Well, sad to say, this is the last day of the Zero to Hero Challenge. It HAS been a challenge. I’m not really computer literate and it’s taken me some real effort to figure out how to do some of the things they suggested.

Todays assignment is to…

 Extend your brand, think about a bigger strategic plan for promoting your online presence, and set a goal for the next 30 days.

I’m not sure exactly what they mean by “extend your brand”, how to do that or how to ‘promote my online presence’ more than what I’m already doing. I’ve linked my blog to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr already. I’m also on Pinterest.

I don’t think I really want to put a direct link to my blog on my Linkedin account, although I do mention in my profile (at the bottom) that I am the creator of this blog. I am a little concerned that my political ‘rants’ will cost me some job opportunities.

I would like to be able to freely promote my blog on there since I have a LOT of contacts on Linkedin. That site is focused much more on work and business than any of the other websites I’m on and I’m trying to keep my posts on there businesslike.

I am not at all happy that employers are looking into what you do on your time off and I am in TOTAL disagreement with that, but it is what it is. I am still working for others, so I do have to take that into account. Yes, self-censorship. I hate it, but I would hate it more living out the rest of my life as a bag lady living in the streets and eating catfood. 🙁

So, that’s what I’m doing to ‘promote my online presence’. Does anyone have any other suggestions? If so, please leave a comment and let me know what you think I should do.

As for my goals for the next 30 days…

I do plan to start a weekly series I’m calling the ‘creature feature’. I’ll post about interesting animals in the news or that I come across that I think others might like to learn more about. I’ll start it next Wednesday and will probably concentrate on marine animals, but will probably branch out and cover everything. 🙂

I’ll be committing to posting at least 1-2 times a week. I’ll probably be able to do more, but with my schedule I never know where I’ll be or if I’ll have decent internet access. So, I’ll just promise the minimum. That way I won’t disappoint anyone by breaking my promise.

I’m also hoping to increase my readership and ‘followers’. I went from just over 200 (I think it was 202) to 242 followers of my blog in the month of January! It would be fantastic if I could keep increasing my readership at that rate! Actually, I would be happy to have ANY increase, but the more the merrier. 🙂

I really do love sharing some of my personal experiences along with all the interesting stuff I come across online. I love meeting new people and hearing about what they’re doing with their lives too. I hope I can continue to keep in touch with people through my blog and my ‘online presence’.

Here’s to the rest of the Zero to Hero bloggers, nice to meet you, and well wishes for the future. 🙂