Not Sure How this is Going to Work

Today, I am endeavoring something new on my blog, make that every one of the three of my websites (My Ambiance Life, At Home with Tricia's Baskets, and P. Lynne Designs). It is a hazard that I will take. All things considered, they are my sites, however, there are additional standards of leadership in the blogging scene. One of those principles is about copyright, and yes, and I am going to endeavor a copyright encroachment…. On myself. First off, let’s look at copyright.

What is copyright

I do not have to fully explain what copyright is, but in its simplest of forms, it is basically copying another person’s work, style, everything that is on a picture, a document, piece of music, dance routine, THAT IS PUBLISHED.  This is the key element, it has to be published.  So, when you see a court case by an unknown who files a complaint on Billy Joel because his music, Uptown Girl, sounds similar to this unknown’s music, Girl from Upstate New York, that is a case of a possible copyright infringement.  The music may have the same beginning but sounds totally different towards the end of the two songs in question.  The most recent famous case of this was Marvin Gay’s family filing a lawsuit against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for Blurred Lines (2015).  I do not have to explain the verdict in this case, but the family won.

So, What does This have to do with Blogs

Everything, but what is being able to use this information that another person without letting them know that you are using it.  When this happens, and it is a written piece, it called plagiarism.  Teachers warn you about it from the moment you start writing a research paper that needs a reference point in it.  In the U.S., that is around the 2^nd grade (for me it was in the 4^th grade, kids are so much advanced now than I was, LOL). If you get information from Google, Bing, Alexa, Siri, or Safari to name a few, you better back that information up, or you will get dinged by your teacher.  The same thing for any written piece of work that you do not have an expertise in.  Even if you are an expert on the subject, you need to have documentation on where you based your theory from. 

So, What does that have to do with my Three Blogs?

Look, Google is no dummy.  It does treat my three blogs as if three Patricia L. Logans have written the blogs.  So, they would want me to cite that I got it from my own website.  Now there probably will not be too many times when two of my posts will refer to each other.  For now, it is just this post.   I am still trying to figure out what style I want to go with the other websites.  This is the part where I am copying myself.  I want you to know where you can find the information you need to do, act on, and share my information so you will not get confused. 

The Real Reason Behind this Blog Post

Before I get to that, I want to let you know that the blog links will be cited at the top of the page of each blog.  For right now, let me introduce to you where you will find all the goodies.  I know, I might be rehashing what I said in a blog post a couple posts ago, but this is in more detail:

My Ambiance Life

Page from My Ambiance
Life.

This blog will continue with writing tips, blog tip, and how to posts on how to increase traffic on social media (including the blogs), as well as inspirational messages.  What is gone for good are the current events, celebrity bad person/good person posts, and other controversial posts (I will be doing a sweep of old posts and deleting them).  Why?  The world is negative enough without me adding to it.  There are enough people who talk about the Donald Trumps and the Bill Cosbys of the world without me adding to it.  I want to promote peace within all my posts and blogs.  Does that mean that there will not be any situations that I am just dying to write about?  Sure, but I should not add to their misery.  It is no longer relevant to this blog (or any of my other blogs for that matter). If you see a post that you are not happy with, please let me know in the comments section or email me. I will address the issue and make it right.  I am here to give you a pleasant experience and to make you smile.

P. Lynne Designs

P. Lynne Designs

My main focus is for all the crafters who do papercrafting.  I am still developing what I want to bring to you, which is the crafting tutorials, how to organize your craft room, and how I do things in my crafting world.  This is actually the first blog that I started in 2009, and things have been halted for over a year due to some things in my life that happened. 

I do not need to continue to explain this.  Sometimes in your life, you need to take care of things that matter, not that my audience mattered, and I know that those who have been patient with me understand while others have moved on.  It is a fact of life.

At Home with Tricia's Baskets

Changed for this Year to At Home With
Tricia's Baskets 

Is this a new blog?  No, it is not in sorts.  It is a combination of Tricia’s Baskets, Traveling to the Mouse’s House, and Simply Organized Crafts.  So, in a nutshell, it is new.  I have explained a couple of times what happened to Traveling to the Mouse’s House and Simply Organized Crafts and what happened to me and Longaberger over a year and a couple weeks ago.  No use beating this into the ground.  It is what it is, and I have moved on.   I have deleted old posts that refer to Longaberger products, except the first post and the last post before the switch over. 

What will you find on this blog?  How to decorate and organize with anything including Longaberger products.  This will not be exclusively Longaberger products anymore, except also mentioning that if you have a similar product from ANY store, it will do very nicely.  As of Saturday, June 30, 2018, I will not be a consultant.   I am technically not due to the company shut down, but if they do come back, it is a “no” for me. (as Simon Cowell says).  Will I buy?  Of course, I still love the products and I will also report to you how I organized with a basket or pottery piece.  They just cannot be part of my income earning any more.

You will also find family and traveling posts.  So, yes, I will reference my travels often and what you find in those places.  I will be doing it from a single person’s point of view as well as when traveling with family.  No longer will the blog posts be just Disney or the Orlando, Florida area, but you may find cruising information, ports of call, and even ship information (I am overdue of what I think of my first cruise on this blog).  You will even see some reviews of things to do in the Central Ohio Area, where I live.

Finally, you will find a single person and family stuff.  I am ironing out details of that as well.  This will be a wonderful blog as well.  These will include things such as adoption, nieces and nephews, and other singlehood stuff.  For O. Gs, this may sound familiar because it was on My Ambiance Life. I simply moved it.

If you have to be a reader of any of my blogs for a while, I have removed pages that are or will not be relevant to my blogs anymore, and as I find them, I will keep on removing or revamping these pages.  I will be adding new ones that are relevant to that page.  I am still learning how to increase my blogging, vlogging, and social media views and being more consistent.  Like you, I also wonder too, sometimes, what has happened to my regularly scheduled reading (or watching) blogs and YouTube channels.  I promise you that by Fall (or Autumn if you do not live Stateside (U. S./North American Region)), you will see a change in schedule and how I process all of this.  For next series, I will continue to address how I changed this blog for the better, as well as the other blogs.  This series includes, how to know when to change your blog, how to know when to let go, deciding on your subject and what to keep and what to let go.   This is just a taste.

OK, I have overstayed my welcome, and yes this is a long post.  Probably too long.  I will address why as part of my updating your blog series.  No takeaways today, sorry, just an update.

Motivational Monday: Self Doubt

As usual, from my Facebook status (I am starting to have a lot these days): “This is a retweet I shared about two years ago. I still feel the same as this person. I was raised to believe this and I will always carry this even I am about to draw my last breath. I also going through a period of uncertainty that reaches even before what happened over the weekend with Longaberger.

As a person, I am willing to stand by this company, but I need to be honest, I am not sure how long I am willing to do this. My first priority as an Independent Home Consultant is to take care of customer's needs. I hope the owners of this company know that. It is not what keeps them coming? New products can wait. If you cannot serve the general public with your service of provision, then maybe you should close your door for good. Yes, I am angry, and I am hurt. I may not have had many sales over the past few months with you and the reason was quite simple, I was dealing with self-doubt.

I had self-doubt in my abilities as both a consultant with a once upon a time billion dollar company and as a stationery/graphic designer/writer/crafter, trying to build a company from scratch. Why did I self-doubt? Simple, no sales, and no money to do promotions. I thought that by promoting on social media (especially my FB page) would get me sale from both Longaberger and my company, P. Lynne Designs. There were periods where I would just stare into the screen and wonder why am I doing this? I would hear the voice of God saying, "You got this", but I was not hearing it. Even when I did two projects last year for Judith Sharpe and Tiffany Thomas (which I still thank you both for believing in me), the doubt was still there. I still did not try hard enough to get the work I needed.

Two months ago, I made a decision to really get in there and push. That was when I accepted a scrapbook project from Pat Meadows that I can truly feel proud of (not that I was not proud of the other two projects from last year. I am finding my self-worth again, which is my long-winded speech of saying, self-doubt is a mood killer, a dream killer, and the devil's advocate. Do not give in.

One last thing: To all independent consultants, rather you are with Longaberger or with some other direct selling company, I decided back in 2010 to have another source of income. take those skills that you gained with the company, and use them to your advantage and have backup income. I am not saying leave direct selling, but have a secondary income, even if you have a spouse or partner. Like so many companies before Longaberger, you were told everything is fine, and then one day, you cannot contact the call center. I believe that Longaberger will return in one form or another, but now is the time to come up with a backup system. I can now understand why consultants ask to join another company. That is not what I am talking about. Use your skills as a consultant to maybe teach a class. having home parties have taught you to not be afraid of audiences. This is one example, and I am reposting this on my blog.

Never self-doubt your skills or your abilities to help others.”

It is pretty self-explanatory, this post.  It sums what I have been going through in the past few months, including why I have not been posting on a regular basis for both my blog and vlogging channel.  It comes from a quote from Twitter that I reposted in 2016 (my Facebook and Twitter accounts are linked):

Retweeted Melanie※ (@SimplyShayXO):

#ThereIsAlwaysRoomInMyLifeFor God. Even though the darkest time of my life, even when I pushed Him away, He was there. He is always there.

It is the post I just wrote that I want to focus on.  To give you a backstory, this is what transpired ever the weekend (without giving out company info because I still stand behind this company for their products):  I was told, along with other consultants and leaders to not put in any orders until further notice.  You can read into it however you want, I am not spilling tea yet until they officially declare bankruptcy, or I can go back to submitting orders for myself or other customers. You can get angry at other people without hurting the relationship, and at the moment, I am angry at owners of Longaberger.  Please note that I am also angry for and at the former owners of Longaberger. The reason:  for softening the blow of what was really going on with the company and why shield it from the sales force and the employees?  I am going to leave that question right there because the same thing was going on with Toys R Us, Sears (I was let go from two stores because I was in the dark of problems stemming from that fiasco), even my most recent former employer, Archivers. 

Most people blame Amazon and Walmart for their company’s problems, but I smell an even bigger problem, which is why I choose to stay out of company politics, but when you are messing with my money, my livelihood, you need to speak directly to me.  Longaberger owners JRJR Enterprises was not speaking to the sales force loud enough, long enough, and early enough to say there were problems.   Actually, I take that back.  I did receive an email, stating for everyone to increase their sales, but they did not say why.  I thought it was them encouraging you to increase sales, like a normal motivational talk, not a “we are losing sales” talk.

So back to the whole reason for this post.

I was thinking about my reason behind the post on Facebook, other than this post resurfaced (which is a good thing), and I was in that funky feeling.  It was the kind of feeling that you were happy but not that happy.  That is one thing that Facebook is famous for, to remind you of your post.  I am the type of person who posts what I have to say on social media and leave it at that.  A post.  Like others, I do post what makes me angry, but I have calmed down my anger over the past few months, since some people pay attention to it, and sometimes they do not.  I do not post to get a reaction anymore.  If it is inspirational I make it a point to have my Facebook friends (and Twitter and Linked-in friends since the accounts are linked) to read it.  I want to make sure that you know where I am coming from, and I do not like posting junk, which is the reason behind me not posting when I get a high score on a game.  I want people to learn and be inspired by my experience.

I want you to feel loved.

I want to solve the problem that you are having.  That is the whole reason behind P. Lynne Designs, my stationery/scrapbook company.  Let me give some examples:

• You want to capture that moment when you first went to Barbados.  You decide to go on a cruise and you decide to take a lot of pictures.  Now, you may not think that a scrapbook album is an answer to everything memorable, but it is.  You can put in more than photos.  How about that ticket stub to a benefit concert put on by Rihanna, who happened to be visiting her mom, and it was for a neighboring school that she attended when she was a child.  Or the first time you tried rum punch. How about on the Lido deck? The program from that concert? 
• You need flyers for an event
• You need an article about the on-going effects of global warming or how to make canvas wall art.
• You need wall art.

Yes, this is how I give of my talent, but I cannot give if I am constantly doubting if the client is going to love it or not.  I need to trust my instincts more.  I love the way I see things, which is with an open-mind that says that the world is more than one way.  So far, my clients have loved my work.  I get results. 

This also brings me back to you, and my takeaway from this post. 

What is your talent?  You do not have to be a good artist, singer, dancer, or speaker.  Listening can be a talent.  Listening with the intent of offering good advice can be a talent.  Chad Raider, Youtuber from GabeBabeTV is a known baby whisperer.  Every time a baby is near him, they calm down, which has worked so far on the newest member of their own family, Reagan Elizabeth.  Know this, if people turn to you because you can make the best Mac and Cheese that can beat a 100-year-old recipe, that’s talent.  If someone says that you can light up a room with your smile, that’s talent.  Talent does not always be a physical thing.  It is your mood, your attitude, your very presence.  In other words, confidence can be a talent as well.  Being modest without being overbearing is a talent.  Patience is a talent.  Find that talent, and never self-doubt it.

What are you fighting for…. Prepare to win

Photo created by P.Lynne Designs using
Photos from Disney's Mulan and The
Longaberger Company.  

This is going to sound corny to some but if you have been reading my blog posts for a while, you know I love anything, Disney.  Well, a few nights ago, I finally saw Inside Out, and I saw Mulan for the umpteenth time.  It is the second movie that I want to focus on for the moment.

Released on June 5, 1998 (I looked it up), Mulan was about a young girl who wanted to restore honor back to her family and to show her worth as a woman in ancient China.  Before I get into my reasoning behind why I choose this animated movie as a backdrop to my title, let me give you the backstory behind Mulan.  After all, you cannot have a story without a backstory.  In fact, the movie trailer read like this:

“Fearful that her ailing father will be drafted into the Chinese military, Mulan (Ming-Na Wen) takes his spot -- though, as a girl living under a patriarchal regime, she is technically unqualified to serve. She cleverly impersonates a man and goes off to train with fellow recruits. Accompanied by her dragon, Mushu (Eddie Murphy), she uses her smarts to help ward off a Hun invasion, falling in love with a dashing captain along the way.”

This time period was based on the story called “The Ballad of Mulan” (Yes, Mulan was a real person, unlike Cinderella, Snow White, and many others, except Pocahontas, who was also a real person.) The movie itself was in the Chinese time period of the Han Dynasty, but some accounts also say the this took place during the Qing Dynasty. 

The point (and the ending) of this story is a young girl, despite her upbringing to do what a woman in that time was supposed to do, which includes serve tea to her husband and be subservient to him, decides to do a noble thing, and to take her father’s place to fight in the Chinese Military.  

New Purpose for this post à A Different Direction

I had a different purpose for this title, which is a course of a couple of weeks I had forgotten.  Is old age setting in for me, or the subject really does not matter anymore?  I would have to say, the latter.  Here is the reason:

If you follow me on social media, I know that I posted on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, that The Longaberger Company temporary closed its doors as of May 4, 2018.  As an Independent Home Consultant, I cannot submit any orders until further notice.  Let me give you 3 views on that announcement.

I heard and read the following in an email from the company:

“Until further notice, please do not submit any orders until we can safely get back orders to those customers who are still waiting for their orders.  We will rise above this and come back stronger than ever.”

I also read that both Tami Longaberger and Rachel Longaberger Sturkey had settled with the new owners and the company for the amounts owed to them.  Another subject for another day.  In fact, I will not address it.

This does not sound like a company closing their doors for good.

This is what the news media heard over the weekend:

The Longaberger Company has officially closed its doors for good.  What has happened to this iconic company whose headquarters is shaped like a basket?

Nothing yet.  This is a temporary setback.

I remember when Columbus’s 10TV’s former anchor, Dave Kaylor, looked like he could not wait to report some bad news report on Longaberger. It would make my skin crawl.  It was as if it gave him joy.  Why did he hate Longaberger so?  I bet he is overjoyed now and probably wants to come out of retirement just to make the official, final announcement.

It makes people wonder if they should sell their baskets and pottery to the highest bidder on Ebay. The news industry is wondering if consultants are scrambling to return customers their money back.  I have to report, nope, the fat lady has not sung yet.

This is what the vultures are hearing:

Chug-ching!!!!!!

I received a long message from a lawyer in New York City.  Yes, that New York City.  I guess he was on his weekly mission run of “ambulance chasing” because he found my profile on LinkedIn.  In case you are not familiar with the term, Wikipedia says that the term means, sometimes known as barratry, is a professional slur which refers to a lawyer soliciting for clients at a disaster site. The term "ambulance chasing" comes from the stereotype of lawyers that follow ambulances to the emergency room to find clients.” Now, I may not be a victim of a recent accident, but a company that has temporarily closed its doors is basically the same thing.  I bid him a “No Thank You” and issued this statement on my LinkedIn news feed page.

“I want to address something in a short but brief message:  Just because Longaberger made an announcement about their current status, I am still an Independent Home Consultant with the company.  I am part of the sales force, which has a different weight than a person who was actually hired by the company.  Any consultant who is with a direct selling company knows this.  You do not receive benefits, such as health insurance, vacation pay, and the normal things an employee would receive from a company who is either active or in limbo, with is the case with The Longaberger Company.

So please, do not send me messages about suing the company.  I have nothing to sue for.  I volunteered to start selling their products in 2001.  I have not sold anything in a couple of months before they made the announcement.  Please do not ask me to be a part of "X" direct selling company.   To be honest, next year is going to be my last year at Longaberger regardless of the outcome of this company.  I had 16 long years with Longaberger, and I would not trade them for the world. I have started my own company, which is listed in my profile.  I will not be searching for a new direct selling company unless it benefits P. Lynne Designs, my Stationer/writing company.  Thank you for your understanding.”

I also wanted my Longaberger sales force family on what happened to me on our Facebook consultant page.  Hopefully, this is the first and the last time I will see a message from any “vultures”, but I know it is not.

I also read Karen Baker’s article about direct selling consultants becoming “predators” and “Vultures” in this industry called direct selling.  She says, “DON’T DO IT”. I can tell you why before finishing this article.

·        It makes you look desperate for new members of your team.  Wait a minute until you get all the details of a company’s closing.  It may be temporary, as such is the case of Longaberger. I will tell you right now, this very minute, I do not know whats going on.  I was given the same info my upline manager was given. I could be taking new orders next week.

·        We are in shock.  This goes for anyone who feels like they just lost a member of the family.  We are trying to make sense of all of this, and you come swooping in like a vulture getting his meal ticket.

·        This is temporary.  For the moment, legal terms are being worked out by the owners on the best course of action.  In Longaberger’s case, it works out the terms of back pay for the employees, commissions for the sales force, and even the insurance for the employees. Plus, shipping needs to be done for all the back orders.  Once that is ironed out and implemented, then they will have a clear idea of where to go from there.  It may take a week, 2-weeks, a month, or even 6-months.  I have no idea.

·        Some of us may not want to go to another direct selling company.  For those of you who are in direct selling, think back for a moment:  What drove you to the company you are selling for?  Was it the products, the sales technic? The perks of selling with the company?  How about the way a certain person made you feel when inquired about the company?  For me, it was one man.  Yes, a man and his name was Scott Beaver.  He made me feel that if he, a man, can sell baskets, pottery, and then wrought iron product, then a shy, insecure, African American Woman can too.  He made signing up a breeze.  Sadly, he left the company a few years later, but I did not quit because he left the company and the sales force.  I became part of a new team.  Susan Short was not that great, but that was when I learned to lean on others when your upline stops short of your expectations.  Once she quit, then I moved on to Marilyn Imhoff-Edman’s central team.  She has been wonderful, and she helped me when Susan would not do a thing.  She invited me to her team meetings, and when I did not understand the rules and practically cried on her shoulders (after making a one-hour drive from my house to hers), she calmed me down, and told me everything was going to be all right, and went over those rules, until they stuck.

So, as you see, I am not looking to joining another DS company and I am not letting you make me a pawn out of a would-be class action suit or the newest member of the trinket charm club sales team.  What I want to do for the moment is to process this information, make a reasonable decision, and listen to what JRJR Enterprises has to say, who is the parent company of The Longaberger Company.  In the meantime, I will play with my papers and make cards, stationery, write, make videos, and mini books for my company, P. Lynne Designs.

If you stuck around to the end of the post, you know that it was quite long, and for that, I do apologize.  I did not want to split up this post. I will keep my readers informed on my next steps with this company.  I had to get my anger and frustration I have for this company, whose products I do love. It saddens me the way that people are when something like this happens.  I have a backup system, while many consultants and employees do not.  It may be the only skill they have used in a while. My heart breaks for anyone who has ever lost a job.  As they told us, it is only a setback.  The company is not done with yet.

Last word on “What are you fighting for?”  Your fight may be different from mine.  It could be an illness, your child, your marriage, or a cause.  It could be your life.  You have things worth fighting for, just like Mulan.  This is my fight, and I am going to come back swinging.  Are you going to do the same?   

Time for a break, in the meantime, read this status from my Facebook page:

(c) 2016 Photo by P. Lynne Designs; Product by
The Longaberger Company

I know FB is now frowning on this, but I have to say it, because, I am still with this company. I am not sure what it will take to get someone to order. The goals are different this time. There are some many opportunities in Direct selling, but I represent one company, The Longaberger company. If you are not into sales, I get it, but think about this: It is extra money in your pocket for whatever you are saving for, rather it a car, a home, pay off debt. You do not have to strive for leadership, just be a leader.

I understand your job has benefits, but ask yourself, how long are those benefits going to last, if you change jobs, or if that company has problems down the road? Nothing is guaranteed in life. Running your own business, even if it is on the weekends, any business, not just direct selling, can allow you to do things, save for things. I am not trying to make you rich, but if that what you want, go for it.

God did not put you here on this earth to just wake up, go to a 9-5, and come back home. you need to take care of family, inspire others, and praise the one who gives you life. If you do not do it for yourself, do it for others. At least take a look at what is offered, but the offer still stands. Check out my website. I am sure you have something in your home that needs a home. In the meantime, I am going to sit this old post right here. The link has not changed.

This a preview of what is coming Monday.  I have not abandoned the purpose of this blog, this is something to give you an idea of what is out there, while you are developing your writing skills, and trying to make it as a writer. 

The original post was dated August 12, 2011, and at the time, I was struggling with my sales a little bit.  I had not received a sale in over a month.  Now Facebook is making it a little difficult for you to ask for sales, by not posting them at all, but there is a workaround for that.  Do not post the sale itself, post the benefits.  If the benefit fits the person, they will buy.

Anyway, I so not want to give away the store, because, this is the post of this Monday’s post, and I hope you return to read it. 

I am starting to have much longer articles, because I read an article that states that it is now OK to have articles that are 2,000-2,500 words in it, as long as it is informational and meaningful.  As I try to help you get started in your writing or help you improve it, I am trying to improve mine as well.  I eventually want this blog to leave this platform, and go someplace safe, like WordPress, and I cannot do that if I am posting sporadically.  So, I promise I will improve, and get back to posting on a regular schedule.

Keep writing, keep earning, and most of all, keep learning.   I will have a Monday post.  I also need your comments, rather it is here or on my Facebook page, My Ambiance Life.  Let me know if you have any questions about any of the subjects I write about.