Category: Blog

Blog · Blogging · Hope

We can make still make it Happy…

jacquelineobyikocha11 Comments

A real belated Hello and Happy 2022. It’s the 6th of April, a quarter is gone and I am just getting round to wishing my dear friends the best of this year. Nothing stopped me from hopping onto my blog on the eve of the new year and simply throwing some words together whilst clicking a glass of bubbly (in this case it was water; my favourite drink of choice at present) and joining the bandwagon to exchange perfunctory greetings that lacked the necessary spice.

It isn’t that I wasn’t happy to see the new year or the months that have sped by; because I was most certainly tired of 2021. It had drained me to limits and left me feeling tattered. I thought 2020 was rough but had such a bumpy ride the last 365 days of 2021 that by the time we got to the 31st I was limping across the finish line. I didn’t feel like racing to say happy new year and to share platitudes and lukewarm resolutions that barely makes it to the 10th of January.

The idea was to be in a more reflective mode and to process my thoughts in more depth; if that makes any sense. The exigencies of life had taken over and cluttered my mind with so much debris over these past 2 yrs that they needed and still need to be decluttered, analyzed and classified. I feel a bit more centered as I keep on rediscovering myself and getting in touch with who I really am. Honestly speaking, one would have thought that by this beautiful age of mine that I would know all there is to know and understand about myself, yet, I keep making new discoveries that makes me realize that truly we never become finished products and are constantly under renovation, embellishment, maintenance et al 😉

Is it possible to say that I am at peace, not sad yet not happy? Does that sound confusing. I am at peace because in trying to know myself better, I am getting more in tune with my spirituality, physical state and mental state of being. I have an optimistic view and hopeful expectations for the year unlike the previous where I was too stressed to see beyond my nose much less engage others.

Now I am dipping my toes back into these waters and I hope to get into full swing without much ado and with sufficient gusto. For real, I miss this place and will be visiting all my cool folks in this blogosphere. I know that I joined the new year party a little late in the day, but we can still make it happy nonetheless. What have I missed? I know that there’s a lot to catch up with and I am here for it. See you in your neck of bloggywood.

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Blog · Fascinating

Why Mystical Themes Are Trending So Hard Right Now

jacquelineobyikocha2 Comments

We’ve always had an affinity for mystery. It’s one of the best things that makes us humans, is that we want to know more about the things we don’t understand. That’s why we’re pulled and swain by mystical fantasy. This is partly because we wish we could live in such a world, where magic and beasts like flying dragons soar above in the sky. No matter how old we get, the fantasy genre in novels, movies and now video games never gets old along with us. It’s a never-ending world of possibilities. We played these sorts of games with our friends in the school playground. The adult world makes fantasy even more intriguing because now you can insert kingdoms and war against good and evil. Politics and romance are the two subjects that get the most attention. You would think that since society is getting more and more advanced, that Sci-Fi would be holding the top spot in our interests. However, there are some very good reasons why mystical stories are making a huge comeback.

TV is back!

If you haven’t heard of this next show, then perhaps that’s why you’re out of the loop. Game of Thrones on HBO has sent the masses into a mystical frenzy. A story about warring factions, broken hearts, family issues and of course, dragons. It may have single-handedly brought back mystical themes into the limelight. The season 7 finale that was aired in August 2017, was watched by 16.5 million people. In today’s modern standards where there are so many other distractions and ways to occupy our lives, this is a substantial achievement. Some credit must go Netflix which airs the show on its online watch-whenever platform. There are so many characters with different special abilities and civilizations. Everyone can side with who they feel reflect more of themselves.

Credit BagoGames

Mysterious strategies

Strategy games have always been a niche that unfortunately never made it into the mainstream. It’s kind of like chess. Everyone knows that it takes skill to be good at it, but it takes too much time to learn and perhaps the pull of the game wears off when you’re not advanced in the tactics. However, smartphones have done fantasy strategy games a great service as games like Final Fantasy 15 have injected the power of the story. The characters, their mission and what lies at stake are gripping and intense. The world is in chaos but only one faction and kingdom can put order back in its rightful place. This game is an MMO which means massively multiplayer online. You can explore an entire world in your smartphone, interact with other people from around the globe and team up or declare those that don’t stand with you, your enemies. The combat mechanics are just button mashing either, they require skill to use and learning each character will put you ahead of everyone else.

Whether you want to be a queen or king of a far-away land and lead your clan to a better tomorrow, the fantasy genre supplies you with gripping stories and entertainment value. The last great mystical epic was the Lord of the Rings movies but with Game of Thrones and great games to play, a new era is upon us.

This is a collaborative post.
Blog · Blogging

Little Rant…

jacquelineobyikocha22 Comments

Image result for images for blog rant

I don’t know if it irritates me or amuses me. Still trying to work out my sentiments. Sometimes, someone would leave a comment that sounds completely odd and far away from your post that you actually have to go back to your post to read it again to figure out exactly what it was that you wrote to prompt such an asinine comment.

Then, it dawns on you that they didn’t read it, but they summarized what they felt you said and made their two-bit comment that makes you wonder, why people do that. Yeesh! I also think that there’s an automatic ‘like’ button that some bloggers have learnt how to manipulate ‘cos I can’t relate with how fast a post gets liked considering that you just clicked the publish button.

Blog · Featured Blogs

Posts that caught my interest…

jacquelineobyikocha

Sometimes Shaving is Necessary It simply wasn’t what I was expecting. Short, good read.

Image result for images of sharing

A plague of discontentment I daresay we’ve all walked down this path.

When life throws a curveball and it surely will throw you a couple of them.

Thoughts Short and true

Comments are closed to encourage you to visit the featured posts.

Blog

HOW TO CREATE A SMART BLOG BUSINESS PLAN.

jacquelineobyikocha6 Comments

Blog Business Plan, blog business plan, strategic plan, financial projections, social promotion strategy, blog opportunity, potentials, continued growth, monetization strategy, Tips, Marketing strategy, Income Streams and Revenue

You may wonder how important a business plan is for your blog and I must confess that as a beginner I wondered the same thing and I learned this the hard way after dabbling around with my first blog. Having a business plan for your blog is not mandatory, but if you regard your blog – or plan to do so – as a way to earn income, to grow your platform, to showcase your creativity and create a brand, then your blog is your business and creating a blog business plan is essential.

Why you need that business plan.

  • To help you keep up your focus.
  • It will help you develop a short and long-term strategy that will help you gauge your progress.
  • Help you to carefully plan ways to make money from your blog in the best way that suits your brand.
  • Gives you a clearer picture of how you will promote your blog.
  • Helps you budget and guides you through future decisions for your blog as a business.
  • It helps to serve as an evidence to interested parties or investors who want to partner with you. Assuming that your blog grows popular over time and investors express interest in partnering with you, the decision to partner or not to partner with you could hinge on their assessment of your business acumen and a possible peep into your blog’s business plan. Such decisions are easier to make with documentation no matter how simple it is.

With this clarity on why you need a blog business plan, let’s go into the details of how to develop a simple, smart plan for your blog.

Thinking it through.

There are certain thoughts that you should have on your mind as you create your plan such as:

The platform (hosted or self-hosted) that you want your blog on – WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Others.

If you are self-hosting, consider how to get your domain name, how to buy hosting service, customizing and designing your blog and consider what the annual fees for maintaining your blog will be.

What are your three main goals for blogging? Identify them and use them as your focal point.

What will your blog subject focus be?

Who is your target audience and what are the possible solutions that you plan to offer to them?

When a reader visits your blog, what are the calls for action that you want them to take – Subscribe, buy, share etc?

How will you encourage them to take such action?

Search and study your competition. What is it that they are doing that you can learn from and possibly improve on.

How often will you update your blog? Think of your first ten blog posts, develop the content and come up with a list of focus keywords for your blog.

What are the strategies that you will use to increase your blogs’ SEO? Do you plan to run periodic promotions for your blog?

How will you measure your success? Think of the methods that you could use – Google Analytics, Email and RSS subscription, comments, and feedbacks. Read More…

Blog · Blogging

Boosting Your Social Profile As A Blogger

jacquelineobyikocha8 Comments
Going Up The Ladder, Progress, Growth, Social Media
Image source

If you want to get your teeth into the best hot dog in Times Square, are you going to go to the vendor that has no one queuing up their cart or are you going to the chap that has twenty people standing in line? Exactly. It’s called social proof and it is a surefire way to tap into the psychology of people. But it’s not just hot dog vendors that can use this marketing tool; it’s something we bloggers can use to encourage people to read our words, subscribe to our blogs and follow us on social media.

So, without further ado, here are some pretty genius ways you can add a dollop of social proof to your marketing strategy and encourage more people to buy into your brand – whatever that is.

  1. Let An Expert Takeover

You must have come across an online publication, newspaper supplement or Instagram account where someone with influence takes over for a day or so. They might play magazine editor for a special edition, they might do a guest post on a blog or take over a brand’s Insta-stories. Whatever it is, having an expert or influencer takeover is a great way to tap into the followers and embrace the halo effect.

  1. Highlight Milestones

Another super awesome way to create social proof is to highlight a milestone by showing a bunch of gratitude towards it. Perhaps you just reached 10,000 Instagram followers, or 5,000 Facebook followers or a 20,000 blog subscribers – reaching a milestone like this is cause for celebration, offers you a chance to say thank you and, best of all, let’s other people know you are worth following.

  1. Big Numbers Appeal

The moment you come across a blog that shows they have a social media following of tens – or hundreds – of thousands of followers, you automatically click the ‘like’ or ‘follow’ button. Why? Because there has to be a reason why so many people are following them and you don’t want to miss out on it. The best way to achieve this kind of following is organically, but a great way to get a head start is to buy cheap Instagram followers. It’s not cheating, it’s just embracing the fact that perception is reality. Distinction.

  1. Curate User Content

User-generated content is the secret weapon used by so many brands, bloggers, influencers and everyone else and that’s because it helps grow a following to record numbers in almost no time at all. A great example of a brand that loves user-generated content is Fairfax & Favor. It’s the backbone of their marketing strategy. The way it works is simple: you repost user’s posts by encouraging them to use a branded hashtag.

  1. Get An Endorsement

One of the most amazing ways to boost your social proof is to get your blog endorsed by industry leaders or well-known brands. We’ve all been on a blog and noticed a section titled “as seen on” followed by a load of logos you recognize: Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post, Daily Mail etc. That’s the aim right there.

This is a collaborative post.
Blog · Blogging

100 AMAZING SITES WITH FREE STOCK PHOTOS

jacquelineobyikocha1 Comment

Free Stock, Free Images, Photo, Public Domain, Image Directory

Without any doubt, images make your blog posts stand out. They act as eye candy and are an important part of design and professionalism.

If you often use images for your creative works, it’s important to bookmark a handy list of your go-to websites where you can find images that are absolutely free.

I literally cringe when I see bloggers slapping on photos or images with copyright and watermark credits stamped all over an article that they’ve taken time to craft. It looks sloppy and simply shows lack of professionalism.

Using copyrighted images is not the ideal solution. Such practice could expose you to issues of copyright infringement. To be honest, before I knew better, I made the same mistakes, but the good thing about information is that when you know better, you do better.

Online, there are millions of free images that don’t need accreditation, and one could equally create their own images through photography or by using creative solutions like Canva, PicMonkey, Powerpoint, Font Studios, Pic Art etc.

However, there comes a time when we are searching for something specific to buttress our message and when we don’t have a suitable one in our photo bank, we resort to other sources.

Quick Note About Licenses

Free Images, Free Stock, Free Images, Photo, Public Domain, Image Directory, Copyright, Infringement, Legal Restrictions,

Most of the images in this list are free from restrictions or licensed under creative commons public domain. It means is that copy, modify, share, use for commercial purposes – without permission.

However, some of these photos may need attribution and the best advice is to take a few minutes to check the restrictions of an image before using. If in doubt, contact the author of the site and even when attribution is not required, it’s always a nice thing to do.

100 Amazing Sites With Free Stock Photos

  1. A Digital Dreamer
  2. All The Free Stock
  3. Ancestry Images
  4. Barn images
  5. Big Foto
  6. Boss Fight
  7. Bucketlistly
  8. Budget stock photo
  9. Burst
  10. Cepolina
  11. Clker
  12. Creative Convex
  13. Crow the Stone
  14. Cupcake
  15. Death To The Stock Photo
  16. Designers Pic
  17. Dreamstime
  18. Epicantus

100 Amazing Sites With Free Stock Photos – The Art of Beautiful Expressions

Blog · Blogging

HOW TO MANAGE MULTIPLE BLOGS WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND.

jacquelineobyikocha

As the headline indicates, YES, I’m trying not to lose my marbles whilst juggling my ‘two’ blogs and I wonder how those super bloggers with dozens of blogs do it.

Truth be told, I haven’t published a post on this blog for several weeks and each day I feel a stab of guilt. It’s not that I don’t want to create new posts, but my time has been overtaken by the mundane necessities of life. However, to make a success of this blog, I must take the time to sift through the innumerable excuses, find and patch the loopholes and come up with a workable action plan.

Managing one blog is a time-consuming and tasking much less multiple blogs. It takes a special kind of crazy and a method to the craziness to do so. Just why on Earth would anyone choose to get entangled in such madness?

Of course, there are many reasons, such as:

Creating a second blog just for fun.
Creating another blog because the first one didn’t quite pan out as you wanted it to.
Creating a niche focused blog
Sharing your ability in different things.
The need to explore other opportunities.
Building another stream of income
Growing your network in another field
You are a professional blogger contributing or managing sites for your clients. READ MORE…

A link to my neighbours/Community · Blog · Featured Blogs · Share A Link

Featured Posts…Bring Your Blog Links

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Sharing, Blogs, Networking, Growing Readership, Connection, Bloggers, Blog Posts

‘Do send in your links.’ 

Today’s featured blogs are:

Over the hill on the yellow brick road

Cathi’s blog posts are simply unique, engaging, humour-filled, with doses of wisdom tucked in between. I doubt I will ever look at peas in a pod or Swiss cheese, old shoes and everything in-between the same way again. She has excellent conversations with the most mundane things in life. Take a peek.

Compassion, Grace, and Mercy

This simple post is such an outpouring of love and goodness. I love it. Are you the beloved? Why not find out.

Family parenting and beyond

Check out Joan’s blog. You will find a plethora of enriching posts. Joan is a wise old woman in a young woman’s body 😉

Thought Torrent

Thought torrent is a newbie in our midst. Go over and say hello – don’t forget to take a little basket of something nice.

Do step in, explore these blogs and show some love.

Do you want more eyes on your blogs?’

Well then, add your LINK TO THIS LOOP.

‘Remember, we create a cohesive community when we come together.