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Wealthy Affiliate Review 2018

Revised review - now with bonus for sign up! Read the full article

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Art Journal Challenge - Week 2

I know, it's been over a week since the last art journal challenge! Unfortunately, the flu waits for nobody, and it had me down for about a week. Ew. I'm feeling much more perky and ready to take on those art challenges again. This week we will be making our first stop along our road to happiness. What is the one thing you do in the morning that gets you going, that brings a smile to your face? This can be anything at all: the sunrise peeking through your curtains, your cat jumping on the bed mewling to be fed, a quick jaunt to the gym, or, in my case, my first cup of coffee. My morning coffee is a special time for me and my partner. It falls directly between sleeping soundly and doing all the necessary things. It is a time for just us to clear our brains, continue thoughts from the night before, or chat about our plans for the day. This week, I am using watercolors again. This time I am using the Van Gogh Watercolor 18 Pan Pocketbox. I really love the vibrancy of the colors and find them easy to blend and mix. I also really like that there is a little sponge included (I use mine to clean up edges), a paintbrush, and the palette for mixing is built in. It is quite sturdy and retails on Amazon for $41.95 or the 12 pan at Michaels for $49.99. While this price might seem to be a little high for a watercolor set, especially if you are just beginning, you can usually get a good deal at Michaels in the form of a coupon. Here is the one for this week:

  First Stop: Sketching Once you decide what your first happiness stop for your day is, it's time to get out your pencil, pen, or whatever you sketch with. Sketches are NOT full blown, detailed drawings. They are loose expressions. This week, we aren't going to worry about anything except the idea, so keep your sketches loose. I chose to start mine with a pen because I planned on keeping those marks in the final drawing. I wasn't sure where I wanted this to go, whether I wanted to just make it a pattern or something else, so I started with some coffee bean shapes.

  Add to it but Keep it Loose When I was going to art school, I remember having a lesson where we had to choose a piece of art and recreate it in the same style, using the same techniques, and utilizing the same materials as the master painter who created it. I drew Van Gogh as my artist and I chose Starry Night as my piece because it was so iconic and spoke to me with the swirls of color and texture. As I got deeper into my studies, I found myself more interested in his sketches than in the paintings themselves. His style was so free and so "sketchy" but perfectly illustrated what look he was going for in his paintings. I try to incorporate that "sketchiness" in my own sketches. It takes some doing to get into the head of someone that was alive centuries ago, but I tried and I adapted my own style to blend with his. I saw my bright red coffee mug sitting there reflecting the morning light and decided it would make a great addition to the sketch. I couldn't forget to add the steam swirls as well. Remember, detail should enhance your final page, not distract from it. Since my coffee beans are such a simple shape, I kept that theme going and left the swirls simple as well. Here is my completed sketch.

A Time for Color Our first cup of coffee in the morning is a special bonding time so I wanted to keep the pop of the red mug subdued and grounded. So I added a touch of blue in the background to give the page some depth and connection. The coffee beans seem to be dancing in the air, maybe floating along with the steam? Playing with color is a good time to let my mind wander. I could have stopped here except I felt that overall it was a little flat and I wanted to make it livelier. Don't be afraid to play with color. I feel like that blue and that red are playing together nicely. However, the beans are not nearly roasted enough. Tell a story as you add color, either to yourself or on the page.

Journal Prompt My journal prompt this week is “First Stop: ” and you, like last week, fill in the blank. Remember, the negative space on your canvas can be used either now or at a later date to record your thoughts. Don't feel like you have to write an entire essay every time. One word, such as I did, can go a long way to spark your memories later. A Personal Invitation If you’d like to share your artwork in your journal, feel free to email me a picture! I'd love to see what you are creating and where your road of happiness is taking you. Thank you for taking this adventure with me! Next week we will be jumping our first hurdle in the road (you didn't think the road to happiness was without those, did you?)

Love and Light, my succulent friends! ~Mishi Read the full article

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How to Sell Anything to Anyone

I know what you are thinking. There is no way to sell "anything to anyone"! You are absolutely correct. You aren't going to sell an anchor to a man without a boat. However, it is possible to get your name out there and find that man with the boat that wants your anchor! Not only is it possible but it is easy and fun. You found this article because I am selling myself, or at least some of my knowledge. I'm "selling" information, to you, the reader, and the cost is a bit of your time as you read the article. I advertised my product by sharing on social media and by making my site interesting to search engines. I could just as easily be trying to sell you an Xbox, iPhone covers, or earmuffs. WHAT you are selling isn't important. HOW you are selling is. First, in today's age of technology, unless you have the funds to start a brick and mortar business, you are primarily going to be selling online. For that you are going to need a website

Your Online Identity

The most important thing you are going to be selling is you. It is your expertise, your products, your explanations, and your reviews that are going to draw people to your site. Think of it this way: when you are in the market for a new big ticket item, who are you going to trust to give you the best information? Your friends maybe? Or are you going to trust the pushy salesperson with a fake smile who is trying to sell you what they want you to buy instead of what you really want or need? You want your audience to see you as that friend. Your online identity can help you to be a friendly face in the crowd. You are going to want to research URLs in order to find something that says "hi! how can I help you?" rather than "buy my stuff because my website has all this stuff". My website, A Succulent Life, doesn't scream at people "HEY, there's stuff for SALE here!". In fact, selling anything is really far from the point of my site at all. I'm guessing what drew you here was not the thought that you wanted to buy anything at all. I'm guessing you came by this post either through social media because the article sounded intriguing, through a Google search for "how to sell anything to anyone", or because you are a returning user who has already found my other content interesting and want to see what else I had to say. In order to research which Domain Name (your online identity for your website) is best for you, you can go do a search on Google or other sites, trying to find a Domain that isn't taken or doesn't sound ridiculous. You could. It would take a lot of time and energy and possibly frustration. On the other hand, you could use a tool like Site Rubix. Site Rubix is a free tool available at Wealthy Affiliate (see my review here). I also use it to build my website and keep track of my sites, my emails, and get feedback on my content.

How to Get Traffic: Keywords and Content

Now that you have a website, you need something for people to see once they find you. Let's go back to the anchor example. How are people going to trust that you know a thing or two about anchors? Content. You have to give your audience a sense that you are not just any source but the best source for their anchor questions. Also, how are they going to find you? How did you find me? Did you look at Google by typing in "how to sell anything to anybody"? Perhaps you found me through social media and thought that this article sounded like something you would be interested in. Or maybe you are a returning user who saw that I posted something new, you already liked what I said on my other posts, so you trust that I am going to have something else good to say. This is where keywords come into play. Keywords are sort of like a sales pitch to search engines. They tell the algorithms that you have something to say about the topic you are talking about and rank you according to how well you do so. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is. I do not deliberately sprinkle my keywords in my articles. I talk in the same voice as I would if I were talking to a friend over coffee. I don't make it sound unnatural and weird by saying "sell anything to anyone" every other sentence. That's just weird and awkward. Nobody wants to be that guy at a party. Don't be that guy. If you are passionate about something, just let the words flow as if you are talking to a friend. The keywords will come naturally and your content will be all the better for it.

Research

How do you know what it is that people are typing into search engines to find whatever it is you are selling? You have to research it. There are a few tools out there that take the hard work out of it and make it super easy and fast to figure out what keywords you should be using. I use a tool called Jaaxy. Jaaxy is pretty nifty. It lets me search for keywords and shows me how many people are searching that word or phrase on Google, approximately how much traffic I can expect in a month if I rank high enough with that keyword, how much competition I have for that keyword and so much more. Here is an example screenshot I took for our anchor example just to give you a taste of how powerful Jaaxy is.

  Participation is NOT Optional

Once you start getting traffic, you have to be sure that your audience knows you are a real living, breathing person who care that they are there. This means you make it your duty to reply to every single comment that is posted on your site. You have to engage with your audience to build a level of trust that will keep your audience coming back for more. Also, if you do become a member of Wealthy Affiliate, engage with others on the site as well. This will not only build a great reputation in the community, but also these people can help you if you are stuck. You ask questions, you answer questions, you look at people's websites and suggest improvements, and they do the same for you. I really cannot say enough great things about the community at WA. It's just a bunch of really great folks who genuinely care and who want you to succeed. Did I mention they are awesome? I get on chat at least once a day just to see where everyone is at in their own quests. I also am happy to answer questions when I have the knowledge. Knowledge shared is the best kind of knowledge!

What Are You Waiting For?

You've got great ideas. I know you do or else you wouldn't be reading this article about how to sell things. YOU can sell whatever it is you want to sell. Now you have the tools and a bit of knowledge to go out there and get started. Best of all, all the tools are free for the trying! If a nearly 50 year old, disabled, set in her ways woman can learn this stuff and put it into practice successfully (because you are reading this, right? Hence, success on my part)! then, believe me, you have everything you need to be successful too! Join me on Wealthy Affiliate for more training and I will personally respond to and help you through any questions you might have. As always, feel free to leave comments or questions here as well. Yours in Succulence, ~Mishi Read the full article

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Art Journal Challenge: Week One

Now that you have your supplies, it’s time to get started with my weekly art journal challenge! I’m really excited to start this new project. For my journal, I have chosen a watercolor hardcover journal that is in a landscape format.  This is the Global Art Materials "travelogue handbook". I like it because it’s small enough to fit in my purse but, because of the format, large enough to be loose in my drawing or paintings. It also has a gorgeous linen cover and a pocket on the inside back cover. I also used to subscribe to Sketchbox, a monthly box with art goodies inside! I decided to use a little watercolor sampler I received in one of my boxes and a couple of brushes I had in my collection.

Today’s Topic: The Road to Happiness What is your road to happiness? Is it a meandering road through the woods? Perhaps it is a bridge over a stream. Mine is a grassy path through hills, with happy, vibrant clouds and flowers. Whatever your path, remember that it leads to happiness, so when you are choosing your colors for today’s page, pick colors that sing to you. Fill up your page with these colors. Don’t worry about being neat. This is just a background. Splash some color around and see what develops. There is no wrong or right, just you and your page and color. Here is my page with my initial washes. Notice that my page is curling a bit. I usually don't worry about it much. If you want to avoid curling like this, you can tape down the edges. I find that they flatten out as they dry enough for my purposes.

It’s All in the Details Remember, this is your art journal. You might be using pens, crayons, pencils, or anything else for color. The only thing, if I were to put requirements on the pages, is that this week you use colors that bring you happiness. I will be having monochrome pages, but since this is the beginning of a new journal, I decided that color was important. Now that you have your background down, do you see a place to put your road? Is it a literal road or only suggested? Perhaps your road is a giant spiral, or maybe it’s a scribble. What other details are there? Is it nighttime? Are there starts? Clouds? A happy little sun like we used to draw in grade school? Add your details, as many as you like, A Space to Write This is a journal, so be sure to leave yourself some space, either that n the margins, or in your design, to write. When I was creating my page, I thought I’d paint what I had to say. Handwriting with a brush is not my strong suit so I blended the paint into the background and added a cloud (a very colorful cloud!) to write on.

Journal Prompt My journal prompt this week is “The Road to Happiness is...” and you fill in the blank. It can be one word, it can be a small essay. Whatever you are feeling, however many words you need, just write. Today is the first day on this road. How do you feel? Are you excited? Nervous? (Blank pages can be unnerving!)   Share Your Journal Adventure If you’d like to share, feel free to email me a picture of your completed journal page and I will add it to the wall! Thank you for taking this adventure with me! Next week we will be exploring further down the road. I hope to see you there!

~Mishi       Read the full article

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New Succulents and Update on Cuttings

I have a lot of pictures to share! First of all, I got my replacement cuttings from Fat Plants (click to see my review) and they look amazing!

Here they are in the planter with some already established plants.

Most of all, I am excited about this next series of pictures. These are my own personal cuttings from leaves I managed to save from my last failed plants!!! I’m such a proud succulent mama!

Overall, I'd say my succulents are wintering well and with all this new growth I see going on, spring has to be just around the corner! I think I might even get some flowers this year! I will update as new developments happen. We just had a pretty significant snow here in Michigan over the past couple of days, so signs of new life gives me hope that the snow will end someday and my plants will be able to go outside soon. If they keep growing like this, I'm going to have to seperate them into their own planters! Until next time, stay warm! ~Mishi Read the full article

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Secret of a Happy Life

I can honestly say that I am a happy person and I have had friends, family, and acquaintances ask me, "How do you do it? What is the secret of a happy life"? My formula may be different from other methods you may have heard about. There is no magic bullet, nor are there shortcuts. Happiness requires a bit of effort but with my method, it seems rather effortless. It boils down to four main categories: having a peaceful environment at home, having a hobby that fulfills and sustains you, learning to be spiritually connected, and having a little extra income to supplement it all. The Zenful Home I cannot relax in chaos. I need my environment to be somewhat organized and neat to truly feel at peace when I'm at home. This, of course, means the bane of everyone's home life: housework. For me that also means using products that I make myself with natural ingredients. It means incorporating color and plants into my living environment. It means being in tune with the seasons and planting good things to eat (and then eating them after harvesting or canning to save for later). In the coming days, I'll share some of my favorite recipes and techniques for keeping an organized home without a lot of hassle. Don't worry! Once you make something a habit, it comes naturally and you will find yourself breezing through housework with time to spare. Making something a habit requires a good deal of discipline and it takes about two months to become ingrained. However, once a good habit is in place, it's easy to stay on track. Look for home tips on Wednesdays. Crafty Living My hobbies vary from week to week and month to month. For example, I do not like spinning yarn in the summer because the wool makes me sweaty. I don't like doing my alcohol ink paintings in the winter because of my methods (which involve fire) are really more of an outdoor activity. However, there is a year long activity that brings a lot of joy into my life and I am going to bring some interactivity to my site by inviting you all to partake in a weekly challenge. I'm talking about keeping an art journal! What is nice about an art journal is it can be whatever you want it to be. You really do not need artistic "talent" to keep an art journal. Each!h week I will post a topic and share my journal layout for the week with tips and tricks to create your own. Your journal can be as personal (or not!) as you like but you are always invited to share if you wish! Challenges will be posted every Monday. Connecting to Spirit I truly believe that when I am connected to something beyond myself, my life goes swimmingly well. Here at A Succulent Life, we are all encompassing of all beliefs and have chosen to use the word "Spirit" as our word for the divine. You are free to substitute whatever word or name YOU are most comfortable with. I believe that all belief systems are as true and powerful as those who believe in them think they are. Spirituality is a powerful thing. Those things that we truly believe can become as real as we let them become! I, personally, relate most to the Pagan ways. However, I have friends who come from many, many religious backgrounds and we all get along just fine. It isn't the label so much that is important rather than the fact that we connect to a Higher Power. In the coming weeks, I will talk about the importance of rituals and meditation and how these things create a happiness from within. Friday's posts will be spiritual in nature with a meditation to start things off and a topic for consideration. How to Affiliate 101 If you had told me prior to starting this journey that I could ever speak with authority on how to make money at home, I would have said "yeah right! Been there, tried that, it's all a scam!" And then I discovered a website that completely changed my way of thinking. Wealthy Affiliate has really opened my mind on how to create a successful website within my niche. There is so much training, SO MUCH TRAINING. I cannot even tell you how many programs I started and failed due to lack of training. But I think my favorite part of Wealthy Affiliate is the community. Unlike other sites which boost their profit by pitting members against each other (think of the many consultant type of programs out there!), members on WA are some of the friendliest, most helpful folks I could hope to have in my corner. Not only that but their arsenal of tools for member is beyond outstanding. Their tech support is extremely responsive with answers within minutes. Yes, I said minutes. What they have built here is nothing short of amazing and I'm happy to be associated with these fine folks. I could go on forever, but I'll save some of that for later posts that will be available every other Saturday. Happiness IS Obtainable and Sustainable! in a nutshell, that's what A Succulent Life is all about. When I started out, I thought I was going to be building a site all about succulents. However, as my knowledge progressed, I realized that succulents are a wonderful metaphor for how to live a happy life. Succulents are hardy because they dig roots not only to nourish themselves but to keep themselves stable when the rains hit. They also have broad, fat leaves that sustain them in times of drought. Those facts turned into the seeds of what I hope this website can become: a program for happiness that keeps you rooted in times of trouble, that nourishes your soul, and sustains you when life gets a little dry. Until next time, here is to our successes in life! Stay succulent! ~Mishi         Read the full article

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Rituals - What They Are and How to Use Them

When you think about rituals, what image springs to mind? Do you picture a large, fancy religious ceremony? Or perhaps you picture a witch in the woods dancing about in the moonlight. While these things may contain elements of a ritual, you do not have to convert to a religion or risk being exposed to poison ivy to incorporate rituals into your life. The definition I'll be using to explain rituals comes from Merriam-Webster: "an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner". How Many Rituals Do You Have? A ritual can be literally anything. That is to say any action or set of actions that you do on a regular basis in a set manner is a ritual. You probably already have rituals in your life and don't even realize it! Here are a couple of examples: Morning ritual: wake up at 6 am, make bed, shower, get dressed, have breakfast, leave for work at 8. Dog ritual: arrive home, get greeted by enthusiastic dog, tell dog to get down Rituals are everywhere. They are every action or set of actions that we do on a regular basis. Rituals do not even have to be a daily routine. They can be weekly, or even annually (a birthday ritual, for example). So, now that we know what a ritual is, we can examine what rituals are useful for. Why Have Rituals Anyway? We humans are creatures of habit. Once we get into a habit of doing something on a regular basic, it is pretty hard to get us to quit without concentrated effort. An example of this is anyone who has tried to quit smoking. It isn't just the nicotine that makes it hard to quit! It's the whole ritual of smoking. We are also creatures of comfort and familiarity. I know that I personally, left to my own devices, when faced with a decision will take the more comfortable route unless I make a concentrated effort to slip out of my comfort zone. I'm, by nature, rather quiet and am more comfortable in my home than out in public. However, I'm also on the extrovert side of the scale, so I require social interaction. I have to make a concentrated effort to get out to meet my social needs. How do rituals help me to do this? I have a "going out" ritual. About 2 hours before leaving the house I make myself presentable and then take the steps to make sure my house is secure before leaving. I make sure I have my phone, keys, and anything necessary for my venture. It sounds silly when I write it down but it really helps to get me into a mindset of "OK, I'm leaving the house, I am prepared, I am calm, I can do this". Creating Meaning Through Ritual I am a big advocate for being grounded and living in the moment. You may have also heard of this as mindfulness. Mindfulness is a skill and I will be writing another post about it later. Creating rituals will help in the pursuit of mindfulness. When you create a ritual, and this can be anything you do on a daily basis, you are assigning meaning to that action or set of actions. This meaning programs you to continue to do the action or actions in question. Repetition will ingrain an action into memory and eventually it becomes automatic. When it becomes automatic, it becomes habit. Habits and rituals are very similar. However, to me, a ritual is something that continues to have meaning and continues to require a conscious effort to maintain. You may have a habit of always putting the cap back on your tube of toothpaste. However, if you consider every time that you are putting the cap back on to prevent hardened toothpaste and to keep your bathroom neat, that is living mindfully, in the moment and that is ritual. A Small Ritual for Consideration Here is a small ritual you can use in the morning. I'm using an example of making a cup of tea but this can easily be altered to any beverage of choice. -------- Take a moment and clear your mind. Just let the thoughts and worries of the present fade. There is nothing in the present except you. Take a couple of breaths and choose your tea for the morning. Consider why you chose that flavor. Smell the loose tea or tea bag. What notes stand out? Look at the tea and notice the shapes of the cut leaves. Choose your cup. Notice the texture, the color, the weight of it in your hand. Is it delicate and fragile or study and heavy? Pour your hot water over the tea and watch the steam rise in little swirls. Inhale the steam and note how the fragrance differs or is similar to the dry tea. Feel the moisture of the steam in your nostrils and down into your lungs as you inhale. As you wait for the tea to steep, take slow easy breaths, feel the cup warm in your hand. This is your moment for you and you alone. Be. Just be. Remove the tea bag or container and set it aside. Notice how it has transformed. What is different? As you take your first sip, close your eyes and really appreciate everything that went into this cup of tea. Give thanks to the tea growers, to the plants themselves, to the water, to the vessel that holds it. Feel gratitude flow through you as the first sip warms first your mouth, then your throat. Feel the warmth flow through you, spreading and enveloping you. Give thanks for this cup of tea. It is the best cup of tea because it is yours and yours alone in this moment. --------- If you do try this, how do you feel? This is why adding rituals to your life can impact your outlook on everything! Rituals Everywhere Now that I've explained rituals, how they work, and given an example, I hope that you see that adding rituals to your day can help you build better habits, and ultimately, find your personal zen. Succulently yours, ~Mishi       Read the full article

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Art Journal Ideas - Where to Start

As promised, I am starting a weekly art journal challenge! However, before I get started, I thought I'd show you some tool of the trade and give you some art journal ideas to get you started. My challenges are going to be structured like this: I will offer a word or phrase for inspiration, show you what tools I am using that week, and then reveal to you my finished page for the week. Where to get supplies You can find supplies everywhere. I like browsing around at Michael's and JoAnne Fabrics for art supplies. In my neighborhood they are conveniently located across the parking lot from each other. I also buy a lot of things online. For the most part this means Amazon! I buy nearly everything on Amazon except groceries! Here is a list of supplies to get started: A journal, of course! There are a lot of choices out there. I prefer to use paper that is for mixed media or watercolor. The reason for this is that, depending on what medium I am using, it tends to have less bleed through to the back of the page. Just take a look at all the choices Amazon has to offer! You don't have to get the biggest, or most expensive journal, either! Anything that strikes you as being something you will want to use is a good choice! Colored Pencils. I used watercolor pencils so I can blend away to my little heart's content. You can also use crayons or markers - anything to add color to your page. A black pen to write with. I have a favorite brand that I have to buy a lot because I will run them dry! It is Sukura Pigma brand. The ink is archival, and they are really smooth when writing so I don't have a lot of skips. I always get the variety pack so I have a selection of thicknesses to work with. Colored Paper or Magazines. I like to do multimedia. Sometimes I will find an interesting pattern, an image that inspires me, or a paper with a really cool texture. I use these in my art journal for idea boards or wish lists. Scissors. Any size that you are comfortable using. I prefer little embroidery scissors for cutting fine details. Glue or glue sticks. Any archival glue will do! One of my other many hobbies is book binding, so I have a supply of PVA glue. You can also use Elmers, or just a glue stick. Any art supplies that you might be partial to. I tend to use acrylic and watercolor paints a lot in my art journal. You might be more inclined to add glitter. I don't like glitter in general because it tends to multiply and spread in my house! What Is An Art Journal? An art journal is whatever you want it to be. It can be a traditional journal where you incorporate art into your entries. It can also be just a source of information for bigger projects. I have a blend of these in my art journal. One day I might do a page full of patterns for example, with no words. In a week I might go back and paint over part of the pattern and add a memory or thought to the page. For me, personally, an art journal is a living, ever changing book that is full of tiny bits of my inspiration. Best Art Journal Practices Starting an art journal (or any journal!) is a tiny commitment that you make to yourself. It is your "you" time. I incorporate art journaling into my Succulent Living plan because it is important to take a little bit of time away from the pressures of work, away from the responsibilities of parenting, and definitely away from housework. Those things can wait so you can give yourself 10 to 15 minutes to just be. (Obviously, if there is an emergency, take care of it and come back to it later). I think that is the cornerstone of Living Succulently: just being. It's a little like meditation, a little like taking a deep breath and saying "ahhhhhhh, live is going okay". Try to surround yourself with things that you find inspiration in when you are journaling. Turn off the television, shut off the computer, put your phone on "mute" and just unplug with a cup of coffee or your beverage of choice and just be yourself for a few minutes. You won't believe the difference it makes in your attitude! Closing Thoughts Even though I am structuring this in my blog with dates and "deadlines", honestly, you can start any time. If you are coming into this and there is already a year of challenges, do not feel pressured to start at the beginning! Jump right in wherever we are or, better yet, find a challenge that really speaks to you and start there. There is no right or wrong, there is only the journey! One last thing, I'd love to see your work! I get so much inspiration from seeing what others do! So, if what you are journaling isn't too personal, feel free ALWAYS to share! Next week starts the first challenge! See you there! Succulently, ~Mishi   Read the full article