Showing posts with label 2019. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2019. Show all posts

Monday, January 6, 2020

Introductory to a new year and change


Hello, and welcome to 2020.  This post is in place of the Motivational Monday I usually have for a Monday post.  I will start back to regular Motivational Mondays next week.  There is so much to see and do in my life until I have to explain it along the way.  Before I get into today’s topic, let me revisit a few things:

2019 the year of mystery and misery…

Not true.  I will admit that I had a bad year, but who hasn’t.  I am going to tell you right now that as long as you are going to be alive, you are going to go through something.
2019 was a year of first-time losses in a very long time.  The last person I lost that was close in my family (meaning biological) was my grandmother.  This was 2003.  In 2019, I lost an aunt in Indianapolis, IN.  she just turned 84 in September.  She was my uncle’s wife, who is my mother’s brother.   The second person died Monday, December 30th.  She was my mother sister who lived in Bessemer, AL, she was 79. So, as my brother would tell me on the phone yesterday, it is starting.  My mother’s siblings are dying, but I do not look at it that way, as we are all dying.  We do not know when and how we are dying.  The moment that a baby takes its first breath, on second thought, when it is conceived, that baby is dying.  It may live to be born or not.  A friend of mines baby did that 6 years ago.  She died the moment she was born. Then again, that baby may live to be 100 years old or more.  It all depends on how it is taken care of by the parents and other caregivers, and how they decide to take care of themselves once they turn 18 years old.
Photos from Pixabay;
Arranged by P. Lynne Designs
(c) 2020
2019 was a year of self-discovery.  As I get older, I am learning what is tolerated by me, who I let into my life, and how I handle the situations that are thrown at me.  For instance, It has been a challenge to deal with my parents getting older, especially my mom.  She is holding on her own, but I feel that traveling is a challenge for me, rather I invite the family to come or not.
Back in May, I finally booked that Walt Disney World vacation I have been trying to get the family to go on for years since me, my parents, and my eldest nephew, who was 11 at the time, came back from Southern  That day in Anaheim was a blast.  While me, my mom, and nephew spend the day at Disneyland, my father, who is not a Disney fan spent time at a Dodger’s game.  Perfect timing. My brother nor sister did not go.  My sister could not go because my middle nephew was 3 months old and not cleared to fly.  My brother had to work.
California, and spending time in Temecula, Los Angeles, San Bernardino (where the family lived for 6 years), and Anaheim where Disneyland is located.
I decided to plan the Walt Disney World trip after the first of the year, 2010, but since then, things and situations had come up over the years, including my mother’s illness.  I had to continually cancel a booking after booking and even allowed Disney to cancel a couple for a lack of commitment on my part.  I made the announcement at the beginning of 2019 but kept putting it off.  This coupled with the opening of the Galaxy’s Edge in Disney's Hollywood Studios, which drew a lot of people, I did not want to be standing in long lines for one ride.  So, I booked for us to go from December 15-20, 2019, in a 3-bedroom Grand Villa at Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary Resort.  Everyone was excited, except dad, who I had to try to ask in a nice way if he wanted to go to Florida, which would automatically land him at Walt Disney World. Well, that did not pan so good.  I will mention in another blog post what happened (Hint- At Home with Tricia's Baskets)
It is little things like that which made me wonder if 2019 was a bad year, but really it was not.  No one has threatened me, threaten to take anything away from me, and so forth.  My health was pretty good. So I postponed one little trip?  A year is what you make it, good or bad.

Now finally for today’s topic 2020.

I want to take the last few moments to talk about this year 2020.

Business dealings 2019 and the coming 2020

I finally did it.  P. Lynne Designs is splitting up.  This is how that is going to happen.
P. Lynne Designs is going back to its roots.  I started this company as a creative company.  Creating stationery products such as greeting and note cards, invitations, business cards, bookmarkers, and anything related to them.  However, I am not going back to scrapbooking.  The reason is quite clear.  The industry itself has changed and has incorporated digital to its core lineup.  In the wake of Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tiktok, it is hard for me to keep up while handling these items and my other business.  If a person requests it, I will do one for them, but it is not going to be the main product of my business anymore.
Speaking of my other business.  I will admit that I have felt the loss of running two businesses.  Before it was being a Longaberger Home consultant (which is coming back in a new way for the moment via QVC), and P. Lynne Designs. It was fun doing the juggling act.  No, I will not be a consultant for another company.  Although it was fun, I was not getting commissions like I would want it too, because I had too few customers in comparison to other home consultants.  This has to do with my blogs and the freelance writing side of P. Lynne Designs. The new company is called The Writing Grove, and this is where I will take on clients who need something written for their business or personally.  I will also house the blogs, At Home with Tricia's Baskets and My Ambiance Life (which I am thinking about changing the name to The Writing Grove). The P. Lynne Designs blog will be with business, P. Lynne Designs.
There is a third business that will allow for affiliate marketing and content sponsorship, but it will serve both companies, so it is not an official company and it will not be registered with the State of Ohio.
Speaking of which, my name renewal for P. Lynne Designs is coming up in April, although I have up to that time to pay it, and I will be registering The Writing Grove at the same time.   Unless it has gone up, that is around $100 for both companies (or $50 each).

2020 personal

Lastly, my plans for me are simple.  I am finally going to try to adopt a child.  I know, dealing with a child and a business is going to be rough, but I am up for the challenge.  I also want to take home my friend’s babies.  I also hope to find a nice guy.  Yep, love life to which I currently do not have.

Photo by Annette Meyer from Pixabay
Personal buys I would like to make.  A new home and a new car.  About the new home, I have been talking about this since I moved out of my last apartment, which was 2002.  Yes, I live in this amazing condo that I did not intend to stay for more than 5 years, but it has been close to 20 years.  I want a home where I do not have to worry about stairs.  I want a larger kitchen, a dedicated room for my craftroom, which I will have in the current condo when my nephew and his girlfriend move out, but at the present moment, I have a corner in the dining area.  This is more than what the average crafter/business owner could ask for.  I also prefer not to share my garage space.  I am sharing mine with the neighbor upstairs, and sometimes they irritate me.  The other day, my nephew was unloading something from his car, and in the middle of his unloading, the neighbor’s father came down and closed the garage door, without asking.  I could not tell him to leave the garage door alone because my Spanish is rusty, and he does not speak English at all. Gone are the days when I could tell my neighbor to leave the garage door up.
As for the new car, I am currently driving a used 2008 Dodge Caliber.  This car was an emergency buy because I had an accident in 2015 with my 1998 Honda Accord.  This car was only supposed to get me through the fall and winter of 2015-16, but I elected to keep it for a while and shop for a car payment that I could handle.  For a while, I was dead set on getting a Honda CR-V, a year behind whatever current year.  So, if the current year is 2020, then I would get 2019.  Well, I rode in my friend’s car, and I could not help but think how big this car was.  I mean, the only thing riding with me would be my child (unless I get siblings), and my business, so I switched to an HR-V, which is much smaller, easier to handle, and it is still a Honda, plus it is the same size as my Caliber.  Next thing I knew after making the announcement that this is what I am going to purchase or lease, my father thinks that I am better off with a 2020 Hyundai Kona, like the one that one of the older ladies at my church drives.  I got irritated with that.  So, now, I am supposed to test drive both the Kona and the HR-V. My money is still on the HR-V, but I am open.  He also does not want me to lease, even though he has been leasing his cars for years.  OooKay?

2020 Blogs

I will tackle this in the next post.  I have spent too long talking about the other stuff, and I am close to the 2000 wordmark, which is a tip, this is actually small in comparison to what was the 1000 wordmark for most blog posts.  I will have the normal Motivational Mondays, only it will be on all three blogs.  My Ambiance Life blog, everything will be about the same for now.  I will mention on At Home with Tricia's Baskets what I am going to change on that blog, as well on the P. Lynne Designs blog as well.
Well, this is long and drawn out.  I hope I did not bore you.  I am really out to grab more readers and give you information on all things writing, creating blogs, journaling, and other things related, like planners.  This is going to be a fun year, I can tell.  Until then, check out the rest of my blog posts from 2019 and before.  May God bless you, and peace out.  


Friday, April 12, 2019

April 2019 Goals for Social Media

I want to increase my goals on my social media accounts.  It is almost every blogger and vlogger’s dreams.  The truth is goals are something I rarely share with my readers.  The reason is quite simple, really (in my broken British accent, which is slightly Americanized). Note:  Ah, the things that go on inside one’s head, LOL.
No, but seriously, let me give you a backstory. (per usual, short, but sweet)
I have been blogging for ten glorious but trying years.  I slowed down in 2015 but now I am picking back up.  I now want to make money from blogging.  For the sake of my family, I have to make money from this.  I was thinking about this a few years ago when I refused to play into the hype of disclosing how much money bloggers made in a month/year since becoming bloggers.
Lesson learned, and while I would never disclose my complete income, which is no one’s business but mine and my CPA when she does my taxes (just got them back today), I felt that I might offer a little inspiration on what programs I used in order to get to that point, where I can brag talk about it.  Someone may be struggling in that area.  So, without further ado, here are my goals for this month.  As you will see, I have listed the current total of viewers who follow me and what I want to increase the number by.
 
Instagram
Current Followers: 714
The goal for the month: 200 Needed (making it 914 followers by 4/30)
Instagram is a struggle for me.  The reason is I have a Samsung Note 4 smartphone, and a Mini IPad 3.  While that worked well in the past, I am finding that I need more memory to store pictures for the phone.  I also need a camera. Many experts say that you do not need a camera.  I can (with cooperation from Google Chrome-hate the other one) turn my desktop into a simulated phone for sharing photos from Google and my desktop on Instagram.  If you are not squeamish about diving into the back end of Google Chrome, here are the instructions:
  1. On the toolbar (it says Instagram, search, a little compass symbol, etc..) right click with your mouse button.
  2. Go to “inspect”. You will see HTML stuff.  Trust me, you do not need to touch it at all (Thank God)
  3. Right next to Icon with the screen and arrow, you will see an icon with a big screen/little screen.  Click on it.
  4. What this does is toggle it between from a full screen to looking similar to your phone screen.  It should have the plus sign (+) on it so you can add photos from your internal drive.  Keep the dialog box open while doing this.  I closed mine out, and now, either Instagram figured out what I was doing, or I have to watch the video I got it from again.
What do I place on my account:  So far, family and project pictures I am currently engaged into.
 Facebook
Current Friend/followers:  1,129 (1,063 friends and 63 followers)
Current My Ambiance Life Page: 52
Current P. Lynne Designs Page: 208
Current At Home with Tricia's Baskets page: 0
Current Simply Organized Crafts: 322
Total amount: 1,711 friends and followers
Goal:  500 no matter what they follow.
I am not so worried about my Facebook account.  It is nice and comfy, and almost just right, BUT, if I want Amazon or any other sponsor to look my way for an influencer’s account, that amount needs to be higher, much higher.  I do not have any tricks or tips on Facebook except, let go of the drama, mama. Whatever is going on in your home/work/school/church, needs to stay there. It used to be a time when the only time a person posted as to when something bad is happening in your location.  People thrived on drama.  They still do.  Do not contribute to it.
I am also confused by what Facebook considers friends vs. followers.  If you look at followers along, not too many people are following me, but when you factor in my friends and people who follow my business pages, I have a lot more than needed.  So my question that I need to find out is, “What are potential sponsors looking at, and what do I need to concentrate on.  More research needs to be conducted before I can give you the answer.
If you created your account to promote your business (and by all means, please do), note that Facebook does not take too kindly on the likes of too much promotion, or you may find yourself in Facebook jail. Yes, that is a real term.
What do I place on my account:  I post on each of my pages the current post from each blog, except P. Lynne Designs.  For that page, I post on how I am coming with the website.  Once I am finished with that, I will do the same for each blog.  By the way, each blog has a new domain name, but I will not reveal until it is time to launch it.
Twitter
Current followers: 1,683
Goal: 500
My Twitter is in the same boat as my Facebook account.  I can always use some work on it.  The truth of the matter is whenever I post to Facebook or I post to Twitter, the opposite get the post as well. I set it up like that when I first got both accounts, even though they are not owned by the same company.  I wish it was like that for Facebook and Instagram. I can post something from Instagram to Facebook, but I cannot post from Facebook to Instagram, and they are from the same company.
I treat my Twitter account like my Facebook account with a little more caution:  I still think in 140 characters.  I write the most important stuff on the post and cut out the fluff.  I was glad when Twitter stopped counting the URL as part of the post.  It makes posting better and faster. Here is another tip:  not too many Millennials have a Twitter or Facebook account. So, if you want to reach them, Try Instagram.
Linked-In
Current followers: 358
Goal: 500
The goal here is different.  Why?  Because as you see by the numbers, it is lower than Instagram.  I am not on LinkedIn as much as I should.  LinkedIn is more of a business network social media platform than the others.  When it first started, it was made for business-minded people.  You are not going to get your friends and relatives to subscribe to LinkedIn because that is not where the gossip is at unless you like hearing about Amazon and Apple’s business practices.
So, if you are looking to network with LinkedIn, keep in mind that you are dealing with business people.
Blogs
Current Follows:  9
Goal: 500

Current Follows: 158
Goal: 500

Current Follows: 9
Goal: 500

Even though all 3 have different audiences, I lumped them together, just because they are all blogs, and they belong to me.  All the goals are the same.  I am having problems with consistency at the moment, which I am having the same problem with my YouTube channel.  More on that when I get to it.
Consistency
When you have blogs, it is important that you tell your audience when they expect to have a new post.  This usually comes in the form of a newsletter.  So now you are asking yourself, “Why is she telling me this when she has a hard time keeping up with consistency?”  Consistency with blogging is different than consistency with having a YouTube or Venmo Channel, but they are one and the same.  Both blogging and vlogging take up the same time which involves planning, editing, and publishing.
What do I publish:  For P. Lynne Designs, it is about my handmade products, reviews, and tutorials.  Every once in a while, it is about my experiences as a crafter and freelance person.  At Home with Tricia's Baskets, it is about family, home life, and travel.  Sometimes it is about organizing your home, places to visit, reviews on those same places and products. Lastly, for My Ambiance Life, It is about writing, working from home, journaling, learning how to blog, and social media. 
Vlogging (Video publishing)- YouTube
Current Subscribers:  170
Goal: Working up to 1,000
P. Lynne Designs (no videos)
Current Subscribers: 0
Goal:  working up to 1,000
I have been vlogging for about 7 years.  At first, I did not care if a video went up or not.  That was not my goal.  Then, I started seeing what video could do for your business, and I was hooked.  I think it was a family vlog I was watching, and I was thinking to myself, “hey if they can stay consistent, so can I.” OK, different lifestyles different goals, but it does work if you let it.
I must admit that I have 2 videos waiting for me to edit and publish.  Editing is not hard, but it is time-consuming.  You have to listen to what your tone should be towards your audience, cut out the crap, separate the audio, add music, upload to YouTube (or Venmo), edit some more, including adding the description, and you are done. 
One tip I do need to add when editing:  find yourself a good editing software.  Be willing to pay for it.  For a couple of years, I wanted the editing software that was sweeping the nation, but it is only for the Mac.  I cannot think of it at the moment.  Someone told me there was a Windows version of the software, but the site only pointed to my software that had some features as the version for the Mac.  I tried Premiere Pro, Photoshop, and a couple of software that were not to my liking. Yes, in a pinch, you can edit videos in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, programs I already had on my computer.  I also had Windows Movie Maker, which also sucked.  I tried Filmore9 (not Sponsored) and loved it, but when I uploaded my first video using the software, it put this big ad in the middle of my face and covered my mouth so if a deaf person were to listen to my video, they could not.  I want to make my videos friendly to all. Yes, they could CC on the video, but If they do not have to, it should come to that.
So, now, I paid an annual fee of $39 to remove the ad from my videos, and I am happier now, then when I was editing my videos with WMM.  I still get the same features as before, so for now, I am sticking to the software.
So, these are my goals for April.  I do have affiliates, which I did not mention in this post, but maybe I will mention in my next blog post for next Friday.  
For today, I sprinkled little takeaways throughout the blog, so I hope you caught them.  Be sure to subscribe to one or all of the places you can find me.  Also, If you have any questions or comments, please list them below, as well as on some of my social media profiles.  You can also reach me at plogan721@att.net.

Until then, have a great week, and God bless you.

Monday, October 15, 2018

Motivational Monday Goal Setting 2018

Let me ask you a couple questions:  Are there any things or quests that you want to do in your lifetime?  Do you have a bucket list?  If this is you, stay tuned as I try to answer these questions personally.
I have visited this topic several times between two blogs, this one, and Simply Organized Crafts, which merged with Tricia’s Baskets to form a new blog called At Home with Tricia's Baskets.  One particular system that has to do with goal setting is called SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-based).  I wish I had transferred it from Simply Organized Crafts before taking the blog down last year.  It really had some good, valuable tips on how to manage your goals.
Before I dive into how to set your goals the easy way, which incorporates some of the tools from SMART, only in condensed form, I would love to give you my goals for the rest of the year.  We have 78 more days to make this the best year and to complete goals.  It is around this time when I start reflecting on my goals for 2018 and start planning for 2019.  I make three lists; one is for personal, one for financial, and one for business.  The financial goals are split between personal and business, which is another way to say this is my budget. I have failed my budget for every year including 2018, but the goal is to make and keep a 2019 personal and business budget.  I will go in depth with my budget goals on my At Home with Tricia's Baskets blog.
Personal goals
I am going to confess a little bit, I have not been very kind to myself lately.  This is entirely my fault.  I have let situations, people, and other things consume my well-being. Most of us do that.  It comes with the nature of the things around us.  As humans, we want what is best for others, but never ourselves.  We are supposed to, but we also cannot be our best selves if we do not take care of ourselves.  I do not get enough sleep, especially lately, and it comes with health issues of both my parents, who have entered the elderly stage in their life.  I also did not expect my nephew to still be living here, and sometimes it has come with some tense moments that have recently worked itself out. Also, there is a pet involved.  Do not read this into my complaints, but when you are used to your house being a certain way, and your life up to a point being a certain way, then you have to learn how to adjust accordingly, and the last 5 weeks, I have not adjusted as well as I should.
For that reason, I have one personal goal, take care of myself, while taking care of others.  Call it a timeout session.  Last week, I found a new place and a new relaxation technique, called floating.  It is supposed to be meditative, which I plan on using it for.  You get in a pod filled with water, which contains enough sodium to allow you to float.  Before I hear the naysayers, yes it is supposed to be therapeutic, you can clear your mind, and s a Christian, yes, I will be praying for guidance, and most of all, relax.  Some of you are asking, “why can’t you buy salt, put it in your bathtub, and float that way.  Two things; (1) the distraction of the things and people in the house and (2) we only have one tub, and if someone needs to use it, I may not have the time to float like they are instructing me too.  Besides that, I am not a swimmer, and there are people there who can help me.  I can close the lid if I want to, and the music is a nice touch.  The woman who I talked to last week was very helpful with my questions. 
Part of taking care of myself means also taking care of my finances.  It means also to say “no” which I have a hard time doing.  This is what I am focusing on for the rest of 2018.  
Business goals
Business goals are a lot harder.  Why?  Because you are taking care of something that is part of you, but it is a separate part of you.  I have not been kind to it either.  There are three parts of a business; (1) physical product or service (2) Finances, including taxes and (3) Customer service.  Let’s just say I have been neglectful in parts of all three.
Some goals I have are:
  • Learn all I can.  This means any free or low-cost classes I can take to enhance the products and services, and financial service programs and resources that my business can take part in.
  • Apply all I can.  Once I learn of these techniques, implement these services that have been detailed towards my business.  Provide the products in a new way that can best serve the customer.  Also, offer the best customer service to the customer so they will return to my business.  I do not want a revolving door business.
  • Teach all I can.  This is in the form of classes, not only in my blogs, but I want to do some local classes too.  I can also educate the customer while servicing them.  I can also teach in my blog posts like I am doing now.
These are some of my goals for 2019 as well.  So, the goals I gave you as an example, which are also true to me, can be on-going as well.
Can I change goals?
Why of course you can, especially if you find that they are not working.  These are not plans.  Plans are different, from a Christian point of view, are changeable because I believe that God has a sense of humor, and God also laughs.  From that stance, he laughs every time you make plans, especially plans that are supposed to change your life, forever.
Goals can be broken
Do not be disappointed if you do not make your short-term goals.  Accomplish what you can of your long-term goals as well.  For instance, if you have a goal of a well-functioning craft room.  You have worked out all the details, except buying and getting rid of major pieces (i.e. furniture) and choosing the paint color.  You know where you are going to put items, You have a deadline, and everything is set to go.  All of a sudden, life gets in the way and your money has to go for other things, such as bills, and other expenses are more important than your craft room.  Do what you can to the room, and when it comes to buying everything, take the time to do it then.  This is what has happened to me.  Another thing in the goal setting plans was to take a trip with all family members to Walt Disney World. This goal was set to take place in 2010, and 8 years later, we have not gone.  I have taken a cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines since that time. I have learned to pick up both goals at a later time as well as being a first-time homeowner and being a mom to a daughter I have not giving birth to (adoption).
In these cases, never make anything big a short-term goal (less than 5 years).  Make them long-term goals (complete in 5 years or more).
Nuggets of information:
I love the SMART system for goal setting.  Remember to be specific about your goals.  Make them meaningful. Make sure you can attain this goal and realistic.  Finally, track your goals to see how you are coming along. Use a notebook to keep track of time. Do not get upset if you have not completed the goal but celebrate what you have done.  A tip I have is when you have complete part of the goal, turn the rest into a new goal or re-work the goal into smaller chunks.  There is a saying:  How do you eat an elephant?  One bit at a time.  Reward yourself when the whole task is completed.  Let others know about the goal and accept help when needed. 
I have one more goal that I want to mention that is personal and one that is business:  The personal one is to be more intentional with God and my faith.  The business one is to be consistent with my blogs and social media.  More on those goals in the new year, but I thought I would mention them now.

Have a blessed day, and God Bless you.