blogging

And So It Goes…

January 30, 2012 By mommyofamonster

Not me, but it's how I feel...

They say when it rains it pours, and they are right. Last week on Wednesday, my computer started acting wonky – you couldn’t click on any posts without getting a 404 error message…basically, my blog was broke. I thought something might be wrong with my hosting because I couldn’t log into my Dashboard either. But I didn’t ~~beg~~ ask Ashley for help until Friday. And it didn’t get fixed until Sunday. So yeah, I’m way behind now.

I also don’t have a Mommy Moment to share today…I didn’t want to have a guest poster here if my blog was still broke! So watch for that later in the week.

And over at SmartMomPicks.com, things they are a changin’, so I have a ton of work to do there.

I could’ve just not posted today, but I wanted you to know what was going on…that I hadn’t ditched my blog! If you notice anything weird, shoot me an email okay? We *think* it’s all fixed, but you never know…

In the meantime, if you are trying to grow your blog’s audience, readership, or social media followers, head over to moments that define life and read the advice from me and some other seasoned bloggers who have already made that a big focus on our blogs. We’ll tell you what worked for us!

Tomorrow, I’ll be back to my regularly scheduled programming, so stay tuned!

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Filed Under: blogging

My Life In Drafts

January 24, 2012 By mommyofamonster 16 Comments

I’m sure many of you save ideas for blog posts somewhere, somehow. I happen to save mine as a Draft in WordPress. It works for me…or so I thought until I started looking through them. Turns out, I may be a borderline idiot because for many of these saved Drafts, I have NO IDEA what they mean! Let me give you some examples…

While going through my Drafts, and seeing what I have wanted to write about but just haven’t written about yet, I’ve had some really awesome things I have wanted to share with you. My very organized way of keeping track of post ideas (said as sarcastically as possible) is to title a post with my idea and then save it as Draft…I just need to find time to share these post topics, some good ones if I do say so myself. Things like:

Why I Got Fake Boobs
How Jason Proposed
10 Smells From Childhood (via a Seven Clown Circus prompt)
You Know You’re Addicted To Blogging When…
Understanding Twitter
10 Things I Never Thought I’d Say Till I Had A Kid (via The Mommyologist’s post)
Time In Lake Havasu When I Walked Into a Restaurant With A Bunch Of Girlfriends And Found Our Picture Posted On Their Wall
Time I Thought Tater Was Kidnapped
Things Mom Was Right About
Jason Says I Couldn’t Talk If I Sat On My Hands (I Talk With My Hands)
When Jason Deleted Our Vacation Pics in Fiji
Kisses (from 10/2010 – Tater kissed Lila when he had cupcake frosting all over his face and left it all over her sweet little sleeping face)
Going To A Friend’s House That Doesn’t Have Kids (why it sucks)

And then there’s some real gems in there, too. Some of which I have NO IDEA what they mean. Like these Draft Beauties…

From 01/16/2012 – Title: My Bruise – Like you guys want to hear about how I ate shit walking down our wooden stairs, landed on my ass, and almost knocked myself out. There’s pictures, and the bruise ain’t pretty…it’s disgusting. Just ask @MommaKiss, @tsharp12, or @MrsWonder.
From 01/18/2012 – No Title – The body of the Draft says: “dafafadFASDAS” I got nothin’ people. No clue. And this was just last week.
From 12/01/2011 – Title: Monday Post – That’s all it said. WTF?
From 06/15/2011 – Title: Lila Says No – Maybe the first time? Because she says it daily now…
From 03/25/2011 – Title: Reviewing Your Analytics – What do I know about analytics and why in God’s name did I think I could write about them?!
From 03/25/2011 – Title: The Business Shakes Her Money Maker – Sure Lila loves to dance, but do I have a video or picture of it somewhere? I’d love to see it!
From 03/23/2011 – Title: My Mole Experience – Yep, my hot (in a super geeky kind of way) male dermatologist had to check out a mole I had in my nether-regions. I think I did blog about that eventually?
From 11/09/2010 – Title: Cleaning Up After The Kids – Really? This is something to blog about? Like it never happens?

I never keep those titles, it’s just a *reminder* to me of what I wanted to write about. Note to Self: You might want to be a bit more specific in the future, just sayin…

So what’s in your Drafts? Got any funny things in there to share (especially ones that you have no idea what they mean?)

Did you see my big announcement yesterday? I’m a Charter Chiquita Mom and you can be a Chiquita Mom too!

Filed Under: blogging

Are You Participating In The SITS Girls 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Event?

January 13, 2012 By mommyofamonster 4 Comments

Next week on Monday, January 16th, the SITS Girls 31 Days to Build a Better Blog event begins. Have you heard of it? If not, head over and sign up NOW! This is an event where bloggers support each other through a series of assignments to…you guessed it…build a better blog. It will not only help you improve your blog, but also take it to the next level. There are three different tracks you can sign up for: Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced, and each track will be working through content in the Problogger book by Darren Rowse . I’ll be doing it – and I’m looking forward to it!

My lovely friend Nicole from moments that define life is leading the Intermediate Track. Yay Nicole! Anyways, she asked 10 of her favorite seasoned bloggers to answer a series of questions related to the content that will be covered in an effort to provide you with additional motivation and perspective when tackling the upcoming week’s assignments. She’s calling it her Blog Idol Interview Lineup, and guess what? I’m one of her favorite bloggers!

So head over to Nicole’s place to read all about it and see the other amazing bloggers (I’m honored to be included in such a fantastic lineup) that will be sharing their input and helping YOU improve your blog!

Are you planning on participating in SITS Girls 31 Days To Build A Better Blog? If so, which track are you in?

Filed Under: blogging, blogging 101

Talking Taboo: How Much Do You Make With Your Blog

January 2, 2012 By mommyofamonster 78 Comments

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Last week, I mentioned some of my goals for my blog in 2012. I want to continue to grow, and profit, from my words – both here on my blog and through my freelance work. I also want to stop using so many !exclamation points!, but that isn’t what this post is about! What this post is about is how mum everybody stays when it comes to talking about money and blogging. Sure, we all have a tribe and are probably pretty open with a few select people about what we charge for advertising space, sponsored posts, etc. But why do we keep it a secret?

Last week, while ~~wasting time~~ networking on Twitter, I asked a question that sparked a huge conversation about what we as bloggers charge. I was recently sent an email by someone who wanted me to know what I charged for text links in (a) a post that I had already written and (b) in a sponsored post. I’ve written sponsored posts and so I knew what I charge for that (it depends on word minimums and other factors for me…others have different criteria for what they charge). But to just stick a text link into an existing post? I had no idea. Is it a one-time charge, a monthly charge to keep it there or an annual charge? Again, no idea…so I went to Twitter. And guess what? I got responses that included one-time charges, monthly and annual charges that varied from $5-$50 one-time charges to monthly charges from $10 and up. It was all over the map.

What I found so intriguing about this conversation…that we were having publicly on Twitter…was how open everybody was about what they charged. About how they also said that they usually started high in what they expected, but were willing to come to a happy medium on pricing if it meant they’d make a few bucks and help a client. This also sparked other questions: what do you charge for a sponsored post? Do you let others who are willing to pay you for the opportunity guest post? If you have a PR rep or client who you work with regularly, do you ever do anything for free? And of course the question, why don’t we talk about this more openly?

And I think part of the reason we don’t is because we don’t know if what we are charging is high, low, or reasonable. From this conversation on Twitter I learned a couple of things – I could make a decent amount of money by selling text links and I am selling myself short…I don’t charge enough for what I’m selling.

I’d love to start a conversation about this – would you join in? Would you be willing to share your rates with other people that are also willing to share? Would you be willing to share media kits – or better yet – critique media kits? Hell, if we’re gonna critique, would you be willing to critique someone else’s blog…sharing the things you like or think can be improved upon…and also have your blog critiqued? Share what you’ve learned since you started blogging? Would you want to ask questions of others and have them answered in an open, honest environment? Yep, I know you can find this information elsewhere but I know it’s hard to come across sometimes, especially for bloggers like me who are not “new” bloggers” but also not “old” bloggers either.

What do you think? Let’s talk!

I recently told you about mine and the girls new found love: Tea Collection clothing. Guess what? They are having a HUGE sale right now! Tea Collection is offering up to 60% off on pants, dresses, and shirts. Make sure to shop Tea Collection and save up to 60% only while supplies last….but guess what? Now through the 8th, they are offering an EXTRA 25% off already marked-down sale items with the promo code 25OFFSALE. This is a deal you definitely don’t want to miss. Happy Shopping!

Filed Under: blogging, blogging 101

Out With 2011 and In With 2012!

December 30, 2011 By mommyofamonster 7 Comments

Happy New Year! Yes, I know it’s a bit early, but you won’t be hearing from me again until 2012. I wasn’t going to post anything else this year, but my good friend Gigi over at Kludgy Mom had a great idea for a link up: What one word would you use to describe your 2011, and what one word do you hope will define 2012?

2011: The Year of Chaos. Now don’t get me wrong…I don’t think that the chaos is going away anytime soon. But this year I felt like I had lost control of everything. The twins were only a year old, and SO much work. Being a mom this past year was rarely fun — it was definitely work and tested every ounce of the very limited patience that I had. I am not sad to see 2011 go.

Just over the past couple of months, I’ve felt a shift in our lives…the girls are getting easier now. They aren’t just “work”. We can leave the house with just a couple of sippy cups and a few extra diapers. I’m not afraid anymore to take three kids out in public by myself. I feel like now that they are communicating, they’re also understanding more and are more well behaved. It is, after two very long years, *finally* getting easier.

So what about 2012? I pronounce the Year of 2012: The Year of Growth. I’m talking about my growth. Now from a blogging perspective, 2011 was pretty good to me. I was sponsored by Clever Girls Collective to attend EVO. I got a writing gig with SmartMomPicks.com and SmartMomStyle.com. Gigi, Shell from Things I Can’t Say and Ashley from My Front Porch Swing started a social media business and Have Wine, Will Drink. I got a lot of sponsored posts, advertising, and all of that fun stuff…I finally started making money from my blog!

In 2012, I am focusing not only on my blog, but on my freelance work. I have something I’m super excited to announce about an opportunity that is starting for me in January, but for now they are making me keep it quiet, which for someone with a big mouth like me, has been very hard! I also plan to grow my social media presence, specifically on Facebook. I want to learn more about blogging and social media and share what I learn with you.

But I also want to focus on personal growth. Getting into shape (I know it’s on just about everybody’s list), spending more quality time with the kids. Focusing on balancing my time on the computer with my “real life”. Reading more, which I miss so much. Watching less TV. And on and on…

So there you have it. Goodbye 2011, hello 2012! What is your one word to describe 2011 and define 2012? Link up over at Kludgy Mom’s!

Don’t forget to check out my Favorite Posts of 2011 and link up yours, too because I’m hosting a Best of 2011 link up!

And if you want to check out some amazing streetwear designed by kids, then my $30 Bobiam giveaway is right up your alley.

I was also notified that you can still comment on my Serve post through December 31st for a chance to win $100!

I recently told you about mine and the girls new found love: Tea Collection clothing. Guess what? They are having a HUGE sale right now! Tea Collection is offering up to 60% off on pants, dresses, and shirts. Make sure to shop Tea Collection and save up to 60% only while supplies last. This is a deal you definitely don’t want to miss. Happy Shopping!