Wondering If I Should Resurrect The Blog

I haven't been able to blog for a very very long time. But things in life are about to change. So I have been debating if I should get back at this Blogging thing. Why? Well I want to help promote my other avenues of Social Media. I have my 2 YouTube Channels (1 for automotive, 1 for eBay Listings with moving parts), 2 Facebook Pages (1 for automotive, 1 for eBay listing promotion), as well as my Personal Account, 2 Instagram Accounts (1 for automotive, and 1 for my Music Media Collection). I do not use any other Social Media sites as I just don't want to due to how much time I don't have to work with just what I have already mentioned. 

My main goal lately is that I would like to get my YouTube channel more eyes, and for a longer period of time. I have just over 220 videos as of this writing, with many more scheduled to go live over the next 2 months. That's 4 videos per week at the moment. And this includes Shorts. But doing this hobby really is a lot of work. What I would like to mention is this - The viewership is a huge issue! It seems that the viewers have left the video within 30-60 seconds. It Sucks as I have videos with some amazing cars in them. Yes I know my editing isn't all high and mighty as so many have been able to do. I don't have the luxury of paying someone to edit my footage. Besides, I shoot in a way where I visualize my editing style. Yes that changes too, but it is still my style. I don't like the idea of someone else doing it and not doing it the way I would like it to be. Anyways! Back to the viewership issue. Why is it that people today have such a short attention span? I watch videos beginning to end like I would a TV Show or a Movie. It's just how I prefer to watch. And the fact that I know it benefits the person that is the creator of those videos.

Let me go back a bit here though. And when I say back, I mean I need to go back to late 2019. I had decided sometime in the last few months of 2019 that I wanted to get my Channel up and running, but running hard. I had purchased a new PC. After some research, I decided to make a switch away for my second hand Mac, and get back to a PC. Yes! I was abandoning APPLE! And hat included my phone too. Like I said, I did some research. I won't get into that though. That's not what I am writing about. Back to what I am writing about though. With that purchase, I had planned to go to several events to get new and current video footage even though I have a ton of old footage that I could build up with. But I wanted to get fresh content, and then dive into my archives to add that in the mix when I needed to do so. I started off on January 01, 2020 by attending an awesome local Grudge Match Arm Drop Drag Racing event. With that, I was ready to begin. And then as we all know, the world took a dive and went south into Viral Chaos. MY PLANS DIED! So now that footage has been set in the archives now to be addressed at a later date.

So now with a change in every day life, I just didn't want to push my channel. So I switched my gears and went full on into house projects. Another thing I am not going to get into as it's a different subject. This Blog is for Automotive Content Only! It wasn't until we went on a vacation to Southern California that I then decided to do a little bit of video taking again. It wasn't much, but it got me a little kick to get back at it. It wasn't for the channel though. I was putting these short videos on my Instagram feed. But one day, a few months later, and in the new year, I was looking at my channel and had noticed that things were changing. I was getting more views, and I was closing in on that 1000 Subscriber minimum. So again I got another kick to get myself restarted and moving forward.

I had already been thinking of some ideas to add better content to the channel. Long before my Vacation to Southern California I had the hamster running on the wheel in my brain. However, I need to stay focused on building it up before I get to where I can begin to film and add those ideas in. I had to figure out what to do though. My computer is still somewhat new, my camera gear is well over 10 years old, and I don't have the money to update it. With the computer being new and had the plans to get running in 2020, I had downloaded DiVinci Resolve to use as my editing software. But man is it not anywhere as simplified as iMovie. I didn't know where to begin. But the Viral Chaos helped me to avoid that. Well at least for a while anyways.

So 2021 rolls around, and I have a little fuel to get me going again. I got into watching YouTube Content Creator advisors, and decided to just GO BACK TO BASICS. Yes! BASICS! So I went to only using my cell phone. When I switched from my iPhone, I bought an at the time low end phone. a Pixel 3. After all, the technology in my Pixel 3 was better than my old Sony 1080p camera, and my iPhone. With that I searched out some apps to review so that I could figure out what one to download to the good 'ol Pixel 3. After a while of searching, I decided on YouCut. And So far I have to say it is pretty easy to use. Even for this not too keen to technology, lost in space fool. But the app has really been great for me. I am learning a lot with every video I edit and upload to my channel. Now to get the time to learn more on Divinci Resolve. WHY?

Early on in the year I had made plans to attend the Mini Truck Showdown out in Las Vegas. The plan was to meet up with one of my older brothers to attend the event. But as things always happen, he bailed out on me. but I just could not back out from attending my first car show in well over a year. So I kept the plans in play and went. The show was awesome! I will have to share more on that later on in another BLOG. Also, another local deal kicked into play to help me out as well. A local Club had made arrangements with a Pizza Restaurant to have a hang out on Friday evenings during the Daylight Savings Time Season. So I started hitting that. And I am still going. Just not every Friday though. I have also been to 1 other local show that was awesome too. A local builder I had met a while back was putting on a show to help a dance studio to pay for a trip to an event they were to be competing at. There were some awesome rides at this show. Another one I will be sharing down the road too.

Even though things have been working out a little better for me, I am still having issues with getting views on the channel. I still follow recommendations from teachers, but it just isn't enough. I want this hobby to turn into something more. But I guess I will just have to play it out and let it ride its way up in the manner it has done. I will just continue to upload my content and do my best to enjoy the creativity of it. That is why I do it in the first place. Until next time, THANK YOU for reading my gibberish.

TODD

What to do! What to do!

It's been a while since I've been able to post anything here, but having acquired a job that pays pretty well and also taking extra time out of my day to commute, I haven't had much to share. And if I have something to share, I just can't seem to find the time to tell about it. So with that said, I need to get back to a fun project and reduce it s I can put a recreational enjoyment time here. I like to share my experiences with whomever chooses to read them. Why not? If it gives a reader an idea or some information they need, then that's what it's all about for me. 

So what else is the problem then? I have gotten hung up in another hobby that I need to move away from so I can get back to this one. This one requires time spent doing more enjoyable things than the one I need to get away from. But what's the hobby that's taking up my time? I've gotten back into buying stuff that will sell for a good profit on eBay. The problem here is not getting the time to get it listed and sold. It's a viscous circle! But it doesn't help that I go buy more stuff and not getting it listed.

So I'm going to say this - I'm setting a goal to get about 75 to 90 percent of the stuff sold that I've bought, as well as the things I've collected out of here so I can put some effort into spending more time out at car shows, taking vacations, and getting myself back into my photography and videography. Also, I need to get myself into building me a sweet custom ride now that I'm getting some experience working at a Machine Shop. I'm going to take that experience and put it to good use and do something I've always dreamed of doing. Now the time has come for me to get it together and push myself into the right direction. It'll also make my wife happy to see this stuff out of our home. Thanks for reading! Post a comment if you feel like giving me some encouragement. 

Mattels Exclusive rights with Ferrari are coming to an end.

Well the time has finally come for the relationship with Mattel and Ferrari to come to an end. As a long time collector of Ferrari Automobilia, I am actually not surprised that it is finally ending. I have read several posts in various places online where collectors weren't really that happy with the product Mattel was releasing in the 1:18 scale world. There are companies out there that I used to have resale accounts with when I had my Automotive Collectibles business, as well as other companies that I have collected over the years that as small companies, they out out some phenomenal product.

So with the demise of this relationship, I am in hopes of Ferrari signing some deal and getting some too notch models released by these smaller, higher quality companies to to be released. I think this will get the 1:18 collector market a good boost and it will be greatly appreciated. Why a boost! Well, I actually stopped collecting for the reason that I really wasn't happy with what was being released by Mattel. I also honestly didn't have the funds to continue my collecting hobby either. So maybe, just maybe in the future I will see what comes out and is something I just can't live without. But before I make that decision, I have a more important hobby to address. The build of my Kustom 1990 Chevy S10. That's another story to come down the line when I starts. Until then, thanks for reading my little rant. 

Missing Photos! What Happened?

So as you can see at the moment my blog is in need of some updating. Why? Well the photos I had on here are missing. The Cool shot up top and several from the bottom of the main page. What Happened? The photo hosting site that I had been using shut down. A little upsetting as I had a lot of photos on it. But not too upsetting as I was contacted by the page owners and was sent all of my photos on a thumb drive. Now I need to get working on updating my Flickr account. I had started on it a couple months ago when I knew about Razzi being shut down. But I have so many things going on right now that I just can't keep up. But first things first! I need to make a living. I am also in need of finishing up my courses at the local Community College. For now the courses are on hold until I can return in the Fall. Hmmmm! What to do?

What I have been doing? For the last two months of 2013 I was asked to do some work for a company a friend manages out at Stanford. So for the money I was being paid, I just couldn't resist. So I stayed busy with that job. What else did I do?  I went to go to Southern California to visit my parents as I hadn't visited them in over a year. Two weeks taken away from other things I need to do. But my family is more important. What else did I do? So now that all this is done, I need to get back on track. I was supposed to have made some changes for my eBay business, but that seems to be falling apart for now. So I will just be re-organizing everything I have for inventory so I can make it easier to list in a more manageable way. So once I get things in order again, I will be updating the blog with more Car Show adventures and other Auto Enthusiast things. Until then, Thank you for reading! I hope to get at least the photos fixed soon.