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.

Blog Journaling: How-To write personal online

Hello, It’s Me.

Today’s Topic:  How much do you want to share with the world.

Last week, I concluded the series on beginning journaling.  In the series, I went over the beginning points of journaling.  These topics included:

• What is Journaling
• The difference between online (digital) and handwritten journaling
• Tools of the trade (types of books, software programs, pens, and decorating) of your journal.
• Types of Journaling (personal, bible, project, and Mixed Media) for starters.  There are all types of journaling you can do.

Now it is time for the series the end but this is really only the beginning of what I hope is a weekly guide of sorts to your journaling.  I am not telling you what to write, but I will be giving you pointers of what I have learned in my various stages of journaling.   To be upfront about this section, that will come about Every Wednesday or Thursday (I am late), this is yours to take and make use of.  I am a semi-expert on this subject, meaning I know what works for me and another person may take this section of my blog and make it something else.  What I will never do, unless it is required by law, is to tell you that you must write about this topic when I give you writing prompts, tell you that you must use this product, or tell you what to say in your journal.  That is the beauty of journaling.  It gives you the freedom to express yourself.  So, if someone ever tells you to feel this way or write this way in your personal journals, send them my way, and I will professionally try to steer them in the right direction, expert or not, LOL...

This leads me to my topic:  Sharing is Caring, or is it?

Unless you are a child or have been living in some secluded place where you do not have any contact with people. (Deserted island, anyone?)  You may have heard that the moment you post something on social media, you have put a bounty on your head for anything you say, no matter how private you think it is.  Employers can look up this information, as well as parents, partners, even your 3rd grade teacher if she really wants to find out about you.  In fact, it has been said that if you do not want to be found, stay “off the grid”. This means, do not signup for any social media accounts.  So, what does that mean if you have an online journal?  It means, do not share your personal thoughts and do not put your journal on the “interwebs” (Internet).  For example,

I have an online journal that is only accessible by Office 365 (Ms. Word).  It is called “My Next Journey”.  I have it on my computer, but if I want to access it on my Ipad or on the OneDrive (Online) because I feel like writing at the library, I can get to it.  It is password-protected (meaning you need my userID and password to get to it.  Is it really protected?  Not really.  Hackers can hack into my account, bypass my userID and password with a program and get into my computer and look at it if they really want to.  I think this is one of the reasons why many seniors do not want to own a computer.  The news media and Hackers have scared them so much until it is not funny.  The other part is they are scared of the technology itself.  I am getting off the topic, so, let me reel myself back in.

I do my best to protect my journal of prying eyes of my family and the world.  If it is worth sharing I will do so on this blog like I am now, but it has to be worth sharing.  You cannot share something that is not relevant to the topic you are writing about.  That is plain common sense in the writing world.  In other words, if you are sharing a piece of your soul, make it relatable to the reader, or you will lose them.

So, what are some relatable topics?

I am not sure, but some topics I have seen on other blogs have been:

• Remodeling Journals- If you have a bathroom that you are remodeling, you may want to talk about your budget (no personal finance information like the account number to your loan-hackers love that sort of stuff), the type of workers you are looking for (first names only, please), or the style you are looking for in the completed project.  You may want to post pictures of the before and after.
• Moving journal – This works the same way as the remodeling journal.  Tip:  if you share this online, say “the city we are considering to”, “not far from where we currently live”, or “out of the country” when mentioning the location.  It is the safer route.  You can actually start a house hunting journal and move from that point to a moving journal.
• Pregnancy Journals- I am seeing this more and more.  You want people (especially women) to read about your thoughts, happiness and pain, and all the moods that come with being on track to becoming a mommy.  Journaling this online gives other women a chance to say, “yes, this is me too, to sympathize, and to “ooh and aww” at the results (a beautiful baby).
• Weight Loss Journal- I am at a loss on why would anyone would share a weight loss story until I thought about my weight gain story.  Not proud of it, for sure, but it is good to know that when someone is doing the Keto Diet, for example, there is someone else who is going through the same diet you are going through.  We all should strive to be healthy, and this is one way of doing it, to journal it, so others can learn from it.
• Travel Journals- another perfect example of “take the reader along for the ride”.  Even though these journals are turning into video journals, either way, you can picture yourself on the Chocolate Hills on the island of Bohol in The Philippines, as the blogger pens away their thoughts on a hot July morning.  If you give good descriptions of the place, you may have that reader booking the next flight to that part of the world, which was the idea the whole time.

So, while it may not be good to share your, “mad at the dog, who bit the cat, who scratched the furniture” type of day with a personal online journal entry, it is good to share those moments where you are not the only one who is going on a once in a lifetime adventure to see the Northern Lights in December. 

I’m done, move it along people

Disclaimer: Patricia Logan and P. Lynne Designs is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

(c) 2016 GraphicStock

I was cruising along, minding my own business (OK, I was being nosey) when I came across this news feed on Facebook (my version of Fox News): “Jada Pinkett Smith responds to Chris Rocks’ Jokes at the Oscars.” Let me fill you in… she has moved on.  Time to come out and play.

I am done.  All this hype of about boycotting the Oscars, which I was going to boycott anyway.  My reasons were different from Jada’s reason.  I think that the Oscars have been a little bit over the top in recent years, and to me, I will always have my favorites, and no little statue can tell me any different.  I am going to see my favorite actor no matter what they are in (except anything that is against my values), even if I am the only one in the theater or wait until that movie comes on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or On Demand.  It does not matter if the actor is black, white, blue, or green though I tend to have a little more favoritism towards the black actors.

I have read the comments on how Will Smith is not that good of an actor to deserve a nod on the carpet for Concussion or any movie that he has done in the past.  That is a matter of opinion.  Some say that he, Jada, and the kids are weird.  Come to think of it, most people in Hollywood (or Hollyweird) are strange.  You have to be strange and open to new things and people, in order to play someone or something different from your personality. 

To that, I say I blame the writers and producers in the industry.  They are out of touch and have no concept of the make-up of people in this country or this world.  They go by what sells. 

Take Zoe Saldana.  She was recently picked to play Nina Simone in an up and coming movie.  I have no doubt that she is a good actress.  She can play a wide range of movie role based on her looks alone.  Nina Simone, who was a dark-skinned poet and Jazz singer, is best known for her song, “To be Young, Gifted, and Black”, and the subject of my last post (as well as my pastor’s sermon last week), is being played by Saldana, who is light-skinned and mixed.  Now, I have a slight problem only to ask the question, “were there no dark-skinned actresses who were talented enough to play Ms. Simone?” My other question is, “Why are we playing the race card again within our own race?”  For years, as far as I remember hearing about, there has always been a fight among ourselves, “light-skinned V. dark-skinned”.  It was even during the time of slavery.  Please stop this once for all.  I never had a problem because I am in the middle.  I was born, what I like to call, “milk-chocolate”, a combo of a dark-skinned father and a light-skinned mother and having a severe case of eczema as a child.  If it wasn’t for eczema, I could actually go either way on the issue.  This skin condition darkens the skin.

Ok, I have now gotten to the point of rambling so I will end this post.  The conclusion to all of this and my further thoughts… who cares.  Jada has moved on, and so should we.  We all know how America thinks about Black America in the first place.  This should not be news, but we (including me) make a big deal out if a situation, which goes beyond a little statue that to me is a glorified door stopper.  In fact, some actors say after the first 2 or 3 statues they win, they do not know where to put them in their home, so they rent out storage. It is kind of that sports trophy you won as a child.  Yes, if you have that statue in your hand, producers and directors will consider you for more roles, and writers will want to write characters with you in mind.  The problem is that they think that black America has nothing to offer but violence. 

This is probably one of the reasons why Bill Cosby (haters, sorry I brought up his name) created The Cosby Show, which shows that the black family is like the average American family, BUT he does not define the family.  Besides that, I hate to say this, but Caucasian America, you have some crazy stuff going on in your families, too, which most back families would not touch with a 10-feet pole.  It is happening now in our families, only because we want to be like you, and we want this thing called equality.

So now we are back to the Will Smith family being weird.  They are only weird because they want to blend in, and black people are not used to that.  They do not want to see the movies and shows they are in because black America has felt segregated for a long time, and the closer we get to “getting ours”, the further white American pulls away. 

It would be nice if everyone had equal arrests (preferred no arrests), equal opportunities of employment, getting loans, housing in the same neighborhoods, friendships, marriages without judgment of the couple, but until that happens, there will always be that inequality among races, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation.   The best way to combat this is to turn towards God and love yourself so you can learn to love others,