was a bit of a golden age of social media when it felt like we were all creating something wonderful together.
Then the social media companies seemed to get savvy to how great it was and sold it to larger companies. We started to see huge corporations get Facebook pages and the demand for space on people's feeds became hot property. Advertising and promotion-fuelled algorithmic feeds started to pollute our experience. It really hit us small creators hard. We don't have the money to advertise. Our communities are small, but they are becoming disconnected because of the influence of advertising restrictions. We create and create and feel like we are screaming into the void as our engagement went from hundreds to handfuls.
So what do we do? Do we quit and get a waged job instead? Do we succumb and pay for their overpriced advertising so that we can pick at the scraps left behind? No. We're going to flip this table and use our creativity to make something new. That is what this magazine is about. It's a rebellion. It's a call to action. It's a resistance movement against the forces that are trying to restrict us and get us to pay for our own existence. We have a right to communicate with our people. We will find a way to foster our connections and deepen our interactions.
The Australian nature spirituality community, and broader international community is vibrant and intelligent. It's creative and adaptive and we are very good at rejecting the status quo. We are also deeply supportive of each other. We know each other and want each other to succeed. When one of us succeeds we all succeed.
Our community is full of teachers, artists, creators, writers, healers, event hosts, guides and more. Our businesses are made for each other to live a life that thrives through the products and services we share. We are small businesses and individuals creating magic for our people. That is who this magazine is about.
We also have stories to tell, ideas to share and a way forward to forge. These ideas need to be shared and learned about by the people who want to read about them. This magazine is about supporting learning and connection, getting people together and helping one another to live the most magical life we can.
So I invite you to be a part of the adventure. The magazine is shared for free. If you have a business, product, service, event, course, experience or idea you would like to share with the community, we want you to contribute. Advertising in the magazine is free with a 500 word article contribution. Event and community group listings are free. This is community creating for community and supporting community. We add value to each others lives out of love and connection, and we sidestep the greed of social media companies in their attempts to control our connections.
The magazine can become a space where we can share freely and see our community come together to support one another, without the feed being full of mega corporations vying for our attention when we are just not interested. Let's try something different and reimagine what a magazine can be today.
That's what it's about! I hope you enjoy having a read of our first issue, and I hope you will have a think about how you would like to get involved too. We're all in this together.
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