"Blog About It..."

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being invited to a blogger's networking event at the Broadway Comedy Club...


It's one of the first real events I have been to in a long time. These days, I have encased myself in a nonsocial bubble where I felt like the Wizard of Oz; working from behind the curtain, but never actually interacting with the real world. I base most of my social interaction through the internet, which is one disadvantage to social media. Most of the people at the event were there to boost the influence of their blogs and themselves through their digital footprint. Most ranged from performers, to comics to general bloggers who were looking for some advice. This a couple of key items I got from the event...

-Keep fan/personal pages (Facebook) separate, in some cases: I currently do this now on Facebook. As much as I would like to spread the word to all my friends about the videos I create, I still want Video Vix[o]n to be separate from Vixon, mainly for employment reasons.

-Edit your "digital footprint" well: Your digital footprint is everything that encompasses your presence online. Making sure that all of the facets to your social media realm are up-to-date, not incriminating and clean is crucial.

-Put out your strongest material: Nobody wants to see your worst work. Putting out content that is sub-par is not only going to drive people away, but it will help influence others not to share your content for any reason.

-Blogging is a huge undertaking: I should know this very well. My blog has evidently devolved throughout the years, and in my efforts to restructure it, it is hard work. Blogging definitely takes a lot of effort.

-Identify people you like and talk to them (Twitter) to build following: I've been trying to talk to Kanye West for the longest, lol. But seriously, I think this is a good tactic in getting noticed and building up your visibility online.

-If people are talking about your content, they don't necessarily have to "like" it:
"I saw your video and it was funny"
"Did you like it?"
"Yeah, I liked it..."
"No, I mean did you like it on Youtube?"
That's usually how most of my conversations go with my close friends, but now I realize that it doesn't matter if they don't hit that "like" buttton (thought it would be nice to see), but as long as they're talking about it.


-Make good shit!: Pretty self explanatory.


With all this good advice, I should be blogging myself to success in no time right? Not exactly, but I will keep these lessons in mind as I continue to shape my "media empire." My blog my not go back to what it was, but at least I can make it evolve into something better. Lesson learned.


-Video Vix[o]n

Inspired By You[tube]

In my many journeys of being on "the tubes," there are a couple of people that have different functions in my internet viewing; to entertain and inform. Recently, I have been making videos that have been inspired by some of my favorite Youtubers. My first video was inspired by a cool Tuber named Onision.

Onision (or Greg, for those who feel more comfortable with him) is known for his crazy, psychotic and sometimes genius-like videos. He's funny, emotional, serious and down to earth. I thought this video would be a small ode to his randomness. Another Youtuber who I am informed and entertained by is Philip DeFranco (aka Sxephil). You may notice in some of my vlogs that I mention Phil a couple of times because, to me, Phil represents a voice on Youtube, a standard of success, in my opinion. I have made videos in response to Phil before, but this one was definitely his style and was successful, for the job that I did.

I'm hoping that either one of these two got to see what I did and the main goal was to get some recognition for it. Even if they saw it and kept it moving, it's better than nothing. As I continue creating content online, I have to give credit where credit is due and find other people that I can be inspired by (and no, it's not copying, lol) and try to match close to their awesomeness. In the meanwhile, I'll just be...

-Video Vix[o]n

Life's A Game

"Life's a _____"

I know everyone can easily fill in this blank with your favorite noun (I know you're leaning towards "bitch" because it just rolls off the tongue, lol.) I always have fun with filling in this blank because it's my time to get creative with analogies, like I would say "Life's a poker game, and there's no way I'm pulling a straight flush on the first draw" or "Life's a friend who hasn't paid me my money back from that favor I did for them months ago." I've recently been using the phrase, "Life's a movie" because it just went with my whole filmmaking theme, but these days, I feel like life is more of a game; board game to be exact.

Why a board game? It just seems appropriate. Everything these days seem to rely on chance and the role of a die. Looking for work is no easy task and landing one is definitely by luck. Though I don't want to re-enter the corporate environment too quickly, my funds are dwindling and I have to be realistic about my situation. I really have to put this Youtube grind on the forefront because I realize being a partner would change everything. And like the board game, I still have to pay off these college loans for me to even be able to get in the lead. Then again, I kind of wish you could roll your way out of different scenarios in life. I seem to constantly be landing on real life spaces, where I have to jump through hoops in order to advance. The only way I can see me winning is achieving the goals I have set for myself and staying focused. Granted, I could try to cheat my way out, but that wouldn't be fair to myself. When I win at this game, I want to know that I overcame all the odds before me in order to reach the finish.

Isn't that the real goal in the game of life? To get to the end and scream "I WIN!"? I'm waiting for that day. Oh, I got to go, it's my turn to roll...

-Video Vix[o]n

Viral Never Dies

What does this video mean to me? It meant four weeks of animation, gathering voice-overs, compiling footage together, and avoiding any way necessary to give GoAnimate.com my money. To date, this is the longest video on my channel. After watching it, I want to do more with animation and possibly have a series with me and my animated persona.

I'm undergoing some personal changes and starting to make decision to better myself. Granted, I should be doing that everyday, but I'll be doing some more and adjusting as I see fit. I don't have much more to write about. I'll get more in depth next time. Til' then...

-Video Vix[o]n

"Hands" on Chris Brown

As I continue on my video journey, I realize that a lot of people have been supporting me to the fullest; one person being my cousin, Hank. We've become close during the past couple of years; hanging out, partying, chilling, and just being family. As my older cousin, back in the day, he would regulate me, make fun of me and ridicule me, but now that we are older, I know that it was all out of love and we have a new found respect for each other. Being his only subscription on Youtube, he has watched my videos and given me constructive feedback on each one, so I decided it was time to introduce him to the world of video making. End result; a well-made piece of comedy.



I really appreciate his help. It's hard getting people, especially family, to help me with videos, especially knowing everyone is busy, much less has time to watch my content. I don't beg my cousins to watch my stuff; sometimes, I'd have to physically make them see it in order for them to watch, but Hank is a true supporter (and a funy dude, which made the video better).

On the flip side, I recently watched a video from one of my favorite Youtubers about what happened with Chris Brown at Good Morning America. The story is Chris Brown was a featured artist on the show, and one of the show's hosts asked him in an interview about Rihanna. That clearly didn't translate well with "Breezy," causing him to wreck the GMA set, breaking stuff and causing a lot of damage. All over Twitter, people were talking about it, so I finally decided to put in my $0.02.



To put this into a sentence: He's wrong, he'll forever be wrong, but he's human; let him live. I feel people are socially sacrificing Chris Brown now because it's easy to take shots at him, but in the end, he's trying to be a better person, obviously, he relapsed a little. He should have handled it differently, but he didn't. But, for those without sin, do cast the first stone. Don't worry, I'll wait...

-Video Vix[o]n