I recently attended a concert at the Barbican Arts Centre in London, concerning the life and times of Dame Ethel Smyth, a very neglected female composer (1858 to 1944).

From an early age Ethel Smyth wanted to be a composer,  but she faced many battles in order to achieve success in  her chosen profession.

Her first real battle was with her father, who did not like the idea of her studying music, as he did not regard it as a suitable career for a woman.

 

However, she was undaunted and persisted, until eventually her father relented and allowed her to study music in Leipzig, Germany.

 

This was the first of many battles that she had to fight in order to overcome male prejudice.

 

Overall, critical reaction to her work was mixed.

She was alternately praised and panned, for writing music that was considered too masculine for a “lady composer”, as critics called her.

Eugene Gates notes: “Smyth’s music was seldom evaluated as simply the work of a composer among composers, but as that of a “woman composer.”

This worked to keep her on the margins of the profession, and, coupled with the double standard of sexual aesthetics, also placed her in a double bind.

 

On the one hand, when she composed powerful, rhythmically vital music, it was said that her work lacked feminine charm; on the other, when she produced delicate, melodious compositions, she was accused of not measuring up to the artistic standards of her male colleagues.”

Smyth,s also became a suffragette and was a fan of Emmeline Pankhurst.

She composed “The March of the Women” that became the anthem and marching song of the Suffragette  movement.

Other critics were more favourable: “The composer is a learned musician: it is learning which gives her the power to express her natural inborn sense of humour.

Dr Smyth knows her Mozart and her Sullivan: she has learned how to write conversations in music… [The Boatswain’s Mate] is one of the merriest, most tuneful, and most delightful comic operas ever put on the stage.”

What we can learn from Ethel Smyth’s career path is that she never gave up, even when she was faced with premature deafness in her later years.

This is an inspirational story and parallels can be drawn when embarking on a Digital Lifestyle.

The path to success with Internet marketing, is often seldom a strait line, but a winding path with twists and turns, obstacles, critics and naysayers telling you to go back… you will never make it !

However, the determined ones, alway succeed and live to enjoy the fruits, rewards and freedom that a successful digital lifestyle brings.

As with Dr Smyth .. the lesson is to ‘never give up’, but to face the inevitable hurdles and obstacles, with grit and determination.

Now, if you are just starting out on your digital internet marketing journey, a good strategy is to start with affiliate marketing, where you can start earning income, whilst you are learning the ropes, figuring out your niche, style and long-term online strategy.

A great online tool that I have found to be very useful, and still use today, is:     The Megabook Affiliate Marketing programs.

It is jammed packed with over 500 high paying and high converting programs and will cost you, much less than a good night out and be many times, more rewarding.

To your successful digital lifestyle.

Professor T.