The Backstory
This is the start to a new endeavor for me in the realms of creative writing. A more systematic, professional approach, with clearer intentions and bigger goals. My recent experiences and observations, in the many different aspects of life, have brought me back to pen & pad. It's the only place where I get to slow down time and dump all my thoughts on the table. It's also one of the few activities that forces self-reflection.
*image created w/ DALL-E 3
After a few weeks of a consistent combination of journaling (internal, writing to yourself) and blogging (external, writing to the world) on my original OG HIVE account @opinizeunltd, I have regained a level of mental clarity that had been missing since I began working the overnight shift roughly 2 years ago. Writing while having a little extra time off because of the holidays has really helped me take a step back and put things in perspective. I decided to mint this account for 2 distinct reasons:
- To provide a platform specifically for my creative/professional writing while building my mental muscle before I start writing my next book.
- As a case study to show that any serious writer can utilize InLEO (and HIVE) as a platform to grow their brand socially and economically.
The Journey
I've always been one that enjoyed the idea of my thoughts coming to life on paper. Like many writers, it started with a passion for writing music. As a young adolescent, my ability to use the written word to express myself was noted by my family and my peers. And in grade school, literature was always a breeze. Even though I didn't appreciate writing as a craft yet, I knew it was something that came easy to me.
Once I graduated high school I got ushered into the Atlanta music scene pretty quickly. I don't like name-dropping, but I was regularly in creative spaces with a lot of successful artists and execs from 2005-2015, usually because of my ability to put words together and fill gaps in songs. After losing 2 of my close friends in a short period of time and almost being imprisoned for something I had absolutely nothing to do with (unrelated incidents), I decided it was time to leave that environment. Not geographically, but the Atlanta music and entertainment scene overall. It was time for me to pivot.
Initially, I indeed took that pivot to heart. I authored my first e-book in 2015, started a long-distance relationship, and began taking investing seriously for the first time in my life. Based on some funds I had accumulated, I was able to spend a whole summer on the beautiful island of Jamaica with my lady at the time. It's funny looking back at things...I'm coming up on another 10 year cycle of my life based this timeline. Man time flies.
New Commitments
2015-2024 has been filled with transitions and new learning experiences. Even though I haven't materialized the best of what's out there for me, I'm extremely grateful for everything that I've encountered over the past decade. Here's just a few topics I've become pretty versed on that I didn't have any knowledge of before 2015:
- fatherhood
- stocks and options
- cryptocurrency
- estate planning
- artificial intelligence
- mysticism
Just by constantly adding to my toolbelt and staying ahead of the curve, I've been able to turn some of my knowledge into a few complimentary income streams. The next stage is to help and inspire so many people writing on these topics, that my writing becomes my primary income stream, fueled by my knowledge and execution in other areas. I'm also working on an "all-encompassing" book that...well more on that a few posts down the line.
The platforms I will be utilizing to fuel the growth of my writing brand is of course InLEO, LinkedIn, and Medium (maybe). I don't have any experience with Medium as a content creator so we'll see how that goes. I know one thing, InLEO is positioned for growth, and the possibility of expanding your audience/brand alongside a uniquely positioned platform isn't something that comes along often. When you take a step back, you realize that collectively, HIVE & InLEO are poised to scale alongside 3 of the larger, if not largest, modern disruptive technologies: Generative Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain (Web3), and Data.
The Playbook
Here is where the sauce lies.
Plus I'll be giving an inside look on how I'm using HIVE and InLEO in tandem w/ collateralized loans on Instadapp for leverage. In essence, betting on myself. One quick tip I'll share for new accounts is to find and participate in active initiatives, the key words being "find" and "participate". No time to go into the specs here but doing this correctly all but guarantees some level of success on HIVE & InLEO. Just be a "real person".
The other side of the playbook is actually investing in $HIVE & $LEO, bit-by-bit, instead of just posting about how cool I think it is. It's actually in my best interest to as a content creator. Just look at some of the top authors and see how their stack has grown from crumbs to compound machine.
First Steps
Day 1 is all about laying the cement and setting a strong foundation. If you're a new lion and want to hit the ground running, here's a few things I've done w/ my new account already that you can feel free to emulate:
- Subscribe to LEOPremium (do this 1st if possible, the perks are worth it)
- Upload profile picture, banner, add bio (or look like a bot 🤷♂️)
- Subscribe to relevant communities
- Only post comments the 1st few hours (read the room rookie)
- Make your 1st thread
- Make your long-form intro post
- Power up some LEO
- Launch creator subscription (after week 1)
What To Expect
I like to focus on timeless aspects of life, such as philosophy, spirituality, science, and tech. With that said all of my crypto related content will still reside on my old page. With this account its all about working the writing muscle. I can recognize an obvious improvement in my ability to get into flow just after a few weeks of consistency. Expect more efforts structuring the cohesiveness of my outputs once I really hit my stride. In the end, I want to use my life experiences to provide solutions to my audience.
I like the collective effort and engagement I see from different writing communities on HIVE like Freewriters and Scholar & Scribe so I'll be participating in some of their initiatives after I catch up on the latest community posts.
Peace & Power