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Archives for November 2010
Veggie Tales 40% off and Free Shipping
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For Blogging Newbies: How to Get Traffic and Followers
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I haven’t been at this blogging thing for very long but I have been successful at getting followers and have been asked by several people how I did it so quickly. So I thought I would share how it can be done. I did a LOT of reading initially to find out the best ways to get followers. Hopefully all the work I put into figuring it out myself can help you too.
You may have an amazing blog that has great advice or information that others would love to have but if you do not have followers then no one knows all of the great things you have to offer. You need to do some work to bring people to your site so that they can see what your site is all about. If you have a new blog and you are wanting to build a following here is what I have found that worked for me.
1. Blog Hops
Blog Hops are a great way to get some exposure for your blog. You can add your blog to the list and then start “hopping” to other blogs. Make sure that when you visit and follow someone else from the Hop that you leave a comment on their blog telling them you came from the Hop and that you are following them. That way they know to come check out your blog and follow you if they like what they see. The Fugal Free Gal has a great Master List of Blog Hops in the right sidebar at the top of her blog. There are different Hops for every day of the week so join the ones that interest you and start hopping.
There is a lot of talk amongst bloggers these days about whether or not it is appropriate or desired to build followers by following other people and getting them to follow you. Sometimes you can build up followers but not actually have those people read your blog on a regular basis. Everyone definitely wants regular readers but often times, in order to have regular readers, you need people to discover your blog. I suggest joining the blog hops that are closely related to your type of blog, following people who’s blogs you really like and leaving them a comment that is not just a request for them to follow you. Actually read a bit of their blog and comment on their material genuinely. You can include a link to your blog and they can check it out and follow you if they would like. Do it with the intent of being friendly and helping them build their blog as well as wanting that same thing for your blog.
2. Twitter
If you haven’t already then I suggest you sign up for a Twitter account using your blog name. Be sure to put a short description and a link to your blog in your profile on Twitter. I get lots of traffic with every blog post because I share my links on Twitter.
Making friends on Twitter is pretty easy to do. You can search Twitter for subjects that you blog about (say baking, for instance) and then follow the people who have interesting things to say about that subject. I have found that most people like to follow you back on twitter and once you have a following they will see whenever you “tweet” that you have a new post on your blog. Be generous with your follows and you will get others to follow you too. Twitter also suggests people for you to follow once you start following others. Also, if you read something great from one of your followers retweet it. The more you tweet the more exposure you will get and the more people will see your name and be interested in checking out your blog too.
3. Social Networks for Bloggers
There are quite a few Social Networks that are a great place to meet other bloggers and get some exposure for your own blog. You can sign up and create a profile with information about yourself and your blog. Then you can visit forums and make friends. There is lots of great information on these sites to help you with blogging. You can ask questions and start discussions. The more active you are on these sites the more exposure you and your blog get. Some of them even have groups you can join where everyone helps each other increase their followers. Here are a few of the Social Networks I recommend (in no particular order): Blog Frog, Mom Bloggers Club, Blog Her
4. Voting Sites
If you look on my blog on the lower right side of the page I have links to sites like Picket Fence Blogs and Top Baby Blogs. I recommend that you sign up at these sites to list your blog and then place their buttons on your site. The button will give you a vote every time someone clicks on it from your blog. You can ask your friends to vote for you by clicking on your button. Other people who go to these sites can come across your blog and read what it is about and the more votes you get the higher up on the list you get.
I hope this information helps! Happy Blogging!
I Used to Be the Best Mom in the World!
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I remember when I used to be the best mom in the world. Unfortunately it was before I had any children. I knew exactly how I was going to parent and my kids were going to be amazing! I would be firm with discipline but also very attentive and a such a fun mom! I would spend hours a day doing crafts with my kids, baking with them and teaching them all they needed to know. My kids would listen and obey the first time because I would see to it that I taught them to and stayed on them to be well behaved. I wasn’t going to put up with tantrums and whining. My kids would NOT be the ones who you hear screaming in the grocery store! My husband and I had even discussed all of this. We decided which parents we knew that we did not want to be like and which ones we would learn from and copy in our own parenting. We knew which things we liked and disliked about our own upbringings that we would bring into our parenting.
Very soon after all of our parenting decisions had been made I got pregnant with our first child. She went along with our ideals pretty well for a while. She was very easy going and laid back. She didn’t fuss much and made me feel like I had this parenting thing down. I felt pretty confident that I could handle this. Within a few months that dream started to fade. She wouldn’t sleep in her own bed and cried and cried no matter how long I left her in there. She wanted nothing to do with my plan for getting her on a perfect schedule. I spent several months extremely frustrated because it wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Not only that, but I had friends who swore up and down that their methods worked. That only made me feel more guilty and more like a failure. At least she didn’t scream in the grocery store!
When our oldest was not quite 16 months old I had twin girls. We found out in week 12 of my pregnancy that there were twins and we were shocked! I NEVER thought I would have twins. This would be good though because it would be a second chance to test out this sleep schedule thing and with twins I had to get it right! Can I just stop right here and say that having twins is hard?! If you know someone who has twins (or more) please help them! Okay, back to the story… Fortunately my twins didn’t seem to mind getting on a good sleeping and eating schedule but one of them decided to be very fussy in the early evening. She would cry off and on and I had no idea how to calm her down. We finally figured out what her issue was and resolved it when she was about 3 months old. In spite of the work I was enjoying being a mom. I was still a pretty good mom and my babies were pretty good.
I think it was when my twins were about 6 months that I had a major revelation. I had all three of my girls with me at the grocery store and one of my twins just decided to start screaming. She wouldn’t stop. That hadn’t ever happened to me before and no matter how much I told her that MY kids weren’t supposed to do that she wouldn’t listen. I was humiliated and so frustrated, but I got it. It wasn’t always about how great you are as a mom. Sometimes it just has to do with the kid.
That same twin continued to embarrass me in grocery and other stores with temper tantrums and whining. Sometimes the other two would join in for the fun of it. As they got older, and we added to our family, sometimes they would just ignore my instructions or forget what I had asked them to do a mere 2 seconds before. Also, somehow when I was planning in the very beginning, all of the wonderful things I would do during the day with my children, I forgot to calculate everything in. I had forgotten things like laundry, changing diapers, baths, house cleaning, errands, cooking dinner, and paying bills. There went most of my play and teaching time with them.
So maybe I am not the best mom in the world anymore but I am still a great mom. Not because I have it all together or my kids are perfect, but because I am the perfect mom for my family. They need me and I need them. I have learned that training their hearts is far more important than them just not embarrassing me. I can stand some embarrassment in order to discover the heart issues that still need to be dealt with. I still have pretty high standards for them but now I realize it is a process and doesn’t always happen overnight. Oh, yeah, and we do crafts and bake together every once in a while too.
How about you? Did your idea of how you would parent change once you actually had kids?
Keeping Kids Happy On the Go
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1. Always take food and drink with you wherever you go.
Ever notice that kids are ALWAYS hungry? I have gotten myself in a sticky situation many times by not having anything for my kids to munch on while we are out. Some of my favorite on the go snacks?
My daughter loves these and they don’t crumble like many other cookies and crackers.
Annie’s Bunny crackers, grahams, and fruit snacks have natural and organic ingredients and I haven’t met a kid yet who didn’t like them.
If you are taking cereal, cookies or crackers then these Snack trap
YummyEarth lollipops are organic and delicious and are a good distraction for an older child. I am not one for bribing a kid to be good but sometimes these help keep the peace a little longer.
First Juice Organic Fruit & Veggie Sippy Top Bottles are great for on the go because the sippy top is already on them (not to mention the bottles are reusable).
2. Always have things on hand that are good distractions.
Sometimes all it takes is pulling out something fun for them to do
A travel size Doodle Pro keeps kids 3+ busy drawing
Once I discovered that Bendaroos
are a GREAT distraction while waiting to eat at restaurants I now carry them with me all the time. There are endless possibilities in what kids can create with these! Ages 3 and up only though.
are a GREAT distraction while waiting to eat at restaurants I now carry them with me all the time. There are endless possibilities in what kids can create with these! Ages 3 and up only though.
Planning to be in the car for a while? Older kids can draw on the windows with these Crayola Window Washable Markers
. They’ll enjoy it even more because when was the last time you let them draw on something other than paper?!
. They’ll enjoy it even more because when was the last time you let them draw on something other than paper?!
For little ones these Lamaze toys
have been a hit for us. They can be hung from strollers, carts or car seats and are quite entertaining with their crinkly sounds, rattles, teethers and bright colors.
have been a hit for us. They can be hung from strollers, carts or car seats and are quite entertaining with their crinkly sounds, rattles, teethers and bright colors.
3. Keep them comfortable
Of course when speaking about keeping kids happy on the go I have to mention my favorite shopping cart cover. I bought one of these from Tinder Designs over a year and a half ago and it has been fabulous. Not only is it a super stylish, super cushy cart cover but it also doubles as a restaurant highchair cover. They come with a matching pillow so when your little one is feeling tired in the cart they can lay their head down and snooze. These are custom made and you can pick from many different patterns for girls, boys or a neutral design. I am so glad I found these! I would buy it all over again.
Remember to bring pacifiers or favorite blankets or stuffed animals. If your child gets tired you will have a much better chance of keeping them happy while you are out if you have their favorite comfort items.
4. Plan your outings.
Babies and younger kids don’t have as much patience with being out and about as older kids do. So plan your outings shortly after they have woken up and eaten. You will need to plan to be back home about the time they need to sleep again unless you have a child that sleeps well in a stroller or carseat. It can be a tricky game getting everything you need to do done but I promise you will be less frustrated if you plan your outing times carefully.
‘I Heart ____’ T-Shirt Giveaway from Fibers.com
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I mentioned in my earlier post about a giveaway to win a $30 voucher to Fibers.com for a t-shirt design of the winners choice. Well here is the “What you love and why you would wear it everywhere – ‘I Heart ____’ T-Shirt Giveaway from Fibers.com. To enter simply leave a comment below telling me what you heart and why you would want to wear a t-shirt that says that everywhere. If you win I know you will enjoy picking out or custom designing your own shirt.
ADDITIONAL WAYS TO ENTER- For extra entries leave me a separate comment for each:
Follow this site via Google Friend Connect (see upper right side of this page)
Follow Fibers on Twitter
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Tweet about this giveaway: enter to win an “i heart __” or custom designed t-shirt from @fibers & @Kristinsreview www.Kristinsreview.com #fibersgiveaway
Contest Ends November 30th, 2010 at 11pm EST. Winner will be drawn randomly.
