Now Let Me Ink That Page: de la Money

Dear Pennies & Pens,

Whaddup doe?! It’s ya girl LoudPen back and LOUDER than ever. I’m sure over the past few months y’all have been wondering where I disappeared to. For those that have been reading this B-L-O-G for awhile, you know that I also own several businesses.

I am CEO of ISLP, a lifestyle production company that publishes books and magazines; produces music & films; additionally, we create clothing, accessories, art, beauty and home goods. We’re the publisher of #MakeUrPenLOUD: How To Be A Lifestyle Blogger and de la Pen…All Pen Everything. 

I am also Co-Founder of 8515, a lifestyle marketing and public relations agency. We’ve produced a variety of events such as Flavor’s Night Out, The Breakfast Club, Mix n Mingle, and most recently, Pennies & Pens presents Hidden Figures. 

Additionally in January, I launched Pennies & Pens, a lifestyle club for multicultural millennials. We hosted our first event, Pennies & Pens Presents Hidden Figures in January. We also launched our Facebook group in February.

If you want the full story on what happens behind the scenes of running multiple businesses, check out this amazing post that ShuEsq, a Dallas based online boutique featured me in here: Lifestyle entrepreneur shows us what it means to Dream More Than One Dream

So back in January, I basically had a meltdown on Instagram. See that post here. I went off because I have had this site for almost 7 years and I’m still not generating any real revenue. That is fuckin ridiculous, son!!! Like no lie, I’ve been on this journey with blogging for years but somehow I can’t seem to make any real cash. It’s frustrating and depressing.

The truth is, I wrote and published my book, #MakeUrPenLoud to make money. People were constantly asking me for advice and tips on blogging so I decided to create a product that would answer those questions and make me money. Two years later, the struggle is still real. The book sells regularly but not enough that I can live off of. So here I am stuck working a part time job because I need consistent income while I get my shit together.

Pennies & Pens, I am different from every online/lifestyle entrepreneur, you have ever come across because I’m not online bragging about how much cash I’m making and how great my life is. Why? Cause the shit’s not true and doing that is fucking annoying. I definitely post dope shit but don’t be fooled ya girl is fuckin broke. I mean it when I say I am one half of Cacha & Pen: 2 Dope Broke Girls. 

So by now you’re wondering well what the fuck, Pen, are you just a shitty entrepreneur? No!!! It takes money to make money, honey. And since Pen has no money, guess how much she is making?! Lol! Nah for real, as far as ISLP, I’m working on new books, a print magazine, art, and music but it’s going to cost thousands of dollars to produce those projects.

Between production costs like printing, editing, design, art supplies, music software & equipment, the costs are endless. I also don’t have the cash to do more marketing and promote my current book, #MakeUrPenLOUD. I’d love to run Facebook and Instagram ad campaigns to increase sales but again I have no budget.

Then as far as 8515 and Pennies & Pens, I have no money to produce events. Between the venue fees, costs of printing marketing materials to hand out at the event, event decor, marketing the event, etc. those costs are bananas in pajamas too. So I can only produce events once every blue moon if I’m lucky because I just can’t afford to do more.

Now here comes the person with the “focus on one thing”, “find a niche” bullshit. This asshole pays none of my bills so I give no fucks about what they have to say. Besides it’s dumb and makes no sense. No matter what type of entrepreneur you are, you have to wear more than one hat. I am no different.

The purpose of having multiple businesses is so that I have multiple streams of revenue. This way if one product or business isn’t doing well, I can compensate with another. Call me cocky, but I think that’s a genius plan.

Once ISLP, 8515, and Pennies & Pens takes off I’ll be set for life. No worries, no stress. This post will be something I laugh about while on the phone with Jay and Bey plotting our next world takeover tour.

Moving right along, I wrote this long rant post to let you know there’s going to be some major changes coming to de la Money *coughs* I mean de la Pen. First off, I am redesigning the site with a theme that is so sexy you’ll want that ink all over your page. Secondly, most of the site will be subscription based. Meaning you will have to be a paid subscriber to access the premium content.

The subscription will be somewhere between $0.99-4.99 per month. Cheaper than Netflix, Amazon Prime, and all those other subscription services. To compromise, the archives will continue to be free. This way, you can read our content and get a feel for what we do and how we do it before you decide to subscribe. Also, once we move over to subscription based, de la Pen…All Pen Everything will be published just like a print magazine. Meaning the content will be published as an issue with a specific theme or focus for each issue.

Right now, we’re working on le magazine noir, an issue inspired by Jay Z’s Black Album and Black History Month as well as KC and All That Jazz which will chronicle our upcoming press trip to Kansas City, MO.  We’ll be talking about Black historical and contemporary icons, profiling independent artists, giving you an inside look on our travel journey as far as art and history museums in KC and the booming jazz scene in KC. Both issues are going to be seriously ill!

We’re working on all the content and planning so bear with us as we have no official release dates yet. But it’s going to happen sooner than later so stay tuned!

And there it is. de la Pen…All Pen Everything. With us, keeping it real never goes wrong.

P.S. If you have an extra penny, donate to Cacha & Pen: 2 Dope Broke Girls so I can stop complaining about how broke I am. Thanks Pennies & Pens!