June 2015


I got a lot on my mind, I got more in my face.
If I ain't going to get it, that day is going to waste.
- Big Sean

Oh how it's been a great six months of change!

First and foremost I want to thank God for growth and giving me the creative ability to expand upon something I love the most in this world, myself. That translates to the blog where I put tons of effort into telling my stories and networking with some other up and coming bloggers, those who like to write but don't have their own blog and those established bloggers that care enough to network with me and bounce ideas off each other, you all are appreciated!

I actually start posting consistently in December 2014 & I decided then that I would just post five blogs a week for the rest of the year, I'm challenging myself. So far it's been cool and it's been bit of a challenge seeing as how I've had a couple of setbacks and I've started a new full time job, but I'm doing it. I actually have a whole blog dedicated to how I do it and I'm going to share with you guys the process and what not and you'll get a glimpse at how I'm actually able to manage writing and going on about my daily life.

So let's talk about some changes here to the blog that I made:

1. Blog Series | I've created a couple of different blog series as of late that have come to mind, that help create vast entries for posting. Of course there's the monthly update, like this one here, the book of the month, the guest posts from other great collaborators, my favorite Rap artists, monthly holiday reminders, and a couple of new ones I just started a month or two back, health awareness months and blogs about my friends. Then on top of that you see the reoccurring blog series from time to time. So there is a lot of continuity there when it comes to most of my blogs that you see throughout the month and what not.

2. Promotion | Over on my twitter page, @ColdKnowledge I constantly promote posts from my blog, whether it's two days old or months old, I'm promoting it. This is part of the process I created for people to get to know the site, there is going to be a major change at the beginning of next year and I want all of my current readers to be able to follow the growth of the blog and be able to go back and look at how I got to that change. Plus I get a lot of positive feedback from those old posts, I encourage people to learn from my mistakes and what not, so why not post the blogs where they can read my testimony?

3. Networking | I've upped the anty on this one here, I was initially nervous about making my blog more public and actually putting posts out there for people to read and connect with for fear of negative feedback, but that wasn't the case at all. First I want to thank @TiffanyKhyla over at EndlessBlissBlog.com for actually giving me the tools to network and the steps on how to make my blog better in that regards, she was the catalyst for me getting out there and meeting all these awesome bloggers, her FaceBook group The Blogging Elite definitely promotes a positive culture of networking and it's helped tremendously. Then we have @TheBudgetDivaa over at TheBudgetDivaa.com who also created an awesome Facebook group  Black Bloggers United that has also created another positive group within our culture and I've networked with TONS of other bloggers from there. Those two ladies work really hard not only on their own personal sites, the groups they created respectively and leading awesome personal lives. Without those two, I probably would still be scrambling all over twitter and Facebook for groups to join., so I thank them for the boost in growth.

4. Consistency | Blogging five times a week was initially hard, but I got use to it. The other part is keeping a constant social media presences and making sure I continue to network, and I've been doing both pretty well. Like I said, I have a whole blog dedicated to how I keep to the schedule and get things out on time. So we'll get into that one later down the road. Just know I'm on pace to crack 228 posts this year of original and quality content, I'm pretty proud of that goal.

5. Being Vulnerable | This is a big one, typically in the beginning I was kind of vague in my writings, but kind of not. This whole year I've had no filter, I've been writing and posting whatever I feel like on how I feel about whatever is bothering me at the time, and the response to that has been positive. So I'm going to keep doing what works for me and the site here, and that's just being straight forward and putting things out there in a creative manner. Of course you won't get any names, because that's a tad bit too much information, but you will get these stories about what's going on.

I just realized that these first of the month blogs are typically my longest ones of the year lol. It's just so much to talk about and what not, but this is the six month mark, so bear with me for a second. Let's talk about the second phase, the one I'm excited about even more than phase one lol:

1. New Content | There's actually more blog series that I have coming on the way and they are pretty exciting. One thing I can tell you that's coming this week is the interview blog series that I'm doing now. I'm really excited about every single person that has agreed to do the interviews. I do have interviews lined up til the end of the year and they are all ready for their passions to come out to the masses, so stay tuned for that. Expect way more movie reviews seeing as how I'm an avid movie watcher and what not, I'm kicking blogs about my friends into a higher gear because they are well received and I get to show my appreciation for my friends and how much they mean to me. I also want to get more personal with the things that I do, I go to a lot of festivals and I explore a lot, so I'm working on some ways to express that and what not.

2. Trying Different Things | I've actually been tinkering with the idea of getting into podcasts, and the reason being is that a lot of people told me that I would be perfect for that avenue. The reason I'm telling you guy about it because I can be held accountable to at least try my hand at it. For those who don't know, I actually went to school for Mass Communications, so I have training in how to write for newspapers, host a television show and how to put together a radio format for a show. So needless to say, I know what I'm doing with that kind of stuff. So instead of sitting on it, I'm going to actually go out there and try to use what I have in my head, and I already found a co-host for the show, so it's something that's in the pipe line.

3. Network, Network, Network | I've just scratched the surface of networking when it comes to blogging, and I want to do so much more. It seems like every single month there's someone new  that I meet with a new blog and it's just awesome because it's an extension of themselves. So getting out there and actually communicating with different types of bloggers and just experiencing how they think and their passions is a goal of mine. Also with my new found job and weekends off, I'm going to actually try and meet up with a few that are close to me and schedule some more blogger meet ups. I've participated in quite a few locally and just being able to bounce ideas off each other and talk about the goals for what we want to do with our sites always pleases me. So if you're a blogger that's reading this and you're near me, or you we talk, I'm coming for you! lol

4. Collaborations | I actually have a lot of verbal commitments to the site and when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. But one thing I want to do is hold people to their word because typically I just let them write and submit it when they want to, and that's fine because we all write at a different pace, but it's time to get people to put some pen to paper and get this hammered out. I actually have the next three months lined up and I'm working on their stuff now and I'm excited about all three of these awesome individuals. But also I want to get other bloggers from some prominent sites to contribute and vice versa, that's a biggie to me.

5. Award season | It' almost time for award season for blogs, so I'm going to be cleaning up my site and making sure things are tight for when people come to judge my site and see if it's worthy enough to garner an award. Seeing as how that's on my list of things to do before 30, I have this go around and next year to get one, and I was going to wait til next year before I submitted my blog for any kind of award, but hey why wait? I'm going for the gold now. So I'm excited about that.

Now as for my personal life, the last six months have been interesting to say the least. I've had two job changes and my current one lines up with what I want to do with my ultimate career goals in IT, so I thank God for that. Then there were all of the minor setbacks and frustrating times, but I thank God for all of the people that held me up and kept me on my toes during the rough times, God definitely shined a light on the people who've held me down, but now it's my time to step back up. My big thing was I was that guy who everyone came to for advice and favors, not the other way around, so I'm taking my life back and I'm going to do something about it. I've been down for too long and honestly there's only one thing holding me back, so I'm going to knock that out and I'm going to get back to it, I'm actually pretty excited in that aspect of growth.

As far as movies go, I am behind on some movie reviews because I keep forgetting about them, so I'm going to knock them all out pretty soon and what not. As for music I've been keeping up with it semi a lot, here's what I have so far on my playlist for the year:

Here's the Rap & Hip-Hop list:


Here's the R&B list, it's rather skimpy right now:


So that's the updates and what not and what's going on with my life, I'm not going to talk your heads off anymore because I feel like I've said a lot already. So that's what's going on right now with me and the site, and I'm excited about stepping it up six months and the goals that I have for the rest of the year, and I'm hoping it will be positive when I do my year end review for the site. Are you guys excited about the coming months, it is summer and all lol. What are your goals that you have? Let me know in the comments below.

Until next time guys.

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