Today I learned about some very cool things you can make yourself and make a profit by selling them. Some of them include marbled clay ring dishes, fabric-covered pots to put your plants in, rope bowls that can hold just about anything and make a really cute home accessory, bath bombs, a no-sew tote bag, yarn ball bookmarks, etched wooden cutting boards, cereal box notepads, and so many more things. The possibilities are endless with what you can create by yourself with the simplest of tools and better yet, you can make a profit from it!
Today I learned about some very cool things that you can do with GIMP, which is a GNU image manipulation program. Some of the cool things I saw when I watched some GIMP tutorials by Logos by Nick were him doing a skull face, photo pop-out effect, cracked and peeling skin effect, and he even created a fish bowl in a light bulb!
Today I learned about designing clothes and some steps that you can take to begin the process! The steps include learning about drawing, sewing, design, art, photography, history, fashion, technology, and resources by taking classes, studying books or with online research, and practicing A LOT.
Next, you should find an inspiration which could be anything, start considering what kind of person you imagine buying your design, think about combining existing styles and trends, and begin to consider the fabric, color, and pattern you want to use.
Now, if you want to bring your vision to life, you can start by drawing your design on a croquis and begin to sketch and color your design. Also, make sure to draw your croquis using dark ink so you can trace it onto another sheet of paper to demonstrate another design and it will make your life a lot easier.
Then you can finally start sewing. First, you should purchase a dummy or simply make one from scratch to see if what you designed can fit a human form. The next steps include drawing your pattern on butcher paper, recreating it on muslin, then sewing your mock-up and evaluating it to see what you like or think you should change.
Now that you have finally put your design altogether, you can start selling it. To start selling it, you should start to build a portfolio with quality pictures of your work. Then, do some research to find boutiques or designers that do work that is similar to your aesthetic, find some online resources that can fabricate your designs if they or their users like it, build a website to sell your clothes on, and most importantly, brand yourself by developing a presence on social media and create a buzz.
Today I learned about some cool things that can be done with Inkscape. Some cool things I learned were creating a barcode/QR code, and video thumbnails. custom card games and dice, maps, and so many more! I also learned about how to use Inkscape as far as basic drawing, shape tools and options, fill and stroke settings, using layers, spray tools, and importing and editing files made on other platforms.
Today I learned about online softwares that can be used to create art. Some of the online softwares I learned about is Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, Inkscape, GIMP, Krita, and Paint.net.
Today I learned about retrofitting old electronic products and how you can make an income from them. Technology that has been used in the past such as VCRs, cassette players, and non-digital cellphones can still be of use now. You can use the salvageable parts from the old technology and create new items with them, restore the old technology, or upgrade the technology with more modern components. Then, you can sell them online and get money for them. I honestly think this is cool and a very unique source of income.
Today I learned about some of the basic tools that you will need if you’re thinking about getting into electronics. These tools include batteries, resistors, LEDs, battery holders, pliers, switches (dip switches & toggle switches), push buttons, breadboards, and wires (pre-stripped or ones with caps on each side).
Today I learned about Raspberry PI and Arduino. They are very user-friendly programmable prototyping circuit boards that have a programmable microcontroller inside and other parts that help the user make it into a project with ease, interface with it, and connect it to other components and sensors.
Today I learned about laser cutting, what it's used for, and things you can create with it. A laser cutter is a machine controlled by a computer that is used to cut, engrave, or mark something permanently with a laser beam. Some fun projects you can create with a laser cutter are clocks, coasters, jewelry, bookmarks, and signs!
Today I learned about some ways you can make money with 3D Printing. I learned about rapid prototyping, creating and selling homemade products and personalized crafts, offering the printer as a commercial service, and selling items made with the printer.
Today I learned about some 3D printed items that sell very well online. In this day and age, anything is possible. 3D printing is honestly a fascinating topic and the things you can create with it are endless. Some of these cool things that can be created with 3D printing include customized shoes, statues/figurines, jewelry and ornaments, movie-grade props, cell phone cases, customized earbuds, and drones!
Today I learned about creating digital goods to sell and programs that you can use to help you create these digital goods. These programs include TinkerCad, Blender, Autodesk Meshmixer, AutoCad by Autodesk, and Solidworks.
Today I learned what an MVP is. An MVP, or a Minimum Viable Product is a product that contains just enough features that it can be used by early customers who then give their feedback for the company to use in the future.
Today I learned about music distribution and some different music distribution platforms. Music distribution is how music gets delivered to the listeners and it's even easier in this day and age with digital distribution sales and revenue continuing to rise. Some excellent music distribution services and companies include LANDR, CD Baby, TuneCore, Ditto Music, Loudr, Record Union, MondoTunes, Reverbnation, Symphonic, iMusician, The Orchard, and AWAL.
Today I learned about what goes on behind the scenes of some of our favorite songs and some jobs you can get if you would like to work in the music industry but do not want to be a performer. Some of these jobs include video and sound engineer, recording engineer, music director/conductor, music teacher, DJ, musical therapist, music journalist, music agent, songwriter, & music franchise owner.
Today I learned about grant writing. Grant writing is when you apply for funding provided by a private, corporate, or government grantmaker. To write a great proposal, it's imperative that you tailor each proposal to be appropriate for the grant you're applying for, make sure to communicate your ideas clearly, find a core compelling idea you convey in your proposal, and be persuasive in your proposal using ethos (ethics), logos (logic), & pathos (an appeal to emotion).
Today I learned about some work from home jobs I can do. Some of the jobs I found that I would be interested in doing include remote call center agent, remote customer service rep, remote live chat agent, remote customer support engineer, remote virtual assistant, remote travel agent and so many more!
Today I leaned about the 12 types of blogs, got a change to make my own blog, and created my first post about Techie Youth! My blog’s link is lifeofanthonia.blogspot.com. The types of blogs include personal blogs, personal brand blogs, corporate blogs, personal services blogs, repair services blogs, niche blogs, affiliate blogs, artist blogs, counter-culture blogs, guest blogs, case study blogs, and podcasts.
Today I learned about the difference between magazines and journals. Articles written in magazines are meant to inform and entertain, they normally cover broad subjects, are short in length, normally advertises various products and services, reviewed by editors and written by magazine staff and freelance writers. On the other hand, articles written in journals are meant to inform and educate, they normally cover more specific subjects, are longer in length, normally do little to no advertising, are peer-reviewed and are written by experts, scholars, or professionals in that specific subject field.
Today I learned about the different types of business structures. The different types include:
1. A sole proprietorship which is an easy start because it’s owned by one person. There is personal liability and you must file both personal and self employment taxes.
2. A partnership which is owned and ran by two or more people. There are three different types of partnerships, a general partnership, limited partnership and a limited liability partnership. It can be personal or limited liability depending on which type of partnership path you choose and everyone must file for personal tax and self employment taxes (with the exception of limited partners).
3. C-Corp or Corporation is when the business itself is separate from the owners. It can be owned by one or more people and they all have limited liability. Unfortunately with a corporation, there is corporate tax or double taxation which means less profit than the other business structures.
4. B-Corp or Benefit Corporation is a business that focuses on the profits and social good. It can be owned by one or more people whom all have limited liability. Unfortunately, like a C-Corp, a B-Corp faces corporate tax or double taxation which means less profit than the other business structures.
5. LLC or Limited Liability Corporation is a corporation and partnership business structure put together. It comes with a lot of protection and flexibility. Like the other business structures, it can be ran by one or more than one person who all have limited liability. As far as taxes, they must pay personal and self employment taxes and can choose corporate tax if they want to.
6. Co-op or Corporation is a business owned by the people using it. An elected board of directors runs the Co-op and every stockholder/owner can vote on the overall direction. Every stockholder/owner is given limited liability, one vote, and profits are distributed amongst them. On the downside, they are double taxed which means less profit.
7. Lastly, a non profit co-op which is a business created to do charity, religious, educational, literary, or scientific work that isn’t taxed. It can be ran by more than one person and they all are very well protected and given limited liability. They are exempt from taxes and can be given grants and donations.
Today I learned different ways to get money to fund your startup venture. Some different options include paying for it yourself if you are doing well financially, paying for it with a credit card which may or may not be a good option depending on how well your startup does, finding family or friends that are well off financially to invest in your business, and lastly finding an angel investor, who is a person who invests money into small or newly established enterprises, to fund your startup. If you do go with the last option, be mindful that they are expected you to give them back more than what they initially invested.
Today I learned about being a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant is an independent remote worker who takes on recurring tasks and administrative work to free up time for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and managers. You can be a virtual assistant in the united states or in another country. Also, you can be part time or full time and be paid at an hourly rate or a fixed fee per week/month. Some tasks a virtual can do is scheduling appointments, responding to emails, manage your calendar, confirm appointments, providing reminded about calls and appointments, reschedule calls and appointments, research flights and hotels, help recruit employees, and make purchases.
Today I learned that sometimes it's okay to depart from something, whether it's an idea or a business if it is not working. It is best to be realistic when yourself and know what is possible and what isn't. Also, it is always better to work smarter and not harder, do not work hard on a business idea that has already failed or you can see that it will end up failing. It's best to move on from it and start brainstorming some other ideas that will work better.
From watching a Gary Vee video, it put a lot of things in perspective. One major thing that I learned from the video is to enjoy the process of working and making it to the top instead of sitting around not doing anything and comparing myself to others (that most likely have grew up with different circumstances than I have).
How To Get More Followers On Instagram
Today I learned about how to get more followers on Instagram. Some of the helpful tips I learned and will definitely apply are:
1. Incorporate relatable, simple, unique, educational, and trendy reels into your content mix
2. Promote your conduct on various social media channels
3. Work with brand ambassadors who have a couple hundred to a few thousand followers
4. Use popular Instagram hashtags like #followme, #picoftheday, or #instadaily to make it easier for people searching for specific terms to find your photos. Use them in your stories as well.
5. Organizing your stories into highlights
6. Pay for sponsored posts and product reviews
7. Posting consistently
8. Collaborate with others
9. Using geotags
10. And, lastly using your Instagram insights to analyze your posts, comments, and to see what it is trending.
—————————————————————————
Networking - The Wrong & Right Way To Network
Today I leaned about networking and how networking is very important because knowing the right people can open up so many doors and help you obtain many opportunities. That being said, there is a right way and wrong way to networking.
To successfully network, it is imperative to stay genuine and be helpful. Make sure you are constantly interacting and engaging with others to build a connection regardless of title, build a connection first and before you start asking for favors, help others where you can, continuously follow up and keep in touch with your network, & always meet up with people in your network at gatherings or events or if that isn’t possible, try to keep in touch virtually (video call or phone call).
Now, some not so good techniques to networking is only being in it for your gain. With those type of intentions, you will not get very far. While it is about what you can gain, it is also about how you can help others and be of use for them. Do not only network when you need work, build a connection with someone just to solely ask for a favor, never offer any help or advice, never follow up/keep in touch with your connections, reject a connection due to their title/status, and never meet your connections in real life or at least stay connected with them virtually through messaging, video calling, or phone calls.
Times are very hard right now so we can all use some tips to stay as happy as we can be. The ones I found very useful through my learning today was smiling, getting plenty of sleep, writing down my thoughts in a journal or talking to a therapist, acknowledging the feeling of sadness or anger, avoiding comparing myself to others (something that tends to happen very often due to social media), taking a social media detox, finding my self care ritual, re-evaluating my goals, and taking time out to reflect.
Today I learned about some tools to use to communicate and collaborate effectively with co-workers when working remotely. Tools that are great to use for collaboration are Box, Dropbox, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365, and Google Drive. Some other tools that are great to use for communication are Slack, Google Hangouts, Zoom, join.me, Blue Jeans, Skype, Sococo, and Go To Meetings.
Today I learned a lot of interviewing techniques. The biggest takeaway I got was what not to do when in an interview:
1. Do not discuss or bring up the salary, especially in the initial interview, let them bring it up first.
2. Do not talk bad about your previous employers as it can make companies begin to worry that you might bad talk them down the line.
3. Don't say that you are good at everything because it makes it more difficult for a company to slot you into a role.
4. When asked about accomplishments, discuss recent ones you have achieved in the last 3-5 years.
5. Do not make comments such as "I'm the best there is" or "You won't find anyone like me" as it comes off very cocky and overconfident. Plus, you don't even know what the talent pool looks like.
6. Last but not least, when asked at the end of the interview if you have any questions for them, do not say no. It shows a lack of curiosity and analysis.
Everyone would love a remote job, including me. It's very convenient and flexible, however, I don't think that anybody thinks about the downsides of remote jobs. Some downsides I learned about remote jobs from one of the videos I watched were that overworking yourself can become a problem, work boundaries are not clear, employees might be in a different time zone from one another which might make communication hard, and you might be the only remote worker, lastly, remote work may lead to feelings of loneliness due to lack of social interaction.