3 Quarters Today

My Life, my photography, my passions

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Cows are a Fan of the Song Royals by Lorde

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I saw this today and I just had to share. I live in Nebraska, majored in Animal Science and yes, cows are curious, it’s hard to get photos of them at the fence as they will come right up to you. So it’s no doubt they would be an apt audience of the song Royals by Lorde. Heck, I’m a fan of the original and all the covers. But this is the best!!

Agriculture has taken a beating in the media for mistreating their animals. I would say these cows are clearly not mistreated, and in fact, I would say probably a little spoiled.

Who would of thought cattle would be such a fan of pop music? Derek Klingenberg is a farmer in Kansas, has quite the sense of humor and takes videotography to another genre. He’s pretty funny and I think this Angus cow below agrees.

Black Angus Cow
Day 52: Angus Cow

The video has gone viral and is hitting all over social media and even Ellen like the cows being serenaded with the Royals by Lorde and tweeted it. How cool is that, what a way to promote ranching and agriculture. Bet this is driving PETA and the HSUS crazy! (don’t worry I’m not linking to them, but to sites that reveal what those organizations really are)

Ellen tweets Cow love Royals by Lorde

If you like this you can Tweet Derek @KlingenbergFarm, or thank him on Facebook, better yet go to his YouTube page, a lot of  ag related parodies to keep you entertained for hours.

If it’s the song Royals by Lorde you’re looking for then here is the original song and even better the piano sheet music. Which, by the way is really fun to play.

Royals (Lorde Cover) (Let Me Live That Fantasy)Lorde – Royals – Easy Piano Sheet MusicRoyals by Lorde – Violin CoverRoyals Video Ap FREE

Original Royals by Lorde Video

More Fun with the Song Royals by Lorde

Cows Come Running To Hear Farmer Play Lorde’s ‘Royals …

Who knew cows loved trombone music so much? In this clip, Farmer Derek Klingenberg manages to attract an entire herd of cattle by simply playing Lorde’s “Royals” on his trombone. If you’re the impatient type, skip ahead …

Exclusive “Weird Al” Yankovic Music Video: FOIL (Parody of …

Exclusive “Weird Al” Yankovic Music Video: FOIL (Parody of “Royals” by Lorde). CollegeHumor. SubscribeSubscribedUnsubscribe 7,585,217. Subscription preferences. Loading… Loading… Working… 14,844,867. 130,285 …

Watch Cows Come to Hear Farmer’s Moo-ving Rendition of Lorde’s “Royals” on …

Sorry Old MacDonald, but cows these days have no interest in your E-I-E-I-O schtick. Luckily, Derek Klingenberg is a modern farmer and farm-centric musical parody artist who has a YouTube channel and some unique ideas for bringing his cows home for the …

Patriotic Video That Gets It Right

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The Best Patriotic Video

Across the internet are scores of videos with patriotic songs, words, and performers that inspire and lift the heart. My plan this Independence Day weekend was to post several of my favorite patriotic videos here, and I had quite the list. But once I saw this ad by Food City centered around the true meaning of the holiday I changed my plans and only posted one.

Food City Patriotic video
Food City Patriotic video

The respect between these two men is overwhelming, and it’s a trait I see with people who serve in the military to those who have served before them.

As a Marine Mom this has special meaning to me. My two sons are in the United States Marine Corps and their grandfather was a WWII veteran and a paratrooper in the Army Airborne. He died in 1995, but would have been able to fit into his uniform. I could see him doing just this for one of his grandsons as they came home.

I normally don’t cry during patriotic videos, but I can’t help it on this one. The look on the Mothers face as she watches the two salute each other would bring a tear to even the hardest heart.

“At Food City, we honor those people that serve and protect our country, and we know that without the men and women who watch out for us, we would not have any of the luxuries we do. We are the land of the free because of the brave and we salute you!” Food City

It’s not often a company gets an ad right, but when they do it deserves recognition. I know these are actors, and not everything in the video may be accurate, but it accomplishes what it was meant to do. Remind the public that holidays such as Memorial Day, and Independence Day, often referred to as the 4th of July, are not just about picnics, barbecues and parties. But about recognizing why we celebrate our country’s freedom. It’s because of the brave men and women of our military, who for hundreds of years have fought for freedom so we can have the rights we have today.

If you have a favorite patriotic video please place the link below, I would love to see it and may even create a regular feature on either #MilitaryMonday or #WarriorWednesday

 

Use Twitter to Shop on Amazon with #AmazonCart

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Anyone who knows me knows I like Twitter, ok, I’m a little bit obsessed with Twitter (@3Quarters2Day) and I also like hashtags. Combine this with the best online shopping experience and you have a three-way WIN-WIN-WIN.It was just announced today that Twitter and Amazon launched their new social shopping experience and I’m pretty excited to give it a try, both as a customer and an affiliate.

Now if you see an Amazon product on Twitter all you have to do is REPLY with the hashtag #AmazonCart and the item will be added to your shopping cart. I haven’t checked this out myself yet to see if it works, and Amazon has all the details. So just click below for more information.


  Shop Amazon – #AmazonCart – Add to Your Cart Directly From Twitter This does not mean you have purchased the item, or it has shipped. It only places it in your cart for future review and a reminder you wanted to order the item. You still need to go to Marine Corps and moved away from home. They kept their own Amazon Wish lists up to date and I always have a wide variety and choices of what to get them for birthdays and Christmas. Likewise the reverse is true. They start asking me in October if I have updated my wish list.

Amazon is the go to shopping site for many military personnel as they can get items shipped to APO addresses overseas when on deployment. Gone are the days of going without when in country. Order through Amazon and they will ship it anywhere. (just don’t expect their drones to deliver it…sorry had to include that) I’m interested to hear what you think about this new way to shop on Amazon.

Will you give it a try, or have you tried it yourself? Or is social shopping too transparent and an intrusion? So celebrate the new Twitter Amazon partnership by stopping by Amazon and creating a new wish list. Don’t worry I won’t tell.


News About the Amazon Twitter Partnership

 

Amazon Steps Into Social Selling On Twitter With #AmazonCart

While you’re scrolling through your Twitter feed and a product with a link to an Amazon product pops by, simply reply to the message and add the hashtag #AmazonCart. The item will be placed in your cart so you can purchase it later. The service is only …
#Amazoncart and Twitter’s commerce problem

Amazon and Twitter’s new retail partnership, #AmazonCart, will have to overcome a major obstacle in order for it to become a meaningful sales generator: Most people are not in a shopping mindset when they’re on Twitter, according to retail experts.
How #AmazonCart Works On Twitter: Amazon Launches A New Way To Shop …

Before #AmazonCart works for Twitter users, they will have to authorize the retailer to access their accounts – which allows Amazon to read tweets from their timelines, see who they are following, follow new users on their behalf, update their profiles …
Amazon Launches #AmazonCart to Shop Using Twitter

Amazon is today rolling out an interesting new feature called #AmazonCart, which lets you add Amazon products to your shopping basket without leaving Twitter. To use the feature, you first have to connect your Twitter and …
Add items to your #AmazonCart directly from Twitter

As if you need more temptation to spend, Amazon has now made it possible to put items aside for purchase using Twitter. To start with, you need to connect your Twitter and Amazon accounts from your social settings page …
 

 

 

Yearly Goals and Accomplishments

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I feel it’s important to set goals in life, no matter if they are personal or business goals. During the past year I finished a private online experiment to see if making money or a residual income on the internet is feasible. Was it successful? I would say yes. Did I get rich? No, but I by the end of the  year to pay for my monthly gas bill to drive to my regular full time job at Hamilton Color Lab.

It was successful enough that I have decided to take it to the next level and set a more ambitious goal for this year.

CafePress is my most successful income stream in the past year. Since both my sons are US Marines I started designing Marine Corps items in Photoshop I created to sell my Marine and military themed apparel and gifts. (click on the image below to go to my store)

CafePress Marine and Military Store

My YouTube account is still generating a change (ok a few dollars, two months of gas) not as much as 2012 but then again I don’t have any new Marine Corps videos. The demographics are males between the age of 18-27, you can imagine who is watching. I also  started writing for Squidoo, which is another blogging site. Squidoo shares the click through Adwords income with their successful writers and any Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Zazzle or CafePress purchases generates a commission. (You can sign up for Squidoo here)

Yearly Goals to Making money on the internet

My biggest social media accomplishment was growing my @3Quarters2Day Twitter account from about 1,800 followers in the spring to 20,000 in less than nine month. Yes, I have 20,000 30,000 people who follow me at @3Quarters2day and it’s been a lot of work to get it there.

Many hours spent on my Twitter phone app following people, responding to tweets and being real. It has paid off though, Twitter is responsible for over 60% of my referral on my internet platforms. (Pinterest is a close second.) 

I have learned a lot about Twitter, how to write tweets that get responses, how to use #hashtags successfully, and how to free up my time for responding to followers by using paid social media tools such as SocialOomph and JustUnfollow

In addition I have learned more about Photoshop, shortcuts, design, layout and multiple other tips and tricks that have helped with creating templates and military designs for CafePress.

This year I also started doing some free-lance graphic design and marketing for a few clients. One of which is for a  jazz musician, Steve Raybine and 2014 holds a lot of promise on a new venture of Music Motivational posters. We are currently looking for nationwide distributorship in the music industry. Currently the designs are for sale on Fine Art America where I also have a small presence selling my photography. (I didn’t do much with my own photography this past year, however that will soon change.)

Music Teacher posters

As with anything marketing and developing an audience and following takes time and although my income curve is definitely on an upward trend I spend many hours a week nurturing the various channels. In fifteen years I would like to retire, travel around the country (or world) in an RV and generate enough online income to live comfortable and enjoy life sitting on a beach chair with my laptop.

2014 Yearly Goals

(I refuse to call them resolutions)

  1. Increase @3QuartersImages Twitter followers to 5,000
  2. Increase @PetsNCritters Twitter followers 10,000
  3. Create a Military Pride store on Zazzle (mirror CafePress to a point)
  4. Write an average of one Squidoo lens (article) per week
  5. Increase backlinks from WordPress to Squidoo
  6. Increase Twitter feed on SocialOomph to reflect WordPress content
  7. Move to WordPress.org and add affiliate partners (DONE)
  8. Use the WordPress scheduler to post on a regular basis (at least twice a month)
  9. Increase monthly revenue stream an 50% by the end of the year

Are these goals achievable? I tried to make them S.M.A.R.T. goals (specific, measurable, attainable, reachable, and trackable) and although I haven’t written out how they will be achieved I know where I’m heading.

Have you created goals for your personal or business life? It helps to become accountable by either writing them down or  telling them to someone. My co-worker was my accountability partner this past year and my pocket book, the empty one with dust bunnies, reminded me to stay on track.

Part of the WordPress journey will be providing updates on the goals, how the social media platforms function, and continued photography posts with more Photoshop tips and tricks. I may even learn how to video the steps and create a YouTube channel. Notice I didn’t put that on my goal. I’m staying realistic. Who knows what the year will bring!

Squidoo Monthly Payouts

CafePress income for the year
CafePress monthly revenue.

Above are monthly revuneu graphs of income streams from two of my internet platforms. As you can see, I’m not getting rich. The number of hours to maintain this growth I can’t even begin to count. For example just today (Saturday) I’ve been on the computer for ten hours photo editing, creating reoccuring tweets, creating new Squidoo backlinks, creating the graphic for this article, writing this blog and gathering the links.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask, I’ve received a lot of advice and it’s my turn to pay it back.

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Katy Perry’s Video and the Marines Corps

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What do Katy Perry and the Marines have in common? In reality, very little. But in Katy Perry’s video, All of Me I am just very pleased to see that she chose the United States Marines to represent the military. The follow-up interviews on MTV show she gained a great deal of respect for our Marines and that I applaud.  She may have been inspired to film at Camp Pendleton since she performed at Pendleton in 2011.

Don’t know what my Marine sons would think, I’m sure my oldest would say a lot. That’s a tease and a challenge to see if he even reads my blog, he was in Afghanistan when this was filmed. My other son who was stationed at Camp Pendleton just missed being there for the filming, I bet he would think it’s cool. (another challenge)

What do you think Katy Perry’s video? Does it inspire? Cheapen? Motivate? Should the Marines use it as their new recruiting video?

I’ve had several people comment to me on Twitter about this video so I thought I would add in the interviews behind the video to give some more background on how she feels about the military and what the men and the respect she has for the men and women in the Marine Corps. Regardless of inaccuracies in the video she wasn’t a prima dona on set.

The Making of the Katy Perry Video, All of Me

The videos below is a four part series highlighting the behind the scenes making of the video.

Yes, the video is full of inaccuracies, women don’t have to cut their hair to be Marines, they don’t bind their chest, you don’t receive your name on your uniform when you arrive, and women train at Paris Island during boot camp and not Camp Pendleton. But Sand Diego is just a hop skip and a jump from Hollywood, hence why MCRD SD Marines are called “Hollywood Marines.
But, it is a very well produced video that inspires women to stand on their own, take charge of their own life. Ok, she’s a little implusive and maybe breaking up with a boyfriend isn’t the best reason for joining the military or the Marine Corps. At least she is not pining away and curled up in a ball like it’s the end of the world either. Oh, right, that’s the series Twilight.
Anyhow, let me know what you think of the video, the Marines, or anything in particular. You might be surprised when you watch the videos and listen to a pop culture stars impressions of the Marine Corps and the military really are, instead of reading them in social media.

Military Perspective on Katy Perry’s Video

Pop media interviews on Katy Perry’s Video All of Me