Chosen To Choose a Winner

Sounds kinda weird right? Chosen to choose a winner, but that's exactly what has happened.

A couple of months ago there was a contest called Genesis of a Great Idea. The object of the contest was to come up with a great social media campaign and five finalists did just that.

The winners range from Social Media stars such as Debba Halpert @Girlfriendology, Francesca @MayhemandMoxie & Jill @ScaryMommy of Mighty Media Girls, a Creative Whiz, Jan Idelman @JanIdelman, eCommerce business team Mike (& Kali) Kunkle @DreamWorthy and Celeb Blogger/Author Deb Rox @DebOnTheRocks of 5 Ways to {Blank} your Blog .

These five creative thinkers are being flown to Austin, TX and given $1000 to present their ideas in front of Dr. Lindsey and a panel of social savvy bloggers and the winner will walk away with a $10,000 Grand Prize.

I'm one of those social savvy bloggers and you'll bet I'll be whrrling, tweeting and blogging about the whole experience. Actually, I was just given the Droid to review, so you'll be hearing more about that saweet gadget and see me in action with it as well!

Comment Through Email on Facebook

Today on CNet I found out that you can now reply to a comment on Facebook through email!

I like this because it takes one step out of the equation, which for me and I'm sure many of you out there means another millisecond you can add to working on something else... like a blog post:)

A post on the Facebook blog explains it: "These notifications--for comments on such content as status updates, photos, videos and Wall posts--allow you to stay informed about your Facebook friends' activities without being logged in when you're on the go, on your phone or at work. Today, we're launching the ability for you to participate in these conversations by replying directly to these e-mail notifications."

This is great if you want to respond to a response without actually logging in to Facebook. I know many times when I log in, I get bombarded with people wanting to "chat" with me and sometimes I'm in such a hurry that I have to ignore the chats and jump right off, later having to apologize.

"If you aren't currently receiving email notifications for comments, be sure to check out your Account Settings. From the Notifications tab, you can choose to receive email notifications when people comment on posts and content, as well as for many other common Facebook activities."

How Do You Get Readers to Your Blog?

When I'm online, I divide my time between promoting blog posts I have written and socializing with online friends, but I have come to the conclusion that both do indeed go hand in hand and if you are a blogger, both play an important roll in having a successful blog.

To make sure I was covering all of my bases to promote my blog posts and get more blog readers to my blogs, I asked a few of my blogging pals over at Collective Bias, "How do you get readers to your blog?" What I found was that besides using Twitter and Facebook, leaving comments on other blogs was one thing I needed to do more of, but quality over quantity is still debatable.

Is is quality or quantity that matters?

Most bloggers I asked agreed that visiting blogs and leaving comments were a great way to get new readers to your blog. Jerri Ann from Momecentric said,"Last year at this time, I had 10 or 12 blogs and I commented on at least 50 blogs a day. Somewhere around May I cut back … and dropped down to 30 comments a day. By September I wasn't commenting except on ones that really got my attention. And my blogs all showed the effects of that." So, the more she commented, the better the traffic which makes sense but Naomi from Superdumb Supervillian made the point that quality trumps quantity. She said, "Commenting on other blogs is definitely the best way to build your readership, but only when your comments are pertinent and sincere."

As bloggers, there is a lot we need to do to promote our blogs if we want new readers. Not only do we need to tweet on Twitter and post on Facebook, but we need to comment on other blogs, join Ning groups and forums, post frequently and consistently and socialize. Then if we have a blog that does product reviews and contests more work is involved. If no one knows you are having a contest you are not going to have entries and if you don't have entries, there really is no point in having a contest in the first place. Let's be honest, the contest is there more for you than for your readers. By having a contest, you are hoping to get more traffic and readers to your blog.

Bloggers that do product reviews and giveaways have a few more steps in their daily routine. Sandy from Organize With Sandy has her own routine. She noted, "I always use online sweepstakes, Thrifty and Chic Mom, Peanut Butter and Pickles Review. I also many times use Deal Seeking Mom and Mom Dot's." She also uses a list of places to post giveaways she found on Mommy Snacks when trying to promote her giveaways.

So, you might wonder, "Why are these bloggers spending so much time promoting their blogs? What are THEY getting out of it?"

Reading (this) will help you figure it out.

How I Got the Invite

Pardon the namedropping, but this story needs to be told...

I met Jessica Smith in July of 2008. I owned an online boutique called The Apple of My Eye and she was looking for Wishpot Mom Experts. We had a phone interview which lasted about an hour and Twitter came up in the conversation. She asked me if I was on it, I said, "No" and she suggested I get an account.

I got a Twitter account (@theappleofmyeye) and started socializing. I realized that most of the gals I was communicating with were mom bloggers and I wanted to be a part of "the gang". They were having parties, talking about fun products, doing giveaways, sharing interesting info and supporting each other in times of need. We had just moved from the west coast to the Midwest and knew no one. I needed this group of ladies more than they knew, so my blog Giftfully Simple was born in February of 2009 and by July of 2009, I had 7 companies sponsoring me for BlogHer.

BlogHer was great! I finally got to meet my Twitter friends Jessica Smith, Katja Presnal, Sugar Jones, Danielle Smith, Jyl Johnson-Pattee, Amy Lupold Bair, Allison Worthington, Kelby Carr and Audrey McClelland. These were the bloggers I had gotten to know on Twitter. This was the sole reason I wanted to attend BlogHer.

Then, when I thought I had met everyone I had planned on meeting, I met Ted Rubin from e.l.f. cosmetics. Somehow the conversation moved to baseball and the fact the my husband and I are big fans of the Yankees and so was Ted. He asked me if I'd like to have an e.l.f. cosmetics party which included getting the entire line of e.l.f cosmetics to share with friends. I said, "Yes," and a partnership and a friendship was made.

In September, I was invited by Jyl Johnson Pattee to a tweetup that was being sponsored by MARS, Mom it Forward, Whrrl and Collective Bias. The invite was online, so I was able to see who was attending. After finding out who was attending, I HAD to go. Not only was Jyl attending, but Lucretia Pruitt, Sandy Jenny, Connie Burke, Scott Monty, John Andrews and John Kim had all RSVP'd- Yes.

Attending this tweetup was the best decision I could have made and prior to attending I did my homework.

The person who I recognized from Facebook because we had a ton of mutual friends, but wasn't sure what part he played in the lives of my blogging friends was John Andrews. So, instead of wondering, I started researching and found out that John was the creator of the 11 Walmart Moms...he was huge! When I met him I was prepared and made sure he knew. He invited me to join his Collective Bias ning group and I was ecstatic.

I also had the chance to reconnect with Jyl Johnson Pattee and meet Scott Monty, in person, for the first time. Being at that single social event was the key to the doors that started opening up for me as an influential blogger.

The first thing that happened was Jyl asked me if I was interested in participating in a campaign called, "A Day Made Better" by becoming an Office Max Max Mom.

The second thing that happened was Scott Monty invited me to a press conference where Ford introduced, for the first time, a rear seat inflatable seat belt and took me on a tour, with a handful of other bloggers, of Ford's Safety Lab where I got to see actual crash tests.

The third thing that happened was that John Andrews asked me to lead, along with Melissa Garcia from Consumer Queen, a group of 20 savvy shoppers in a project called BFDeals. This "job" helped to more than double the traffic to my blog Giftfully Simple and shortly after Lifetime Moms asked me to be an affiliate.

The fourth thing that indirectly came from attending the MARS tweetup was GM invited me to attend the NAIAS for three days in local Detroit which included cocktail parties, the Cadillac reception, press conferences, interviews and attendance to the show. Unfortunatly, I had to decline because of a previous engagement.

And last, but not least, I was just invited by Collective Bias and Genesis Today to fly to Austin, TX to help choose a winner for their Genesis of a Great Idea contest.

My advice to you is to socialize. It's all about who you know and frankly, who is going to invite you to an event if they don't know you?

Jump into conversations, wave your arms around and say, "Look at me, see what I can do," go to a conference and walk right up to everyone on your "short list" introducing yourself, join forums where like-minded bloggers are, connect on Facebook and Linkedin.

I'll tell you what...there was no way I was going to bust my butt for 7 sponsors to get to BlogHer and not meet the women I was there to meet...no way!

Make the most of your interactions by doing your homework and taking a leap. Share your resources, pay it forward and do not stab anyone in the back or step on anyone to get to the top. Each and every blogger is unique in their own way and it's not easy to get on the invite lists. It takes a lot of blog posts, socializing on networking sites and giving back before you'll see results, but when your time comes...it will be SO worth it!

Why You Should Never Turn Down an Interview

A couple of weeks ago I was asked by a fellow blogger, Connie Roberts, if I'd like to be interviewed and I immediately said, "Yes."

At the time, I did not know that the interview was for Murray Newlands- A Marketing Blog, I was just happy to be asked to be interviewed because promoting yourself is very important if you want people to get to know you and your brand. I was told the interview would be out around the first week of January. Shortly after filling out the interview questions, I got an email from Murray Newlands asking me if I'd like to do some paid posts for him. He asked me how much I charged and agreed to the asking price. I wrote 3 posts for him on my three blogs and made enough to go grocery shopping for the family. It felt great!

Then, yesterday I was checking my Google alerts and saw the post from Connie. I went over to Murray Newlands blog to read my interview and was ecstatic. Not only did Connie ask great questions that gave me the opportunity to promote my blogs, promote fellow bloggers that I think are amazing and promote myself in hopes of getting a great job in social media, but she also wrote a great intro to the post that showed she took the time to peruse my blogs and find out key facts about me.

I'm just so happy about this interview and the fact I made some money because I said, "Yes."

So, the next time a blogger asks you if you'd like to be interviewed...I suggest you say,"Yes," because you never know where it might lead!

Is Whrrl the New Secret Shopper?

2009 has been dubbed the year of social media. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogging and Whrrl are ways people are telling stories about how they live their lives. You can follow someone and know where they are, who they are with and what they are doing. These forms of social media have not only changed the way we as human beings communicate, but has also paved the way companies are gathering information about you, the consumer and how they are building relationships with you.

The iPhone application Whrrl, which recently announced Whrrl v2.3, has taken mobile social media to the next level. The application allows you to leave a digital footstream by checking in to places you go, become a member of a "society" where you and others with your same social patterns can be a part of and share photos and notes which your friends can "like" in real time.

Not only is this great for your social life, but it is great for businesses trying to gain knowledge of your social patterns.


"Many of Collective Bias CPG clients are leveraging Location Based Services (LBS) like Whrrl to connect with their customers in the retail environment. This gives them a real world connection to the shopping experience and creates actionable opportunities for social media engagement."John Andrews, Collective Bias.

Examples of companies that have worked with and gained knowledge from consumers:
Colgate Wisp and Walgreens
Genesis Today and Walmart
Kroger
Hershey and Walmart
Pepperidge Farm and Walmart

There is no doubt that social media has taken our lives to a new social level allowing us to communicate to a larger audience and in many different forms. We are telling our life story now to hundreds, maybe thousands rather than to a handful of our close friends. We are becoming a generation that loves the prospect of sharing our life in hopes that it reaches out to someone and touches them.

Companies are gaining the information they need from our stories to make their products better, find out who their consumers are, see how their products are being presented and be more consumer friendly to the buyer. They are trying to better their businesses in an economy that is second guessing a purchase before it is made and relying on recommendations, price and quality when making a purchase.

So, in conclusion, whrrling, tweeting, blogging, youtubing and facebooking about the places you go, the products you purchase, the inconveniences you encounter or the joy a product has brought to your life is the best way we can communicate to companies about what we like and don't like, so that in the end, we ensure our lives are better and more enjoyable.

The Season For Buying Electronics

If it wasn't you, it was someone in your family that asked for an electronic of some sort this holiday season. And the shopping deals were out the door fabulous!

We kicked ourselves for not buying the Wii because we did research to compare shopping prices at more that one retailer and saw the game system selling for $199 with a $50 gift card to use on a later purchase. We failed to get one during the holidays and will have to wait until another major holiday to get a great deal...if we're lucky!

The Kindle was huge this holiday with Kindle books outselling real books on Christmas. That tells a lot about the future of electronics taking over just about every aspect of our life as we know it. From robot-like vacuum cleaners, to digital books to cars that practically drive themselves, the digital world is moving at a fast pace. I'm just wondering what they are going to come up with that has to do with a freezer. Maybe they will defrost the food when you are ready to cook it with the push of a button...that would be cool!

The future is going to be an interesting place!

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are mine.

Bloggers Favorite Posts of 2009

I decided to choose a key word for 2010 that I think will be incredibly helpful not only to other bloggers, but to myself because I truly believe in karma and what goes around comes around.

My key word is Support.

I started blogging in 2009 and through the entire year I was supported by so many wonderful bloggers that have played a part in getting me to where I am today. They have shared knowledge, given me a virtual high five, stumbled, re-tweeted, linked, shared contests and given me opportunities and to them I owe a lot.

So as a way of giving back, I have asked some of my virtual/real-life/blogging friends to tell me their favorite post from 2009.

Musings of a Work-at-Home-Mom
"This is one of my fave posts. It still has me laughing out loud when I read it, brings me right back to that day and sums up well, my balancing act (and sometimes falls) of trying to do the work at home mom thing." Sarah Burns from The Ohana Mama

Ivey the Kung Fu Fighter
"This was the first video I posted of my baby girl. Birth of my daughter changed my life forever that is why this is my favorite post of 2009." Kelly Galvin Tirman from Kelly Tirman

The Best Dinner Rolls- Soft, Sweet Bread! , The Importance of a Demographic Survey for Your Media Kit, and Finding Faith-Believing and Reaching Out
Lori Falcon from A Cowboy's Wife and My Wooden Spoon

The Conception of 3 Kids and Us
"This is probably one of my favorite posts from last year. It was this moment in our lives that actually caused me to start my blog in the first place." Cat from 3 Kids and Us


A People's Choice
"This was not easy. But, here is my post and you will appreciate this as much or more than anyone else. I rarely ask readers to even comment on my blog never mind lend support for me on another blog or in another forum. I did though for this one time and the response was enough to keep me blogging. Because honestly, in those times (like today when my husband says, "how come you never have any comments on your blog?"), I seriously think, well, is it worth it? But, when I think about all the folks that joined in with a show of support for me during that contest, I am overwhelmed. It was awesome." Jerri Ann from Momecentric

When Tech Support Asks: What's In Your Closet?
"Oh wow. It's going to be hard to pick a favorite!!! I think this one would have to be one of my favorites..." Erica Mueller from Erica Says

Best of Moomette's Magnificents Blog Posts 2009
Cindi from Moomette's Magnificents

Elevator 13 Drama at Blissdom 09
"I have gone through many and had several that I was going to give you on organizing. But I think my funniest one and the one I got most feedback on was this one. When I was at Blissdom there were 13 of us that got stuck on an elevator for about 45 minutes. I had my flip camera handy and recorded it. Although it is one of my longer post with several videos....it is pretty funny." Sandi Jenney from Organize With Sandy


Scrunch Bottle Bib Equals Clean Sweet Babies
"My favorite blog post is Scrunch Bottle Bib Equals Clean Sweet Babies because I was able to share a product that I believe in, made by a woman entrepreneur, with my readers and with a good friend. Spending time with my friend and her baby and taking photos of them made this post even more worthwhile.

I love the photo that I used, which shows baby Layla so content. I had a blast including someone new in my blogging adventures. Since I've done this, I've asked other friends to take part, especially when young children and babies are needed for product reviews." Connie Roberts from Brain Foggles


Happy Heart Day!
"What a great idea! Here is my favorite post."
Stacie Connerty from The Divine Miss Mommy

Rich Living vs Living Rich
"I'm having a very difficult time finding a favorite post from Champagne Living. There are many that I'm attached to and others that are the reason that people come to visit. I guess that it being the beginning of the new year, my pick would be about keeping a journal, since this is the time that a lot of people begin theirs." Zipporah Sandler from Champagne Living

Abuse: My Story and why you should not give up on those that are abused
"...my story of abuse, so many people don't understand why people stay in an abusive relationship and I wanted to give insight as to what my thinking was when I was in one." Toni from A Daily Dose of Toni

Long Haul Airplane Travel with Young Kids Part1: Planning Your Flight and Jet Lag
"The post from my blog that has helped people the most is a series I did on flying long haul with young kids. It's kind of made this whole blogging experience worth it to me. Been flooded with tons of nice emails because of it." La Jolla Mom

My Mom Logic
Lisa Samples from Mom of 2 Boys, Wife of 1

10 Things I Predict for 2010
"here is my favorite post I did in 09. It actually was the last post of the year. Wish it would have gotten more reads. I feel so strongly about everything I said." Elizabeth Norton from The Party Planning Professor

A Call to Ambitious Women Entrepreneurs...Stop Apologizing
"My favorite post of 2009 was my call to women entrepreneurs to stop apologizing for their success. While it was on of the most popular, it was also one that inspired other posts that, in turn, inspired me!" Jessica Smith from Jessica Knows

Make Today Unexpected
"This past summer, I wanted to do a weekly series of posts about giving back. I called the campaign the Summer of Service... or SOS!" Jyl Johnson Pattee from Mom it Forward


5 Reasons This Community Makes a Difference
Jen Hinton from Jen Hinton

When Every Little Bit of Hope is Gone, Move Along
"I wrote for the tide loads of hope and blog nosh magazine is one of my best posts. it's about hope and moving on after the end of a marriage." Melissa Brodsky from Rock and Drool

Thoughts on Twitter and Military_Mom
"I typically choose to avoid any potentially controversial situations - I want everyone to feel welcome at my site. However, in this instance, I simply couldn't stay quiet. Sometimes, it is important to stand up and speak your mind, so I did."
Danielle Smith from Extraordinary Mommy

How to Make a Container to Collect Your Box Tops
"I don't really have any fantastic posts, I do mostly reviews and share photos. I plan on doing more personal blogging this year. Here is one of my favorite crafts I shared this year. Box Top holder." Kim Janocko from Crafty Mama of 4

The Top 10 Things I Have Learned Since Becoming a Dad
Buck Rogers from Buck Daddy Blog

What is Your Mom Blogger Status?
Amy Bellgardt from Mom Spark

How Do You Build Your Sandcastle? and Disciplinarian or Bad Parent
Dad of Divas

I'm Pretty Much the Worst Dad Ever!
"I'm not much of a blogger, but here's my favorite from my lifestream blog."
John Andrews from Collective Bias

The End

Jill Notkin from The Daily Grind of a Work At Home Mom

5 Tips for Working at Home for the WAHM

Melanie Edwards from Modern Mami

The Face of Hunger
Kristie from This Side of Eternity

What's Up, Hutch?
Naomi from Superdumb Supervillain

Smile
"My favorite post of 2009 was the post I began my "Smile Journey". Working with Invisalign has been amazing. I've always wanted to do something about my crooked teeth and could never afford to. Being able to realize this life long wish and sharing it with the world has been the highlight of my year." Kelly from Childhood Clothing

It's Late and Feeling Helpless
"I would have to say this one because really showed me how my my readers care and it gave me a new sense to be more open with my readers and I plan on doing that in 2010!" Melissa Garcia from Consumer Queen

Page 1
"This is the first page of the rough draft of my book. The book is about what shaped me to be the person I am today. The follow post is an exerpt from the chapters on my parent's divorce and my dad deciding that he wants to be gay." Katie B. Goode from Katie B. Goode