Back to school granola bars »
Sending kids off to school for another year brings simultaneous anxiety and excitement. As a mom, you make sure your kids wake up on the first day of school with bags packed full of all the right supplies, new white sneakers laced up tight, and their favorite outfit washed and ready to go. With so much to think about that first morning, and each consecutive school morning on the way, let these healthy bake-ahead snacks fill their lunchboxes without consuming the last free moments of your morning routine.
Read more...Movie Review: Crazy, Stupid, Love »
When is love not crazy and stupid? That is the question facing the characters in Crazy, Stupid, Love. I was given the opportunity to preview the movie early and found there was nothing stupid about it. The movie follows Cal Weaver (Steve Carell) and his family as they struggle with that crazy, stupid thing called love. At the beginning of the film, Carell’s character learns that his wife Emily (Julianne Moore) has cheated on him with her co-worker David (Kevin Bacon). To make matters worse, she also tells him she wants a divorce.
Read more...How PR Reps and Brand Managers Measure Your Social Media Influence »
The Mind of Moms Summit was offered as a partner program at the recent BlogWorld Expo. I attended Rules of Engagement with Barbara Jones of One2One Network, Renee Ross of Cutie Booty Cakes, and Amy Lupold Bair of Resourceful Mommy. (Amy gave Amy Clark of Mom Advice’s presentation since she couldn’t make it due to a death in the family.)
Read more...Bloggers are People, Too »
We all know the type – a blogger who sits perched behind her desk all day blogging, tweeting, Facebook’ing like crazy. Telling all and leaving nothing out. Chances are, if you met her, she would be a laugh a minute, the life of the party, and your new BFF. Or, maybe not.
Read more...Choosing a Domain Name for Your Blog »
A recent discussion at the Mom Bloggers Club pointed out one of the first things you should do when trying to get noticed as a serious blogger: buy a domain name for your blog.
Read more...Out-Of-Control Couponing: When Marketing Incentives Go Awry »
Back in the day, coupons provided consumers with the opportunity to shave a few cents off popular household staples like toilet paper, dish soap, and paper towels. Each week, in anticipation of the family’s grocery store run, Moms spent Sunday mornings flipping through the newspaper, clipping coupons for products that appealed to their families and redeeming them at the check-out counter at the end of the shopping excursion.
Read more...Domain Name Mapping »
Each blogging platform has different ways to set up domain mapping, so you’ll need to refer to the domain help files for the blog platform you use. Self-hosted Wordpress.org blogs have domain mapping set up by their hosts during install.
Read more...Guest Blogging Can Help Increase Your Traffic »
We all want to get paid what we’re worth, especially when our blogging evolves into a paying career. However, there are times when giving away your content is a good thing. When you guest blog, your host’s readers will be exposed to your work, maybe for the first time. If they like what you wrote, hopefully they will follow the link back to your blog, like what they see, and become regular readers. This way you increase your traffic and recruit new readers.
Read more...Is It Time to Give Your Blog a Makeover? How to Pick a Blog Designer »
There’s a time in every blogger's life where using the standard blogging platform template isn’t enough. Sure many of us can tweak column sizes and colors with relative ease, and we may be able to add a homemade banner, too. Still, when you want to take your blogging to the next level, maybe you should consider calling in a professional to give your blog a makeover. So, how do you find a blog designer?
Read more...Say It Better with Pictures: Sourcing Images »
Notice how a magazine or newspaper article is usually accompanied by a picture? Well, you should be doing the same thing on your blog. Using a photograph or illustration in a post looks more professional, and gives the eye a break from reading blocks of copy. So where can you get pictures and how do you use them properly? Part 1 of this series will cover sourcing images. Part 2 will cover how to use them properly – both from a design and a legal standpoint.
Read more...My Whirlwind Social Media Tour: Lessons Learned So Far »
I’m off to BlogWorld Expo in Vegas this week after having recently attended BlogHer Food, IZEAFest and Kashi’s Mom Blogger Event as part of my “5 trips in 35 Days” whirlwind social media tour. (My tour ends in November at the FoodBuzz Blogger Festival.) Call it serendipity, but the same themes kept popping everywhere I went:
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