29 Days of Me! :-)

It’s the first of February, 2016. This means three things:

1. It’s Black History Month
2. There are 29 days in the month thanks to the Leap year
3. It’s My Birthday Month!

Numbers one and two are important, but I’m making this all about me! My birthday is literally smack dab in the middle of the month (it’s the 14th), so I’ve decided I’m going to have fun with the run up to it and the downward slide after it. I mean why not? I’ve been on the planet for almost 47 years, that’s something worth celebrating!

However, this isn’t going to be a month of drinking, debauchery and/or mayhem (though some of that may occur, heh!); I’ve got serious plans for the month on both the professional and personal levels. I could spell them out here, but that wouldn’t be much fun, but I will share two with you now…

Blog What I’m Thinking When I Think It – 2016

I get the question, “Kim why don’t you blog more?” quite often. I really don’t find myself that interesting and therefore don’t always think people would care about what I was thinking, but apparently some do (?).  So, to make what could be a long, drawn out explanation short, I’m going to blog about whatever pops into my head. I have the blogging app installed on my phone and tablet, so I’ll almost always have the tool I need in reach. I promise I will keep it to actual thoughts about actual issues (you really don’t need to read me ponder what to fix for dinner). My quicker, quirkier thoughts might make it onto Twitter, just to keep things interesting. This could mean several blog posts each day, or several blogs posts and tweets a day, but I pledge to blog at least once a day.

The book signing and the new book will happen this month

I am having my book signing this month. I am also going to finish the first draft of the second book this month. I’m sure that will be a topic of conversation here as well as on the WordsFromtheRents blog.

I have other things planned, and other things have been planned for me, so I think I’m in for a really fun month. So, let’s get it started, shall we? Have some cake!

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Debate Number 1…

is now behind us. And what did we learn?

1. Obama hasn’t had to defend his stance in a long time.

2. Romney doesn’t seem to understand the rules of debate.

3. Jim Lehrer never had control of the debate as moderator.

4, Town Hall formats without a town hall are just stupid.

5. Romney loves Big Bird, but has no problem firing him.

6. Romney has a plan. He’ll tell you what it is later.

7. Obama lost this debate. Yeah, I said it. Obama didn’t show up. He didn’t really have to.

8. Romney won this debate. Of course he had to.

Overall, I can’t say I’ve come out of this debate with any more information than I had going in. I’m still waiting for all the fact-checkers to chime in — they’re got their work cut out for them.

If there’s a “smoking gun” revealed, I’ll discuss that tomorrow, or whenever it’s revealed.

In other news, I had three of my favorite clients contact me with work today, which was cool. I started a new piece of chainmaille jewelry, which is cool, too.

And today, I did actually feed the dogs. 😉

First Day of the (Work) Week, First Day of the Month and a Blog Challenge

I’ve been wanting to get back into blogging, but just could not figure out how to squeeze it in. But since there’s another Ultimate Blog Challenge, and the first of October falls on a Monday, I figured it was the planets aligning to allow me to jump back in. So, here I am.

No idea what I’m going to write about to fill 31 days, but I’m sure things will come to me when they need to. Lord knows, my friends on Facebook and Twitter provide me with enough fodder, not to mention my um, entertaining family. So, I imagine this month will be a hodge-podge of things. Hopefully, at least some of it will be entertaining.

I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire (even more than usual *yikes*), so I doubt there are going to be a lot of long, rambling posts, but I will strive to post something every day, even if it’s more of a “Dear Diary, today I fed the dogs and cleaned the oven,” kinda post than something more meaningful. Of course, I hope to provide more entertaining fare, but sometimes, you get what you get. 🙂

And with that, I’m going to sign off. Got work to do, lists to make, blog post ideas to conjure up…

See you tomorrow.

Be Less Racist – Eat Less Chicken

I’ve been pretty busy with work, so I haven’t had time to blog, but some of the events that have unfolded over the last few days have prompted me to jump back up on my soapbox for a few minutes. I’m going to make a couple of statements, then expound on them. Ready?

Okay…here we go.

Statement #1: Chik-Fil-A can support whatever it wants.

Like it or not, they are free not to support same-sex marriage. They are free to be a religious-based organization. They can choose to only recognize traditional marriage standards. You can boycott them. You can march in front of their restaurants and call them homophobic, evil or whatever you want. But it’s not going to make a difference. Beliefs that deeply rooted are not going to change because of a few picket signs or angry letters to the editor. I would bet the farm that Cathy et al would close the franchise down before they would change their stance. So, don’t waste your energy. Express your disdain by driving past the restaurant and eating someplace else.

Or you could send everyone you know to a Chik-Fil-A, then have them donate a dollar to a local Gay rights advocacy group as penance.  And don’t forget to let the restaurant know you did so.

Statement #2: Racism is alive and well.

Many of my friends seem to be shocked by this revelation. It makes me smile that some of my friends are so pure of thought that these things don’t occur to them, and it makes my heart sad when I have to point this fact out to them. I wish I could have the same idyllic attitude, but alas, it seems my reason for being is to be a litmus test and sounder of the alarm for others. I’m okay with that. But please, when I tell you that outside of your immediate scope, there are people who still hate on the basis of skin color, I’m not trying to be mean. I’m your reality check. No more, no less.

But the debates from the last few days have made me question things, and so, I am going to throw the big question out there: Fifty years ago, would we have been friends? Would you have supported my right to sit where I want on a bus or in a restaurant, or would you have complained that I had an “agenda” as I was fighting for my equal rights as a black person? Or go back further in time — would you have objected to my agenda to have equal rights as a woman?

No?

Maybe?

How are those fights any different from the one being fought now?

Now, before you tell me, “but it’s not the same thing, you’re comparing apples to oranges,” let me stop you. You’re right, they are two completely different issues.

But they are still both fruit. Fruit born from the same seed of ignorance and intolerance.  Just as the fair and equal-minded had to shout down the detractors to equal right for women and blacks then, the same thing is happening now.

Speaking of detractors, let’s talk a moment about Obama haters.

No, I don’t mean those who oppose President Obama’s policies, I mean those who hate the man.

Dislike his policies all you want. Call him out on what you perceive as a lack of experience and inability to run the country. I got no beef with that.

But those of you who hate him because you hate the idea of a black man being in the Oval Office, I’m onto you, and I will call you out whenever I encounter you. I’ve got a big booming voice, and I’m not afraid to use it.

Because if I let you hate him and remain silent about it, it is only a matter of time before you start hating me. Because I’m black. Because I’m a woman. Because I fit some other stereotype you hold dear to your heart.

So, now, friends,  maybe you understand my frustration with some of the things that have been said over the last few days. For some of you, it’s just idle chatter with no immediate implications. But for me, it is so much bigger than that. I cannot allow anyone  to roll back time and force me to fight for my rights all over again. Not gonna happen. Not while I’m still breathing.

 

Thanks, Facebook!

Today, Facebook, you managed to both annoy and entertain me.  Now that more people are being converted to the new Timeline, I’m getting a bunch of visitors that are friends of my friends (but not friends with me).

For the most part, it’s been pretty uneventful, and I’ve even added a few of them as friends as a result of conversations we’ve had. So, that’s cool.

But

(Isn’t there always a but!)

Every once in a while a friend of a friend is not, well, friendly.

This first happened a couple of weeks ago. A friend of a friend made negative comments about something I posted. We had a brief back-and-forth, and basically, I told him to go away.

Then there was today.

I posted a picture of a truck covered with bumper stickers…I’m not going to post the pic here because I don’t want to take someone’s Facebook life and put it out in the Interwebs…but the picture garnered a decent amount of attention from my friends…

And this friend of a friend. He spent the better part of the day trying to convince me and all other commenters why we were wrong to think/believe what we did. And he was rather condescending about it, not to mention he contradicted himself more than once.

My friends, of course were not going to back down — I even had friends of friends chiming in to argue with him. It was a rather enjoyable scene. So much so, I kept my opinion out of it…for the most part.

I think these types of friends of friends need a name — I vote The Truth Bringers. They come onto a stranger’s Facebook page, and proceed to tell the page owner why they and their friends are wrong. They are trying to shed light and knowledge on the obviously unlearned (and probably unwashed) masses. It is their sole purpose in life to convert us to their ways…

Which means it is OUR purpose to smack them around, then kill ’em with logic until they are forced to utter phrases such as, “I’m not going to try and convince you anymore.” and “You’re all stupid poopy heads!”

Or something like that.

So, thanks Facebook for the entertainment today. I appreciate it, and I look for more to come.

Cuz, I’m sure there will be more.

PS — if one of my friends goes on your page and acts like a Truth Bringer, let me know. I doubt it will happen because I have the COOLEST, SMARTEST FRIENDS ON THE PLANET, but just in case, I’ll take care of it.

Social Media 101

Facebook. Twitter. LinkedIn. Klout. WordPress.

You’ve heard the terms, and most likely you use at least some, if not all of the sites/services I’ve mentioned above and others. But how do you use them? And did you know they are excellent vehicles for marketing your business?

Now, although collectively, they are referred to as social media platforms, don’t let the “social” part of the name fool you — the sites above are legitimate ways to market your business.

One of the many hats I wear on a daily basis is Social Media Manager. I have several clients for whom it is my job to run their social media campaigns. I post to their Facebook pages. Send their tweets. Write their blog posts.  I also do these things for my own business, which is why if we’re friends on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, you are probably almost tired of seeing updates about this blog.

[I hope you aren’t tired of the updates, cuz I hope you look forward to reading my blog, but I had to throw that out there because, well, it was the polite thing to do. :-)]

I enjoy interacting via social media, either as myself, or representing my clients, but I can understand why others might not enjoy the experience. Social media done right, is hard work. Sometimes it’s tedious. Sometimes you just don’t want to be bothered with interacting with others. And that’s okay, but you’ll need to get past that if you want to create an effective social media platform.

Or hire me. 🙂

So, if you are up to the challenge of launching a social media campaign, here are a few tricks I use to get things started.

1. Know your product. I know this should be obvious, but you would be shocked the number of people who don’t really know what their product is. For example, if you’re a freelance writer, what’s your product? Do you have articles you want to sell? Selling an ebook? Or are YOU the product? Decide what you want to market before you start the marketing process.

2. Know your target audience. Who does your product appeal to the most? As a jewelry designer, my audience is primarily female, 9 months of the year. The other 3 months, it’s male, but in those three months, I make as much as I do the other 9 months combined. My writing market is primarily small and home-based business, and solo/entrepreneurs and it’s year round.

3. Go where your targets are. Not everyone uses the same social media sites. Believe it or not, everyone is NOT on Facebook, at least to the point where you can just use it to market your products and services exclusively. Men pay more attention to Reddit and LinkedIn, females are Facebook and FourSquare oriented. Older social networkers are on sites like Reunion.com and Gather. Figure out where your potential customers spend their time, and focus on those locations.

4. Create information for your target audience. If you have a product with a wide appeal, you can usually get away with one informational statement, but if you have a niche product, you will need to target that niche. With the jewelry, I promote everything across the board 9 months of the year, but for those all important 3 months, I go to where the guys are and promote my female jewelry heavily. So, you might have to tailor 2 or more messages to reach the audience you want, but it can pay off.

5. Be consistent. If you are going to market once a week to your general market, and once a week to your niche market, then stick to that plan. If you start out doing one blog post a week to inform your customers of new products or services, then stick to that schedule. Whatever you decide, you should be consistent in your delivery. Delivering around the same time of day is also helpful, but not really required. (So, says the blogger who is still trying to determine the right time of day to post her blog! I’m not perfect, even *I* have to tweak things! :-))

These tips can get you started. If you have any questions or would like getting started, email me or leave a comment.

 

My Path…

is being laid out in front of me. I have felt like I has headed toward someplace for the last several years, and being that I’m a rather Zen person, I allowed myself to just go with the flow (for the most part). But I think my path as led me to the door I am supposed to open and walk through. It might mean the closing other other doors, but I really think I am where I am supposed to be, doing the things I’m supposed to do.

I’ve picked up skills that I really had no reason to learn, considering my career path, but they were of interest to me, and the opportunity was there, so I took it. Those skills led me to other interesting avenues and now I find I spend a lot of time using those skills, which I didn’t even think I needed at first. More to the point, no only do I use them, I enjoy using them. And since I made a point of stating here that my goal is to work smarter and be an expert, I believe it is time for me to practice what I preach.

I know this all sounds cryptic, but for those of you who have been around awhile, you know how I am. When everything is ready to be revealed, I’ll reveal it. I’m really only writing this because…well…because. LOL

As soon as I am ready to make the big reveal, you all will be the first people I tell.

On the Horns of a Dilemma

Ok, not really — just always wanted to use that phrase as the title of a blog post. LOL

I am, however trying to make a decision — and I am enlisting your assistance.

In my writing life, I have three basic nonfiction passions: Small business consulting, social media and renters’/real estate assistance. I really enjoy writing about those three areas. There is some overlap between small business and social media, which is cool — it’s like killing two birds with one stone (I’m all about the cliches tonight, folks!).

So, I’ve been thinking of honing an area or two for my specialist bent, and I know it will be one, if not more than one of the three above-mentioned areas…

I just can’t decide which one would be the most advantageous.

So I’m going to explain my idea for all three areas, and then I’m going to ask you which area you think would be the best one to launch. Like I said, I’ll eventually write about all three areas, but I have to start with one.

Small Business Consulting

• helping entrepreneurs develop their business ideas
• helping entrepreneurs research and compose their business plans, marketing materials and grants
• general advice on starting a business (licenses, locations, determining target markets)
• Question and answer segments when readers have questions.

The format would basically be how-to articles, with the occasional blog post-type article.

Social Media

• All things social media — how to advertise on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
• How to launch a social media campaign
• How to find your target market
• How to build rapport with your current and potential customers.
• The dos and donts of social media
• SEO education
• Answering questions from readers.

The format would also be how-to articles, but more blog post-type articles.

Renters Rights / Real Estate Issues

This is actually more of a database of information regarding renter’s rights in all 50 states. I’d also include information about foreclosures, short sales, dealing with lenders and other helpful advice for people facing losing their homes — whether as renters or buyers. I’ll also take questions from readers.

And there you have it — my three ideas. I like them all, and yeah, I AM leaning toward one of them, but I really would like input from you guys so I know if I’m going in the right direction. So, please cast your vote and let me know what you think. I’ll share my decision once I get the results of the poll and decide.