Monday, September 30, 2024
Over the years, I have spent a lot of time in the mirror putting together business styles that worked for me. I have also purchased a great many outfits to accommodate my business world.
A type of suit that worked for me- included a tunic jacket with a matching pencil skirt. Two examples from my closet are shown below.
How am I defining tunic jacket? The jacket to the suit could be worn without a blouse underneath because it had some type of closures from top to bottom.
What I do not have in my closet is the suit shown below.
I would like to own the suit illustrated above. I know this suit will work for me in black, caramel, and the gray shown. Leave a comment if you have answers.
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Though I have had my PayPal Zettle card reader for some time (ref post), I rarely have the opportunity to use it.
That said, recently I watched a Youtube video discussing the new Tap To Pay phone features offered through the PayPal Zettle App.
One of the reasons I
decided to upgrade my phone was to be able to install the new PayPal Zettle
App to handle Tap To Pay transactions. My old phone simply did not have the
resources to handle the new app. I more than doubled my storage capacity.
Happy with my new phone and though I was a little under the weather on my birthday, had lots of well wishes and gifts.
Sunday, June 30, 2024
It has been so hot in my area, I hate having to think about going out.
That said, on Thursday, June 27, 2024 I did have to go out and my worst fears were realized, when the van I wanted to use would not start.
A brand new battery was installed about a year ago, however, the van is used less than once a month and I think the combination of hot weather and disuse drained the battery.
The good news, the van started right away with the amp charger I reference in this post.
I am seldom jealous of anyone with a pool. Allow me to explain. About the time I was completing my sophomore year in college (1979) and my sister was graduating from high school (always think of it as her graduation present), my parents had a pool installed.
Though I was never home (college, work, other interests), I perhaps used the pool less than 5 times before my parents sold the house in 1984. I thought when the pool was open (May-October), it was a lot of maintenance. And then there was the bunny that could not swim. I was simply never interested in that pool.
Several years ago, one of the neighbors had a pool installed. See below, the view from my office window. I have never wished I could just jump into that pool- that is, until this year.
Maybe it is because I have been working in my office more this year and the room seems hotter than other areas of the house, but I have wanted to dive into the neighbor's pool. That said, I do not want my very own pool.
Though, the next topic is not heat related, I was hot under the collar when the issue first came to my attention.
Facebook decided my business verification was no longer valid in 2022. I mention this issue in this post. I was baffled by this, however, let it go. At the time, I was a developer using Facebook APIs, however, there seemed to be no impact to my Facebook applications (see here and here), so I did not worry about it.
On Thursday, June 27, 2024, after notification earlier in the week related to the state's renewal of my business entity, I resubmitted the business information (state & business bank documents) to Facebook.
As noted from the graphic below, Facebook verified my business and also verified that my business is a tech provider for their services- mainly dealing with their API resources.
Glad most of my heat related issues worked out. I am currently working a number of business related projects and planning for the holiday.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
This morning, I received the three pair of slacks I discussed in the last post. I am so very pleased with this purchase and have been smiling all day.
I have made several purchases over the last month, including:
The following photos provide a closer look at the Joilcan 75" tripod. I already owned a 53" and a 17.32".
Other Amazon purchases made this month include the DEVICO portable utensils (on my
wish list & on sale) and the Miusol work pencil
dresses.
I wear many hats and I will be able to style the dresses for real estate activities as well as my software consultancy activities. I was surprised how well this dress style worked for my body type.
Amazon Purchases
I started this month thinking I wanted to sample products for inclusion to my online shop. I do not think I can source most of the products I sampled, however, happy to add updated pieces to my own wardrobe.
While working on this post, I noticed an email notification related to my Maryland small business (QiSoftware) and the trade name renewal.
Having a good day.
Wednesday, June 05, 2024
I have been looking into a number of business related issues, including the renewal of my Maryland business entity, QiSoftware, which is due to expire in September 2024.
A new Maryland law and the change of address for my business, made this a little more complicated than the renewal process five years ago. I think I have finally ironed out all of the problems.
My other business related projects of late? Working on my e-commerce shop, WiredShops. I have placed several orders to my wholesaler, including the fashion earrings shown below (now available) and sweaters and tops I want to add to the shop in late August.
The sweaters were ordered more to research the quality to ensure they were what I expected and I am very pleased.
In addition to the orders to my wholesaler, I also ordered the dress shown in the following images from Amazon.
Here again, very pleased with this purchase. Wish the photos showed more accurately the features of the dress.
Saturday, June 01, 2024
Over the last several weeks I have ordered more inventory and supplies for my online e-commerce shop WiredShops.
The problem? Though I have most of the tools I need to run my online shop, the organization of the office space is not what I would hope for. The following is a short video without audio explanation of my home office.
I currently use the office for the following tasks:
- Zoom meetings
- Online Virtual Courses
- All Printing & Faxing
- Some Photography
- Content Creation (Dubbing & Editing)
- Setting My Hair
I actually do most of the daily work on my sites, software
development/updates, and
all other business and social media tasks from my bedroom on one of two mini
PCs, a Samsung Android, and an iPad Mini. Shown one of the mini PCs setup on a
breakfast tray sitting on my bed. The other mini PC (software
development/update) sits on a bedside table in my bedroom- not shown.
Also not shown the shipping equipment (scales, thermal printers), labels, and packing material I began amassing when I first started my shop (November 2021).
Because I want to go after online sales in the form of digital products and shop inventory I really love (shown below), I have been preparing my e-commerce site and home office.
I purchased an inexpensive mirror from Lowes two weeks ago to help with inventory and affiliate marketing promotion.
Now, I want to install shelves and baskets to hold printers, packing material, and inventory. I have been researching several options, however feel the re-utilization of my home office could become more costly than I originally intended.
Monday, April 08, 2024
I have been working a number of projects, mostly business related.
- Integrated an AliExpress/Amazon plugin to my OpenCart e-commerce shop (WiredShops). The interface allows me to automatically add products from Amazon or AliExpress to my shop.
- Integrated another OpenCart plugin to enable live price updates based on options selected by the buyer for each product.
- Applying to AliExpress for access to the Drop Shipping API to allow more control of how products are added to my shop.
- Added a new category to my e-commerce shop, Digital Products.
- Preparing to offer my first digital product (MS Publisher Bank Check Template) for purchase. Ordered labels, flash drives, packaging and began the product brochure.
- Responsible for several tax return filings and happy to report I completed those tasks last week.
- Several business related filings to the State of Maryland to update records and access new services that became available at the beginning of the year.
I am very pleased most of these projects worked out well, however I have run into several problems with shipments and access to the AliExpress Drop Shipping API.
Allow me to backup. My order for custom flash drives (40), labels (210), and packaging (100) came to $63.84. Because of my past experience with business related projects, I wanted my initial investment to justify any failings I might incur.
During the checkout process, PayPal offered a $50 reward if I applied for the PayPal Cashback World Mastercard. (Link provided does not include the reward. Reward I was offered- provided through the e-commerce organization I purchased from, via PayPal.)
I was approved almost immediately and thought the $13.84 investment to experiment with my digital product offering was something I could afford to risk.
What about my FICO score? I did not think it would be affected as much- because of the limit offered by the new card. I only had about $13,500 in overall credit before I applied- with no liabilities. The new card provided an additional $9,000 in credit. I also justified the new card in case I wanted to acquire more on-hand shop inventory with a great cashback offering if I checked out through PayPal.
Credit ratings are based in part- on the overall amount of credit a consumer has versus the amount owed. It is also based on the number of creditors, i.e. credit cards, mortgages, auto loans, etc.
In my case, I did not want to apply for more credit, that is until the incentives became worth my while, as was the case with the one presented in this instance.
I received the labels and packaging on Saturday, April 6, 2024, however was issued a refund for the custom logo flash drives for $49.61 because the shipper did not ship.
I researched and this was a great deal for 40 custom logo flash drives for just under $50.00. To add to my dismay, the $50 I was going to get from PayPal for opening the credit account is probably not going to be credited because of the refund. I wanted to scream.
My other annoyance, AliExpress has not yet approved my access to the Drop Shipping API. Something about, I am stuck in their legal department.
Monday, October 30, 2023
I have a new ecommerce shop, WiredShops WED2C.
The reasons for this are discussed later in this post, however, I want to say this was so easy and cost nothing, that I think it is a good way to experiment
with drop shipping if you are interested in setting up an ecommerce shop.
Things you will need:
- If you do not already have an account with CJDropShipping, you will need to register/setup an account.
- Setup a free WED2C site. Clicking on WED2C on the CJDropShipping Store Authorization menu, shown on the right, will provide the steps.
Once you have everything registered, your CJDropShipping WED2C store screen should resemble the top illustration in the image below.
Why I set up the new store. I am one of those people, that finds ten more things to do after coming up with a new idea.
In this case, my original idea was to offer customized Microsoft templates, e.g., MS Publisher check templates (discussed here), via my ecommerce shop, WiredShops.
A number of issues presented themselves..
- I want to provide the custom templates via flash drives which are shipped (no downloads) -- with the explanation, for some reason those with access sometimes feel my hard work is their hard work.
- Legal documents need to be agreed to.
- Creating the templates (easy part).
- Changing how my ecommerce site is sourced.
WiredShops is mostly sourced through CJDropShipping.
Most of the shop's inventory is dropped shipped, however, I do stock some of the inventory. It is easy to add the digital offerings (flash drives with the customized templates) in the same manner as the inventory I maintain.
Where to purchase the flash drives in bulk? Still researching, however, CJDropShipping offers a good deal on lower storage space drives and will etch my logo on each drive. Still waiting to see my options on the customization of the drives.
So while I was researching this on CJDropShipping I noticed I could sign up for a free ecommerce shop with WED2C- WiredShops WED2C.
Other reasons as to why I did this when I already have WiredShops. It was an easy experiment to set up. In addition, the time required to maintain the private domain (http://wired-pages.com) using the CJDropShipping API Store Authorization resource is quite a lot. I am always looking to make more efficient use of my time.
That said, I love owning WiredShops and have no plans to take it down. I may change how some of the products are sourced.
Monday, October 16, 2023
I have added a new category to this blog, WiredCreators. Posts to the category will provide statistical updates in the form of subscribers to the channel and annual revenue numbers for the Youtube channel being researched.
In addition, new content creators will be added to the growing list, so that I might continue my research for the WiredCreators.com project.
Learn more about the WiredCreators business plan and project in this earlier discussion.
| Channel | Description | Subs (Orig. Tracking Date) | Subs (Current Date: 10/16/23) | Annual Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amber Baldwin | YouTuber & Entrepreneur | 73.2K (05/13/23) | 73.2K | $21,6352 |
| Athan Wright | Living life at Duke University | 1.68K (05/13/23) | 2.34K | $2622 |
| Caitlin Blue | Small business owner | 10K (10/7/23) | 10K | $1,441.751 |
| Cherissa Lindsay | Lifestyle / College / Fashion / Travel | 2.04K (05/13/23) | 2.07K | $3392 |
| DominiqueSachse | YouTuber / Author | 1.84M (05/13/23) | 1.85M | $248,7812 |
| Ellen Miller | Lifestyle videos about building a lovely life. 📍England | 4.96K (10/7/23) | 7.5K | $6,610.151 |
| Erin Byrd | Real Estate / Lifestyle / Education | 287 (05/13/23) | 301 | $ 25.551 |
| Hannah Elise | 24 Y/O College Grad Living in NYC | 758K (05/13/23) | 781K | $99,9542 |
| Hannah Meloche | Travel, Lifestyle, Fashion | 2.05M (10/16/23) | 2.05M | $154,6842 |
| kesalt | Brooklyn-based professional illustrator | 11.2K (10/16/23) | 11.2K | $1,872.451 |
| Leah Megan | Video Diary / Final Year at University | 36.1K (05/13/23) | 37.8K | $3,697.451 |
| LetsTurnItUpWorld | Tanya and Dave from ‘Turn It Up World’ | 62.7K (05/13/23) | 82.9K | $61,2632 |
| Life Uncontained | Texas Dream Build Debt-Free Off Grid Shipping Container Home | 1.37M (05/13/23) | 1.45M | $407,4792 |
| LivinFearless | Fashion / Lifestyle / Travel | 111K (05/13/23) | 117K | $75191 |
| lou | Video diaries of anything and everything | 31.8K (10/7/23) | 33.3K | $2,106.051 |
| Marcos Rico Peng | Cal Men's Swimming Team. Recent Grad. | 61.2K (05/13/23) | 92K | $15,888.451 |
| Ox In The Shop | Drew & Woodworking | 16.5K (05/13/23) | 16.9K | $1,9772 |
| NatalieBennett | Cozy, Simple Living | 327K (10/7/23) | 327K | $52,1212 |
| Overthinker Apparel | Ups and downs of running a small business | 200K (10/7/23) | 202K | $15,052.601 |
| ROSA GOLD | Mobile Home / Tiny Home Renovation / Online Shop 📍Germany | 30.3K (05/13/23) | 43.9K | $25075.501 |
| Scout The City | Fashion Content Creator | 51.9K (05/13/23) | 53.4K | $14,2282 |
| The Simachew Show | Personal finance platform | 264 (10/16/23) | 264 | -1 |
| Shealyn Ari'el | Home / Lifestyle / Self Care | 1.1K (05/13/23) | 2.24K | $419.751 |
| Simply Nikki | Lifestyle / Beauty / Decor / Mum Life | 529K (05/13/23) | 527K | $30,3972 |
| Tech Mentor Maria | Tech, Career, Personal Finance, Healthy Habits, Travel 📍NYC | 6.85K (05/13/23) | 10K | $1,098.651 |
| Young Lady Business | Lifestyle Vlogs / Decorating | 155K (05/13/23) | 159K | $56,4602 |
| 1noxinfluencer.com | ||||
| 2StarStat.yt | ||||
Saturday, October 07, 2023
Lately, it seems I have been working one project or another. Quite a few of the issues involved updates to existing software or applications, like the recent changes to programs to handle my Amazon affiliate links.
In addition, with all of the research related to content creators I have also noticed some interesting ideas I thought I would look into.
I like business, so I tend to checkout what other small businesses are doing in as far as income streams or side hustles.
One area I thought interesting, Youtubers discussing their in-depth financial situations and offering their Microsoft Excel templates via Etsy shops to help maintain budgets. Some of these Youtubers appear to be doing very well in this area.
Years ago, when I wanted to cut more operating costs, I decided I would no longer order bank checks which I seldom used. Instead, I created Microsoft Publisher bank check templates for both my business and personal checking accounts. I discuss this in this July 2016 blog post.
After I began using Microsoft 365 I converted the templates to the later Publisher version (discussed here), so I now have templates in Microsoft Publisher 2000 & 365.
Earlier today, I created a more generic Publisher bank check template and automated the update of the check numbers. The versions I use, require manual update of the check numbers, however as I have already indicated, I seldom write checks.
I will discuss this project later in more detail- after I finish with the video.
Yesterday, after lunch, I worked on perfecting my banana split.
Also watching videos from these creators...
- Caitlin Blue 10K
- Ellen Miller 4.96K
- Lou 31.8K
- Natalie Bennett 327K
- Overthinker Apparel 200K
I have more projects and videos coming up....
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
I continue to research a new business idea, WiredCreators. Earlier this year I registered the domain wiredcreators.com, created Facebook and Instagram accounts using the same name and began thinking about how to make the idea unique.
I continue to think MarylandBloggers.com should have worked, however decided the naming convention may have been limiting and not reflective of the type of content now being created. I wanted content creators from Maryland not just bloggers.
How am I trying to make WiredCreators unique? The business areas my plan covers.
- Promotion
- Creators
- Related Service Areas
- Service Areas Include
- Video Production
- Photography
- Writers
- Digital Editing Experts (Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, Lightroom, Active Presenter, etc.)
- Unique Content Ideas For Specific Clients
- Worldwide Base
This evening I was playing around with PowerPoint and put together a draft business plan for WiredCreators. I exported the plan as an animated gif.
I am looking at the numbers and researching quite a bit for this project. I think I have a plan that can work. I need to find experts and professionals in some of these areas however, I do tend to generate a lot of notice.
Areas I can cover, software for a searchable database of service related experts. Competent individuals that can really go in and look at what makes a client unique and marketable, seems a little hard right now. Sometimes it seems people are being told who they are. This business needs to ask who you are. What makes you different? Does anyone do that anymore?
Wednesday, August 16, 2023
In the last post, I discussed Youtube rules related to eligibility for monetization. I watched a Youtube video of someone discussing new monetization rules and checked my Youtube Studio page for more information. Sure enough there was a new section on my page which I highlighted in the following illustration.
The new section refers to access to useful tools and forums and connecting to your fans. It appears I need 500 subscribers to be able to do this.
Earn income by connecting with your fans and gain access to support forums and creator tools
I did not read the fine print carefully after watching the Youtube video. Nevertheless, I stand by my original giggle. My Youtube subscribe button does not work, no matter the requirement for 500 or 1000 subscribers.
DOJ you can take me seriously.
Sunday, August 06, 2023
It has been hot and humid in the Baltimore/Washington area and I am thankful I can do most things from the comfort of home. That said, on Wednesday of last week, on my way to Costco- I ran into a problem with a dead car battery.
I so seldom go out, that when things like this happen I am momentarily thrown off my game and cannot seem to understand how a dead battery could happen on a car I rarely use and continue to recondition with a battery amp charger/meter.
In this case, it appears the battery simply could no longer be reconditioned and on a hot summer day- I was happy to have another car I could use to both pick up needed supplies from Costco and to purchase a new battery from Autozone.
On Thursday morning, I tried to remove the negative terminal connector without success (positive easily loosened), so I called my brother to ask if he had a battery terminal remover tool. He said he would come by and look at the problem. After going through most of the ratchets in his set he finally found a small enough adjustable wrench in the tools here, to grab and loosen the nut holding the bolt.
The car started right away after putting the new battery in. I would have taken the car to the repair shop to replace the battery, however the battery was completely dead and could not be jump started.
The other project I have been working is going well and getting only good reports.
I am losing weight (project requires a lot of physical activity), and I think that is showing my age. Lately though, I have started to eat more of the foods I used to eat, however, not because I want a rounder less lined face. More because I am getting back into the sync of things.
Other recent purchases I am pleased about are shown below.
In my spare time, I continue to research content creators for a new venture I am thinking about (wiredcreators.com).
Discussed in this post...
 Porkus Glass Cups with Lids and Straws 4pcs,Glass Iced Coffee Cups with Lids  |
 EasyTime Watch Repair Kit - Watch Battery Replacement Kit  |
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Friday, August 04, 2023
On May 13, 2023, I posted about a new business project which relates to the online world of content creation.
In the earlier post, I discussed some of the content creators I follow and provided channel subscriber numbers and annual income data for their channels.
I updated the following table to show the May 13, 2023 number of subscribers for each channel versus the number of subscribers as of today. The estimated yearly revenue of the channel according to noxinfluencer.com or Starstat.yt is also provided however are the same numbers from May 13, 2023. Why? Though I did find differences as related to income for two or three of the channels, most of the revenue reports remained the same. Note, Google provides a Youtube channel revenue API for developers who may wish to explore this data, however I am not sure how often the data is updated.
| Channel | Description | Subs (05/13/23) | Subs (08/4/23) | Annual Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amber Baldwin | YouTuber & Entrepreneur | 73.2K | 73.2K | $21,6352 |
| Athan Wright | Living life at Duke University | 1.68K | 1.78K | $2622 |
| Cherissa Lindsay | Lifestyle / College / Fashion / Travel | 2.04K | 2.06K | $3392 |
| DominiqueSachse | YouTuber / Author | 1.84M | 1.84M | $248,7812 |
| Erin Byrd | Real Estate / Lifestyle / Education | 287 | 311 | $ 25.551 |
| Hannah Elise | 24 Y/O College Grad Living in NYC | 758K | 769K | $99,9542 |
| Leah Megan | Video Diary / Final Year at University | 36.1K | 37.1K | $4,339.851 |
| LetsTurnItUpWorld | Tanya and Dave from ‘Turn It Up World’ | 62.7K | 72.6K | $61,2632 |
| Life Uncontained | Texas Dream Build Debt-Free Off Grid Shipping Container Home | 1.37M | 1.42M | $407,4792 |
| LivinFearless | Fashion / Lifestyle / Travel | 111K | 114K | $6,522.551 |
| Marcos Rico Peng | Cal Men's Swimming Team. Recent Grad. Now Software Engineer in NYC | 61.2K | 74.2K | $12,541.41 |
| Ox In The Shop | Drew & Woodworking | 16.5K | 16.7K | $1,9772 |
| ROSA GOLD | Mobile Home / Tiny Home Renovation / Online Shop 📍Germany | 30.3K | 38.6K | $18,874.151 |
| Scout The City | Fashion Content Creator | 51.9K | 52.6K | $14,2282 |
| Shealyn Ari'el | Home / Lifestyle / Self Care | 1.1K | 1.83K | $94.91 |
| Simply Nikki | Lifestyle / Beauty / Decor / Mum Life | 529K | 529K | $30,3972 |
| Tech Mentor Maria | Tech, Career, Personal Finance, Healthy Habits, Travel 📍NYC | 6.85K | 8.87K | $1,887.051 |
| Young Lady Business | Lifestyle Vlogs / Decorating | 155K | 158K | $56,4602 |
| 1noxinfluencer.com | ||||
| 2StarStat.yt | ||||
Earlier this year, I setup a new site- MarylandBloggers.com. Though, I have not promoted the site as much as I wanted, my stats indicate it is noticed.
In April 2023, I registered two more domains; WiredCreators.com and MarylandCreators.com. I think I am going to release the MarylandCreators.com domain and concentrate on a business plan for WiredCreators.com. What will make my efforts different than other influencer sites? The sites I want to promote.
Saturday, May 13, 2023
I am looking into a new business venture, so I have continued research into the online world of content creation.
I have to say, it is not that I think others have not thought of these ideas- they have, its more that sometimes content is hard to find or lost and I am researching in an attempt to find a unique solution.
For instance- I often search Youtube for terms like:
Day in the life of a...
and mostly surprised by the results of my search.
The following table shows Youtube sites I visit on a regular basis. The data includes the number of subscribers, and the estimated yearly revenue of the channel according to noxinfluencer.com or Starstat.yt.
| Channel | Description | Subs | Annual Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amber Baldwin | YouTuber & Entrepreneur | 73.2K | $21,6352 |
| Athan Wright | Living life at Duke University | 1.68K | $2622 |
| Cherissa Lindsay | Lifestyle / College / Fashion / Travel | 2.04K | $3392 |
| DominiqueSachse | YouTuber / Author | 1.84M | $248,7812 |
| Erin Byrd | Real Estate / Lifestyle / Education | 287 | $ 25.551 |
| Hannah Elise | 24 Y/O College Grad Living in NYC | 758K | $99,9542 |
| Leah Megan | Video Diary / Final Year at University | 36.1K | $4,339.851 |
| LetsTurnItUpWorld | Tanya and Dave from ‘Turn It Up World’ | 62.7K | $61,2632 |
| Life Uncontained | Texas Dream Build Debt-Free Off Grid Shipping Container Home | 1.37M | $407,4792 |
| LivinFearless | Fashion / Lifestyle / Travel | 111K | $6,522.551 |
| Marcos Rico Peng | Cal Men's Swimming Team. Recent Grad. Now Software Engineer in NYC | 61.2K | $12,541.41 |
| Ox In The Shop | Drew & Woodworking | 16.5K | $1,9772 |
| ROSA GOLD | Mobile Home / Tiny Home Renovation / Online Shop 📍Germany | 30.3K | $18,874.151 |
| Scout The City | Fashion Content Creator | 51.9K | $14,2282 |
| Shealyn Ari'el | Home / Lifestyle / Self Care | 1.1K | $94.91 |
| Simply Nikki | Lifestyle / Beauty / Decor / Mum Life | 529K | $30,3972 |
| Tech Mentor Maria | Tech, Career, Personal Finance, Healthy Habits, Travel 📍NYC | 6.85K | $1,887.051 |
| Young Lady Business | Lifestyle Vlogs / Decorating | 155K | $56,4602 |
| 1noxinfluencer.com | |||
| 2StarStat.yt | |||
Of the Youtube sites I visit on a regular basis, you may notice- I tend to love watching creators who film the process of building on or updating their living conditions. I also like college students discussing their studies and small business owners discussing all things related to running their businesses.
The other area I am concerned about- the amount of effort to create content for online consumption and the relatively low ROI- both in terms of time and the cost to own the equipment for these efforts.
Tuesday, April 11, 2023
Lately, I have been preoccupied with personal and home security projects, so in addition to holiday meal preparation, my short term goals through last weekend included those efforts.
This morning, with most of my short term goals in place (have one or two remaining issues with the security projects) I refocused my attention on business efforts.
I have done a lot of research into online content creation resources, income potential, and those currently working in this area.
Though my research provides you probably should not give up your day job to become an online content creator- there is the potential for side income if you have the time.
That said, in my opinion part of the problem lies in how search engines find your content. Bloggers and other content creators used to use online forums and backlinks to create their web presence. Now it is more social media links and the number of likes.
The problem with someone like me? I do not chase social media likes nor posts.
I prefer backlinks and directories. For example, one of the Facebook groups to which I belong- provides membership for regional content creators. When I posted a question to the group searching for a post with a list of links for our members' content- the admin for the group responded that there was an old post somewhere. Upon further research, I discovered Facebook had deleted the post.
When I developed the Blogger Calendar Java application in 2004 for the blogger.com platform, I created a blog post titled, "Dating Your Blog" using "Blogger Calendar" as a keyword.
I then posted to a great many online forums about my new application. Web directories and the older forums services (e.g., BBS) do not delete old forum threads with links.
When using Google, Yahoo, etc. to search for the term "Blogger Calendar" there were many returned references all pointing to one of my forum posts or the blog post itself. And my results were always at the top.
Content creators do not have as many backlinks to their content, instead a person on Facebook or Youtube liked your post. This does not provide the same backlink coverage the old forum posts and directories used to provide.
Of course you can always purchase the top of the search results list. How is that done today? In the past it was the backlinks from forum posts and online directories. I am no sure how Google creates backlinks today or if they are even needed to reach the top of their search results lists.
Social media 'likes' do not create backlinks.
When the Facebook admin responded to my query, I started thinking about how creators might be found without sinking entire budgets into advertising to get top search engine results. That is why I registered MarylandBloggers.com in late February 2023.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) used to mean- those offering those services went out and did what I did when I developed the Blogger Calendar app, post to a lot of different forums to get top ranking in search engines.
Forums have gone mostly by the wayside, so today I am unsure as to how those providing those services obtain top results in search engine rankings. Backlinks are important. Someone liked your page? Does that get you a backlink? That may get Instagram a backlink.
Because I have created my own online content, I know videos are especially time consuming and you need the right equipment. I use starstat.yt to provide income data for Youtube channels. Given the number of subscribers and the work effort to create some of those videos, I find it a little shocking as to the dollar amounts those creators are generating. Virtually nothing. Can you buy subscribers? It seems the subscribers are not returning.
Someone is making money. I am not sure if it is the creators. I get hits. I do not get credit. I have asked DOJ to investigate.
How do I know I get hits? One, I have to restart my private Tomcat servers on both my hosts too often which tends to show it is not only me visiting my sites. Two, there is other evidence, however a little harder for me to prove. Three, I am the sole admin for my high school alumni group of 6K members. I am sure they are curious about who I am. Why? I always get hits on an external alumni group I belong to. Though the Facebook group is active my business/personal site analytics do not reflect any traffic from this rather large group.
Last year, a large power admins group on Facebook invited me to join because of the high school alumni group. My group is considered clean and rates high on Facebook. Why are those members (Facebook high school alumni group) not curious about who I am- and those on the external alumni group seem to be? The external sites sends email messages about profile hits.
I do not think I am the only content provider not getting credit. What am I trying to do? Old School. Provide a way to have links found.
Sources suggest hits from this blog and other sites I offer do provide audience for links I include in my posts. I registered two new domains this morning- MarylandCreators.com and WiredCreators.com at $10.74 per year for each.
Can I get you hits? I think so.
Saturday, April 01, 2023
It was a long March. Seemed as if upon resolution of one problem, another turned up. Summary of the issues:
- Auto problems with another of the vehicles.
- Research into a tax question that I had not expected. Dealt with an IRA account.
- Web hosting issues with both of the services I use to host my sites.
- Issues with Amazon Native Ads.
- After years of being a verified business on Facebook- QiSoftware is no longer verified. I have been working this problem on and off since June 2022. Looked at it again in March. Business bank statements, domain specification, business phone, and state records. Nothing seems to work. Not sure why my business was declassified on Facebook. Anything to do with layoffs at Meta? Not sure.
Accomplishments for the month of March...
- Business bank appointment to update business related information. This went so smoothly I was on cloud nine. These days changing anything related to my business seems difficult.
- Filed all of the tax returns I needed to take care of.
- Minor updates to my new site- Maryland Bloggers
- Updates to my Amazon Stores (see upper sidebar)
- Work on a new video short that I hope to release next week.
- Opened another HYSA with CIT.
- Installed software on the new laptop.
March was mostly about taxes and business related issues. I have to say, I am happy all of that is behind me.
Friday, March 03, 2023
One of the subtasks involved creating an Excel spreadsheet, which once completed, I wanted to print to an older Brother Monochrome Fax/Laser printer.
I plugged in the USB cable from the printer to the new Windows 11 system and noticed it recognized the printer, however the print driver was unavailable.
Plug & Play was not available for either of my older printers while connected to the new Windows 11 system. My older printers include a Brother 2820 Monochrome Fax/Laser Printer and one of two- Konica Minolta Magicolor 1600W Laser Printers.
How did I resolve this dilemma?
I used the CD disc that came with the Konica Minolta Magicolor 1600W Laser Printer to install the driver and for the Brother 2820 Monochrome Fax/Laser Printer, I downloaded the driver for the Windows 7 platform.
The manufacturer, Brother claimed the Windows 10 operating system came with a built in driver for the fax/laser printer, the reason I had no option but to download the Windows 7 version. Windows 11 is so new (and probably the printer is so old), Brother did not offer a Windows 11 download version for the printer.
Both drivers installed correctly on the Windows 11 laptop.
Why not purchase a color wireless laser printer? Do not use hardcopy print enough to warrant a new printer, however did consider this printer.
Friday, February 24, 2023
Yesterday, I installed a more robust version of the new site, MarylandBloggers.com.
This evening as I was finishing up, I decided to make a short video of the major update (first element listed below), I added today.
- Added a JQuery Hamburger Menu to the top left area of the site.
- Several minor issues with design and spacing.
- Researching promotion avenues.
- Created one or two new graphics.
Why is the Jquery Hamburger element a big deal? Well it took most of the day for me to customize it, and have it work with my custom site design.
You may have noticed my real estate site, uses a hamburger menu and yes, I installed the site.
That said, the menu for that site came with the template I decided to incorporate, and though I did not have to rework the hamburger menu, I did have to rework several other areas on the real estate template I found.
Initially, I planned to develop a new online MySQL database for marylandbloggers.com, however decided some of the feedback suggested I needed a more secure way of storing data for the site.
Thingamablog has a robust database that for the time being- will suit my security issues. I like Thingamablog because the entire master copy of the database sits on my hard drive along with external backup drives.
Friday, February 10, 2023
Recently, when the admin for the Facebook group, MarylandBloggers polled members about blogging and other content creation activities, I noted of the 15 or so respondents- only 23% were still blogging.
That said, most indicated they were using Instagram more (29%), while a smaller percentage were creating content for TikTok and Youtube.
I have been researching Youtube bloggers, which are also known as vloggers. I have to say, that my research provides if you do not have a paid sponsor for each video, the Adsense revenue alone is probably not going to offset the cost of the equipment, software used for editing, and time required for this content creation activity.
So why did I register a new domain, marylandbloggers.com? Mainly because it was only $10.74 a year and I wanted to see if I could come up with a business plan.
I am actually looking to promote both bloggers and vloggers from Maryland. I feel effective use of promotional tools can help with other business areas, and I would like to assist other small business owners in this area.
The morning (February 8, 2023), I registered the new domain (actually renewing my real estate site when I checked to see if "marylandbloggers.com" was available), and roughed out the database schema, using MS Excel. The final version will be used for the online database which will provide a directory of Maryland content creators.
Also playing around with graphics and slogans for the new site.
This project is not a high priority for me, however I do feel that with the current state of employment issues, anything anyone can do to help the communities they are a part of, might be useful.
