Day one of the second week!  Woot!  Day eight is all about social media sharing and an easy way to find adorable social media buttons around the internet that you can use without paying for. There are several different places you can find free ones online.

There are also super cheap ones if you don’t mind spending a couple dollars on your website. Which I recommend, of course.

When my fabulous web lady was working on my new design for my website, I paid her to create custom buttons with my own ideas of what I wanted. For a whole $20 I got these adorable buttons which were exactly what I wanted for my site. Honestly, they couldn’t have been anymore perfect for the design. Everything I was imagining in my head. (more…)

I am always being asked blogging advice. How to start a blog, how I maintain my site with three children, how I have build my community and following… Anything and everything under the sun.

Well, through all of the questions and posts I have written, I started thinking about putting together a longer, more advanced almost boot camp style program.

Which is what I am going to be hosting right here on my website for 14 days in the month of March. It will be 14 days of tips, tricks, advice, tutorials, how-to’s, etc. (more…)

A couple months ago when the owner and founder of Red Jeweled Media, Jenny Finke, started working on a survey for bloggers… she asked me to take a look and help her. I was really honored because I absolutely love Jenny as well as all the ladies at RJM and this gave me an opportunity to work on a project I knew would be something I feel passionately about.

Earlier this week, the results of the survey which was taken by 108 different bloggers who reside in the United States. All of the bloggers that qualified for this survey consider themselves are “parenting bloggers” or blog about parenting related topics. Moms, or Dads. (more…)

Last week Instagram rolled out their newest feature… Profiles.

I have to say, I am kind of in love with them for so many reasons. The first being the fact that… I have been waiting for something like this for a super long time. I have been on Instagram for roughly a year and a half. Ever since I decided to get up with the times and ditch my blackberry for my first iPhone right after Addie was born.

The Instagram profile, which in my opinion kind of looks like a Facebook timeline (which I still hate, for the record!) gives access to your profile photos to even those who are not Instagram users. Not all that surprising since Facebook does own Instagram. They purchased the company last fall for an obscene amount of money. (more…)

Kids today, well… it seems as though some are having a hard time using social media properly. Which is understandable since there are actual parents and adults out there who are also abusing it.

But one Connecticut town is stepping over a huge line. In my opinion of course. The Wallingford, Connecticut Board of Education has put a proposal on the table that would monitor the usage of student’s social media outlets outside of school.

Which I find to be a double edged sword. (more…)

Another week, more blog prompts!

Did you participate in last weeks prompts?

Did you find the linking up option easier this week as opposed to coming back and commenting with the link like in earlier weeks?

I am really trying to find a blogging groove for these blog prompts. I have made prompts through the end of February right now, and again I will re-evaluate at the end of February to see if the effort I am putting into the project is worth the time. (more…)

Plagiarism!

I hear the claim of plagiarism at least once a week since I started blogging for an actual company.  And now that I have been with Babble for roughly 16 months I have learned so much about the word plagiarism.

Let me start off with two dictionary definitions.  (more…)

If the start of 2012 has brought anything to me, it is a ton of work related opportunities outside of the realm of blogging.

And this is when I realized not only was I under prepared, but I really should actually make what I do a  company for professional purposes.

I have worked as a freelancer for about two years now, but I just want to make life simpler across the board.

So I am going to be holding this contest… check out the VLOG below for all the details, and to enter… (more…)

I wish there was an instruction book on what to do with a Facebook page, or a twitter account when someone dies. Honestly I think it would have made the last couple months much easier.

My readers know I lost my sister in October. Prior to that she was in the hospital for probably about three months… the whole timeline gets so blurry for me because I never wanted to believe she wouldn’t be with us anymore. Hell I am still in disbelief that she is gone.

Such disbelief that I try to go to her Facebook page daily to talk to her.  (more…)

Do you think setting goals for your blog is important?

Some don’t but I think it is key to having a successful website! But you also need to remember that goals are not always set in stone either. Remember they are your goals!

As time goes on your general goal may change, or morph to the path you have chosen to accomplish what you originally envisioned. That is ok!

If you just blog for a hobby, or for fun, this necessarily may not be the post for you, but sometimes that is how a really great website gets started. I know that almost four years ago when I started writing my blog, I never in a million years dreamed it would actually become a job. The best kind of careers are something we start off as a hobby because we love doing it right? (more…)

Social media tools… there are so many different websites out there now that can help you network, and build genuine relationships that it is overwhelming for some.

Where do you even start? 
Do you Facebook or twitter?
Do you network on LinkedIn or not? (more…)