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bookmark_borderYou’ve Been Banned or Suspended from Social Media. What To Do?

Posted on by savethesavages

Or: you work in the adult entertainment industry and now you’ve been banned or suspended from social media. Most likely for good. This is my current situation, since last year August 2020 on Twitter.

What do you do next? How the heck do you even promote your content now?

First let me say that I am not a sex worker but I can relate to this as I am an internet marketer who promotes adult entertainment. Both things tend to be intertwined as there wouldn’t be adult entertainment without sex workers. Even if it is just “virtual” I have to at least know wtf I’m talking about in order to market it effectively. I’ve been in this industry for 10 years.

So before I lose my train of thought here are some suggestions that might help you promote your services in a whole different way:

+ Create your own property. Make sure you pick a web hosting company that allows adult XXX themed sites. Once your website is up and running, post good content and SEO the heck out of it. You will start to get organic traffic in no time. Even if you have to describe yourself in ridiculously obvious ways (ex: dark haired, brown skin, heavily tattooed big booty fat girl or whatever), do it anyway because that is exactly how people tend to search.

+ Buy your own traffic. You can build your own audience by doing so.

+ If you really need to get back on social media, maybe it’s best to get a new phone or a new computer. Or both. I know that I can’t get back on because of my devices. They pretty much know who I am. So if I were to get back on, I would have to get a new phone or a new computer. And post normal shit like a regular person and not do anything that might get me banned.

The sad thing is, even if you didn’t do anything wrong – there’s still a good chance you might still get banned. This is the world we live in now.

+ Pay others to promote you or do some kind of barter. I know spending money to promote doesn’t sound so great. Which is why the first two options are the best one, I think.

+ Find other online communities to hang out in. Nobody likes being promoted or advertised to, so it’s best to build relationships with your prospects.

+ Thinking large here than just trying to join another online community but maybe you can collaborate with like-minded individuals to create a whole new platform. I have been thinking for a while now that the adult entertainment industry – whether they’re small or large players – need their own social media platform, a place online where we could hang out and post all the adult content we wanted. Instead of trying to mingle with mainstream entertainment, those who want to actually be there would come and sign up.

I know most of these suggestions don’t sound good because you have to spend money before you can see a return on investment.

Why did I get suspended anyway? I don’t really know but supposedly I violated their terms. Also when you work for a company that deals with adult content and provides adult entertainment services, there’s always competition. So there’s a high chance that someone didn’t like that we were promoting so much and started reporting or flagging us so we would be out of the picture.

Unfortunately, that’s part of the business; when people see you as competition they’ll find a way to eliminate you.

If it can happen to someone like me who is an absolute nobody, then I’m sure sex workers will be next (if it isn’t already happening). I mean, just look at Instagram’s new TOS. And how right-wing conservatives targeted Pornhub.

Expect more of this to happen so don’t get attached to your social media accounts. But also know that adult traffic will not go away. There’s so much you can do with it. But you’ll have to be okay with spending money.

* I didn’t know what photo to add to this post, so here’s a test image of a candy text effect in Photoshop. I use it a lot for my adult graphics. This is the tutorial I followed.

bookmark_borderMeme Dump #7

Posted on by savethesavages

The meme says:

Mars doesn’t wanna meet your stupid ass

This might be my favorite meme of all time. I LOL every time because I see myself in it A LOT.

Questions to think about today is: where is Mars in your natal chart? What sign and house is it in? And how does it play out in your life?

For me, Mars is in Leo in the 7th house (Whole Signs). In Placidus, it’s in the 6th house. Still don’t know what that fully means, I only understand the basics of it.

Let’s break it down a little then:

Mars – the planet of assertive (sometimes aggressive) actions & desires

Leo – a fixed fire sign; known to persevere in their actions. The word I’m actually looking for is loyalty.

7th house – the area where relationships and partnerships are concerned.

So then you combine or synthesize the three aspects together to create a statement that makes sense to the person.

For me, I interpret this as someone who is assertive and usually gets what they want when it comes to relationships; this could be in marriage or general partnerships. They also tend to last in the relationship (loyalty) so long as there is passion, fun, creativity, excitement.

 

*As I write this I can’t help but think of Roxy, my one Leo friend.???? I seriously miss that girl.

bookmark_borderWhy Do I Have SO MANY Instagrams…

Posted on by savethesavages

I have been grappling with this question for some time now and I finally have an answer that I’m satisfied with:

I simply have a need to express different aspects of myself.

So there. That is the answer.

There is no point in fighting myself about it.

Or feeling bad that I can’t be consistent with any of them.

Anyway, here is a digital doodle of some pentacle flowers as I’ve got investments, money and visions of a future where we can all thrive on my mind. More than ever since we are now in the Age of Aquarius. The self and the collective are intertwined.

I also wanted to share this: if you’re feeling confused about your life and all your impulses – why you do the things you do, what motivates you, why you constantly contradict yourself, etcetera; I highly suggest looking at your astrological birth chart or getting a natal chart report. Astrology has answered so many questions for me, personally.

Also, if you’re in the giving mood please take a look at this awesome Instagram called Transanta.

bookmark_borderFire in Her Eyes

Posted on by savethesavages

Everyone’s waiting for me to start painting again…

including me.

It’s bullshit to wait til you’re inspired because when that actually happens

you’re either at work or on the computer or on your phone or washing dishes or feeding the cat or doing laundry or shredding years of paper bills.

I have no one to blame but myself for my lack of artistic pursuits lately.

But then again we’re in a fucking pandemic.

I don’t want to paint roses, women, etc…been there, done that.

So I wait and wait and wait…

bookmark_borderPhoto: Memories of the Future MMXV

Posted on by savethesavages

Do you ever mourn the person that you once were?

It’s a trip how one’s ego motivates you for a long time. For over 20 years, painting graffiti was all I ever gave a shit about. That and making sure my profession was somewhat creative.

Then my mom died in 2006 and even though I still painted, the desire to paint consistently started to fade away. I’m not going into details, but other people ruined it for me too.

Your consciousness changes over time. You are the same person but different.

I didn’t realize that I would also experience a death of some sorts, but I did. I’ve died over and over.

Copied and pasted from my birth chart report:

Your Sun is in the 10th House of your birth chart meaning that you’re the sort of person who likes to make your mark on the world, in particular through your profession.

 

The Sun is in Sagittarius

Your Sun is in the Zodiac Sign of Sagittarius indicating that you’re a sunny and optimistic individual, with a love of adventure. In fact adventure plays a key role in your life, whether it be literally traveling around the globe, or metaphorically speaking exploring the world of ideas and philosophy. You’re particularly enthusiastic about anything that expands your world and helps you forget about daily chores.

bookmark_borderNew Drawing 10/23/20

Posted on by savethesavages

I got tired of being on the computer so I willed myself to just draw something. It started with the needles / leaves on the bottom left then the eye, then the skull, then the inverted triangle lines.

I wanted to see a neon color blend so I did so with sharpie highlighters.

Then I added the crystal points.

Roxy’s passing a year later still looms over me, especially now that we’re approaching Samhain. Everything feels so heavy and I’m not in the Halloween spirit at all.

In my birth chart report, the moon is in the 8th house and it says:

The Moon is placed in the 8th House of your birth chart suggesting that you are a sensitive person. Your emotional antennae are switched on to high . This may have something to do with an event connected to your mother or childhood.

As a result you may develop a need to understand the cycles of life and the metaphysical nature of the world. Why do people behave in the way that they do? What affect do the natural cycles have on human behaviour? What happens after death?

You’ve the ability to develop your interest in the occult world and to use your discoveries for practical results in your own and other people’s lives.

bookmark_borderShe Waits For Me in the Ether

Posted on by savethesavages

She waits for me in the ethers

Where space and time never existed

It’s peaceful, serene but lonely…even though my mother and her father keep her company

She misses her family and best friends on the earth plane

She misses her beautiful human form

She always wanted to be a sad girl

And now her wish came true

For everyone can see her

But no one can hear her no more

It’s been one year since my friend Roxy passed. I wish I had taken the day off.????

I did see a sign from her today; on my way home from work a white car in front of me had the letters “RBM” on their license plate.

bookmark_borderI Am Good at Overcoming Obstacles

Posted on by savethesavages

I’ve not talked about my affiliate marketing journey on here, as I have yet to make money from it. But I feel like I need to now, just to document all the shit I’ve had to do just to get it to this point.

5 years ago, I bought an adult domain. It had all the right keywords so I bought it. It turned out that that domain had some risky history that came along with it – Google decided that the domain was pure spam so it penalized me, giving me a manual spam label which I had no idea how to fix so I had to work on that just to have it revoked.

It worked and I was so elated. First obstacle down.

At the same time I didn’t really know what I was doing with what I had set up, so I halted everything. I kind of regret it now that everything is saturated but again, I was clueless about the affiliate marketing game even though I had purchased the playbook that would help me do it step by step and secondly: even though I spent money to test it, I was still scared about spending big chunks of money.

I’m still clueless tbh, but not as clueless as I was 5 years ago.

5 years later, I started it up again and now I’m dealing with a site with malware (obstacle 2). I had taken care of it mostly by making sure the site was clean and secure, but still had one more thing to pass.

My traffic source said my site still had malware, so I had to do one more thing (obstacle 3). And thankfully, it worked within the timeframe I was given.

I know none of this isn’t very detailed (I’m sure those in IM – internet marketing – will get it) but the point is:

if we want to achieve our goals – whatever they may be, we’re gonna be faced with other challenges along the way BEFORE we actually reach our goal.

Expect it and keep pushing anyways.

And when we reach our goal, we STILL have to maintain it somehow.

The process and the effort of trying to make it all work together will be tiring, as there are different parts that have to connect for all of it to work. Pace yourself and take a break from it whenever you need to.

You don’t have to rush to make it happen but you have to keep going because you’ve already gone too far and spent money to set it all up.

So that’s where I’m currently at. I’m just typing it out for my sanity.

The title of the post is appropriate because it’s what I wrote down after I completed my third obstacle, for now. Also, I didn’t know what photo to attach so I copied and pasted some Wingdings.

I also purchased my birth chart report – it indicated somewhere in the report that I was courageous and liked to take a few risks in life. Could this be one of them?

bookmark_borderArtist Interview: Roxy B. Montoya

Posted on by savethesavages

Some of you might remember that I posted this interview years ago on October, 1st 2012 when my website was still under SHERMGRAFIK dot com. Well oddly enough, FB sent me a memory that I posted this interview 8 years ago today. Here it is again because I’m really missing her heavy right now. I’m having a hard time feeling excited for Halloween, as her transition anniversary is the 20th. Her and I would start drawing around this time for Inktober on Instagram then fall tf off after a week or so because life happens. I can feel my body grieving and my spirit wandering, not wanting to be present.????

Hi Roxy! Thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You know I’m a HUGE fan of your work. Can you tell us a little about who you are, where you live and what you do?

I grew up in Hawaii, but currently live in Las Vegas. I came out here right after I graduated high school to attend the Art Institute because Hawaii didn’t have art schools at the time. While in school I met my husband, got married, had two boys, and we’ve been in Vegas ever since where I work as a fine artist, graphic designer, and instructor at IADT.

I have always known you to be a creative individual. How did you get into art?

I always felt the need to get images out of my head when I was little and kept a lot of journals that I’d write and doodle in. My sister and I have an 8-year age gap, so that being said we never had anything in common so I had to play on my own and keep myself occupied. I wrote a lot of stories and illustrated them. Kind of like imaginary friends on paper, but none of them were human. They were all magical little animals. I still prefer to paint animals to this day. I think they are much more interesting than humans.

Since I know you personally, I also know that you are a graphic designer and also an instructor! How did you get into that? Do you prefer one over the other?

I’ve always wanted to teach! But what I didn’t expect was to be teaching at a college, I always told myself maybe high school? Or maybe even a Jr. high art class, but college never really crossed my mind. A good friend of mine got hired as the program chair at IADT and wanted to build a solid team of new instructors and asked if I was interested. Before interviewing I sat in one of her classes to see if it was for me, and I fell in love. The rest is history and I’ve been there for 3 years now and love what I do. I love school because I’m a huge nerd. If I weren’t an instructor, I’d probably be a student.

Also, I don’t think I prefer one to the other because I teach what I love to do.

Do you gravitate towards a certain style of painting, designing, overall creating?

I think I’m still and will forever be trying to find my style. I am inspired and love so many different art movements, artists, and styles, that it’s only natural to include a little bit of everything in certain art pieces. I also love to experiment. But when it comes down to it, the core of my fine artwork has a strong Pop-Surrealism background and influence.

Design work is a bit trickier since I work for clients, but one thing I am a fan of is fresh and clean work. That will NEVER go out of style. I like to keep up with design trends and incorporate them when I can to keep my work up to date and marketable.

On the topic of instruction – what is the constant question that your students ask, or a topic or concept that they tend to struggle with?

Funny you should ask, but believe it or not, a reoccurring question I get at least once a quarter is “How much should I charge for my work?” This is such a broad question and I don’t give any solid answers, but instead try to give some advice on finding their worth. I also let them know that some of my best portfolio pieces were done for free, but the experience and exposure were priceless. It gives them a lot to think about and it has them view the graphic design and art world in a whole other perspective.

When you start a painting, do you have a routine or way of doing things? Does it have to be quiet or do you have tv or music on?

When I start a painting, it’s always intense! I feel like a surgeon about to perform heart surgery. I need all of my tools ready and laid out perfectly. I need all of my tools, cleaned, and I need to be focused. Once I sit down I am NOT getting up unless the house is on fire (because there is nothing more frustrating than having your concentration interrupted!) After I triple check my work area to make sure everything I need is there (including coffee and extra water,) I put on my painting playlist and slip on my earphones. Everyone knows not to bother or talk to me till I’m done.

I notice that you paint bunnies A LOT. Why bunnies? Is there a meaning behind it, your spirit animal perhaps?

Besides being cuddly and cute, I’ve always had rabbits growing up. I’ve read that rabbits represent creativity and fear and always felt that was an interesting combination….

Where do you get your inspiration from? What motivates you to create?

I love and collect antique children’s books. I love any nostalgic imagery and the books I have are filled with amazing illustrations. My favorite illustrator is Richard Scarry.

What motivates you to create?

Not too sound overly emo, but the best motivation I have ever had was a broken heart. I paint my best work when I’m depressed.

This is a random question but what are your pet peeves?

When people are late. Biggest pet peeve ever.

Honorable mentions: Bad parenting (like parents who bring their kids to R rated movies!) people who misspell “they’re,” assholes who take up two parking spaces, stupid baby names, people who go shopping during peak hours and use a bazillion coupons, dirty keyboards.

Ok so now, the opposite of that question – what do you love, admire, obsess about?

Typography, Radiohead, alchemy and symbolism, analogous color pallets, blood, thick cuts of fatty marbled meat, pictures of ice cream, cholas, silly tattoos, sushi, human anatomy, vintage children books, hello kitty, my kids, my husband, and my best friends.

What goes on in that brain of yours? Do you have deep thoughts about life’s greatest mysteries, or do you get paranoid about the government watching your every move?

I am always thinking of my purpose, because I think everyone in this universe has a purpose.

Any guilty pleasures?

Food porn, silly pictures of animals on the internet and making up captions to what they would say and how they would sound like out loud, vampire shows, reading Teen Vogue instead of adult Vogue. Ugh, I’ve already said too much.

Jesus or Satan?

One of my favorite movies of all time is Constantine, and I’m always daydreaming of being the female version of him. How rad would that be? Anyway, team Jesus all the way. WWJDOMGFTW.

If God (or aliens) decided to destroy us and it was up to you to represent us, what would you say are the redeeming qualities of the human race?

Despite our imperfections and capacity of evil and greed (let’s forget about all of that for a quick second,) humans will never stop fighting for what they believe in. We’re the only species that keeps advancing; we’ve built pyramids, been to the moon and cured diseases. Regardless of some of our actions, which can be ugly, we have the ability create beautiful things.

What do you think about art on the Internet and the amount of copying people do (whether it’s intentional or not)?

I think it’s more common than not, especially with young artists just starting out. It’s a cycle. We all get inspired and subconsciously (or not) we’ve “borrowed” elements or techniques we’ve admired and included them within our own artwork. Now, if someone reproduces your work, and continues to do so, that’s a problem. But there is nothing wrong with being inspired and openly letting people know where the original idea came from, for the sake of not looking like a douche. The idea behind this is to eventually find yourself and your own style. There is a difference between being a reproduction artist vs. someone completely original and known for his or her own unique style.

Speaking of the internets, what websites do you frequent?

The usuals. For design I like to check out what the people at Behance or Dribbble are up to. I have a handful of artists I like to follow, including Shermgrafik.com. Then of course guilty pleasures like Facebook, Pinterest and Allrecipes.com (because I love to cook.) And if I remember, I visit Postsecret on Sundays.

Are you a lover or a hater?

I wasn’t sure so I googled “Lover or Hater Quiz.” I took it and it said I was 50/50. It also gave me some advice: “I know you mean well, but you should be more open minded, and socialize more.” After taking the quiz, I feel slightly more hater than not.

Any advice or words of wisdom to those who are just starting out in the creative world?

Read “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon. Also, try to give back when you can. Not every gig has to be a paying one. Paint a mural for your community or design a logo for a charity out of the goodness of your heart (I love doing benefit shows and knowing my piece will help towards a good cause.) You were given a talent; never stop being thankful for that. Like any good thing in this world, nourish it and appreciate it. Keep evolving and even when you’re satisfied with a piece of art or design, start brainstorming how the next one will be 10 times better. Know there will always be someone better than you. Stay humble.

Is there anything else you’d like to say or let people know about yourself?

No animals were harmed during the making of this interview. 

Roxy on Instagram ???? Roxy’s website

Her most recent illustrations are at @xactoknife