Digital Author: Brigit Esselmont
What many entrepreneurs do not realize is how important it is to consider yourself a digital author to reach potential clients and build a community around your brand.
In today’s world, people research companies online before they buy. Having a voice on the right search engines and social media platforms is vital. Creating this voice makes you a digital author, even if you never considered yourself one before. For the Digital Authorship class (EDC 534), I was asked to analyze a digital author, and I wanted to choose one that was in the same wheel house as my own business.
Preparation
First, the preparation stage. I looked through all of my favorite tarot and intuition influencers on Instagram. I considered artists, writers, podcasters, and coaches. I took in all of the cultural capital at my disposal, and spent some time sitting in this web of ideas, before deciding what I wanted to focus on.
Incubation
Then, the incubation stage. I put my list of ideas away for a few days and gave it a rest before making the first set of decisions. I still interacted with social media as I normally would, but I tried not to think too much about the project or how I would create content for the assignment.
Next, I sat down with my list of ideas, and it was clear who I should choose for this project: Brigit Esselmont, author and founder of Biddy Tarot. I use her website often, especially for her interpretations and meanings of each different tarot card. Sometimes I send links to her site to my clients.
I started researching her, and brainstorming about the video I would create. More than once, I thought, “maybe this isn’t the best choice.” Maybe I should go with this other person I had considered. Someone more local, more famous, or more artistic. How on earth would I relate Biddy Tarot to the class material?
Illumination
Then, the illumination stage struck, as I uncovered one particular insight that let me know I was on the right path. I found a podcast by Brigit in 2018, where she opened up about her own creative process, and it aligned perfectly with what we were discussing in the class. She specifically mentioned her “state of flow” as a business owner.
We start the creative process from a place of inspiration, and we create a channel for our voice to flow. But at some point, the activity can become reduced to just checking off boxes. Which is really how a business ought to be run; you need to get things done and out on time. But the creative process doesn’t always work that way. Brigit spoke about having the wisdom to know when a project has run its course. She refers to this moment as, “having the courage to step into the void,” without knowing what you will do instead.
Verification
From there, I reached a state of flow. Choosing visuals and recording the screencast had the momentum of a snowball, and the doubts were completely gone. I analyzed my creative production in relation to my original goals and objectives for the assignment. The last stage, verification, was met with satisfaction.
My video of Digital Author, Brigit Esselmont
Sources
Esselmont, Brigit. “BTP146: What’s Next for the Biddy Tarot Podcast?” The Biddy Tarot Podcast: Tarot Intuition Empowerment, season 1, episode 146, Spotify, Oct. 2018.
HOBBS, Renee. Create to Learn. Hoboken, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2017.
“How To Build a Creative Style Online (And In Real Life).” Performance by Anna Rothschild, PBS Nerd Night, 18 Nov. 2016, https://youtu.be/wOzUBt7Gw-I.
“Online Tarot Courses and Tarot Card Meanings.” Biddy Tarot, Brigit Esselmond, 1 Dec. 2020, www.biddytarot.com/.
