Goals for May 2019

Today, I am going to talk about my goals for this month, May 2019.

For those of you who are first-timers to my blog, I am displaying my goals as a way of being accountable with myself and to others.

Now some people do not care to hear about other people’s goals, but on this Motivation Monday, I feel that if I can work on my goals, so can you. So if this is not for you, please skip this blog.  I am finding more and more bloggers are saying that, and it is perfectly ok to skip.  Not everything I talk about on my blogs is going to be for everyone, but I try to reach the majority of people.

There is another reason:

I am not going to spend too much time on this, but, as an influencer, it is important to be able to influence people.  Influencing includes anything that I do for my individual blog, to my Instagram and other social media accounts, to anything that a sponsor wants me to do for them.  What I love about being one is when it comes to sponsored posts, I can pick and choose what I want to talk about, but at the same time, there are certain requirements I need to meet in order to be effective.  So, with that, my goals are as follows:

·         Social Media:  Instead of targeting all of my accounts at once, I decided to concentrate heavily on one account, while still working on the others.  You always need to work on these accounts if you are an influencer.  Why? Because when sponsors see your numbers, they will ask for you specifically.  You also do not have to pitch as hard to get them to see you.  This does not mean that the moment they see 1000 followers on your account, sponsors are going to immediately fall in love with you and your content.  There are other things to consider because what you have to offer still may not be a good fit for you or the sponsor.

o   Instagram.  Last Month (April): 714.  This month: 750 Up by 36 new followers.  I was working on Instagram because this social media platform is quickly growing in general.  People are starting to share more pictures.  Sponsors love it because the influencer can show their product in action, through photos and video.  By the way, I shared my first video.  It was a happy accident because it was an accident.  I am not the person who likes her cat niece hanging around craft tools in their working position.  I was working on a bookmark project, and while trying to watch out for Gizmo and loading paper into my Cricut machine.  Hit “go” on the machine and the mat went one way, the paper when another way.  I tried to hit pause and got a nasty paper jam.  It took an hour to clear it, and while doing so, I am posting to my Cricut groups about it, looking up on YouTube and Google on how to clear it.  Finally, customer service said to email and upload a video.  Well, after taking a craft knife and a small kitchen knife to it, I got the paper jam free.  Later on, I decided to upload to Instagram, and VOLIA, I got 20 likes, 10 more followers, and a comment, my first comment.  I have comments about that later on.

o   Facebook:  No change except I added one person.

o   Twitter: (April) 1,683 This month: 1,679 Humm, I lost a couple.  Just to know I am still trying to figure out both Facebook and Twitter, and they were the first social media I joined.

o   LinkedIn: (April) 358, this month: 362.  I gained 4 followers.  Consider that this is the account that I will probably work on next month.

Notice, I never mentioned Pinterest in this month’s report or last month’s report.  Guess what?  This is the social media account that needs no help at all.  I am also not mentioning YouTube, not for the same reason, but I want it to grow organically, mentioning the channel in my blog posts, on YouTube growth groups on Facebook, and so forth. 

I am also not mentioning my other blogs for this month.  I am still working on getting them to the WordPress platform.  I have the basic bones of the sites, such as securing them because Lord knows that I do not want another disaster like my first P. Lynne Designs website.  (May she rest in peace for the moment). This will come in the form of individual reports in the coming days.

As for My Ambiance Life, As I told you, the new address is going to be http://patriciallogan.com (please do not go to this URL as of yet), and the security is set.  As soon as I get finished with P. Lynne Designs, the new one, I will start the backend of this new site.  Hopefully, it is this week and if not, Next week.  Things got a little bit behind because of life and I was working on some bookmarks for Mother’s day.  My goals are to be completely finished and ready to roll out some posts for WP My Ambiance Life within the next couple of weeks.  I will keep this one up, which I am calling Blogger My Ambiance Life, for about a year, so that anyone who is currently subscribed to this blog can find their way over to WP My Ambiance Life.  I will have links to each blog on the other blog’s site.  So does that means I will have 6 blogs?  No, it means I will still have 3 blogs, with 3 blogs as archived (older) blog posts.

Well, that is it for today’s post.  The Takeaway for today is:

1.       Do not be afraid of telling anyone your goals for the month.  At the beginning of the post, I mentioned that not everyone will be in turn with what you are trying to achieve, and not everyone should read what your goals are.  I am making mine public in case someone is thinking about doing goal setting this way. 

2.      Do write it down somewhere is this is not public information. By the way, it is, if you know how to look up stats.  Anyone can go to a free website, such as Alexa (not the AI from Amazon) and pull up stats on a website.  Alexa is not totally free, but there are some features that require a pro account.

3.      Have some idea on why you want to keep track of your website stats (such as growing your account for fun or work-related). Do not pull up your websites and social media stats if it means nothing to you.

4.      Finally, if you do want to increase your following, you need to engage.  What do I mean? You need to do the following:

o   Post content.  Not just any content.  Post content with a purpose.  That 5-minute clip I posted of me having problems with the jammed paper was meant for a customer service rep at Cricut, but it turned into a “you can have this problem too” moment.  I will be posting more short video clips in my Instagram now that I know how to do it.

o   Answer all comments.  Let me rephrase that.  Answer all comments that make sense.  Now, all comments are going to be related to your post.  I go be the “read and move on” approach.  If someone is cursing at you and making threats of any kind, report them, ASAP.

o   Comment on almost everything you read.  Again, some content is not worth the reply.  If you enjoy that person’s post, at least say that.  It helps them to know that you at least clicked the link to read it.  I usually replay with TFS (Thanks for Sharing) or Enjoyed your post.  If I have something further to say, I will say it at that time.  If I did not enjoy it, I move on.  Also, please like it and share when you can.

o   Finally, subscribe back if someone subscribes to you, or at least check out their profile.  If they have at least 2 things in common, and they go by your values and beliefs, sub anyway.  If not, some people go by the “sub for sub” rule.

Well, I am finally finished. Have a great day, you are more then enough, and God bless you.

Sharing is caring-the Facebook Edition

This is a Facebook post that I finished writing, and the beginning of my many changes for this blog, Sometimes, I may not feel like writing a whole blog post to get my point across. Sometimes it is those little nuggets of time that concludes a topic and the points made to drive it home. Overall, these changes I am making for my blogs are a long time coming, based on the fact that I have been blogging for 10 years and 4 months (but who is counting: Oh I am, LOL).

So does that mean you will see me posting more? Yes, it does, but I do not have a new schedule to publish yet. right now, as I get ready to switch this blog over to WordPress, the schedule is the current schedule, and I apologize for that. My website for P. Lynne Designs is almost finished, and so far, the launch date is still May 1st, not in time for Mother's day, but in time for me to become busier. Anyway, enjoy today's post, and if you are not following me on Facebook, please do. The page is the same as this blog, which is My Ambience Life.

I am trying to engage with my social media accounts more. I cannot say it is the easiest thing I have done. It takes work, dedication, and sheer will to do this, but I feel like it can be done.

Instagram and Facebook are today’s candidates. For Instagram, I signed up for platforms that will help me get this account from the current stats of 727 followers to 1000 follows. I have 273 more to go. I want them to be authentic and natural and no fakers. If you like what you see from my phone, wait there are more to come.

The major problem I am having is my phone. It is old, 2015 old. Now for some, it is the old, “so, what’s the problem?” Nothing, except companies who sponsor want the clearest, crisp photos from an influencer. The “dot all “I” s and cross all “T” s syndrome”. This is my term, not anyone else. Oh, it’s okay, I do not mind this type of requirement, it keeps me fresh on my equipment, and helps me look out for the latest thing without breaking the bank. For the moment while I'm a greenhorn at being an influencer, it is hard when you have a 4-year-old phone and money is tight, and you are on the family account. I am not saying that I am not grateful, I am only saying it is hard when there are limitations. A newer Samsung Galaxy would be nice, an Iphone would be even nicer. I currently have a Galaxy Note 4 and an Ipad Mini 3.

Facebook is getting better. I engage every day, but on Instagram, I do not. Would you believe I only have 240 posts? With Facebook, there are a ton of things I can do on this account as it is half business/half personal. I can turn off the business part at any time and Vice Versa. (Only in my head). I finally learned two months ago that engaging does not mean complaining about what your family, friends, and the government does on a daily basis.

I can go to my groups and observe rather than off my take on that person’s situation. I can ask a question and if no one answers it, I can move it to another group without making a big stink about it in the first group I asked the question in. I am trying the be a social influencer and if companies find my posts to be not to their liking, they will move on. This is the difference between being a troll and not being a troll.

So, this is it, a small take in my world and as one YouTuber named ShannaB puts it best, “as I grow my family”.

I never said that becoming an influencer is easy. Sometimes it takes a little research into your own little world to see what you are lacking, and that is everything in life. You may have people who point it out to you, but you are the only one who can change that aspect of your life, and if you are a Christian, you let God do most of that change for you.

Take care and God Bless you. Have a great weekend and Happy Easter.

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

My Ambiance Life

Current Follows:  9

Goal: 500

P. Lynne Designs

Current Follows: 158

Goal: 500

At Home with Tricia's Baskets

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

Patricia L. Logan

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.

Facebook Week Part 2: Groups

Hello, and welcome to part 2 of Facebook and the ins and out of one of the world’s biggest (and sometimes the baddish) social media in the world.  It is so popular until television shows will have Facebook-type social media for their show’s platform.  For example, the soap, Young and the Restless, calls it FacePlace, because maybe they have not gotten Facebook’s permission to use the name, Facebook. Another subject for another Friday.

Anyway, last week, I introduced to some and reintroduced to others, Facebook, and gave the lowdown of the social media and how to conduct yourself on the site.  Sorry, if I stepped on some toes (maybe even broken a foot or two, LOL), but I had to say this to sort of getting it off my chest because I have seen a lot of ugly stuff lately on this site, and frankly, I am not too happy about it.

Now, today, I will be talking about groups.  I am talking about groups before pages because this is where the most interaction a person without a business is going to get, other than from friends.  Now, I am going to put this out front this disclaimer, and this is: YOU DO NOT NEED A GROUP TO INTERACT ON FACEBOOK.  You are perfectly fine with a business page and that’s it.  I will tell you later in next week’s post.  There are three things that Facebook groups are, and that is:

1. Menu 2. title to the group
(c) 2018 Facebook.com

1)      They are a community of like-minded people who like the same thing.  Say you are a crafter, and you work with a Cricut Electronic Die Cutting Machine.  You have a question about how to print then cut on the machine feature because you have been having some problems with this feature.  Now, you can ask this question on your normal newsfeed, but how many of your friends are going to know what you are talking about.  If you have friends like my Facebook friends, no one hardly crafts, and do not know what an electronic die cutting machine is, let alone know how to use one.  You can always call Cricut customer service, but who has the time to sit on the phone or in Live Chat to ask one possible, simple, little common question.  This is where a Cricut group on Facebook can help.  Some of the members are online right now to answer your questions, you can cut and paste the answer for future reference (I like to use MS Word and make a file of the answer), and you can continue with your project, some craft group member like to show off the project they have made. If you have a hobby, a business, or a lifestyle, there is a group for you  If not, you can always create one.

2)      You can make new friends.  I see what you are thinking, “Great, just what I need, more friends.”  Think back to the first one.  It is a community, and if you are in the right group, meaning that the administrator does not get flippy on you, should you decide to talk about what your two-year-old did 5 minutes before asking your question or replying to someone else’s post, you can kick off your shoes and relax.  There are some groups who are not that catty about other things besides that subject.  Follow the instructions on the group leader or owner, called an admin, and you will do fine.  Just do not post before your comment or post, “ I hope it is OK to post this here” or my personal favorite, “Admin, please delete if this is not appropriate”.

3)      They cause you to think about your hobby, business, or whatever you are into.  You are not alone in this situation.  Someone has had a similar situation like yours, and this is how they solved it.  Back to the community thing.  So, you are not getting views to a new recipe you wrote about two weeks ago.  In a blogging Facebook group (and I am on several), the administrator or another member of the group can give you pointers on how to get those numbers up and popping to where you see revenue from your blog if you want to.  So, they are also a problem solver.

Keep these things in mind if you are thumbing your nose to the idea of not joining a Facebook group.

Can I complain in a group?

The answer, my friend is simple, NO, and here is why.  Although the purpose of an administrator (or admin from now on), is to keep peace in the Middle East or to make sure everyone is happy.  Other things that an admin does are:

·         Maintain the membership

·         Invite people to the group (you do not have to accept the invite)

·         Remove ugly-acting members (keeping the trolls at bay)

·         Approve the membership (I like you to stay and play with us)

·         If they are the owner, issue rules and regs (regulations)

·         Approve other admins

·         Control the group (I threw that one in since I owned a group)

The group I had two years ago (It’s been that long-yikes), was a direct selling group.  On this group, a member could advertise their business, providing that you were a consultant for a direct selling company.  I was, of course, an Independent Longaberger Home consultant at the time, and I did not like some of the direct selling groups I was part of.  Some of the groups basically forced you to buy from each other, and if you were not interested in the company or you did not have any money to buy a product from that consultant, you were kicked out from some of these groups and considered a flaker. They came up with ladder games to get you to buy (such as the $100 group, meaning your order had to total $100 or higher before sales tax and shipping). 

Anyway, I did not like that concept.  I wanted customers who were not forced to buy a Longaberger basket or pottery.  Yes, I wanted sales, but not that bad.  I did not want someone to be stuck with a purchase they did not want to make in the first place.  This is why I created the group.  There were games, but I was only going to issue that game once a month, and it was not the basis for joining the group, either.  Stick to the end of this post to find out the problems that lead me to close this group.

This leads me to explain to you the don’ts of being a group member.  Keep this in mind as you decide if joining a Facebook group is right for you.  I have learned some things, both as a member and as an admin, and I think you will be happy when you read them.  Some of them are:

Sidebar:  1. Menu
2. Title to group
A group will have either
Closed to new members.
Secret to new Members or
Open to new members.

1.       Read all rules and regs BEFORE you join a group.  Do not let “sticker shock” hit you in the face.  Admins and owners of these groups prefer that you do not join, instead of you writing them back with the “I did not know” message, trying to get back in the group.  The little Nastygram that I was going to issue on my Facebook status back in August would have been one of those “I did not know, well guess what I really think of your so-called group” messages.  It would have kept me banned.  The best way I handled it was the “I will wait until I am able to be a willing participant in the group”.  I can always rejoin at a later time.

2.       Please be a willing participant in the group.  Even if you are replying to a post of another member, you are participating.  No question is stupid, and no answer is stupid either.  It is a matter of opinion, and as long as you exercise the right to “agree to disagree”, then there should be no problems. If there are challenges to do in the group, check to see if you have to do them in order to stay connected with the group, if you do, see if you have the time to do them.  Spending a lot of time in groups can be a time waster if you let them.  If you do not have the time, leave the group and rejoin when you have time to spend in the group.

3.       No Nastygrams in the group, and most definitely outside of the group.  I am going, to be honest with you.  No one wants to hear your beef about how the admin banned your post.  So, what? Get over it and move on.  You are lucky you were not banned from the group.  Keep the peace and you get to stay longer.

4.       If the admin says no ads, no means no.  Please, do not slip a little blurb about your once in a lifetime deal for 4 lipsticks for $1 if this is not a sales group.  However, if the admin allows ads, only put them in the group that day, that week, or only under that thread.  In other words, follow the rules.  This includes NO SPAMMING!  Post once and only once.

5.       Be mindful about your posts.  This goes back to #3 and 4.  Do not back mouth a member, call names, talk about a race, nothing.  It goes back to my post from last week.

The future of groups

I am only telling you what I heard.  It is not written in stone.  Facebook is trying out a new feature in groups where admins could make some money off members.  It is a subscription service, and it allows members to get a VIP status in the group (such as files if you are a crafter or exclusive videos).  Again, it is not written in stone, and it is just a test or a thought.  At any rate, I am not too pleased with it.  If anything comes of this new feature, you will hear about it here on this blog.

The problem with groups.

If you stuck with me this far, thank you very much. I really appreciate it.  As an admin, I had my share.  Of course, I had to approve every member, but I also had another admin, who was not good at all.  I did all the work.  First, everyone who wanted to join, and the first thing was you had to be a consultant of a direct selling company.  So, no direct-owned companies.  So, as the owner of P. Lynne Designs, I would not get approved. I really did not want a travel agent to be approved to this group, but for some reason, one snuck on, by the person who I approved as an admin.  If you sold for companies like Longaberger, Tastefully Simply, Stampin! Up, Pampered Chef, those direct companies, yes you would be approved.  Second problem:  I only wanted one from each company.  Having this rule allows a person to be exclusive and have clients, without competing against a team member.  It never worked that way.  Tip Tuesday was a problem because no one had any tips to help each other grow their business.  I did not have enough members to issue Consultant of the month, where that consultant gets all the sales for that month.  I also realized that I was doing exactly what I did not want to happen in this group, forcing people to buy if they did not like the company, the products, or had no money that month.  Finally, I did not have enough time to devote to this group.  I felt like I was forcing myself to be in this group I created.  When that happened, I shut down the group and I let the members know that I was shutting it down and thanked them for being a member of the group.  So, there are some cons to be an admin to a new or established group.

Same with being a member.  If a group wants you to connect to them once or twice a week and you do not have the time, do not join.  An admin would rather you decline the invite than have you be an inactive member of the group if participating is mandatory.  I feel like that was the reason I was released from my membership of the blogging group.  When I am ready to rejoin, I will ask again.

Nuggets of information:

I hope I gave you lots of food for thought when it comes to being a member of a Facebook Group.  Again, this is not mandatory for your membership on Facebook.  Call it an extra bonus.  You need answers to your crafting needs, advice on how to start a blog, love Disney, need a new devotion, or simply need to combat global warming (no I do not belong to a global warming group), join a Facebook group.  They are free for now (I hope forever, but knowing what Mark Z has done in the past, I would not put it past him), you can make new friends who are like-minded, talk about your topic of choice, without your friend from the 8^th grade saying, “Yuk, are you still into that Disney stuff?  That is so, 2^nd grade”.  You can get answers to your questions, that would make a 10-minute wait for customer service look like 10 seconds.  You have to be mindful when posting to groups.  Be on your best behavior (ugh, I am sounding like my mom), and do not sweat the small stuff, if you find yourself outside of the group.  Move on.

Next week, I will talk about pages and maybe hit on games on Facebook.  Until then, God Bless You. 

Facebook, day 1: How to conduct Yourself

(c) 2018 Facebook.com

I love doing a type of posting called Serial Posting.  Serial posting is writing a series of posts covering the same subject for a short period.  Serial posting gives the reader little bits of information that may not get covered in a normal blog.  The writer may want to introduce the new subject as a way of telling

the reader that the blog may be changing sometime shortly.  My backstory of starting serial posting is (1) I have so much to say on a regular blog post, until it has to become a serial, or you will miss all of my cute little nuggets of information on the subject.  (2) I do not want to spend a lot of time doing them because there are tons of information that you can find on the interwebs (Internet) until you can literally spend a whole month researching, just my take on the subject, and (3) You have a one-stop introduction to a series.  I started doing some serial posting about two years ago, I did an overall series on organizing your closet on my now closed Simply Organized Crafts (which is now a Facebook-only page).  The first serial posting on this blog was an intense look into social media and the basic principles on how to get started.  I had the basic points of the series, and if you want to know more about the series, I will post some links below.  The other back story is for the video series I finished in August, it is aimed towards those people who already have an account, already sharing content, but not quite sure on what is the next step, or how to maximize their time and money with social media.

I started to turn this into a serial posting for a week, and I was going through my thought process, I decided to turn this into a Friday weekly post.  So, just like the journaling weekly series on Wednesdays, you will get an introduction to each social media platform, then when that part is over, I will have some weekly tips each Friday (hopefully) on the subject. 

For this round, I will focus on Facebook.  Humm, what to do on Facebook?  Well, you can post events, respond to other people’s posts, play games, post, including pictures, conduct business, and congratulate people. Even create or join a group.  That is about the size of it.  I will hit on each one of these topics as we go along.

What you cannot do (my opinion) is to curse (people do), belittle people (It happens), Spam (a big no-no for me and Facebook), and my personal favorite, trolling and threaten people.  Today’s topic will may hit someone in the gut, including mine.

Why go there?

Back in August, I found out on messenger, while looking at a friend’s message, that I was unsubbed from a blogging group without warning.  Maybe, it was I had not contacted anyone through Messenger that I was still part of the group.   I had so many things to do that week, such as find out when the funeral of a beloved church member and learning how to work the business end of P. Lynne Designs.  She had started group convos, which I could not keep up, as well as many other members, who were also booted from the group.  Was she being a little too snobbish?  Maybe, but my way of thinking was how in the heck am I supposed to do all the things that I am supposed to do for my business, not to mention, my family and friends when I am always answering group questions in messenger?  I started to write this nastygram about this group, and I stopped to think about what would happen if she read the message from my regular newsfeed, and told me to back the F---- off, I was not getting back in, and that was that?  I always have to keep my temper in check, and this is what I mean about trolls.  More about trolls in a minute.

Anyway, I erased what I was to say about this group, and I thought, “when I have the time, I can always ask to rejoin the group”.  Both tempers in check and she gets her way by removing the non-participates.  After all, it was her group, not mine.  I had one, and believe me, it is not easy to run one.

So, what is the proper way to deal with Facebook?

Simply answer:  be yourself, but not in such a way that if you have a nasty attitude, it comes off on your posts, your responses to your friend’s post and other things on Facebook.  You may share, and share often, but not in a way that lands you in Facebook Jail or having people unfriend you.  I might mumble and grumble while I am posting something that I may disagree with (not clicking the like button), but nicely put things, so that your friends see your POV (Point of View), and not come back with something nasty as well.   I will address this on Twitter, Instagram, and even LinkedIn.

So, now that we got of that out of the way, let’s talk about the elephant in the room, Trolls

I have talked about trolls until I am blue in the face, but it bears repeating:  If you disagree with something, do not like it and do not make a comment, in fact, just don’t.  Actually, I am now seeing more trolls on YouTube than any other social media platform. People are getting better about it, but I am still seeing some posts on Facebook, where people are posting (or reposting) cursing and basically belittling a post.  I usually exercise this basic rule:  If I do not like what is being said, delete it, shut the person up for 30 days (meaning you do not see their posts for a while), or unfriend them.  You do not have to explain, just get them off your newsfeed.  They do not have to unfriend you, and if they find out through a mutual friend, they do have the right to ask you (In-person) why?  Simply tell them.  Do not berate them, give a simple explanation.  If they explain that they are in a bad place in their life, tell them that you can be supportive outside of Facebook and that you are willing to listen.  At that time, you can simply explain to them your friend's situation, like why you unfriended them in the first place.  For me personally, I am a sensitive person and my father reads what I put on Facebook, and often questions my posts.  I am also friends with several former pastors.  Besides, you have to break away from Facebook (and any other media) because face to face contact is better anyway.

How would you like to play a game? (a quote from War Games (1983))

As a general rule, I do not play games until all of my work for the day is done.  Every once in a while, I may play one during the day, if I am waiting on something.  I do not allow people to invite me to a game, and I don’t invite my friends.  It is not important to play a game.  I also do not spend money on games.  If I run out of a move, need more virtual coins or points, the credit or debit card does not come out.  Why?  Because it is a waste of your money.  If you are on a budget (and most people should be raising their hand on this comment), or you need to pay for a bill, which is the last thing you need to run out of real money for because you need virtual money to build a building on SimCity BuildIt.  Not worth it.  Games are a time-waster as well.  So why do I play a game?  To blow off steam or to wind down.  I do not have any games promoting violence.  Why?  Because it can get into my psyche and make me think bad thoughts.  This is just me.  I do have to warn you, I do play a lot of eating games (Candy Crush, Cookie Jam Blast, or kitchen games where you have customers you need to feed and make money from).  Maybe this is the reason why I am always hungry, LOL.

Invites and Force Joins

Sometimes, when one of my friends has a new group, I do not mind receiving an invite.  It is to help out a friend or more importantly to support them.  I received two recently.  One from a close friend and a friend I barely know.  Both made me a member of their group.  As a general rule, I do not want to get an invite, and before I have a chance to look at your group, I am a member.  I decided to stay in both groups, but the one that I am not friends with in person, it was not supported for her, it was a support for all things business, and I was not very happy.  I may drop it at some point, especially since she is spamming my newsfeed all over the place.  Now, the other friend sort of did the same thing, but the difference is I know her in person, I know what her struggles have been through in the last few months with her health, and we talk a lot.  It makes a big difference to me.

Until we meet again….

So, with that being said, please do not force a person to join your group.  Yes, after you send the invite, it might sound good to that person to join, but let them join on their own.  I realize that I have 10 groups where the invite was sent, but I never joined. 

I will speak more on this and other topics while I am focusing on Facebook and other social media platforms.  In the meantime, I hope you have learned something a little more about Facebook in this post.   I will also cover Facebook Live, which for some reason morphed into Facebook Watch, sending messages through Messenger, and Facebook for Business, which is something I am learning myself since I recently joined it.  I will also touch on pages, personal and business, and spamming (the hacking and posting a post over and over again about a topic-trust me it is not pretty for neither one).  These are little nuggets of advice I want to give to you each Friday.

Next Friday, God bless you.

Protect yourself from Unwanted Viewers

It is important to protect yourself
and your family and still produce good, quality videos
.  Photo by Bromium

This is third in a series of vlogging, which is something I have been meaning to update from the last time I wrote about this topic.  If you had not had a chance to view them, I have written about videos you should be doing to get the most views on your channel if you have on or plan on starting one for 2018.  Today, I want to talk about how to protect you and your family once the viewers start watching your video channel.  I talk about YouTube mainly, but this applies to any platform out there: Facebook Live (and a new feature, Facebook Watch), Instagram and IGTV, Twitter, and many others.

Going Viral

It is important to know when your video is a one-hit wonder or when it goes viral, which I will go into more in just a bit.  Truth be told, not every video you make is going to get to that point, where the moment someone mentions your name, you are elevated to that of a Justin Bieber, a Kardashian, or even a Logan Paul.

Going viral is the newest thing for getting views, but not everyone has what it takes to go there.  When you do, it is a good sensation when a viewer recognizes you, and according to most of the YouTubers I have mentioned in my last post, most viewers are sweet, and they only wanted to thank you for brightening up their day or giving them the information, they needed for a problem that needed to be solved.  Going viral is the video that people talk about at the office (did you see that video where…).  It can be politically charged, cute, or thought-provoking.  It starts with something in the video that is out of the ordinary.  I will get to more on that subject in a different post.  Know this: once you have that video that gets people talking, be prepared to go into protection mode.    

Why give this advice?

My channel has only 158 viewers, so I have not gotten to that point where a viewer recognizes me.  So, why am I giving you this advice?  Perhaps, I may be talking you into creating a channel of your own, or you may want to see what’s out there for you.  I am not in your head, but I could be.  Safety may be one of your concerns, and if that is the case, keep reading.  Call it a preventive measure.

Addressing the situation

One of the most common things between me and popular YouTubers out there is location.  We do not give out our real addresses. We give general locations of where we are, such as a city and state.  Nothing else.  It is for our own protection.  You may have noticed that even in my blog posts, and I mention my city, I say Central Ohio, that’s it.  No city.  It is the same with my videos.  Yes, I am in the phone book, and at one time, I had an unlisted number, until I became a business person.  Now, I have a phone number that rings into the same line as my home phone, and I use my cell phone as well.  I currently do, only because of a couple of things I need it for.  One day, I will switch to just my mobile phone.

The reason I protect myself is I do not want to wake up in the middle of the night and finding someone standing over me or come home to an empty house. 

If you do not mind viewers sending you mail, set up a PO box to receive that mail, especially if you are in the phone book.  The PO box also protects you from having threats sent to your mailbox.  Set your phone number to private if you have a landline phone or do not give out your number at all.

Traveling

I never post pictures, videos, and blog post while on vacation.  (Although I accidentally posted family pictures on my IG (Instagram) account the evening of July 4^th, I did not give the location of what city I was in). Again, for safety reasons, plus this is a good opportunity for being “Off the Grid” for a day or a week to enjoy yourself, and not let your social media accounts dictate how you want to spend your vacation or a shopping trip.  When you go shopping that is for you and only you, enjoy the moment.  Your viewers will understand.

Take the time after your trip to edit, refine, and post as though you are on the trip now.  In videos and posts before your trip, do. not mention when you are going, unless you want a person to visit the same place.  I do not mind, but I also post after the fact too.  Same goes if you do travel videos.

Family

This is tricky because there are some rules that you can set while at the same time, you can also protect your children as well.

Since I do not have children of my own, but I do have nieces and nephews.  One particular situation that comes to mind is the year after I started my YouTube channel.  I did not know what I want to create at the time, but I found my sister’s children doing something very fascinating.  My nephew was 2 and my niece was 1 at the time (they are now 11 and almost 10), and I was making a video of me interacting with them, especially my niece, who had gotten to the point of walking pretty good.  She toddled over to me, and said, “Ta Da”, which was her favorite word to say. (And the only thing I could understand her to say at the time.)

Anyway, after that, I uploaded it, errors and all.  My sister saw the video and was furious with me.  She was screaming to the point of telling me that she did not want their father, her ex-boyfriend, to see the video. I screamed back, “my camera, my channel, and I will post what I want.”  This was in 2009 when YouTube did not give a care in the world about what the guidelines for this sort of stuff, as long as you post it. (Translation: Before Google bought it).

I reluctantly took it down, and I thought that it was a missed opportunity for me to get views on it, but not so fast.  Did I get permission?  Just because they were my niece and nephew, that does not give me the right to make a video. They were family, but not my children.  You have to ask these two questions: 1. Do you want/or can your children be in the video/picture? If the answer is no, move on.  Do not ask why and do not beg them to give permission.   2. Can I post this on YouTube/Vimeo/Facebook Live/IGTV with you in it?  If the answer is again, no, edit the scene and take the person out.  Do not blur their face.

Last name protection

A couple of family video channels I watch do not give out their last name for their own safety, but it is easy to find them on Google.  I did a little experiment and looked up their YouTube channel name, and Google had the full information, including the last name.  I will not give the channel name and who I looked up since they do not want it revealed.

When I introduce myself on my channel, I only give my first name, but I do not give out anything else, such as my marital status, age, and as mentioned earlier, my location.  I really do not care if you find out my last name or not.  It is listed as part of me being a business owner, and it is needed for legal purposes.  I am very proud of my last name.

I am not going to tell you one way or another on giving out your last name.  If you want protection, that is for the PO box address. 

Speaking of that, if you do show packages you receive on camera, you may want your address to stay anonymous. Use a sharpie or some other black marker or tape to cover up the address.  It is a good idea to cover up the sender’s address as well.

So, these are the tips I and other YouTubers use in order to be safe when making videos. I hope you keep these tips in mind when you create your first video.  I have sprinkled little takeaway moments throughout the piece, so, there are none in this portion of the post.  Remember, be safe no matter what you do in life.  Do not let anyone stop your dreams or your joy.  You got this. God Bless You and your family.  

Facebook Status: Living your life…the Cruise Edition

My Facebook status on a Carnival Cruise line Facebook group (Not sponsored by Carnival):

Photo by P.Lynne Designs (C) 2018

“Except when I first came on this group in October, after changing ships, dates, and Itineraries (ports), I have never written a post in this group. I have commented, but that is it. I say this with a question: Why is everyone is so hyped up on Jamaica and Mexico being bad places.
Last month, I came back from a beautiful cruise on the Carnival Dream, going to the ports of Montego Bay, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel, Mexico. I had no problems there. Me and my friend got off the ship at each port. We did no excursions that were sponsored by Carnival. We really did not have the money. We had fun anyway. We were cautious about where we went, asking the person we were traveling with (she has been to these ports several times, has done 25 cruises in all). She gave us this advice: Treat your traveling abroad like you would domestically (United States). If you are unfamiliar in a U.S. city, you would not go in places where there is a potential for crime, right? There are parts of Detroit or even in my own city of Columbus that I would not venture into. Not all areas of a city or country are bad.
Do not call attention to yourself is the term I am looking at. No huge amounts of money and do not look like a tourist. Watch who you are dealing with. Do not take rides that look questionable. Stay with crowds.
Before you go, I offer you all other pieces of advice: RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH!!!! Go to the library, search on the computer, ask questions from other travelers (not just cruisers). Find ways to be self-reliant, even if you are traveling with a group, your spouse, a family member/friend or solo. You are the only person you have (unless you are also traveling with kids (under 25, and yes, I do consider them kids))Most of all, if you believe in God or whoever you pray to, Prayer works. Ask for protection and for discernment The Discernment part is so you can put into practice what I and others have mentioned in this group and in other places in Social Media about being safe but still living life.We all want to have fun, that is the purpose of this vacation, this cruise. Do not get too drunk that you are so inebriated to make the best decisions for your safety and the safety of others around you. I was lucky to have traveled with a good group of people who made sure that I made all the right decisions. I have known them for years. Some were my parents' age or a little younger and some were my age or younger. They checked on me often, and I had a good friend to be in the stateroom with me.
I said this in response to seeing too many posts of first-timers scared out of their wits because they have read the comments on this group about the ports. You do not have to get off the ship if you do not want to, but I advise you to at least try one port. If you want to take the safe route, try an excursion sponsored by Carnival, which will guarantee you will get back on the ship because they have to wait on you.Sorry, this post is long, but I felt I needed to get this off my chest. one last piece of advice: You cannot live your whole life in a bubble. you got to get out there and live life to the fullest. I am going to let that quote sit right there.”

 

I am going to let this post sit there for a moment.   The reason I wrote the post in the first place is to serve a reminder to those in the group, who decided a month, 5 months, or even a year or two to travel on a cruise ship and experience a taste of what a country has to offer.  There had been some uproar on all the travel groups about Jamaica and Mexico about the increase in crime in these two places.  The short, smart, sarcastic answer that I could have given is “don’t go if you feel that way.”  The reason I did not give that answer is I was that scared first-timer cruiser too. Let me explain.

Up until last month, I have never traveled out of the country without my parents.  I have flown to San Francisco with my aunt in 1988, but that was not out of the country.  In fact, the only place I have been prior to my cruise was Canada, and both times, I had my parents.  I really do not count Canada as being out of the country because you can drive through Detroit, Michigan to get to Canada.

Funny Story:  There is a state park in Detroit called Belle Isle.  Well, last July 4^th, me, my parents, and aunt and uncle were riding around, and at one point in the drive, we drove inside the park. While we were there, we drove a little closer to the Canadian border to the point where my phone started pinging off the tower on the Canadian side, and there were international charges on the bill.  I found it quite comical.  2 seconds the phone was doing that.

Fast forward to September, and my original cruise was canceled due to Hurricane Irma, and I, and the group I was with decided not to take the alternate trip to Cozumel and Belize (only 4 days as opposed to the 7-days that we were supposed to go on the Carnival ship Conquest), opted for bigger ship called Carnival Dream (Not to be confused with the Disney Dream cruise ship), to sail in December 31, 2017-January 7, 2018, and go to 3 ports instead of 4 (Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel).  It did not matter because I was scared that I:

·         Was going to get left by the cruise ship-did not happen

·         Spend well over budget-again it did not happen

·         Go to the shady side of each port-Montego Bay was not shady, but it did open my eyes to what was happening in that part of the country-no different than, say, going to Compton, California Or Newark, New Jersey.

·         Being swindled on-again did not happen.

Once all my fears subsided, thanks to good friends and prayer, I was able to enjoy my cruise.  The only thing that I was not prepared for was the issue of my health, which up to that point I thought was pretty good.  I lost my breath a couple times in the airport at New Orleans.  My friends were concerned, so as an added precaution, I used a wheelchair to get on the ship and off when we returned.  I probably could have made it, but I was glad for the caution because it could have been worse: a trip to the ER in New Orleans prior to getting on the ship, and I would have been left behind.  I had no issues at any of the ports, and I used the wheelchair going home. Next month, I will speak to my doctor about this.  I want to make sure I do not have the same problem when I go to Disney later this year.

So, for this takeaway, I want for all first-timers of anything, I want you to put your fears aside and trust in the process of going on a vacation, on a ship or a land vacation, and having fun.  Please use common sense when vacation, and as I said in the Facebook status, RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. I read some of the comments made on my post, and this is very to this person’s statement, “Current climate of America. The fear mongering has worked on a good portion of people here. The danger hasn’t gotten any worse or better.” 

My take on fear is “if planted in the right place, it can help make good decisions about anything in life.  It does not have to be “should I go on vacation on this ship to this port” or “If I take this deal, how much money will I save?”  Fear also goes into things like, “I’m Pregnant, now what?” or “I have $x in the account and I owe $x to this company, should I buy this item?” or worse, “I am in an abusive relationship and I just shot my abuser, now what?” If we take on fear for things such as, “I see a group of Black males coming my way, I should detour and go a different direction”, or “I am not getting off the ship because of the things I heard about this country.” 

My comment to you is do not use fear as a weapon in your life.  Use common sense and research an area (ship or land), an idea you have (a new business, making videos, or a new hobby), learning a new skill (video editing, tap dancing, or yoga) a new clothing line, a new food, or even a new church or temple.  See the world with new eyes and maybe you will enjoy that new world and be open to the possibilities that await you.

This is my takeaway for you.  Make it a good one.