#which ik people say it a lot but interacting w content creators is so so important for their motivation

[babybeel]

if you support ai work (in any form, be it art or writing) pls unfollow me!

[literaphobe]

Not to be mean but you only reblog art that is extremely done and with a lot of attention given to it. You rarely seem to give any attention to stuff out of your circle,, so I think you aren’t really the person to make that art psa post?

ur missing the point of my post i think? okay let me break it down to you: fandom, for me at least, is about making friends. you become friends when someone reaches out and talks to you or when you reach out and talk to someone. i have NEVER restricted anyone from talking to me. my dms are always open, meaning anyone can message me. i have asks open, anon on, so anyone can share any opinion they want with me, which you are doing right now, and they can potentially ‘befriend’ me and reveal who they are later, if they so choose. obviously, i control what asks get published on my blog, but that’s besides the point

the point is—am i obligated to answer every ask i receive? no. i have over 3,600 unanswered asks right now. i cannot possibly do that without destroying the dashes of everyone that follows me. and the point of my post is that no one is obligated to reblog anything from anyone BECAUSE people experience and curate their experiences differently. promoting better reblog culture and better fandom interactions is an extremely good thing. what i was hopefully getting across is that trying to pin that responsibility on any group/individual in any community is EXTREMELY counterproductive. it will get us nowhere

as for why i ‘rarely give attention to stuff outside my circle’ it’s very simple. i have Already curated my experience. i don’t look at posts in the tags. i don’t want my day ruined. i also cannot follow people who shit talk dream or george or quackity etc. and a bunch of other creators. idk how to tell you this but dteamblr is very small compared to other sectors of mcytblr. most of my mutuals/friends are people that actively post. or at least actively posted at some point that we were able to cross paths. the people i talk to a lot/the most i either don’t know their follower count or they told me for some reason and its anywhere from 50 to like a few thousand. so what do i do w my friends? i don’t really turn on notifications, but i do for a small handful. i promise you it’s very random and has nothing to do with follow count. i also don’t check my dash a lot. so if something is getting reblogged a lot, it increases my chances of seeing it, but even then… half the times i don’t see what my mutuals have been saying. most of the posts on my blog are my own posts or whatever i dump into my queue

which is my next point. i use the ‘stuff for you’ tab on the tumblr mobile app. that’s where i get most of the posts i queue. its like half fandom stuff half random shit. ik. its a SUPER scuffed ‘for you page’ but yes. i generally trust that tab to show me cool stuff. and often times what the algorithm decides is ‘for me’ are posts that already have a bunch of notes. so that’s the stuff i end up queuing. if my queue is running low, i go on there to queue a bunch of stuff and then i go. i mainly interact w my tumblr account through my friends and my activity page (that i have filtered so i see asks n replies n reblogs) so if i rb something my friend made, it’s because they sent it to me. anyone is welcome to send anything to me! but there’s no guarantee that i’ll reblog it because ultimately this is my blog and i decide what goes on it. i could ignore a piece of art w 5k notes. i could rb something w 100 notes. i can’t prove it to you because you don’t have access to how i browse, but i assure you i don’t look at art and go ‘well this only has x number of notes… not reblogging it then!’ like my blog isn’t my job i just do random shit here. im not gonna scour my dash and the tags head to toe for content. im sure im missing out on a ton of content but i simply do not have the time. i also make my own content so… i’m just gonna do what’s fun and easy for me. this is fandom. i’m not being paid to reblog your posts. you can if you want to! do you want to support a struggling student? my ko-fi is in my bio. does that horrify you? yeah exactly. fandom is for fun so while we can and should promote a supportive culture, no one is OBLIGATED to do anything

that’s… really all there is to it. i don’t have a vendetta against anyone. i promise you, if you dm me with a conversation topic in mind, i will HAPPILY engage in it with you, especially if it is a mutual interest. and if i am your friend, there is obviously a higher chance i will reblog your posts as compared to people i don’t know! i can’t speak for other people but that’s how i work. i’m not gonna reblog every piece of art or writing i see, and i assure you it has nothing to do with how ‘good’ i think something is. or how many notes it already has. hope this helps 👍🏻

also if i can make some closing thoughts… tumblr’s follower count is hidden. unless you’re telling me you go up to every account you see and hack in to find their follow count… you don’t know how much traction someone is actually getting? like over half my followers are inactive i promise you. our community is very small. i’m not making posts that break 1k left and right either. random stuff i do ‘for notes’ is genuinely just for fun. like have fun, don’t obsess over who is reblogging what, and talk about the things you like on your own blog.

[kikisdeliveryservices]

When you get this, you must publicly post something nice about at least 5 different people you follow, then copy and paste this in each of their ask boxes :^)

i also got this from @katsukes so im gonna include wat wouldve been my responses in this too! 

also theres a strong possibility ppl have already received this message in their inboxes bc every1 is wonderful

@celiabowens - first, TY SO MUCH! truly its an honor to get this from u! can i also take a moment to hype u up w/ how talented & sweet u r? its such a treat to have u on my dashboard! ur a huge inspiration and hopefully i can get to ur level someday hahaha. im also really happy to follow u bc im trying to get back into reading & ik that ur into literature so i get to have a bunch of reading recs. plus seeing ur lit posts motivate me to expand my tastes & get back into reading :)

@katsukes - ian where do i even start! u interact w so many ppl & make this website really fun to be on. u reach out to a lot of ppl & spread much needed kindness. i feel like u put in a lot of effort to make every1 feel welcomed, which is so appreciated. the content u make for so many fandoms as well is stunning! u truly do a lot for tons of fandoms & i think were pretty blessed to have u on this site

@whisperhearts - ur really kind & a positive person, to the point where it compelled me to start interacting with ppl more on tumblr to try to also bring some kindness on this site. i also really admire ur gfx too bc of the way u use typography! aesthetic is A++. u also inspired me to try bullet journaling & actually keep up w/ it for once in my life lmao

@queerbucky - u help me bring out my creativity & motivation to make gifs! u always makes requests & im so happy to make them for u. as a content creator, when some1 does this it makes u feel special. i really appreciate u & how kind u r!

@wuatsui - since i came back to tumblr, ur some1 who made me feel really welcomed. i iniatially followed u on my anime blog, where u tagged me in a lot of get to know u posts. prior to this i rarely interacted with ppl, so having u wanting to get to know me felt nice! ur content & gifs r also A+! i especially like ur naruto gifs & seeing them on my dash is part of the reason why i started rewatching it :)

@mafuyuh - u have a really warm aesthetic & personality. i super enjoy seeing u interact with others bc ur so approachable. ur also very creative & everything u put out is honestly amazing & breathtaking. i would never in a million years think up the things u do! seeing u in my notifications is always a treat!

@zuura - ur someone who i followed on the more recent side, & i sorely regret not doing it earlier! when i see u reblogging things, u always have something positive to say. the world could really benefit from more ppl like u! also ur colorings r AMAZING. i feel like theyre always glowing & vibrant! 

@arriettvs - ur a very sweet person! although we havent interacted extensively i feel like were kindred spirits :) ur content is remarkable. genuinely, i love seeing how u use typography in ur gfx & i love seeing the pretty colors u bring out in all ur gifs. u also follow all of my blogs which is extremely kind of u. also i hope this isnt weird but ur 1 of the few active followers on my photo blog so i try to reblog stuff i think u would like as well LOL

@yuuki-ko - ur work is super recognizable & i can tell whenever i c ur gifs on my dash. theyre always vibrant & stand out. also ik a lot of my mutuals follow u too & i can see why! u respond to every1 w such kindness! lastly, i love reading ur comments in the tags bc u seem so excited w/ a lot of stuff & it also makes me feel excited hahaha

@manganimae - first of all, ur URL is SO perfect & fun! my other social media usernames r also puns off of my name so when i first followed u & took a look at ur about i instantly fell in love w ur URL hahaha. i think ur also super creative to incorporate manga panels + gifs in ur edits :) additionally, its super fun to see wat new things u come up with! all ur ghibli gifs r so fun bc u color them in ways that i dont think ive ever seen before

@kiyomie - ur work amazes me every time i see it. u managed to create a look in all of ur edits thats specific to u, & thats a massive feat that i think is very hard to do, especially across different fandoms. ik that anon also sent u an accusatory message not too long ago, but i think u handled it very gracefully too, which i think is a huge comment on how mature & kind u r!

[sabradaz]

Just wanted to say this isn't hate or anything. Look, i realize that u shuldn't blindly accept information u r being fed abt a medium u never interacted w, n this case it's books, n u obviously r right by saying that u shudn't have discourse abt it if u haven't read it, n so a person shudn't. That being said knowing the background of the creator/author n all the problematic things they've done, i personally will safely take the information i recieve abt it bc there's no point in reading something if i'm unable to enjoy it, especially considering it will waste the limited time i have in my life when i can spend it on other less hurtful things. I'm not gonna engage in discourse abt it, ofc, but i'm still not gonna read it. Also these aren't just petty problems. We're talking abt actual real life issues that actively hurt marginilized communities. We're talking racism, fetishization n transphobia. I'm not gonna force myself to read or watch something if ik it's only gonna end up mentally triggering n hurting me. Again i will not *personally* engage in discourse abt it, but i will stand idly n watch others who have read it do so, so i can form my own opinion on it. Is that a bad idea? Probably. But better safe than sorry. Is life unsafe, n i shudn't hold myself to the expectation that it will be? Ye, ofc, but that's not what i'm talking abt tho. I'm talking abt when *i* have the control, n if i can help it, y wud i wanna go out of my way to purposefully inflict pain on myself. If there seems to be a great concensus, n not a tiny one, that there r many problems w the medium in question, then frankly better safe than sorry. N i will even go as far as warn those close to me abt it. I won't start a discourse abt it since i haven't actually interacted w it, but i'll still give warnings based on what i've heard. If they end up wanting to interact w it, that's their choice. I won't force em not to. I've never watched “Birth Of a Nation” in my life, but i know from the great concensus held that it is an awfully racist movie, n it will only shock n upset me if i watch it. I'm not a robot. I'm a human w feelings n emotions, n i sure am gonna proudly n arrogantly act on them, ONLY when it comes to these issues. I'm not gonna think logically cuz academia, which has a BIG history w classism, racism, transphobia n everything bad under the sun, tells me to. Again none of this is hate. Just wanted to hopefully let u in on a diff perspective.

Here is the thing. You don’t have to have an opinion on anything. Saying, “I heard this movie is racist/homophobic/sexist/antisemetic, and therefore I have no interest in watching it,” is extremely valid and I personally think is very smart. First and foremost self care is essential and reading those reviews and then refusing to engage in the content is great. However, you need to keep in mind that you’re making those judgements based on reviews, not the content itself.

For example, I haven’t read the new ACOTAR book and I’m not planning on it. I made this decision based on the fact that I didn’t enjoy the other books too much and the poor representation throughout the series became a deal breaker. However, as long as I haven’t read it, I can’t really form my own opinions on it. I especially can’t from any opinions that would have any value in any form of discourse or otherwise. If (I have yet but I also don’t really engage with the fandom) I see a post calling it racist or homophobic I might feel validated in my decision but that doesn’t mean I can make my own post calling it racist or homophobic. I still wouldn’t have anything useful to add to the discourse regarding the new book. If you know what I mean?

I wrote this post specifically in response to some discourse occurring in the She-Ra fandom probably about six months ago? I won’t go into too much detail expect essentially the creators did a panel about the show which received a lot of accusations of racism, antisemitism and homophobia. Most people posting about it had clearly not seen the panel because I’ve never seen such a huge amount of misinformation being spread so quickly by a fandom in such a limited space of time. (I’d like to add that some of it was good and important, especially in regards to Bow’s brothers, but a lot wasn’t.) This wasn’t to defend Noelle Stevenson, but rather to highlight the fact that by refusing to watch the panel but engage in the discourse regardless they were adding a frankly useless voice to the issue and were at risk of spreading misinformation.

This post was not about people forming their own views on whether or not they want to engage in the content and by extension discourse of a text. If you decide you don’t, all the power to you. But you need to know you won’t have anything useful to add to the discourse or even general discussion regarding it. I couldn’t write a long post about the poor representation in Sarah J. Maas’ books because I read them so long ago I can barely remember. I don’t want to reread them and so as I don’t have anything useful to add to the discourse I don’t and I shouldn’t.

Academia is extremely classist, I know. It has many faults in its approaches to pretty much everything. But it is right in the sense that you have to engage in the material to make a judgement on it. You can’t do a calculus question without having seen the question, like you can’t interpret a text without having read/watched it.

I think we both agree on this though. My post was specifically referring to public discourse, not how one privately engages with books/movies/etc. and I agree with you in that regard. However, it is really important that we draw that line between what we can use as private judgements on something and what we can use for public opinions. If you put something in the public it can influence people’s understanding of what you are talking about, and as such you need to know what you are talking about. What Dave from Sound Design said about something isn’t a good enough basis to start public discourse on, regardless of whether you think it’s good or bad. But if it makes you want to either read/watch or not read/watch something then that’s fine too.

[malelovemail]

I haven't seen All These Aus so I cant really talk about how respectful they may or may not be but - fandoms using the same ideas/tropes isn't an uncommon thing. Like yes credit if you're pulling the majority of the story/set up (like in this instance where its not something v basic like 'hlvrai but college') but I don't think its necessarily a bad thing. Like will some stuff be unoriginal, yeah, but thats.. kind of the thing that there's always going to be unoriginal fancontent (1/2)

“Like a fandoms content is really self interactive and derivative off of each other. Like I get what you're saying w 'make your own ideas' but this is something that is also happening with other universes/ideas I've seen in the hlvrai fandom. And w every big fandom, especially ones with a young fanbase. Like ik you're saying 'you don't have to stop' but this is also a result of fan community working off of fellow fan ideas. Not everyone is gonna be skilled enough to build much onto the idea (2/2) Which isn't saying that people shouldn't try or whatever. Point is really just this echoe chamber deal happens w every fandom really and especially with hlvrai's young fans its gonna be more often and with less instances that add much. Its hard to avoid that sort of thing though without discouraging a fandom's collaboration and spreading/sharing of ideas which is what results in some amazing building contributions, but also the echo chambers. (3/2) [sorry theres gonna be 1 more, I know] I actually 100% get the frustration and I've tuned out of the tags bc it has turned into that echoe chamber of like ask blogs and some other stuff. But I don't think this is something malicious, its really just... people doing usual fandom stuff of seeing an idea they like and making their own thing with it, and in this instance has led to this, but I don't think it's really deserving of a finger wagging or shaming just bc its not producing great content. (4/2)” ---------- yup, dont disagree with you there; ive seen this kind of thing plenty in other fandom spaces and my intention in sharing my thoughts on the matter was not to shame young artists from deriving inspiration from the work of others, but in this specific instance there's almost an over-saturation of this one idea of which is very articulately crafted by the original writer, quote “protag gets trapped in an old fashioned computer program and interacts with the cast in a 90s webcore environment, cast tries to help protag escape the computer with the eventual help of an outside source partially at fault for the main antagonist - and by extension the protagonist’s plight, in initially helping work on the program, among other things”. this is a very hand wave-y synopsis but u get the idea almost every re-imagining of this au follows that exact formula, tells almost the exact same story with little deviation, and that under normal circumstances would not be a bad thing for most of these swap aus if there werent, like, literally a dozen of them now. i know for absolute certain no one copy of this idea has ever had malicious intention, and it’s definitely not any one particular person’s fault for contributing to any degree, but it does tend to encourage a bit of piggybacking off of the ideas of other people by copying, rather than taking inspiration from a given piece of media and applying it to their own work, which isn’t necessarily a problem with an immediate (or necessary) solution, if there even is a solution to begin with as i’ve said i’m not asking people here to drop everything they’re doing and start working on something different, at this rate the hlvrai fandom is so saturated with hundreds of au ideas that if i were to ask you to name one completely random idea offhand i could probably find at least one art piece or a blog for it by now - and that on it’s own is entirely fine! multiple renditions of a similar concept is fine, so long as it isn’t a premise as hyperspecific as y2k’s, imo i think a good example of “same concept, personal rendition” that’s been relatively harmonious (from what i’ve seen at least) has been the merfolk aus. ive seen at least 3 different fics for that on ao3 all of which i follow and they take the same general ideas (and mer species, oftentimes) and run with it in completely different directions. there are probably tons of other writers and artists for that medium too and i think its fucking great! its really awesome to see peoples individual takes on a concept like that, au wise, and while the core concept is the exact same there’s not too much overlap in environmental premises the issue i take with people doing similar for the likes of y2kvr is that y2kvr in and of itself is a very unique take on the general, webcore “trapped in a computer/game/etc” theme, it has it’s own unqiue premise, nd i feel like people have overall honed in more on said premise and setting rather than the core concept itself, which has churned out a lot of spinoffs of something much more hyperspecific per result. in general i think people have taken sub-aus a bit too far for this specific concept and i wanted to try and maybe discourage anyone else from jumping on the train at this rate without permission, since mothra has pretty clearly expressed a sense of discomfort towards it now regardless of my thoughts and opinions on the matter comparative to others, at the end of the day it’s more important to listen to and respect the wishes of the creator, whether it be asking permission first or holding off entirely from here on out . thank you for the ask(s)!

[makeitwithmike]

9 Lesser-Known Tools for Entrepreneurs to Master Remote Working

By Lucas Miller

Working remotely can be liberating. It’s also something a lot more entrepreneurs are doing.

Pete Rojwongsuriya, founder of Travelistly and Bucketlistly, recently told Forbes:

“What [people] do not know is that the global workforce is moving toward this direction, and the types of skills required to work remotely have expanded in recent years. I have a few friends who are considering making their work remote. In fact, my friend’s mother is trying to automate her business selling chemical compounds so that she can ride around Germany with her bike. It is truly inspiring to see people adapting their work so that they can pursue their life goals in a way that couldn’t have been possible before.”

Not being tied down to an office and traveling the world while working for clients or building your startup is exciting, but it also comes with many obstacles, including pressure to close deals, creative frustration in areas that aren’t your specialty, and distractions that can threaten your productivity.

An entrepreneur’s efforts can be destroyed for the day if caught going down some random rabbit hole on Reddit or YouTube, instead of finishing an article by a strict deadline, learning a new skill for your next campaign, or scheduling an important meeting.

Don’t give up, though. You don’t have to let distractions, confusion and isolation stand in the way of an outstanding campaign – or your dream to live and work anywhere you want.

Become more focused, better brainstorm, nab leads and much more with these nine tools:

1. Stop distractions with Cold Turkey

The name will tip you off to its purpose: Cold Turkey is meant to wean you from constantly checking your social media feeds.

Here’s how the tool’s makers describe it:

“Cold Turkey breaks the cycle between the cue (a craving for a distraction) and the reward (a distraction). The break in the distraction cycle is important. This is why Cold Turkey is so difficult to get around.”

Users can set blocks of time for concentration, along with a list of sites that will be temporarily blocked (such as Facebook). If you try to access any of those sites before your time is up, you’ll receive an inspirational reminder to get back to work:

Pro users can also block everything except for a few sites they need for their current projects, along with blocking applications (including email and games) and scheduling times for concentration – and breaks, of course.

Cost: Free for the basic application (which includes website blocks and a timer); $25 for the pro version.

2. Brainstorm like a boss with Mur.al

A good brainstorming session can help you and your team come up with innovative ideas and share thoughts that inspire game-changing action. For entrepreneurs, brainstorming is an essential part of crafting compelling marketing campaigns.

Mur.al enables you to brainstorm from wherever you’re working in real time. Using virtual sticky notes, users can type or draw out their ideas and place them on the board. View the notes by zooming in or out and seeing what others have to say.

You can also insert images, links and videos. The tool is compatible with Vimeo, SlideShare, YouTube, Google Drive and Evernote.

Cost: $16 per user each month (or $12 per user each month, if you pay annually).

3. Gather more leads with SalesRipe

You’re used to the hustle, but even the most skilled entrepreneur can benefit from more marketing leads.

Using business and consumer data, SalesRipe offers users unlimited lead views and features such as filtering (by property type, state, city, marital status and more), customer lists (to avoid duplication), a lead manager and more.

One of the coolest features of SalesRipe is a map of your sales leads to enable you to plan the most effective driving routes to meet new and potential customers – assuming your remote marketing lifestyle calls for this kind of client interaction.

Cost: SalesRipe is $79.99 per month for unlimited lead views and 1,000 downloads. The company also offers deals for an annual plan and plans for teams.

4. Stop crunching the numbers with Every Time Zone

If you’re trying to reach consumers and marketing partners across time zones, it can quickly become a headache to keep the hours straight while you’re also grabbing leads, crafting content and scheduling social media posts.

Every Time Zone is here to help. The web-based tool grabs your computer’s time zone, and then stacks it up against other time zones around the world.

Bookmark it and stop doing the math in your head.

Cost: Free.

5. Get better sleep with F.lux

Late nights and fluctuating schedules are part of the entrepreneurial lifestyle, especially if you’re traveling or working remotely. With all of this in mind, however, what do you do when your computer disrupts your ability to function?

Blue light from your computer, tablet and smartphone can suppress melatonin and mess with your circadian clock, which means more sleeplessness (and less creative awesomeness) for you.

F.lux can help you by adjusting your computer screen to look like the room you’re working in.

Just tell the tool what lights you have, and it’ll make your computer look more like the sunlight in the daytime – and your lights at night.

Cost: Free.

6. Communicate better with Brosix

Sure, you still use email, but if you’re tired of endless email threads with conversations that are better suited for instant messaging, Brosix can help.

Brosix is a secure and private instant messaging tool with features such as voice chat, screen sharing, whiteboard and more. As such, instead of searching through your inbox, you can send a text message to a co-worker, quickly send an attachment or set up a chat room to discuss the next marketing push.

The tool also has a spellcheck feature, which is helpful for sending messages devoid of autocorrect errors and typos.

Cost: It’s only $.99 per user each month for the basic plan, and $2.10 for the pro version (which includes screen sharing, audio and visual calls, a whiteboard and co-browsing).

7. Dominate Twitter with Narrow.io

When focused, social media can open a whole new world of marketing opportunities to entrepreneurs. However, using online platforms properly can be a daunting task.

Narrow.io helps you build a targeted Twitter following, so you know your messages are getting in front of the right people. It’ll help you select your target users with hashtags, keywords and location, and can help you better understand who is following you (and who you want following you).

You can also track your keyword performance to find out what’s working – and what’s not.

Do you manage more than one Twitter account? No worries – you can work with several different accounts under one login.

Cost: Narrow.io is $19 a month for one account, $49 per month for three accounts and $99 per month for 10 accounts.

8. Craft better marketing messages with MakeMyPersona

One of the cardinal rules of effective marketing campaigns is to know the audience to whom you are selling. MakeMyPersona can help you focus on your target customer.

The tool asks you a series of questions and asks you to name your buyer persona (such as “Marketing Bob” or “CEO Laura”). It’ll then spit out a Word document with your persona’s details, making it much easier to visualize your customer and create effective goals.

Cost: Free.

9. Make your content sing with ClearVoice

Content marketing is hot, especially for entrepreneurs launching a new product, service or startup. Because of this, good stories are always needed to entice journalists and bloggers to bite on a marketing message or pitch.

Use ClearVoice to search for trending stories, analyze your content’s performance, create blog post outlines and manage your content – all in one place, mind you.

You can publish directly to WordPress, HubSpot and other major CMS programs too.

ClearVoice can even pair you with freelance writers and content creators, who can then fulfill assignments you set up.

Cost: Both pro and enterprise solutions are available on a direct consult basis. You can request a demo here to learn more about pricing.

Wrapping things up

These tools can make you a more effective marketer, no matter if you’re working from a Starbucks alongside other entrepreneurs, your home office, or on a flight to your next destination.

Embrace the remote lifestyle, but leave the stress and confusion behind.

Last but not least, in your opinion, what tools did I miss that are helping you better avoid distractions, power your marketing and boost your bottom line?

Guest Author: Lucas Miller is a Freelance Copywriter and Founder of Echelon Copy. When not writing, tweeting or attempting to play pickup basketball, he’s working tirelessly to perfect what he claims is the “World’s Greatest Pompadour.” To get more tips on how to start your own six-figure freelance copywriting business, join his free newsletter.

The post 9 Lesser-Known Tools for Entrepreneurs to Master Remote Working appeared first on Jeffbullas’s Blog.

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