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The benefits of blog calendar
This is day 4 of my 30-day blog challenge. Read yesterday’s “Why we don’t even own a microwave” I thought yesterday about the topics I might choose to blog about today. I considered blogging about my pet peeves when it comes to blogging (some of which include numbers in headlines and poor grammar that comes from typing a blog directly into a post–like I am doing now). I didn’t plan when I woke up this morning to write a stream-of-consciousness post, but as I checked email and social media from my phone this morning I did read Sara Crawford’s blog of the day from yesterday. Apparently,…
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Why we don’t even own a microwave
This is day 3 of my 30-day blog challenge. Read day two, “Tips on starting a free blog” My family doesn’t own a microwave And that’s okay. When we first married, my husband and I consolidated the contents of his 3-bedroom house and my stuff (that didn’t exactly fit neatly into a backpack either). We sold off duplicate CDs (remember those) and parted with most of the sharp swords and battle axes that we knew we wouldn’t be needing as we started a family. Then, after our daughter was born, I made the decision to stay home. In fact, I also decided to return to school…
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Tips on starting a free blog for your business
Day 2 of my 30-day blog challenge, read day one: 30-day blog challenge Tips on starting a free blog for your business A friend of mine asked me Friday about what it costs to start a blog. The short answer is that it’s free, but not really. I’ve previously tackled the question of “How long does it take to build a business?”, but if you’re starting out your blog by thinking about where you can save money and cut costs for your business, you should take a second to examine your goals. Why do you need a blog? Of course I think EVERY business…
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What 30 days of blogging can do for your career
30 days of blogging, beginning now. I’m a big believer of blogging, and I recommend custom content for every one of my friends when they ask what tools best benefit their small businesses. What 30 days can do If we’ve learned anything from Morgan Spurlock, it’s how much things can change in just 30 days. The Super Size Me movie caused McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants to change their marketing as a result of the negative publicity Spurlock’s health crisis conveyed! As an entrepreneur and an enthusiast of pursuing your artistic dreams, I’ve decided to engage in a test to see just how much difference…
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The best toy for toddlers: not-so-pro parenting tip
I’ll be honest (it’s quite stress-relieving); when the pregnancy results came in for my second child I immediately yearned for the day my two kids could play together. Only two years apart—by literally two days—I felt sure my kids would be destined to grow up playing with and perhaps tormenting each other. As my son took his time learning to toddle around the house, I started stockpiling the most fun toys I could think of. My husband and I enlisted Santa’s help for three consecutive years. We built a haven of games and toys, including a full-size fun tent and indoor baseball tee. All these wonderful…
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The most difficult task for a freelancer
Though I’ve been in business for myself for nearly seven years with Target Audience Magazine, I haven’t invested enough time or money to make a sincere “go of it,” though I plan to change that this year. I started really building my freelance career managing social media and editing fairly recently. I just joined Twitter around the time I started this blog; about four months ago. Maybe five. Many of my friends are self-employed, including my husband, so I know the speech: demand respect. I worked for a few years as the lesson coordinator for Ken Stanton Music, where my job involved interviewing and hiring independent contractors to…
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If content is king, I’m queen
Content IS king, and I feel like its queen Just a quick update here. I’ve been so busy lately taking clients and working with companies that I’ve sincerely been too busy to blog for myself. As I recommend all indie writers do, I am working my way up to higher-traffic websites. I’ve been invited to contribute to Lifehack.org so I plan to add some of my advice to that website in the coming weeks. With the all that I do and the way everything in marketing seems to fall on the support of content (original blog posts, videos and infographics that drive traffic from search engine results…
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An open letter to Stomp and Stammer’s Jeff Clark – The Ria Wars
By Ellen Eldridge More and more people are wondering what members of the media think about expressing their personal opinions in print—and, well, anything they want from the mildly offensive to the outrageously inflammatory. Facebook posts arguing the right to post whatever the author wants and as often as the author wants exist in surplus in my newsfeed—and I keep scrolling because I agree. To each his own and I’d rather just stay out of it. I’ve been quite content to keep the bulk of my political and religious feelings to my close friends and family—the writer and journalist I want to be centers on building people…
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My social media resolutions for 2014
Let’s go ahead and admit that social media has the tendency to lock us in a holding pattern, where creativity burns out with each minute spent scrolling that we should be writing or creating our own art. In thinking back on the things I’ve shared and why, I’ve come to these resolutions about how I will personally use social media in 2014: I will share for the benefit of others This means that when I post, I hope to post something of genuine value. Like the proverbial mother who always said, “If you don’t have something worthwhile to say, shut up.” Practicing this one overarching goal…
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The problem with perfectionism
I’m proud of people who claim to be perfectionists, and I know well I’m one of them. But the problem with perfectionism is procrastination–leave a comment if you think I’m wrong. These great ideas flood my brain and my hands quickly type or write them onto lists. I have more blog calendars than I care to count. My perfectionism hinders my thoughts and confines them to Word documents and pieces of scrap paper because I just know that if I sit on the idea until I have the time (cue uncontrollable laughter), then I will create triumphant blogs and share thoughts that readers won’t be able to stop…
mental health journalist
