Less Hustle More Coffee

Well, it just seems like the numbers of the virus are not growing fast in our county. I guess that is why everyone is free to go back to partial openings – usually in 2nd phases in Tennessee. We will see how it does in a couple of weeks as everyone kinda gets back to society.

We really really really enjoyed time with our friends yesterday. It was so good to see them. There were six of us. We ate together, swam together, and yes we gave each other hugs.

Here is Mr. Stud Muffin right here. We all enjoyed our pool time / chat time.

They have a lovely place and a salt water pool. We sat on the screened in patio some too. Very nice. It was a perfect day for a cook out / pool party.

The cheese burgers were great and we had potato salad, slaw, baked beans (we took those), chips and dip, bread and spinach dip. We had whoopi pie for dessert as well as a lemoncello cake. All so good.

Judy made some dreamcicle margarita drinks. I just had a little of that as I had a glass of wine. But we ate, talked, caught up and had a really good time.

We left about 9:15 and I was ready for bed since I get up so early. We got home and I was in bed by 10:01. lol

So, yesterday before we left for the party, and after doing laundry, I did some viewing of YouTube videos on creating a YouTube channel. I allowed myself to just do whatever I wanted yesterday without specific focus. I was wanting to go ahead and create my channel and get it started. So I wanted to check out videos to kinda guide me through some of it.

One video leads to another and so forth. It’s all so intriguing to me and I’m like a sponge soaking it all in. It gets to be overwhelming quickly – the legal parts, the details of what to do and what not to do, how the algorithms work and how to market yourself and all of that if you want to grow your channel. I want people to like it and so that interests me too. But it got me thinking – probably a little too much. Like anything else, you have to think of it like a business, you have to crank out the videos on pretty much a weekly schedule, and you need to be able to provide VALUE for people to want to subscribe. LOL LOL. So I began thinking about all that and it really kinda made me laugh at first and then kinda made me sad.

Does my blog bring value? It’s just me spilling over whatever it is I need to say, and what we did the day before and sharing our life to who ever wants to read. So if I bring the blog to life in a vlog – how does that bring value? lol Oh dear.

I’ve always really just wanted to have a format in which I just say what I want. I don’t usually have a formal format of “Here’s 5 reasons you should BLAH BLAH BLAH”. I don’t usually give advice in my blogs, I just share my life. And that is probably not interesting enough to bring in new subscribers. But who knows? Maybe I can bring some kind of entertainment value. haaaaa. I think that is what makes me laugh. So what made me sad is that I realized if I don’t vlog in a certain way there may not be any subscribers. And if I don’t put out a video on a regular schedule, they will not stay, according to those with successful channels. I’m not so worried about monetizing the thing but if it grows, I’m not going to turn it down. And then there are milestones and rewards and such just like anything (goals to set in YouTube), which I will want to go for if I do this. For example even with 100 subscribers you get your own URL with a name instead of a number code and people can find you easier. So then I thought – well, COULD I begin adding some things that bring value? I’m sorry this makes me laugh every time I write it. lol I’m not used to thinking in terms of bringing value, to telling about what happened yesterday, lol. Heck, I’m entertaining myself here. But one video suggested that before I even begin, I should have 12 topics ready to go for the next 12 videos. So…….that’s just weird when you are reality blogger. And I have to have a niche. It can be about 3 things really. Enough to let them know who you are and what you normally bring to the table.

So what value have I brought to you guys?

Maybe I need to understand why my readers are here? What value does this blog bring to you? What do you want to see more of?

It has been suggested that you can still vlog but in the beginning or along side of – you need to bring some value. This still makes me laugh when I say it because it really trying to turn my blog into a vlog and into a business of sorts. That’s really what the videos on YouTube were calling successful. It’s a business. Is that what I really want? I mean I think it would be nice at retirement to have the extra income if it turned out that way. By then we’d get to travel more.

So I’m trying to think through here what value this blog brings to anyone other than for me to spill forth my thoughts about yesterday and share what happened.

I’ve heard that someone reads because she is interested in the Nashville area. Well that’s a biggie right there. We are usually out and about more. I will have Nashville area blogger in my description. And would eventually change it to vlogger as my format changed more toward vlogging formats and less of blogging formats. I can’t see how I could possibly keep both blog and vlog going in as detailed of a fashion like it is- another feature about this that makes me sad. The more public it becomes the less personal I can be also. And that makes me question if I’d be losing the reason I blog/vlog in the first place.

So yes, I’m having an identity crises through this thing. I’m in the midst of deciding what is important to me now and what is important as I morph and change. I also know part of the growth and change is to be flexible. I also have to get used to filming myself – at least in some scenes. I also don’t like the way I look in them. So I have to figure out how to look interesting on the camera. I know it’s within me to do so, but it’s something that will be a trial and error kind of thing. Hair, makeup, accessories – something that pops! So this is all scary and exciting. And it’s almost making me want to back out, but I enjoy the making of the videos, and I see others doing it, and I know in my heart it is something I want to do. And I am up for the challenge! I’m almost afraid for it to be successful. What if people do subscribe – I’ll be scared to death. Ahhhhhh.

So yeah….I am trying to decide what VALUE this type of scenario could bring to the YouTube world. What would my niche be that I would describe in the description?

I have organization skills and household skills. I have management/business skills. I do not want to make it a business blog!! I want it to be open to all sorts of things. There may be days I DO want to talk about business. So I think one of my niche description will be a “Reality Blogger”. I have to also emphasize down time and coffee as that is in the title and that is what I love. I guess I have life skills. I could turn certain things I do and discover into a “how to” or a “here’s something to think about” or “5 ways to ____”. I also get excited about new apps, new products I find, and of course I’m sure hubby George can entertain us some in the kitchen. But I’m not really an expert at anything. So who am I to offer anyone advice? lol. I did think of one vlog that would be fun to do. Taking you into my kitchen and saying “Here’s examples of how to decorate your kitchen on a budget”. Lights, greenery, decorating with books, and there is that calendar of Greece that I had framed, and our bucket list. See I would enjoy that kind of thing. I could also do a video about placing greenery around the home – and show what a difference it makes. But I don’t want to go down a certain path. It may be a home video one day and we may be out trying new cuisine the next. I think I can make it work? What do you think?

So while I thought I’d be setting up a YouTube Channel this weekend, maybe I just need to think on it some more. I could use your help. If I can add a few things in that actually “bring value” I could grow the channel alongside my vlogging which I fully intend to do. I’m also trying to figure out what my vlog style is going to be. There is one person that does an informational video and a vlog video on the same channel. Business and personal. She does two a week. She also makes this her full time job as she became successful in it and had to quit her FT job. I’m not saying I am trying to go that route. It would not be something that is a consistent form of income IF it did get subscribers. On the other hand, retirement is just 5 years down the road.

I realize a lot of this stuff is going to just take time and morph into whatever it will be. I think for the most part I just need to stay true to who I am, need to just keep going in the direction I’m going with learning the vlog scene. I can heed the advice given and try to work in their advice here and there. I want it to be fun and a hobby and not a chore. So I have to remember that. I don’t want to burn myself out. So I guess I will just do what I know to do and try to do the best I can with it. Right now life is not too interesting to blog or vlog about, lol.

What value do you get from this blog?

Why do you return?

What would you like to see more of?

By knowing that I’ll have a better idea of the wording to use for my “niche”. So I appreciate your help. This is all blowing my mind right now, a little bit.

I really just want to have fun with it…but I also want it to be successful. It’s kinda scary.

I’ll be adding songs to the video I’m working on today. And I realize I’m going to have to be more simple with some of the videos. The 30 minutes to try and cut down to 15 or so, is not easy.

Well, that’s it for today. I’m going to work on the laundry, ironing, and make lasagna today. I’ve been bad and have not been doing many videos of the week either, but it’s ok. I’ve not really shoved the boat off in this direction, I’ve not set a schedule yet, and I’m just dabbling at this point trying to figure out what this will all look like. Oh and I spent a long time working on my intro but I was told it can’t be more than so many seconds. So I need to work on that. But I’ll probably wait til the NEXT video. lol

OK over and out. More tomorrow. I truly hope to get some things off my list in the next couple of days. I love working on the blog/vlog stuff.

Am I hearing sighs from the spouse at my being in here in my office so much? I’ve heard a few but not sure if it’s me or something else? He told me “I’ll see you in June” when he gave me my iMac at Christmas. He knows me well. Oh, and if this keeps up I’ll be buying a new camera with my money from the government. lol. I’ve always wanted a really nice one but I think we’ll reach some goals first. I kinda want to reach some milestones. I also need to learn how to use the drone. But I’m scared. I wish George would do that part and just give me the video. ha. I’m afraid I’ll crash the thing.

Oh well, over and out.