Away In A Manger 💚
When I was little my mom used to sing this song to me before I'd go to bed. She'd sing it year round and I can still hear her voice every time I hear it. Love ya Mama ❤️
xoxo- Ry
When Should I Apply to the Boost Program?
If you asked me what the #1 question that I get asked is, it would be this one.
Disclaimer: There is absolutely ZERO official evidence that anything I am about to tell you will or won't work. I am simply going off the patterns I've observed being in the Coil space and the statements that Coil has made about the process of getting into the boost program. So basically, don't come for me if you do all of this stuff and Coil doesn't accept you.
Before I jump into when I think it's a good time to apply I want to make 2 things clear.
1. The boost program does not guarantee you a certain amount of USD/XRP. There is not a guaranteed date you will receive it and they have not stated if there is a guarantee that you will receive anything every month. So far I do believe that everyone enrolled in the boost program has received a boost every month they have been active on Coil.
2. The boost program is a TEMPORARY program. There has been absolutely nothing said about how long it will be around, how long members will be enrolled, if you can be unenrolled while it's still active or how long it will even be active to begin with. So with that, take this all with a grain of salt. If there are any updates I will add them to this article, but in the mean time, if you do get in, don't rely on that USD/XRP and treat it like bonus cash. I'm not giving out financial advice, but as someone who once counted on it and it wasn't as much as a previous month due to more members being added, you need to realize you are not entitled to it, is not guaranteed and it is a VERY kind gesture that Coil is making to keep morale up in these early stages.
When I've shared Coil with others I'm usually immediately asked “well how can I make that much right now?!” I go on to explain the boost program and the fact that you can't just hop on, post and expect to get in. There's a process.
The first thing you need to know is that the program isn't meant to become a job. Coil isn't employing you to write for them or anything like that. The boost program was created to mimic the amount of USD/XRP that Coil envisions you receiving from their target market of users when the platform is running at that capacity. The program is simply to “boost” morale, keep the creators around and ensure that the platform continues to grow. Like I said, we don't know how long they intend to run this program and I believe that it will be reliant on how fast the platform grows, but regardless, if the machine is working like it's supposed to you will get paid.
Just a refresher, as a Coil user is reading, the Interledger Protocol is streaming payments straight to your wallet. You're getting paid for the amount of time people spend on your content which encouragers you as a creator to create better content and to create more often. This is REALLY important to keep in mind when you're looking to apply to the boost program. You want to keep these same practices in mind:
After all of this has been explained to newbies, I encourage them to do a few key things before they apply. I personally believe there are a few key milestones that you can achieve to gauge if you're ready to apply. By taking the time and the care to do all of this, you're proving to Coil that you are a worthy investment. After all, that's exactly what this program is, an investment in their creators to keep the platform moving.
It's important that you peruse the platform and pay close attention to how others use it. If you need help getting started, check out the collection of articles I put together to help solve any issue you may come across.
Before you start writing, read through their “Best Practices” article.
This will help you attract an audience and stay consistent. If you aren't familiar with branding I have a whole Coil Exclusive Series on this. As a branding and content creation guru with several years of experience, I have quite a lot to say about this topic.
I love keeping a Trello board, but whatever works for you! If you can post daily I highly recommend it, but if that's overwhelming, start off with two or three times a week. It's important to find a balance of consistency and SOLID, ORIGINAL content. If you post a lot but your content isn't outstanding or original, nobody is going to care and that will reflect in your numbers. On the other hand, if you only post a really amazing article every once and awhile, you're not going to gain much traction. Try to find a balance and work your way up, the more you do it the more you will get the hang of it.
This ties into the branding aspect, but try to create a “voice” through your graphics, titles, etc. If you can make your account look cohesive and people get hooked on that, you will be golden. The key is to keep them coming back for more.
Coil wants you to create a variety of regular open content, 100+20 content and subscriber only content. This is one of the specific requirements of getting into the boost program so I highly recommend doing this if that's your goal.
Share your articles and try to drive traffic to Coil through your social platforms. Coil is in its first major growth stage, if you can prove to them that you're also committed to growth, that will be very much appreciated.
No, you don't have to have a Coil subscription to create, but I highly recommend having one. It's important to engage with other members in the community. Follow them, upvote their work if you like it, share it on Twitter, make yourself known to them! The Coil community is really special because it's not stuck on Coil. They really enable us to connect and take our connections elsewhere. This not only helps increase exposure of Coil on other platforms, but it allows it to stay less cliquey which can be the demise of a platform like this. The point of Coil is to keep growing the circle, it's never supposed to be exclusive, so don't be afraid to invite people to join and to connect with the community that is already established! This specifically doesn't have anything to do with getting into the boost program, but I think that the more you engage, the bigger audience you will connect on Coil, which can only help your numbers, exposure, etc.
How will you know when to apply?
I typically encourage people to reach a few milestones that they are proud of and once they are confident in their account and their ability to create amazing, consistent content to go ahead!
If you're able to check off most of these boxes, 4, 5, 6 and 7 being , you are ready to apply for the boost program!
Before you apply, I highly recommend reading on the boost program itself, just so that you're 100% it's right for you!
Fill out this application and wait to hear back! In the meantime, keep creating solid content, engaging with the community and have fun with it all!
xoxo – Ry
The #1 Mistake You Need to Avoid Making If You're Going to Apply:
Silent Night 🌙
This is my my favorite “hymn” Christmas song. I love singing this at advent, sitting around the table with my family. Candlelit, it's so peaceful. A beautiful space to reflect.
Happy day ❤️ xoxo- Ry
EIGHT Cinnamon Ideas! 💥
Yesterday I wrote an article, “6 Cinnamon Updates!”.
I quickly saw that I was not the only one excited about the new Cinnamon updates! As I've been talking a lot to Andrew – known as @andrew on Cinnamon and @aaa on Coil, we've been taking note of a lot of things we'd like to see improved on Cinnamon.
As we all know, Cinnamon's biggest competitor is YouTube. There is no doubt about it. YouTube is the king of video platforms and it can be very nerve-wracking to take on a monstrosity of that proportion.
But before we dive into the updates I'd love to see Cinnamon make to level the playing field a bit with YouTube, I have a proposal that I'd like you to think about...
What would happen if we stopped comparing Cinnamon to YouTube and expecting it to perform like YouTube?
What would happen if we instead looked at Cinnamon like a plant that we are caring for?
What if instead of treating Cinnamon like they should already be up to par with YouTube, we treat it like the start up it is and help it to succeed by simply showing up, supporting them and sharing the best we can?
I've seen a lot of criticism on Twitter about Cinnamon lately and although our opinions and feedback are total valid and needed, just as I'm about to do below, I wanted to make it clear that I don't have anything against Cinnamon. Everything I am about to present to you has been thought over, bounced off of other people and is constructive. In my opinion, we love our cancel culture. We love to rag on the underdog, more than we'd like to admit. So I encourage you, take the time to submit your feedback to Cinnamon, if there's a problem, but don't go publicly bashing them on Twitter. They will never succeed if we do that and given that Coil believes in them and they're trying to make the internet a better place for video-based content creators, I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt.
With that being said on, let's talk about a few improvements that I think Cinnamon could make to their platform to take it to the next level for user & creator experience!
As a musician and artist looking to make Coil specifically a VIP space for my followers and fans, video plays a HUGE part. When it comes to uploading videos, I obviously want to use Cinnamon but recently I've found myself shying away from it because I know it will only show up as a link in my article. As I mentioned on the live stream with the Xrp Zoo, people are lazy. We don't want to click on a link just to have to click on another link. We want to click one link and see everything we want to see. Therefore, I seriously wish they would add the ability for Coil subscribers to watch Cinnamon videos on Coil. Like I said, if I embed the video, it only pops up as a link. That's why I've had to use YouTube or Vimeo. I would MUCH rather being using Cinnamon and have it appear just like the subscriber only content, a little message pops up and says that they have to be a subscriber to click play and badda boom, you have a conversion. Personally I don't like having to click another link to go watch a video and I don't think it looks as visually attractive in my articles. So for Christmas, please Cinnamon, add that feature! 🎁
So this is little bit nit picky, but as someone who messes with graphic design for a living, I personally would love this feature. When uploading your profile picture and cover photo on your Cinnamon account, I would love to have the manual ability to move my profile and cover photo to the section I want displayed. I don't want to have to create a separate graphic with separate dimensions. I can, but as a busy content creator, I'd rather take that time to work on something else. Now I will say, I do appreciate that they have the dimensions listed when you go to edit your profile, example below, but I'd rather have it as a manual option. Also, one fun idea- a GIF or video short would be a super unique feature to be able to upload for a profile picture or cover photo. I don't 100% know the logistics of this, but it would make Cinnamon stand out and would challenge creators to get *creative* with how they attract viewers via their profile.
The Home Page Problem:
One problem that several creators have started to notice is a “spam” trend. A lot of new and honestly existing users, will “spam” (whether they realize it or not) the home page. Because the algorithm is chronological that makes it look like there is only a couple of people on the platform or makes it so that you have to scroll down to find anybody else. If you spend any amount of time on this platform, you will have experienced this as it happens often. @andrew and I have talked a lot about this specific issue and we think that three things would significantly help. At a glance it doesn't seem like a big deal, but first impressions are everything and the spammy look of a ton of videos from one person can seem odd and it's super overwhelming looking at a big endless “pile of videos” to sort through.
3 Solutions:
Something similar to how Coil's algorithm is set up. I'd love to see a specific place where videos are trending, I'd love to see a few Cinnamon picks (featured) and then I'd absolutely love to see a place for the creators that I already know and love. I've talked to quite a few people and I'm not sure if Cinnamon is avoiding a subscriber system but this is a huge con for me. Not only do I want the ease of accessing creators I already like, but I feel like I miss a lot of their content because there's simply no place for me to find them!
On that note, I understand why Cinnamon has the chronological order system in place now, it encourages you to find new creators, but I think if it was in a separate tab or if you scrolled down and they were in order underneath the featured, subscriber and trending section, that would be even better. I think it would improve the amount of time a user spends on the platform and it would make the creators feel like there is a better chance at their content being viewed!
When I first started really using the platform, I assumed the filter bar was there to help sort through the videos and make it easier to navigate, but I actually ended up more confused. I don't use the filter bar because:
1. It blends in with the page and is too large.
2. It's not sticky, so I have to go back to the very top to access it if I'm deep scrolling.
3. The filters it provides aren't really of any interest or help. Let me explain. If I am looking for videos about food, I can't go to the filter bar and sort by general topics of interest, rather, all I have to choose from is the popularity, length and date of the video. That doesn't help me at all and I've talked to a few other Cinnamon creators, nobody ever uses that bar. It almost feels a bit unnecessary and clunky for the overall layout of the page. Now I understand that is why the search bar is present, to easier find videos about specific topics, so in all reality, I don't think anybody would notice if the filter bar was replaced with a multi-tab feature/trending/subscribed/new bar like Coil operates with.
I 100% believe that the feature page fix would be super helpful but I think that if we had the ability to schedule videos, it would largely solve the problem of spamming. If users had the ability to upload a bunch of videos at one time but they could be scheduled out, it would be easier to post everything without having to “spam” the platform. This would also make it way easier for me to upload videos the night before but have them post at a better time or allow me to host special premiers for my VIP followers that roll out at a specific time. The possibilities are endless here, but I definitely think this is a solution that would be beneficial on many levels.
Can we pleeeeaaasseeee improve upload speeds? I'm not sure what this takes or what is going on or if there is a glitch but this is infuriating. Half the time they cancel themselves, half the time they get frozen. No matter if I am on great wifi or crappy wifi, it doesn’t go through. I have to use my hotspot every single time and still that’s a crapshoot. The average upload time for a 3 minute video has been 5ish hours At first I thought it was just me and my wifi, but I’ve tried other peoples houses, coffee shops and I’ve heard from other users that they’re having similar issues regardless of their wifi connection.
One problem @andrew pointed out is that when he is scrolling through the home page, if he clicks on a video and then clicks back to keep scrolling, it takes him back to the top of the page. Now I get it, YouTube does this too, but it's incredibly annoying. I think that if Cinnamon was able to fix this issue it would greatly improve the user experience and encourage users to spend more time on the platform!
So I know this is a future dream, but I think it would greatly improve Cinnamon's traffic for all of the creators in this community who rely heavily on streaming! Obviously it would need to have a live chat aspect as well, but with as much as creators in the community stream, I think that could be the tipping point of them using Cinnamon on a regular basis! We love twitch & the fact that Coil has an integration for it, but wouldn't it be awesome if all video related needs could run through Cinnamon? Live streaming, live events, live premiers, the whole enchilada!
I know that might've seemed like a lot, but as a creator who is heavily invested in this community (literally 😅) I feel like I have a responsibility to talk about the good and the not so good and how we can improve! FYI, everything I shared here has either already been shared with Cinnamon personally or will be soon on a call that I will be having with a rep from Cinnamon. I'm not publicly bashing or criticizing them in any way, they actually very much encourage feedback like this. I just wanted to do this publicly because I felt the need to show my readers and the community that Cinnamon has a lot they're working on and a TON of potential!
So is there anything I've missed? Anything you want Cinnamon to know about your user experience? , DM me or DM directly, I promise they won't bite. 😉
xoxo – Ry
XrpZoo Livestream Recap!
Last night I had the honor of being the guest of @XrpZoo! I had so much fun hanging out with the guys and talking all about my music, Coil and the future of the internet and music industry.
I have to say, these guys are really kind and supportive and I couldn't have asked for a better first live interview!
We talked a lot about Coil, my experience and how the boost program works. Between minutes 11-15 we talked openly about the boost program, how it's worked for me and I shared a few tips of when I recommend people apply for the program! If you want more info about the program, check out Coil's post!
We also talked about my past and how I got into music, how this first year went and what the future is going to look like! Hint: I have a surprise coming soon and also KickBoy Triple and I may or may not do a collab! 😉
Watch the replay here!
Around the 22 minute mark they invited me to sing so I sang my new original *unreleased* song, “Love Myself”. The actual recording on the live sounded pretty scratchy so I re-recorded it if you'd like to listen, you can check it out below!
I am so thankful for the opportunity, so thank you @KickBoyTriple, @1000bonesXrp and @FakeCoinExpert!
xoxo – Ry
Love Myself – Riley Q Original ⤵
Santa Tell Me 🎅
When I first heard this song I did not love it, but it kinda grew on me! 😂
We are now officially 9 songs into the Countdown to Christmas – Music Edition! I am starting to run out of generic Christmas songs so please, if you have a favorite, send it over!
I'd love to sing for you. 😘
Email: riley@rileyq.com
Twitter: @riley_quin
Enjoy my twist on “Santa Tell Me” by Ariana Grande.
xoxo – Ry
SIX Cinnamon Updates! 🎉
Hey friends! Recently I haven't been posting as much on Cinnamon because I've been posting my Christmas music here and on Twitter and they're all vertical. But I did decide to hop on Cinnamon yesterday and I am SO happy to see all of the beautiful updates they've added. One of which @andrew and I've been hoping and hinting at for awhile!
This is by far the one thing that has been holding me back from using Cinnamon full fledged. I am so excited that I will finally know when someone has commented on or hyped my video. This feature will help me to be more engaged on Cinnamon and it really is a feature that's necessary for a successful platform.
Their notification system is a two part system. There is a bell in the top right corner which allows you to quickly see the notification.
Once you click on it, you'll see the whole list of notifications:
My only complaint is that I wish I least got an email for my notifications. Right now it's still set up so that I have to visit the website to find out if I even have any notifications. I know they're working on an app which will definitely help, but in the mean time I would love to have an email that notifies of me notifications or at least one email that summarizes all of my notifications for that day!
So I really love this new feature. Not only does it promote commenting and engagement, but they make it EASY. Ease is the most important part of a platform, specifically on the user end. When you click hype, this little pop up box shows up and encourages you to leave a comment on the video alongside your hype! I highly encourage trying it out, I think it's going to be a game changer on the engagement end of things!
I know this one has been around for a bit but I definitely enjoy the fact that I can easily see how much money I'm making off of each video! It's easy to track and I love how it's presented right on my homepage. I also love the fact that you can't see others $$, it makes it easier to simply enjoy each others channels instead of constantly comparing progress.
For those of you haven't noticed they added a little snowflake button in the top right corner where you can add “snow” to your page! It's super cute and just a fun feature for the holiday season. I love that Cinnamon focuses on user experience and making sure that the platform is unique.
I know this one's been around for a bit too, but I love the fact that you can now add a custom backdrop for your page “header”. It allows us to personalize the platform a lot more. I do wish I could drag it to manually adjust the crop but other than that I love it! (P.S. they do have the dimensions listed on there when you go to upload so that's great!)
One thing I don't love about YouTube is the fact that they often generate really popular users videos rather than similar tags/smaller users that need exposure. I love that on Cinnamon I get a variety of videos to watch next. It exposes me to more creators and that is SO necessary.
I really love that Cinnamon is sticking to their own style. It really reflects in the development of the platform as a whole. It's very unique and a breath of fresh air.
If you're in the video space I highly recommend trying Cinnamon out. I personally still use a few other platforms while they're working out the kinks but I'm hoping to eventually use Cinnamon as my sole video platform! I have extremely high hopes for Cinnamon, I believe they're running off of fantastic technology and their mission is completely capable of making a footprint in this industry. You have to remember they're a start up and the development takes time. I know it can be frustrating when not everything is working the way you'd like it to, but they're just starting. If you look back to history, Amazon, Google, Apple, they weren't built in a month, a year or even ten years. It takes time and when you get to be a part of the process it makes the waiting a bit sweeter. With that being said, try and post what you can, engage with the current users and submit feedback to Cinnamon, they really appreciate it!
Check back tomorrow to read about the top 8 improvements that I think could take Cinnamon to the next level!
xoxo- Ry
White Christmas Makes Me Blue 🎶
I hope ya'll had a lovely weekend! I have always loved listening to Christmas music, but Randy Travis' Christmas album holds a special place in my heart. That album specifically reminds me of my Dad. He always sings Randy Travis around the house and he used to love playing that CD in the car- back when we used CD's. 😂
Although I am following the pop route, I love dabbling in a bit of my first love, country, every now and again. Please ignore my skin tone changing every three seconds in the video, I didn't realize the Christmas tree lights were changing color until I after I watched the video. 🙄
xoxo – Ry
My Laundry Basket Is Always Full
I try to keep up, I really do. But when the weight of the world seems to rest on my shoulders and my never-ending to-do list just keeps getting longer, picking up clean slightly wrinkled clothes out of the laundry basket to wear that day, doesn't seem like the worst thing.
I have a lot going on right now. I'm still running my social media business (to an extent), I am doing daily videos and daily (right now twice a day) Coil posts. On top of that I am constantly trying to make sure that I am engaged and active on all of my social media platforms, that I am offering support and feedback for Coil, Cinnamon and their members, and actually working my music career side of things- all at the same time. It's a lot but I definitely can't complain. I mean how many 20 year olds can say they're working from home and doing the two things they love the most? I am extremely blessed to be able to write and make music for a living.
Recently though, I've gone through a bought of doubting my capabilities and my qualifications. I've been so overwhelmed with everything going on that I feel like I don't have time to do basic life tasks like put away laundry let alone be this “public figure” that I've set myself up for. In NO way am I complaining or trying to say that I'm even a public figure, heck, I barely know myself. But I have noticed that quite a few people have been looking at me as kinda, sorta, important?? I really want to set the record straight on a few things because I never want anybody to feel like I'm getting too big for my britches.
You have nothing to worry about in that department. I am not better than anyone nor will I ever be. Talent or the facade of talent does not make you more important than anyone else. Specifically in the XRP community I am skilled in branding, social media and music, but that doesn't mean I'm more important that person x, y or z. In fact, they have skills that I don't possess that make them equally as important. Society has tried to trick us into thinking that entertainers are supposed to be looked at as idols, but really, we're just like everyone else.
I will never be too good for anybody or anything. Honestly there have been people who are super surprised I answer their messages or have conversations with them. The fact that they need to be surprised baffles me. When did we become a society that only responds to people we deem “important” or “worth our time”. Every single person is important. Every single person has something to say and the right to be heard. We need to treat social media like it's the street. If someone comes up to you and tries to start a friendly conversation, especially with a compliment, are you going to ignore them and keep walking past? No. Not unless you're extremely rude which in that case you're probably not even going to get this article in any way shape or form. No, you're going to smile and say thank you and have a conversation with them, regardless of if you get anything out of it or not. People only idolize people because they seem untouchable. Don't be that person. Be kind, be friendly and be welcoming, that's really the key to being a good person and that's far more important than any ego or agenda.
I am working on a lot right now. I am under a lot of pressure and stress and life isn't that easy for me. I am in non stop go mode and I'm far from perfect. I have so many flaws and insecurities it's insane, but it's who I am. I'm working on them and I'm working on being a better person. I am far from untouchable and far from being incredible. What's important is that I show up everyday and do the best I can. What's important is that I show up for ya'll everyday and make you feel loved and important, because you are. My prayer is that I never make anybody feel inferior or like they don't belong, because you aren't and you do.
On this chilly Monday I am sitting in my room, working my social media job, prepping my next Christmas song, trying to keep myself from getting really sick (I feel it coming on) and that basket of laundry is just going to keep staring at me. I will hop on my @XRPZOO interview tonight and that basket will be staring at me, but it's going to be a reminder that man, God's blessed me and I've got too much going on for that to take top priority. So rather than be stressed about your basket of laundry, or the fact that your kitchen hasn't been deep cleaned in awhile or that all of your meals this week have been from a package, realize that one day you'll be able to slow down and until then, take comfort in the fact that you've got life to live and great things to do!
Do I sometimes wish I could just have a baby and live the stay at home mom life and do all of the cute crafts, Pinterest dinners and laundry? Yes. But that's not the life that God has called me to live, at least right now. He's called me to something a bit greater, not in the sense that being a SAHM isn't great, but a life that is more public and has a bigger platform. Which FYI- that whole concept is TERRIFYING to this introvert, but I'm willing to do it because I get to live out my dreams and be a vessel for God which is my life purpose.
I really want to stress to you that you are important and that no matter what field of work you are in or what your social status is, you are freaking important and needed and wanted and loved. You are not alone in going through hard things and struggles. Recently I've been extremely depressed. Like not get out of the bed for three days depressed. The laundry hasn't just built up because I'm busy, it's also built up because I've been sad about a lot of things, especially about the fact that we're still not pregnant. That's a story for another day, but it's really been taking a toll on me and my mental health. But I wanted to share that with you because I want you to know that you're not alone in feeling sad or dealing with mental struggles or with being generally unmotivated.
I'll hop off my soapbox now, but I hope you got the gist of where I'm coming from. I love each and every one of you and I am proud to be a part of the Coil community. I love showing up for ya'll everyday and I love getting to meet you through the platform of being Riley Q. It's a really special blessing that I often take for granted, but I wanted to acknowledge it.
Have a great Monday, catch you tonight on the livestream – 8/7c on YouTube!
xoxo – Ry
Blue Christmas 💙
This has always been of my favorite Christmas songs! The chord progression is absolutely beautiful and it always brings me back to imagining what Christmas would've been like in the 50's. Hold your loved ones tight this season! 💙