One of the best investments I have made in my blog as my career was to purchase professional business cards.  As I travel to different blogging events, I meet people on the plane that ask me where I am going. When I say, “to a blog event,” more questions follow. Having business cards on hand that I can whip out and hand them makes it so much easier to explain. Not to mention it is a really fab way to advertise.

I have used UPrinting before – I won business cards in another giveaway – so I can tell you exactly what I think about them. They rock. I chose to get the ones that are glossy on both sides. On hindsight I think I should have only ordered one side glossy so that people can write on the other side.

Besides that minor mistake on my part (which wasn’t really all that bad. My cards are so pretty!) I really was impressed with the cards. UPrinting was fast and there was not a single mistake. I also ordered my cards with rounded corners – I think that helps them stand out just a smidge.

UPrinting also makes a slew of other printing products.  Wouldn’t it be fun to make some bookmarks with your blog logo and hand them out to friends at blog conferences? I can think of a few fun ways to use stickers with my logo too….

Type A Conference is coming up – June 21-24! So let’s have this giveaway fast so you can get your cards printed before then. (If you aren’t going to Type A, then win some cards to take to BlogHer!)

What you could win!

250  pcs Die Cut Business Card Printing for one(1) winner
Sizes to choose from :
2 x 3.5″ Rounded Corners, 2×2″ Rounded Corners, 1.75×3.5″ Rounded Corners, 2×3.5″ Leaf, 2×3.5
Rounded one corner, 2×3.5″ Half Circle Side, 2×3.5″ Oval, 2.5″ Circle
Paper to choose from :
14pt Cardstock Gloss / Matte / High Gloss (UV), or 13pt Cardstock Uncoated,
6 Business Days Turnaround
Free shipping for US residents only

Contest runs
until 11:59pm on June 5, 2012!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I was compensated to host this giveaway. All opinions are mine, ya know.

I have a hunger,  a yearning. This propels me forward as I chase after my dreams. Knowing simplicity brings happiness is not enough to deter me from busyness and frantic pace. I want to accomplish so much. I want to taste, feel, live.

The internet is a beautiful place. I have made some priceless friendships and received exciting opportunities.  It is also the biggest distraction and dissatisfaction-creating machine.  You never know what you don’t have, until you see someone loving it.

It is way too easy to be totally connected online and at the same time disconnected with what is happening here. now. Independent of what others would think or how it would look through the lens of the iPhone.

I think I will start taking back my weekends. Making them mine. I used to refuse to blog on the weekends, but then I got busier. Then Josh worked more. Then weekend became my only time to blog.

What am I going to make time for?

Meeting needs. Investing in the future. Savoring the tidbits in daily life. Rushing and running are not necessary! This busy season will end when the month concludes. As June begins, I am going to  take every minute seriously and decide: what am I making time for today?

My passion will always burn – but instead of consuming my energy I will turn it into fuel to help me rapturously enjoy my children, my husband, my God, my life. 

When two parents work equally as much – and make about the same amount of money – why is it the mom that always feels the most guilty about going on work trips?

I was invited on two brand-sponsored trips within a week of each other. This is a huge goal of mine that I am quite shocked is coming true! I have worked my tail off on this blog for the past 2.5 years and to see my dreams coming true is a hugely euphoric thing. But, I want to say “no” to one of them.  I don’t want to be away from my family more than once a month.

I feel like I have a responsibility to my kids, my husband and this home.  If I leave, who will take care of it all? Josh will! And he will do a wonderful job, I have full faith in him. In fact, when I asked him about both trips, he told me:

“Annie, I want you to to both of them. I know you will regret it if you turn one down. This is what you have worked so hard for! GO!”

But I cannot deny my emotions. There is a tugging at my heart to stay home.

I think it is because this house and these kids have been 100% my responsibility for the past 5 years. When they were babies, I was the only one that could care for them since I didn’t pump and I breastfed. I don’t know how to handle this new freedom, this ability to leave them overnight.

But still – isn’t 2 trips in a week a bit much? Sure, if it was Josh I wouldn’t bat an eye – I’ve got the home under control!  But you want to know a secret? I am kinda scared of what people will say about me.

Isn’t that lame? I should totally be over “what people think of me”-itis since I graduated high school.  But there are people that do think that moms are supposed to stay home with their kids all the time. Going on a trip once in awhile is ok, but always jetting off somewhere else and leaving them with others? Why that is downright unmotherly.

At the end of the day, it is my home, my family.  I put the issues on the table and my husband tells me his thoughts and I consider them heavily. He thinks I should go and I really want to go. So why not?

*sigh*

I was scheduled to speak at 3:10pm about how to use StumbleUpon to get traffic and I was so excited! I was also really looking forward to hugging the necks of some of my blog friends I have never met. But boy howdy was I sleepy.  Sirius XM radio kept me going. So did adrenaline.

And someone else I got to meet – Emi from The Cloth Diaper Report! This was a very happy reunion.  I first started to blog about cloth diapering and she was one of the blogs I first subscribed to when I entered cloth diaper giveaways. She’s such a lovely girl. I wish we lived closer, I know we’d be fast friends.

The sessions were fabulous too.  SITS Girls have an audience of new/beginning bloggers so this conference was organized to meet their needs.  Laurie gave a wonderfully inspiring presentation about passion and drive to become successful.  Then we heard about design tips from the SITS site designer. Biggest thing she kept saying – keep your sidebars clean, your design cohesive and make sure people can find where to contact you.

They split conference into two tracks – business of blogging and writer’s workshop. I was in the business track since I don’t have time to really write.  That will happen someday.

In the business track we also heard from and SEO professional about search engine optimization.  It was shared at the beginner level – lots of wonderful information was shared. I took away a few tidbits:

• Categories are more important than tags for search engines
• Google Plus is starting to affect search engine rankings
• Don’t use the same exact anchor text for every single link
• Do NOT use “click here” for anchor text

Then Tiffany Romero shared her wisdom and knowledge – the biggest takeaway being for bloggers to switch to WordPress.  Everyone was so excited and had lots of questions for her. She was so gracious and answered all of them.  Other topics she discussed where  -

•  how many people should join in a partnership? (no more than 2).
• Should I get my URL? (resounding YES and DO IT NOW)
• Fake it till you make it!

Then we took a break and – eeek!! – it was my  turn to speak! I zoomed (way too fast) through StumbleUpon and Pinterest tips.  There were lots of questions I helped answer. The point I kept trying to emphasize was  – use beautiful images in your posts and they will attract more traffic.

The last session of the day was seriously my favorite. The gorgeous and talented Danielle Smith gave a very educational presentation about vlogging.  Her vlogging tips were so spot on. Of course they were – she just got back from the ACM awards red carpet! This girl knows her stuff.

My takeaways from Danielle:

• Get involved in the YouTube community. Comment, respond via video!
• Use the correct tags on YouTube to increase searchability
• People are searching for videos now more than ever
• Do not let the camera shake when you are vlogging.

What a huge and fun weekend! I totally recommend Bloggy Boot Camps! And now, excuse me while I nap.

Welcome!  How ya doin’?  Grab a mini blueberry muffin and have a seat!

Tell me about yourself – where are you from? Do you like to read? Or is reality tv your thing? I’m so glad you are here!

My name is Annie. I am a life-long Kansas girl and live out in the woods.

I’m not really a great cook, artist, crafter or cleaner. Nah, I prefer to read books and write. I love to write. Writing is my passion, my healing, my life.

I married Josh when I was 21 years old and had Lizzie a few days after our first wedding anniversary. Life has not been dull!

Even though I’m not really that much of a cook, I do like coming up with super duper easy recipes. Here is a crock pot pork loin sandwich recipe. YUMMY!

I have three kids and Lizzie is not even five years old yet (she will turn 5 in June).

David just turned three on April 11th and Lucy is 15 months old.

Thank goodness we live out in the country – I tell ya I love letting them run around outside when the weather is pretty.

While we are partying it up UBP style, let me tell you where else you can find me!

Twitter – @MamaDweeb I tell ya I am always tweeting! I love my iPhone and I will tweet about my day with my crazy kids and chat with my friends. Please chat, twitter is getting all junked up with links. I love a good chat.

Facebook – Mama Dweeb. Since Twitter is all linky, I have started hanging out more on Facebook. My fan page is so much fun! Like the time we had a literature trivia party? Good times!

Instagram – my other love! (Hoping facebook doesn’t ruin it). I admit, I share way more pictures of my kids and the sky than anything else……

Pinterest - I’m getting better at hanging out there – especially now that I followed some hilarious boards! I pin quotes/fashion/funny stuff mostly.

I’m also on YouTube! I love to vlog! I am a member of #VlogMom and we do a video together every Thursday.

Don’t miss my low entries linky!!  I host a low entries giveaway linky every single Friday right here. If your giveaway has less than 200 entries, you can link it up and get way way way more exposure!

PHEW!!

That’s a lot. I’m crazy busy – so if you follow me and I don’t follow right back, gimmie a few minutes, I will try to get ya!

One last fun little picture to get you to smile!! Enjoy the blog hopping!!

I love a good meme!  A meme is a weekly (or monthly) blog prompt. The hosting blogger will post the topic, then other bloggers write about (or share photos about) the topic and put their post in the host’s linky.  Then, all the participants hop around to each other’s posts and comment.  Not only do you make new friends, you gain new readers! Plus, if the meme is a topic you really love then you can have a ton of fun hopping around to the other blogs too.

Also? A blog meme sure gives you something to write when you are staring at a blank screen.

I did my best to compile a list of weekly blog memes. I know I missed some. If I did, please put the name of the meme in the linky below with a link to the host blog. (if you host a meme, list it here!)

Note: a meme is not a blog hop or giveaway linky. A meme is something others write about and link up to. A blog hop is often a “you follow me-I follow you” type of thing and a giveaway linky is a place to list your giveaways. Today I am talking about memes, but if you want a directory full of both hops and memes, check out the Socialpreneurs page.

Sundays

Sunset Sunday – Shanamama
Share a breathtaking photo of the sunset and link up every Sunday.
Stream of Consciousness Sunday – All Things Fadra
Set the timer for 5 minutes. Write every single thing that comes out. Do not edit, just hit publish. Then, link up and read what others wrote.

Mondays

Menu Plan Monday – Org Junkie
Share your menu for the week then hop around to get ideas for other menus.

Gluten Free Recipes Monday – Musings of a housewife
If you eat G-free then you can do both Menu plan and Gluten free Monday! This is a wonderful place to get new ideas for eating G free.

Monday Mojo – Eclectic Six
This is a really random and fun meme. Every Monday the girls of Eclectic 6 Media list another prompt – not one is like the other!

Monday Mingle – Eight MPH Mom
Beginner vloggers and intermediate or even pro vloggers – all join Jen’s blog to record videos that answer her prompts.

Live a Little Monday – Skimbaco Lifestyle
This is all about living life to the fullest! New, encouraging and uplifting topics each week.

Perfect Moment Mondays – Write Mind / Open Heart
Another wonderfully encouraging meme! Write about something perfect that happened this week. Even as small as a kiss from your baby or finding a quarter in the dryer!

Mom Monday – Centsible Life
A meme just about moms. Link up with Kelly!

Mommy & Me Monday – Really Are You Serious
Post a photo with you the mom in it! Then hop around and meet other moms.

Mamavation Mondays – Mamavation
Bookieboo is known for her program that encourages healthy living for moms. Every Monday she hosts another topic about overcoming weight obstacles.

Tuesdays

Tuesday Tunes – High Impact Mom
Music can energize, empower, sooth, or calm. What music is moving your soul? Link up and share every Tuesday!
Tackle it Tuesday – 5 minutes for mom
Do you have a huge project you are so excited you tackled? What about a small chore you are proud you crossed of your list? Link up and encourage each other.

Red Writing Hood – Write On Edge
Every Tuesday they list a writing prompt for the week. The linky goes up on Friday. This is a creative writing meme – you can follow the topic with a personal post or fictional story, just keep it under 600 words.

Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday – everywhere!
Post your favorite pictures from the week and comment on other photography blogs.

Wordful Wednesday – Seven Clown Circus
For those people that prefer to write words/share stories with their pictures, link up here.

Pour Your Heart Out Wednesday – Things I can’t say
Bear your soul, spill your guts! If there is something deep, or something you just have to get out, join the other bloggers on this honest meme.
Living Well Wednesdays – One Busy WAHM
Natalie hosts a meme all about achieving goals.

Thursday

Vlog Mom Thursday – Mama Dweeb
I join a group of other bloggers every Thursday as we answer a prompt in a video. You can read the question and link up with us.

Thrifty Thursday Fab Grandma
Have you found something fabulous in a thrift store lately? Join Karen and show your finds off!

Thankful Thursday – Women Taking a Stand
What is on your heart? What are you thankful for? The host blog changes periodically, but they always announce who the host(ess) is on the blog Women Taking a Stand.

Thursday Thoughts – PopCosmo
People can leave their favorite quote each week, and links to blogs, pinterest, instagram… anything!

Friday

Give Me Your Best Shot  Better In Bulk
Lolli hosts a meme so you can show off your best photography from the week. If you can’t get enough photog link ups, definitely join this one.
Fashion Friday – Mom Generations
There are actually a group of bloggers that host this meme. Write about your favorite fashions – use Polyvore, create a list of celebs or just take pictures of yourself sporting your favorite outfit!
Mid Century photo Friday Mid century Style
Are you in love with mid-century style? Find like minded bloggers through this meme.

Five Questions Friday: Five Crooked Halos
You will never be without something to write with this super easy meme! Just answer the 5 question prompt!
Aloha Fridays – An Island Life
You think of one super easy to answer question and post it on your blog. Then, link up with Kailani and go see what questions other bloggers post and answer it as you hop around. So easy and fun.

Remembe(red) – Write On Edge
Prompts are posted on Friday, the linky is live on Tuesday. This is a creative writing memoir meme, with very honest and revelatory type of writing.

Saturdays

Social Media Saturday – Centsible life
For those of us that love to write about our thoughts and observations about social media, Kelly hosts Social Media Saturdays.

I know I did not list all of them! If you host a meme – a weekly prompt with a linky – please list it here. Thank you!

For one solid hour you can have all your blogging questions answered from successful and influential bloggers on the Motherhood. They are going to chat about all things blogging including SEO, traffic building, engagement, how to make money and much more!

Join me and 7 amazing social media influencers as we have chat on ‘The Motherhood’.

We are chatting LIVE at 1pm EST!

The panelist are:

• Melissa Chapman – Lifetime Moms contributor and owner of ‘Married My Sugar Daddy’
• Nadia Carriere – Child Mode
• Megan Crume – Sweet Sadie Marie
• Vera Sweeney – Lady and the Blog
• Whitney Winegard – Mommies with Style
• Victoria Pericon – Veep Veep
• Audrey McClelland - Mom Generations

Discussion Topics Include:

• SEO
• Building Relationships
• Making Money Blogging
• Tips and Tricks

Click here to take part in the conversation! Register now and get your login ready for the big day. You won’t want to miss a thing!

Chat starts at 1PM EST Sharp – February 27th.  I hope I see you there!

Not another social media channel! That is what I hear whenever I bring up Google +.  Most people ask me, “why do we need another one? Isn’t Facebook and Twitter enough?” (add onto that Pinterest, StumbleUpon, and LinkedIn and you have one full plate!)

Google + is very easy to learn how to use. Once you understand how circles work, you can begin using it with ease. It is really just about sharing information with the exact group of people you want.

Why you need to learn how to use Google +

Because Google rules the stinking world.  Ok, seriously – because Google tied G+ into searches. So now when you promote your stuff on Google + it will come up higher in search results. Plus, Google owns it and they are promoting it fiercely on new Android based phones.  You need to learn Google + because it will grow and learning now puts you ahead of the social media game and even more marketable to brands and companies.

I created a video tutorial that walks you through a bunch of aspects of Google +. For those of you that cannot watch the video, I am typing all the info here too.  But if you have never explored G+ before and are overwhelmed by it, find time to watch my video. It is 8 minutes long and takes you through almost all of the ins and outs of it.

To create a custom URL:
Go to Gplus.To and follow the directions.
Every Google + account has a custom string of 12 numbers. G+ itself does not allow for personalizing the URL, so you have to use a URL shortener like Gplus.to or bit.ly.  This is actually a smart move for Google.  For example, if you create a G+ page for MamaDweeb and someday change the name to DweebBloggers you can easily change the name of that page in Google + and go to Gplus.to to change the URL – all without losing a single follower.

Is there a way to get your posts automatically posted to Google+?

No. This is the biggest downfall of Google +. Everything must happen manually.

I joined and now I keep getting notified of foreign men following me. What do I do?

Don’t freak out, this is a good thing.  Whenever someone adds you to their circles, whatever you post to “the public” goes into every single person’s stream if they put you in a circle.  Bloggers, if you are promoting a blog post or product, then being in more circles is a very good thing.

How can I turn off posts from hyper posters?

Create a circle called, “hyper posters.” Then, on the right hand side, view only all your other circles and exclude the hyper posters. Or, even easier, don’t circle them at all. It is totally ok for you not to circle someone. Just because you are in someone’s circle does not mean you have to put them in yours.

Google Hangouts

These are so much fun! You can video chat with a bunch of your friends at the same time. This is also wonderful for holding virtual meetings if you cannot meet in person.  There are options in the top of the screen – you can mute your mic and/or disable your webcam and use the chat feature only if you need.  This can work as a free online conference call, it can bring families and friends together face-to-face and so much more. Get some friends together and try it out. 

Tip: When you begin the hangout, choose which circle you are allowing to see you hanging out. If you choose “public,” then anyone, anywhere, can see your video.

How do I keep up with people that add me to their circles?

As people add you to their circles, you will receive email notifications. I simply delete them without opening them. Check this out:

In your Google + nav bar, click the red number. Then, click “Added you to their circles.” That is when the screenshot above appears. You can view every single person that added you to their circles, click/view their profiles and hover over their name to add them to your circles. Easy!

Do people actually gain followers and active users via G+, or is it another place that people ignore you?

Every social network has a different audience. I will tackle more of this question in a future post where I compare/contrast the benefits of each social network. Suffice it to say that if your goal is to increase your reach and influence and become more marketable to brands, then learning how to use Google + is a valuable asset. You can most certainly reach an entirely new audience with G+, introduce them to your blog and increase readership. Totally possible. But with every network, it takes time. If you don’t spend time on the site, your return will be lower. And we only have so much time in a day.

How do I engage with others so I promote my posts?

Start to chat about your involvement on G+ with your current Facebook and/or twitter followers. Write a post about it. Spread the word that you are on G+ so people add you to their circles. Then, use it! Go on G+ and peruse your stream. Circle people so your stream is more diverse.

Remember: A branded page cannot circle people unless they circle your brand first. So create a personal G+ account and use that to encourage people to circle your brand’s page.

Then interact. Comment on people’s posts. Post funny photos that people share. Then, begin to promote your posts. Maybe post one of your funniest posts or one that is attracting a lot of discussion in the comments. Talk about that feature in your G+ post.

It is a very fun social network that is going to attract a lot more followers very quickly. While it is not 100% necessary to use it today, eventually, like twitter, it will be a valuable tool used widely around the world.

I am linked up at:

As bloggers, we all want to get paid, and for the amount of buzz we generate about brands and the amount of work it takes to accomplish this, we deserve compensation.

But let me explain two very different forms of media from the point of view of a public relations (PR) rep. First, there is “earned media” then you have “paid media.”  When PR reps only worked with print/television/radio journalists, they had to “earn” coverage for their clients with hard work and relationship building. It is against the law for a journalist to accept any money or gifts from a person on the behalf of a company. This is typically called “pay for play.”

Earned media back before blogs looked like this: Polly the PR rep built a friendship with Rhonda the reporter. She sent her press releases for Olay. When Olay was doing this newsworthy thing, Polly sent the press release and called Rhonda, hoping she’d pick it up. If she did, she scored!

Then you have paid media. Paid media is, well, paid for by the brand. Before blogs, you might see a “back to school fashions” insert inside Seventeen magazine with the tiny words “advertisement” on the top.

Now you have bloggers. Bloggers are super influential and brands are taking notice. The FTC requires bloggers disclose if they receive things from companies, but that is the only rule.

From the point of view of a PR rep, an honest review with only a product as compensation, is still “earned media.” If a blogger receives only the product to review and not cash and product, then this blogger will (most likely) be more inclined to be more honest about it. To all the newer bloggers that get giddy when a “free” package arrives in the mail (I remember the feeling) you will be more valuable to brands if you share the complete honest opinion of the product instead of just glowing reviews all the time.

Nicolena Stephana, rep for Identity PR, said when a blogger receives cash it should be treated like advertising, not an honest review:

I think it gets sketchy when bloggers want money in exchange for writing a post about a company/product/service. That’s where it’s more like advertising. Bloggers are less inclined to write an honest opinion because they are receiving cash. There is more pressure, or more expectation from the company, to receive a glowing post if they are paying money. Then bloggers aren’t being fair to their community. They aren’t writing about something that they believe in or truly love and want to share with their readers. They’re writing about it because they received payment to do so. That’s advertising. If companies are going to advertise, they can do so in the form of a sponsored post or banner advertising. And with the new FTC guidelines, do bloggers really want to disclaim that they received money to write a particular post? Aren’t they worried they will come across as less authentic to their community?

I totally agree with her. Bloggers, we deserve to get paid. But if you are asking for products and cash, treat it like a brand ambassadorship or a creative marketing campaign. Once they paid you, you are now their spokesperson and they have a right to tell you the message they prefer you to spread.

I think bloggers ought to engage in marketing campaigns and blog spokesperson gigs and earn as much money as they can. I also hope you can see why some reps are hesitant to pay you cash. They might be only interested in generating “authentic” buzz about their clients, not paying to get a specific message out there.