RSS What?

There are a million blogs on the Internet; some of which give us helpful tips for daily life; others that are about as useful as a hole in a bottle of water.  Yet no matter where we go there are always those windows that pop up asking for us to subscribe, right?

You know exactly what I'm talking about; do you ever go to a website and you get all these requests to subscribe to an RSS feed? Do you even know what an RSS feed IS?

At first it sounds like some government tax form but they're actually really great for keeping up to date on blogs and sites that you really love without all the mumbo jumbo.  I follow a lot of different blogs from entertainment blogs like TheYBF and Nicole Bitchie to organizational blogs to give me tips on staying organized such as Natural Born Organizers.  However I don't always have the time for all the graphics or routine of a full flash website.  An RSS feed is an online slang abbreviation which stands for "Rich Site Summery" or "Really Simple Syndication".  They enable to you to receive emails with the bullet points of the blog or site that you're following.  Gives you a quick update and lets you know that new content has been added and you might want to check it out when you have time.

I have a few blogs myself and I have to say that the people that have subscribed to my RSS feed find it very helpful. Specifically when you have a blogger who are constantly posting and have a myriad of things being added to their site, you may not want to be overloaded.

On the opposite side of things, if you have a site without the option of an RSS feed you might want to reconsider.  It's a great way for bloggers to expand their reach and make their sites more accessible.

For more info on the importance of an RSS Feed check out these links:
Search Engine Xperts 
Gov Delivery 

Best Friends: How Many Is Too Many?!

I always wondered about the definitive requirements for a "Best Friend". Especially when you have people who seem to have about 5-10 of them! It would seem to me that a best friend would obviously be someone that goes above and beyond normal friend duties right? unfortunately people use the term 'Best Friend' as loosely as they use the term 'Virgin', but that's beside the point.

I have always been big on titles and their meanings; specifically when it comes to relationships in all facets. I structure my social circle on 3 basic categories:

Acquaintances

Associates 

Friends 

Look at that! Even the letters get smaller the closer you get to a real friend LOL.

Acquaintances are people whom I know and who know me yet we don't really hang out.  We see each other at parties and other social functions; we say hello, promise to have cocktails and conveniently call and cancel on each other just hours before we're scheduled to meet. Why? Because right up until that time we probably had forgotten we ever made plans with one another and figure it's no big deal.

Associates are a little different; we actually schedule time to hang out, we gossip, have a few cocktails and a kiki and call it a day. These are the people who are simply for fun. They don't know much about my personal life, they damn sure aren't the ones I go to for advice but they get to be a little closer than most who simply know my name and nationality lol.

Now we get to the nitty gritty: Friends; they are the people I borrow money from and who borrow money from me as we share in each others daily lives. I see these people on a regular basis, I call them on a regular basis and when I need advice on things they are who I call. We've probably had a few disagreements and have fought it out, gotten over it and are now on speaking terms again.

Looking at these vastly different categories of my social life, you can imagine why I find it so hard to call so many people my BEST friend. A best friend goes even beyond what a mere friend would do (according to my social circle definition). These are the people whose hands you'd place your very own life in. They are the people who are more like family than friends. I think about my best friend and ALL of the things that we've experienced together.  Car crashes, family drama, even a small stint of a jail experience that we'd NEVER thought we'd make it through but did. We've shared things with one another that we haven't and aren't able to share with anyone else around us simply because they wouldn't get it.

So how do people have ENOUGH of themselves to give to 8, 9 or even 10 "best" friends?  We really should take some inventory of our lives and consider what we're really saying when we give a title to someone in our lives. Titles and positions in our lives should be like money.  You wouldn't just GIVE $500 to a total stranger would you? Hell, you wouldn't give that to someone you knew without a background check on where it was going, when you'd get it back and why they needed it in the first place!

Point being, Best Friends are like marriages; they take work and quite frankly you really only have room and time for ONE!!!

But I Don't Want A "Regular Job"...

Life has a way of showing you exactly where you need to be. It has ebbs and flows that teach, comfort, crush, rebuild and eventually make you someone to remember when you're gone. There are so many quotes on how we should live life; how we shouldn't allow life to live us, but what do you do when everything you have worked for, striving for, and hoping for hasn't happened yet? What life do you have then? Can you really call it a life?

So many of us are searching for our paths; we're looking for someone important to be but we often get hit with real life situations such as unemployment, homelessness, untimely children, horrible marriages and relationships, and are forced into doing what the majority of people do: get a "regular job".

All my life I've worked toward becoming successful in the entertainment industry. I've been singing since birth, acting all my life, and I'm a trained dancer to boot. I'm a regular Gene Kelly (lol). I've recorded songs and albums, did a few good stage plays, had a few guest spots on TV talk shows but nothing REALLY ever picked up. Well into my twenties, with the help of a great friend, I decided to create my own online radio talk show and blog. It was the best move I could have made! My personality shined through and people started to take notice of my talent and worth in the industry. More acting jobs are coming my way and of course I'm ALWAYS going to be singing SOMEWHERE. I'm nowhere NEAR where I'd like to be in my life, specifically financially, but I'm holding on to what I believe to be right for me. I'm doing what feels good and most importantly doing what fulfills me. It's actually working itself out. I may go through some hard times but sticking to my dreams and following my heart got me to a place of calm and peace that you don't find in other places and/or jobs.

The reality is I still need a day job. That hasn't changed...YET! Everything I do is with the mindset that my business and brand is going to become my state of living. I hold on to the knowledge and belief that I can and at some point WILL have the career I see myself having. What would have happened to people like Denzel or Ben Franklin or Obama had they listened to those in life who said:

"This is just a dream, get over it and get a REAL job." 

"That's nice but you should really give up that hobby." 

"You're not making any money so why continue to do it?" 

"Are you ever going to get out of the clouds?"

Now let's be real; some things just aren't possible. If you're 50 years old and decide you want to be a gymnast then you're probably going to be a bit disappointed when you start looking for a trainer and no one takes you seriously. However, for those who want to be actors, writers, dancers, choreographers or WHATEVER isn't just a hum drum dead-end job that you hate and you're GOOD at it, go do it!!! 

Never give up on your dreams. There's not one person alive who has been successful or who has gone down in history that got there by listening to the people who told them they couldn't do it. BE the person you want people to model after and BECOME the greatness that you feel is inside of you. 

Be Number One On Google!!!

Internet has allowed many businesses to reach a wider audience through websites and web pages; to gain more clients and progress with sales and notability; however, it's not just having a website that brings the people to your site.  Oh NO!  You have to utilize three simple little letters: SEO. You may have asked yourself: what does it means? Why is it so important? Well the answer is simple. You just don't click on what you don't see!

How many times have you been searching for something and haven't even gone past page 1 in the search results? I know that many times when I'm online if I don't see what I'm looking for in the first 5 results, I alter my search until I find what I'm looking for. There are millions of sites and results that I don't even pay attention to simply because they're not on the top of the list. There's just something about being on the top of the mountain that gets people to notice you. 

Enough Danyol!!! What does SEO stand for? It simply means: Search Engine Optimization. It's the art of making your Internet presence more prominent and noticeable without paid promotion when using search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing.

Online businesses are learning more and more how important it is to have high SEO rankings; so much so that entrepreneurs and other marketing executives are sharpening their skills and going back to the classroom to learn how to effectively use SEO's to help their business be the best. 

OPTIHIT took some statistics to show just how a websites success is directly related to SEO rank: 

Can you imagine a 500% return on your investment SIMPLY because you increased you SEO?! 

Logically the next question is: 

"How in the heck do I effectively increase MY Search Engine Optimization?"

Here are a few things you can do: 

1- Use interesting content. Titles and content that is engaging and interesting keep people coming back to your site. If your site is boring and uninteresting chances are you'll be on the bottom of the searching totem pole.

2- Know your audience.  If you have a site that caters to a specific audience make sure you are giving them content they would enjoy and search for on a regular basis. Always keep them coming back for more.

3-Utilize social media sharing.  Most people share good information when they find it.  If you want to ensure your content gets spread, allow your site visitors the option to share. 

4-Research other results. Contact the owners of websites and pages you search for to get some tidbits on how you can improve your rankings. The Internet is a huge community with plenty of people looking to help out other site owners. 

For more information on SEO rankings and how to increase them check out the following links: 

BitRebels.com 

TechRepublic.com

Remembering The Past: 9/11

12 years ago this country was hit by a wave of terrorism that not only changed our economics and our military standards but the lives of millions of people. People who lost friends, husbands, wives and other loved ones.

I remember the day that the twin towers in New York City were hit.  I was on the school bus headed to school during my sophomore year at Hollywood High School.  Other students on phones and ear phones listening to little portable radios getting as much information as they could.  We sat talking among ourselves not all too sure of what had happened and what it all meant. We arrived at school and it was like the entire student body and faculty was in a state of mourning. People crying, sobbing, motionless in shock. I walked into my first period class to find what was normally my chemistry class had been turned into a news room.  The television hooked up and we sat and watched the terror unfold while replaying certain moments over and over again.  People who's families were in NYC just sat in tears while those with no direct ties to NYC just sat and talked and played games in the ignorance of the moment.

I sat there, looking around me and contemplating. I knew people in NYC, none of which had died (thank God), but I knew that my friends who were there probably had those who they had lost. It was in the moment when it hit me: Life doesn't happen independent of one another. In some way we are all connected. We are all affected by those events on September 11, 2001. Here we are 12 years later and still not over the tragedies of that day. People still mourn, the economy still in a terrible state and those who don't recognize how this affects them simply go on as if today is just another day.

I take this time (and this blog) to remember and memorialize those who lost their life on Sept 11, 2001. Your lives meant something to someone and your loss have stained the memory of this country. I pray that in years to come we never have to repeat that day.

JayeSpotTV#21: R&B Divas LA Reunion Part 1 Review

Can Facebook Make You Money?

It's becoming harder and harder to be an analog girl in digital world or a manual dude in a techno school.  Social media is becoming the number one way to promote business, brands products AND make you some extra money.   Internet was the birth of the freelance reporter/critic that we now know as a Blogger.  They update us on various entertainment news, political issues and often times gives us "Dear Abby" advice on things happening in our lives.

Well how many people actually rely on bloggers?  How are bloggers becoming more and more important?  Will bloggers be the ultimate news feed? Researchers have looked into how social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter affect bloggers and how they are using social media to get their work to the masses.  According to Blog Skinny the following percentages show how much bloggers rely on social media while also showing how blogs across the net are seen as reliable and important sources of information:

There will always be an ongoing rival between bloggers and journalists and which is the "real" writer. However I have seen blogs that are well written and give more information than most editorial articles from major print magazines or newspapers.  Not to mention the ability to be creative and lively that normal publications don't always offer. More and more bloggers are finding ways to use social media and their writing abilities to make money.  Allowing them to actually make their talented hobby a legitimate job. With the economy being what it is EVERYONE needs something to help them out.  With booming social media and a savvy knowledge of networking and marketing you can become a blogger and get paid to write about what you love!!! 

What do you think about blogging?  Do you read blogs for your entertainment, political and social news?  If so leave a comment and tell us what you think!!

For more information on blogging check out these links: 

JeffBullas.com

SocialMediaToday.com

VelocityDigital.com

MagnetSocialMedia.com

Jennifer Hudson Has RIGHTS!!!

Jennifer Hudson once again show's that she's more than just a beauty and a singer but an amazing actor.  Check out the video below and see what she has coming down the pike in this riveting sneak peak....

JayeSpotTV#21: R&B Divas LA Reunion Part 1 Review

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