Mommy bloggers cover a vast spectrum of topics.  Some are personal; some are not.  The following Mommy bloggers have chosen to show personal pieces of their lives; by doing so, they have expanded my world and my understanding of caring for special needs children.  And reminded me why I love Mommy bloggers so much!

Read these Mommy bloggers and you’ll be inspired, too.

Dawn has taught me that mothering a daughter with special needs isn’t bad or horrible – it’s just different.  It comes with a different set of dreams and victories that are just as valuable as the ones I have for my daughter.

[Read more...]

Standard Podcast Play Now | Play in Popup

Carrie Lauth and April Jones join me today for a special episode of Profitable Mommy Blogging.

We’re having a Blog Giveaway – not, not your typical Blog Giveaway where you give something away from your blog… we’re actually giving away a BLOG!

Carrie has a mom blog that she no longer wishes to write on. It’s just not focused enough on her market. She approached me with the idea of giving the blog away here on the site. I loved the idea – but decided we needed to throw in a few added twists

The blog we’re giving away is Because Mom Said So. It’s four years old this Spring and has hundreds of pages of great mom content on it.

It is currently built in Blogger – and since we’re all proud WordPress Snobs, we’ve decided to flip this blog over into a WordPress site.

And not just any WordPress site either. We’re going to start with a Loaded Affiliate Blog from Mom Webs - with 50+ great articles designed to promote popular mom and WAHM affiliate programs.

Then, April Jones from Rock Star Blog Designs is going to customize the theme with a hot new look.

When we’re done, Because Mom Said So is going to be an awesome blog, ready for you to take over and rock it! (We’ll even be throwing in some special training… more on that in Part Two!)

How to Enter:

Leave a comment on this post telling us ‘I want that Blog!’ and tell us Why and What you’ll do with it. The deadline for your comment is Tuesday, April 28th, Noon EST.

Carrie, April and I will read through the entries and choose our favorites to move on to Part Two – which is when we’ll ask the community to vote on our winner.

Applications have been flooding in for our Mom’s Talk Network Blogging Internship and it’s time to wrap things up and get on to the next phase of selection.  If you’re interested in being part of the session that starts May 4th – act fast!  Applications will be closed on Saturday, April 18th at midnight.

Today I am participating in a meme from An Island Life.  The rules are simple:

“In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer in the comments. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.”

[Read more...]

This week Leslie Truex from Work-At-Home Success, Pajama Mama Living and the author of The Work at Home Success Bible is participating in our Buzz a Mom feature.

Here is our interview:

Leslie, it’s obvious from your website, Work-At-Home Success, that you are passionate about helping Work-At-Home Moms.  Please share with us how and when this passion developed.  How did your passion take the form of a website?

I was a WAHM wannabe that struggled for a long time. I started sharing what I learned or discovered about working at home by building a website in 1998. In some ways it was a like a blog in which I’d share stories and resources.

[Read more...]

Are you thinking about starting a a new blog?

If so, join Nicole Dean and Kelly McCausey for a FREE seminar Thursday, April 16th at 10:30 A.M. EST.

They’ll share how one of their ‘pre-loaded’ blogs can give you a head start in blogging – as well as, give some great insider tips on how to best customize and promote the ‘pre-loaded’ blog once it’s installed.

No registration required – just use this link and login info on Thursday morning at 10:30am EST.

Click Here to Login to the Web Conference Room
user: Your Name
pass: mm

Kelly sent me a link to a t-shirt that I need.  She didn’t say I need it, but I think I do.

The black tee version with hot pink “SHHH… MOMMY’S BLOGGING” would look very stylish with my fuzzy pink slippers.  It could become my official Mommy Blogger uniform.  It’s just too bad only 1 of my four kids is old enough to read.

Go get your own  “SHHH… MOMMY’S BLOGGING” uniform at Hot Chocolate Carmel Mocha today!

We all agree that including pictures on our blogs is important, right? So what can we do to make those pictures look professional?

First, apply these 5 photography tips and tricks:

1. Fill the frame with the object or person you want people to look at.
2. Try a different vantage point by standing on a stool or kneeling on the floor.
3. Be aware of how the background looks (ESPECIALLY when taking pictures with a kitchen counter nearby!!)
4. Take multiple shots from various angles.
5. Try different amounts of lighting for the same shot.

[Read more...]

E-books (also spelled ebooks) are quickly becoming the newest way to receive information online. They are created for a variety of purposes and have several different uses, such as: recipes, learning aids and information.

There are many free e-books available on the web, and there are also e-books available for purchase. When you obtain or purchase an e-book, you can download it directly to your computer and save it for reading at a later date. Most e-books are saved in pdf. format and require Adobe Acrobat reader (a free program) to be accessed.

Creating your very own e-book is fairly simple with the right tools. If you have a topic that you think would be of interest to your niche or target market, check out the following resources that will help you create your e-book and get it in front of the people who will want to download or purchase it.

• Writing Helps for E-book Authors
• How to Write an E-book for Profit

I’m excited to tell you about namechk.com!

Namechk.com solves the problem of creating a username on one social media site only to find it is already taken on another site.

It’s really simple to use.  Just type in the username you want and namechk.com checks 80 different social media sites to see if that username is available.

Go to namechk.com now and see where your favorite username is available!

Quick!  Not counting a computer, name one piece of hardware that a blogger must own to make her blog a success.

Did you say digital camera?  Great, so did I!

Why do I think a digital camera is essential blogger equipment?  Because a picture is worth a thousand words and nowhere is that truer than on a blog!

[Read more...]

Today I am wrapping up my cross blog conversation defining “Mommy Blogger” with LaTara Ham-Ying from Mom Unplugged.  You can read the beginning of the conversation here.

LaTara, once again you have given amazing answers to my questions!  I’m not surprised that you enjoy writing a “deep” thinking blog because you give incredibly thought-filled responses.

[Read more...]

This week I had the opportunity to interview Crissy Herron for our Buzz a Mom feature.

Crissy is the founder and owner of IndieBizChick.com where she provides information and support to women that will help them start and grow their own businesses.

Here is our interview:

Crissy, please share how and when you realized your passion is helping women with DIY internet businesses?  Was there one key aha! moment or were there a lot of little things?

I think that it was something that was always inside of me. I was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. (I did live in Alaska for about 7 years, but am now back in Michigan). Michigan as a whole has seen some very hard economic times, but I do think that Flint has been one of the hardest hit areas.  We’ve had the highest unemployment rate in the nation for a very, very long time.

[Read more...]

twitClicks.com is a really fun and useful new Twitter tool designed to track the shortened urls you create through twitClicks.com and share on Twitter.

twitClicks tells you how many clicks each url received, where the person was and the follower most likely to have done the clicking.  I especially appreciate the blog explaining how to use all the data you receive to better market your blog.

Watch the video explanation and then come back and tell me what you think about twitClicks.com.  Is it cool?  Will you use it?

LaTara Ham-Ying from Mom Unplugged and I are continuing our cross blog conversation today.  We have been defining “Mommy Blogger” through a series of posts here and at Mom Unplugged.  If you missed the beginning of the conversation you can catch up here.

LaTara, I’ve been thinking about your definition of “Mommy Blogger” as being “a woman who writes passionately about her life and life as she sees it, sharing some good ideas, products, and more along the way.” I believe you have succinctly captured the essence of mommy bloggers – passion. [Read more...]