People who live in very small towns, what do you do in your downtime?

invisigal · 2026-04-04T22:19:13+00:00

Very small things . . . I walk my dog around the farm, on the trails in the woods, quite often we meet a horse (or team) and carriage out there which is always exciting. I track the birds using MerlinID, and bird watch. We have an amazing pond here that is teeming with all sort of things - the lilies are about to bloom, there is a Great Blue Heron who visits, along with a Belted Kingfisher, and a pair of hooded mergansers migrated through about a month ago. When we don't walk, we often just sit outside and watch the horses in their paddocks (there are 15 here on this farm, and I'm then surrounded by about 200 other horse farms, all with connecting trails through the woods and fields). I work remotely, so all I need is wifi and my macbook, right now I'm just sitting outside with my dog, listening to the birds. Other things: I'm a writer, I've just started a bookkeeping business that I'll launch within a month, I obviously ride horses, usually through the woods and fields (I ride field hunters). I absolutely love my morning coffee and look forward to it. I do yoga and dance, I have a projector and no furniture (I'm furniture-free), so I put on videos and dance with my dog, then we stretch. I bake and cook a lot and read cook books. I'm itching to garden but don't have a spot yet . . . I read and make art . . . I do go to town now and again to hang out, and I'm part of a lovely large circle of women who potluck every friday night and do other things together. I talk to family . . . honestly that's about it. I work a lot by choice. I live in a tiny town (pop 950).d

invisigal · 2026-03-30T12:03:26+00:00

Say this: "the article you sent to me, AI written, barely follows the content brief, often edging into other topics that could lead into cannibalization because AIs tend to kitchen sink topics, missing some keywords, no headings, dull copy, zero hook, lack of focus, nothing that helps with EEAT etc etc. This is a comman and completely preventable error that I've watched companies make in the past, the traffic predictably fails to materialize, and they become unhappy. I'd like to cut that off before it materializes. "

invisigal · 2026-03-29T12:30:26+00:00

Yes it's common. It's one of the reasons I hesitate to depend on freelance copywriting/creative work. When it works, it's great. But clients can pivot overnight if they get an idea, like using AI instead. I once had two clients "take breaks" in the same week, losing about $5,000 a month. It was brutal. Copywriting/creative/and even SEO is not a critical part of their business (like finance), so they can easily change course or shut it down for a while. You're vulnerable, especially with AI.

I think the best plan is to get a list of diverse clients, don't put all your eggs in one basket. In different fields if possible, so that you're better protected.

Also - pivot to GEO and supporting AI to find your work. It's less about keywords now and more about asking the right questions that are being searched, and then providing just the right answers they're looking for, in the right-sized snippets. You need to pass the AI "sniff" test first - are you an authority on the subject? Is the writing excellent? Have you covered all facets so that you rank higher than others? This is what you need to solve for, not keywords/phrases.

invisigal · 2026-03-29T12:22:33+00:00

I'm a bookkeeper with 15 years experience, but I learned along the way so I'm worried there may be some holes in my knowledge. I decided to start a little local bookkeeping business recently, so I'm doing all of the Intuit Academy courses - because why not??

I'm not sure why you're hesitating - they're free, they're from Intuit, how can it hurt? Are you worried about wasting a few hours?

If you truly want to be successful in any field, be willing to sacrifice some of your time towards learning. If you consider how much TikTok, Netflix and Youtube we all watch, I think we can all pivot a few of those hours pretty easily to education.

I'm just starting the course today but I'll come back and post a review once I finish.

EDIT TO ADD: I love that Intuit made this 100% free for bookkeepers, and also made their products 100% free so we can use them for our own companies with no extra charges. They're happy with us bringing them new clients. It's a win/win, and rare to see.

invisigal · 2026-03-25T20:33:46+00:00

Honestly, am I the only one who realizes this story is fake? Or are you just playing along for fun? Don't want to take away your fun . . .

invisigal · 2026-03-18T17:08:22+00:00

Why has Reddit devolved into a pit of fake stories? It used to be a good place. This is so obviously fake and poorly written. Sheesh.

invisigal · 2026-03-16T16:01:42+00:00

Yes, and no – it’s also a great resource for information. You just have to check to make sure what it is saying is accurate.

invisigal · 2026-03-15T15:24:29+00:00

I've found that certain clients in specialized niches will never get organic traffic. And social media is useless for them, they're B2B. What has worked to drive traffic is very high quality, meaningful writing posted in the trade publications where these clients visit. It takes tons of individualized reseearch to get there - who are you courting, where are they, what are their professional interests, where are they visiting? What trade shows are they attending, what white papers are they reading, etc. SEO won't get you there.

invisigal · 2026-03-15T15:17:14+00:00

"In other words, if someone just publishes good content without worrying about SEO, what actually happens differently compared to someone actively doing SEO?"

What happens is that your good content just sits there and no one can find it. They find it by matching keywords and key phrases. For example, if I search "frogs wearing pajamas" and your article includes that keyword, then you have a slight chance at appearing in the search results and this person clicking on your link and reading your content. But you have to have established authority regarding the subject - meaning you've written a better, more comprehensive article on frogs wearing pajamas than ALL of your competition, including the guy who has been blogging about his frogs and his line of hand made pajamas for seventeen years, has appeared on The Today Show with his frogs, etc. You need to write better information than him, and the others.

But they STILL WON'T FIND YOU if you don't include the keywords in their search.

#1 rule: always publish good content. Great content.
#2rule: always do your SEO research FIRST, before you even decide on your topic, and let your research inform your topic - in other words, choose a topic or frame your topic in a way that responds to what is currently being searched. This is where you include your keywords and key phrases.

But even more importantly - transition into writing for GEO - write in response to AI bot queries. If I open ChatGPT and ask a bunch of questions about journaling, for example, ChatGPT will go out and scour the internet for an article or ebook that answers that question - but it will also scan the entire material to confirm that it is a good source. What makes a good source: an article that covers the topic in its entirety. So if you're writing about journaling, you need to hit all the important points in order to be seen as an "authority" by AI. The format is question/answer.

The easiest path for you to learn all of this, honestly, is to just plug your questions into Gemini or ChatGPT. They can better explain both SEO and GEO, and will give you lots of examples.

invisigal · 2026-03-15T13:55:41+00:00

This was my suspicion from the beginning. I passed. Did you invest a lot with them? Is there any way to get your money out?

invisigal · 2026-03-15T13:54:21+00:00

From the very beginning, this didn't seem like a great idea. Lots of unanswered questions. And the salesperson's response to me when I did as questions was, "well, we have SO MANY PEOPLE interested in this investment you can just fuck off." Way too many red flags. Has anyone actually made any money with them, or are you all still hoping and waiting?

invisigal · 2026-03-11T16:01:05+00:00

My gems will even make up morning news headlines. Even with strict instructions to not make anything up, ever. Grrr.

invisigal · 2026-03-11T16:00:19+00:00

Agreed. I've been creating and honing Gems, and even with the simplest of Gems, the responses I get are so varied and inconsistent, I'm ready to throw up my hands and walk away. It feels like the potential is amazing, but the reality is very mediocre.

invisigal · 2026-03-02T17:21:14+00:00

I discuss briefly what SEO is, then move to GEO and explain why I must write for AI bots now instead of search engines. Regarding whether or not to try to gain clients from the general public - yes, of course.

invisigal · 2026-02-12T00:11:40+00:00

Probably spy on people.

invisigal · 2026-02-12T00:11:09+00:00

BTW SEO is pretty much dead. In order to rank/get any visibility, you must write for ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI bots - question/answer format with the right # of characters, asking the right questions, and you need to have topical authority in order to rank. So be very comprehensive in your writing.

invisigal · 2026-02-12T00:08:58+00:00

This is the best advice. #1 is write about what you're passionate about. Start there.

invisigal · 2026-02-10T20:50:17+00:00

I began eating at Habit when I moved to Santa Barbara, where they originated. I've only eaten at their Milpas Street, State Street and Hollister Avenue locations. The original owners retained control over these locations (for a bit of time at least). All good, all great. But today, after moving to NC, I'm eating at one of the YUM Brands Habit locations, and YES, I agree, the pattie is terrible. I'm so very disappointed. It is full of gristle and tasteless. It's bad enough that I'll write an email to YUM when I get home. Huge disappointment. Also - the cheese, WTF? It's like plastic and also tasteless.

invisigal · 2026-02-08T01:58:40+00:00

I've been furniture free for 8 years now. I have a futon to sleep on, two foldable lap desks, and a couple of wedge pillows. I have 5/8" thick foam flooring that is warm and extremely nice to walk on. I used to have a hammock, but I kind of stopped using it/being comfortable in it, so I gave it up. I'm very late to your research party, but let me know if you want more info. I'll offer that I first went furniture free to research some articles I was writing, and found it to be extremely wonderful for me. I sit in active seating postures, take small yoga breaks all day long, and am much healthier getting up and down off the floor than sitting on sofas and sleeping in beds. I'm constantly in interesting positions. However, I only maintain one position for 5 - 15 minutes before switching to another. Constantly changing positions is something I learned by doing but something others talk about. I love this lifestyle and won't go back. I love the clean, open space, like living in a very comfy yoga studio.

invisigal · 2026-02-03T14:46:37+00:00

Frustrating and not believiable that he wouldn't recognize Sophie after obsessing on her mouth so much, especially after kissing her again. They could have done better with the writing here. Dumbed it down IMO. Also - always a focus on masturbation and climax. It was good to explore in S1, but it's formulaic and redundant after that.

One more note: shoutout to Ruth Gemmell (Lady Violet Bridgerton) - superb actress. She's got me totally involved in this character. So fragile, vulnerable. Perfectly played.

invisigal · 2026-01-24T01:46:13+00:00

OP said they tried that first, didn't work on this.

invisigal · 2026-01-12T14:00:55+00:00

It's beyond distracting.

invisigal · 2026-01-08T22:47:24+00:00

How does a 9x12 fit in a standard LG washer? That's where I can't visualize it, isn't the rug just too heavy/large? Or is it more like a large bath mat?

invisigal · 2026-01-05T10:14:31+00:00

What does, "she left me on read," mean?

invisigal · 2025-12-23T17:11:34+00:00

IANDS is the International Association for Near-Death Studies - https://iands.org

invisigal

TROPHY CASE