Leave a comment Posted on People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Exactly One Year After My National TV Debut on Lifetime’s “This Time Next Year”, How is My Life Different? SEO Vs. TV

On February 27th, 2018, my secret was finally made public, when my year-long quest to find my doppelganger from a package of Campbell’s Soup debuted on a new TV show on the Lifetime Network, called This Time Next Year.

My episode was entitled, “Dudes from Different Latitudes”, which was based on the song I wrote and performed in front of the studio audience; near the end of the episode.

A year ago when the episode finally premiered, I was prepared for a huge jump in the number of visitors on my blog and viewers on my two YouTube channels. I was even anticipating the possibility of getting more opportunities to be on TV in the future.

Instead, my blog readers and YouTube viewers only knew about my TV debut after I brought it up. Even then, they had trouble even finding a way to watch my episode of This Time Next Year.

So how is my life different because of the show? I can’t say that it is.

But being on a nationally aired TV show did teach me this truth: TV is mostly irrelevant.

It is true that since the airing of my episode of This Time Next Year, that my viewership on this blog and my YouTube channels have dramatically increased; along with the revenue I make from these side hustles.

However, that had completely nothing to do with people seeing me on TV. Instead, people are discovering me, in growing numbers every day, thanks to the content that I as an individual am constantly producing.

In other words, the Internet is mightier than the TV show.

And that’s because the Internet is much more relevant than television.

So while it was fun to be on TV, I never needed to be on TV to find an audience; or to make money on the side.

I was not paid anything to be on TV. Meanwhile, I make money in my sleep from the thousands of videos that I have published on YouTube. Everyday, I receive emails from people across the world who offer to pay me money just to be featured as a guest blogger here on my site, so that they can include a link back to their website’s business.

When your audience is the Internet, they find you; despite who you are; not because of who you are.

It’s sort of like the opposite of being famous. They accidentally discover your content through a Google search without ever needing to know your name first.

I definitely wouldn’t turn down another opportunity to be on TV, but I no longer see it as the next big step for my creative career.

For me, though, the best part of being on TV was getting to meet my doppelganger, Steve. He was such a cool guy to hang out with and get to know.

If we lived in the same city, I know we would be friends. He was the best part about being on TV.

And Steve, if you’re reading this, just know I still feel you are the brother I never had.

1 Comment Posted on fatherhood, finance, food reviews, Health, marriage, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Our 24 Hour Parent Staycation in Franklin, Tennessee at the Hilton Franklin Cool Springs Hotel

Two months ago for Christmas 2018, the only gift my wife and I gave one another was the promise of an upcoming 24 hour window of existence that we would share together, in which we would have zero parenting responsibilities; including uninterrupted meals out, a stay at a nice hotel, and the ability to be lazy.

We both work full-time jobs, plus I manage 5 SEO side hustles, and we have two adventurous kids. So for us, the thought of a break from reality is the greatest gift we can receive at this point in our 37 year-old lives.

Last May when I started my new full-time job as a recruiter at a Fortune 500 Company in Franklin, Tennessee, I couldn’t help but notice that an 8 story building was being built right next to my office.

A few months later, a giant Hilton sign went up on the side of the building facing the interstate (I-65). Once the hotel opened last fall, my co-workers and I started going there for lunch, and were very pleased.

So by the time my wife and I came up with the idea of the perfect mutual Christmas gift for each other, I suggested we make our stay at the Hilton Franklin Cool Springs hotel right next to where I work; which is the halfway point between where we live in Spring Hill and where my wife works in downtown Nashville.

Sometimes in your mind, you build up an idea to the point it becomes an unattainable fantasy. But no, that was not the case for our 24 Hour Parent Staycation. In fact, everything went perfectly according to plan:

My parents drove up 2 and a half hours from my hometown in Fort Payne, Alabama, to watch the kids while we were out. As my son’s Saturday morning karate lessons began, to be followed by one of his classmate’s birthday parties our daughter would end up successfully crashing, my wife and I made our way over to H&R Block to file our income taxes and were so relieved we didn’t owe any money; despite my 5 SEO side hustles unexpectedly doing much better than I planned for last year.

We officially started out our responsibility-free adventure with lunch at Sopapilla’s New Mexican (like the state) restaurant en route to the Hilton. This was a big deal to us for more than one reason.

Not only was it the first time in… (years?)… that we have been able to enjoy a delicious meal out with no children putting a damper on the conversation or the cuisine or our peace of mind, but it was our first official meal out as a now non-vegetarian, non-vegan couple.

I would go as far as to say I am now obsessed with eating at Sopapilla’s, but I don’t know the next time we’ll be able to make it back there without kids.

As for the Hilton, it was every bit as glorious as I knew it would be. My wife and I realized this is the newest hotel we have ever stayed in; throughout our decade of marriage.

And our wish came true- we got to be lazy for our entire day. In fact, we never left the hotel until the next day when we checked out. We got to watch a few movies on TV, in between heading downstairs for dinner in the hotel restaurant, The Harth Restaurant and Lounge.

Not to mention, we got to sleep in! We naturally woke up, on our own, at 8:00 AM. That is unthinkable back at our house, thanks to our children’s internal biological alarm clocks, which are annoyingly set an a default of 5:55 AM.

Life is good. I admit, I’m enjoying the view from where I’m sitting on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Pyramid. Our 24 Hour Parent Staycation taught me that the motivational carrot in my life at this point will be getting to experience our next 24 Hour Parent Staycation. That is the rarest commodity I know right now: a break.

And when that time comes, my wife and I plan to do everything exactly the same way again. It’s a formula that works for us.

This is 37.

Leave a comment Posted on Uncategorized

The Right of the Family: Divorced, Succession, Domestic Violence, Grandparents’ Rights

The right of the family: to know everything 

  • Divorced 
  • Succession 
  • Domestic violence 
  • The right of grandparents 

Family law is a branch of civil law that governs and organizes the legal relations between different members of the same family. Family law essentially defines two types of family ties: alliance ties (couples) and kinship ties (ascendants and descendants). 

Regarding the alliance, family law sets the rules for marriage, PACS, concubinage, and divorce. For example, it groups together the laws and regulations that govern the conditions and effects of marriage. 

Regarding kinship, family law defines, among other things, all existing legal relationships between parents and their children. It sets the rules of affiliation, adoption, lists the s consequences of the parental authority, defines the right of grandparents, etc. 

The judge in charge of enforcing family law is the family court judge. The JAF sit in the courts of the first instance. The rules of family law are contained in the Civil Code. For further assistance or any kind of clarification reach out to family lawyer Toronto. 

Divorced 

Each year, about 60,000 couples divorce in France. The 2005 divorce reform has made divorce procedures much simpler, but divorce is still a difficult part of life for those involved. 

The cost of divorce and the stages of divorce (convention, conciliation, assignment) vary according to the type of divorce chosen: divorce for fault, divorce by mutual consent, etc. The effects of divorce (alimony, parental authority, custody of children …) concentrate the bulk of the conflicts. 

Succession 

The estate is an important step, even if the talk is not always easy. There are several ways to ensure the transmission of one’s inheritance: will, bequest, gift, life insurance, etc. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The inheritance tax is not the same depending on the solutions chosen. 

Succession gives rise most of the time to a situation of temporary indivision. The division of property and the settlement of indivision may give rise to disputes between heirs. Hence the importance of predicting his success during his lifetime. 

Domestic violence 

No one is safe from domestic violence, especially when you are a woman. Women are the first victims of domestic abuse. Domestic violence can take different forms: sexual, physical, moral, psychological or even economic violence. The children are not spared by domestic violence. Every year, children die as a result of domestic violence. 

If you are a victim of domestic violence, you must act. There are several possible actions to put an end to the violence you suffer. There are emergency phone numbers for victims of violence within couples were established by associations or public authorities.. 

The right of grandparents 

We sometimes forget that grandparents have rights to their grandchildren, as adults. Often unrecognized, these rights do indeed exist and are included in the Civil Code. 

For example, grandparents have the right to maintain relations with their grandchildren even against the parents’ wishes: this is the right of access and accommodation. They can also intervene if their minor child is in danger. 

1 Comment Posted on finance, People, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Income Tax Returns at H&R Block: So Relieved I Didn’t Owe Taxes on My 5 Side Hustles in 2018!

As I recently crowned myself “The SEO Side Hustler”, announcing that in 2018 I had 5 SEO-based side hustles that earned a minimum of $1,000 each, I knew that title would come with a potential downside:

This month when my wife and I would file our taxes for last year’s income, instead of getting money back from the IRS as we have every single year we’ve been married, it would be a very real possibility we could actually owe several thousand dollars instead of receiving that as a return.

When I said that I had 5 side hustles last year that earned a minimum of $1,000 each, the thing is…

For some of those side hustles, it was a bit more than a thousand dollars… or even a lot more.

I had never made that much in side income before. It was never an issue or a concern for the years prior.

The problem is that my superhero power of finding random ways to make money from my SEO skills didn’t mean that I automatically knew anything about being prepared for the taxes I would owe on that money.

It was a bit intense last Saturday morning, walking into H&R Block, knowing that in just an hour, we would know our fate; for better or worse.

Forty-five minutes into our consultation, it was looking as if we were going to owe about a thousand dollars; which wouldn’t have been awful.

But fortunately, and I would even say miraculously, our H&R Block representative found a couple more items that had not been considered yet as tax write-offs; like how I mainly use my phone for managing my side hustles, and the fact I have a room in my house dedicated exclusively to my side hustles, serving as my office.

Plus, our H&R Block representative helped us get set up on a system where we are now able to easily pay back 25% of my side income earnings in advance each quarter, so that there’s no reason for anxiety in paying those taxes next February.

At the 55 minute mark into our hour-long consultation, it was confirmed: Even after the consultation fee for H&R Block, we would still get a few hundred dollars back!

Our sense of relief was actually greater than our sense of celebration.

And it was perfect timing, as that money would ultimately end up covering our “24 hour parent staycation” that began the moment we left the moment we drove out of the H&R Block parking lot.

Stay tuned for that…

Leave a comment Posted on People, Uncategorized

Dear Holly: You Like to Make and Eat “Panic Cakes”

2 years, 9 months.

Dear Holly,

Ever since you got your Peppa the Pig kitchen play set for Christmas, you have been somewhat obsessed with the concept of making pancakes, or as you pronounce it… panic cakes.

Picking up on this, Mommy decided to make some buckwheat pancakes a few Saturday mornings ago, and it turns out, you love to eat pancakes- not just pretend to make them.

It’s now to the point where Mommy has to make enough on the weekend so that you have enough to eat leftovers throughout the rest of the week; each morning before school.

In fact, you love them so much, that you sort of have a little panic attack if you don’t get your panic cakes!

So maybe “panic cakes” isn’t that far off of a pronunciation…

Love,

Daddy