Stringing Together Keywords In Search Results

Looking at my blog stats tonight I noticed something that I hadn’t noticed before.  I seem to be getting a lot of hits across all of my blogs for some very weird keyword combinations.  The keywords themselves aren’t weird, but the combinations are.  That’s because the keywords from Google searches for things like wilson cell booster canada, but I know I've never blogged about something like that in particular.

Instead the string of words is sending people here because I've used each individual word at some point in my blog.  On that particular blog I know I’ve discussed some of my Wilson family members, and I know I’ve talked about cell boosters.  I haven’t actually gone through the blog looking for “Canada”, but I’m sure I’ve mentioned the country a time or two.  It’s funny how a search result can appear just because words from random posts have been strung together like that!

A Reminder About Comments

 

Lately I have had a problem with a couple of individuals trying anonymously leave nasty comments on some of my blog posts. These individuals have read my posts relating to my struggle to lose weight after having my baby, and the comments they have left are not just rude, but down right offensive.  So what if I choose to talk about how I’ve thought about finding a fast way to lose belly fat? That is my decision.

Because of this I want to go over a few things about my comment policy.  You will find my comment policy above the comment section.  My rules are not strict, and I welcome comments.  There are only a few types of comments that I don’t approve.

I will not approve your comment if:

• The comment is anonymous.  There are plenty of other ways to leave a comment.  You may do so with your Google username, Open ID, or by filling in a name and url.
• The comment is harassing, threatening, offensive, racist, or spam.

I reserve the right to approve or deny any comment based on my own discretion.  When you leave a comment on any of my blog posts you are agreeing to let me use any or all part of your comment in a future blog post.

If you feel that you cannot follow these simple commenting rules please refrain from leaving a comment on my blog.  Otherwise I hope you will join in the discussion!

Is Affiliate Marketing Worth It?

Tonight I had a conversation with another blogger I know about the income I make from my blogs.  I don’t keep it a secret that I do make money from some of the things I do on my blogs whether it be keywords, paid links, paid reviews, banners, etc.  I totally agree with full disclosure, and none of my readers have expressed a problem with this either.  I feel like my blogs are my own, and therefore they are mine to do as I please.  I also feel that anyone should have the right to make money if the opportunity presents itself via their blog.

With that said the one avenue I really haven’t pursued in depth is affiliate marketing.  I’ve talked to many people who are tried and true believers that affiliate marketing is the sure fire way to earn an income online.  Others have told me that it’s a waste of time because you’ll spend way too much time pursuing something that will never pay out.  This is why I really haven’t taken the time to get into affiliate marketing.  This other blogger was asking me if I had any tips about the best affiliate program to join.  I was honest with her, and I told her I really couldn’t give her any info because I don’t get into that kind of thing.  The only affiliate programs I use are ones that I know I’ll receive a return on because they don’t take much effort at all to make a sale.  I pointed her in the direction of a few other bloggers I know who do use affiliate marketing.

With all that said I do have a question for my readers and other bloggers who drop by.  Do you use affiliate marketing, and if so which programs have given you the highest return?  I’ve added a poll for you to answer in my sidebar, and feel free to share your results with a comment.

How My Netbook Improved My Life

I've been wanting a netbook for awhile now because I thought having one would make my life much easier. First of all I wouldn't have to repair my laptop that's seriously outdated anyway. I've had it tucked in a drawer for months needing repair, but I just haven't felt like doing it. I thought having a netbook would be much easier because it would be so much easier to carry with it's small size especially now that I'm lugging around a baby tucked in a car seat and a diaper bag everywhere I go!

Even though I've wanted one for awhile I had decided to put my purchase off until after the new year since we had so much other stuff to worry about with the baby and then the holidays coming up. Then I ended up in the hospital for 9 days laid up in bed bored out of my mind with nothing to do but watch tv and listen to the beeping of my monitors. I wasn't physically able to take care of my newborn, so Hubby was handling that while I was shooting off short little text and picture messages to Facebook and Twitter from my phone. That was the only contact I had with the online world, the only way to share my new baby girl with my online friends, and my only way to contact my bosses to let them know of my emergency hospital stay.

That's when we realized how much easier those 9 days could have been if I'd had my netbook already. I could have taken advantage of the free wifi in my room, and I couldn't have not only contacted everyone I needed to contact, but I could have even kept working from my hospital bed! I could probably say I would have been the only woman in history to go back to work within hours of delivering lol!

Hubby decided he was going to buy me one as my Christmas present, so I picked out the one I wanted, and he ordered it from Amazon on Black Friday. I decided I wanted the ASUS Eee PC 1005HA-PU1X-BK 10.1-Inch Black Netbook after reading numerous reviews on it. This one has meets all my spec requirements, and it has the 10.5 hour battery life. As it's setup out of the box I'm getting about 8 hours battery life, and that's to be expected since the battery life depends on the computer's power settings.

It arrived Monday, and it's so much more than I expected. I love it, and I'm so glad I chose this one. I'm quite impressed with it, I have to say it has made a world of difference already. For starters I moved my desktop pc back to the office where it belongs which got it out of the living room floor. I can now work on my Netbook in the living room without having to worry about trying to be close to the baby. I was also having to use our tv as my monitor in the living room, and now I can put a movie on for the baby while I work from my netbook. It keeps her occupied, and I get more accomplished. Yep, at 5 weeks she does watch the tv. She's got two movies that totally intrigue her.

Also now I'm not carrying around a huge stack of photos everywhere I go without the baby. Now I'm carrying my netbook, and I can just pop up a slideshow of photos at anytime. Oh yeah, and when the baby's with me the netbook slides perfectly in the outer pocket of the diaper bag.

The best part of all for me is the fact that I can now keep myself occupied at during those late night breastfeeding sessions. I can lay in bed with her, and I can keep myself occupied online so I don't fall asleep without having to turn the tv or lights on which disturb her and make it harder to put her back to bed. When I'm having trouble putting her to sleep I can load up the ambient sound mixer on the Johnson's Baby website, put my laptop near her crib, and let the white noise and various sounds put her to sleep. We've used that technique two nights now when she was fussy and didn't want to sleep!

I never thought a little 10" netbook would make my life so much easier, but it has.

Edit Your Images Without Spending A Dime

Just because you don't have photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop or Corel Paint Shop Pro doesn't mean you can't have fun with your photos. I use Paint Shop Pro for everything just because that's the program I've been using for years, and I'm used to using it. I've paid to take classes that taught me how to do a lot of the things you can do online these days for free.

Pixlr is just about one of my favorite online image editors these days for the novice. You can use Pixlr to edit your images in a variety of ways from simple cropping, resizing, and rotating to even adjusting colors and adding effects. It's great for the basic user who needs to edit a few photos, and you don't need an account to use it. Just upload your photo and edit it.

Picnik is another online image editor I really like if you're looking for more than basic editing. You have your basic features like all the other editors, but you also have auto adjust tools to help you out. You can create all kinds of fun and interesting photos with effects, text, touch ups, etc.

Here's just a simple photo I created in about 30 seconds using Picnik. As you can see I was able to adjust the colors in the photo, resize it, add a Polaroid frame, and add text.



There are many more online editors out there, and this just proves you don't have to pay expensive prices for great photo editing software anymore. Just take a look around the web, and you're sure to find a free version that will give you just what you need.

Here are a few more for you to check out.

1. Adobe Photoshop Express
2. Flauntr
3. AlilG
4. Photobucket (built in editors to edit photos, add effects, create scrapbooks)
   
5. DrPic.com
   
6. Pixer.us
7. FotoFlexer.com
8. OnlineImageEditor.info
   
9. Splashup
10. Webresizer.com (simple editing tools to make a photo web ready)
    

Automating Technorati Favorites

Here's something for all you bloggers who have Technorati Favorites. Why not give back to those who favorite you by making them a favorite, too. Technorati Favorite Your Fans is a program that will automatically favorite anyone who has favorited you. If someone has favorited you more than once, it will only favorite them once cutting down on the clutter. You also have the option of removing blogs you don't want to favorite, such as spam blogs. It's a great way to see who is adding you as a favorite.

It's easy to use, but more advanced users also have the option of setting up the program with Windows Scheduler using the dos command line.

Note this is NOT a wordpress plugin. It is a program that you will use on your computer.

A Blog For You To Peep

If you're looking for a new blog to read stop by My Cornerstone Trio. I wanted to mention the blog because the author, Anna, is a very good friend of mine. She's a beautiful person inside and out, and this really shows through on her blog. Although she only began blogging a short time ago, she's already developing quite the fan base because her writing is genuine and really great. Stop by and show her some love. I'm sure she would really love to hear what you have to say about her writings!

Sweet Catastrophe

I stumbled upon a blog today that I'm definitely going to be reading more often. The blog is called Sweet Catastrophe and it's written Jade. Why do I find this blog so interesting? She's another southern gal just like me! Jade lives in Georgia where she's attending college. She's 21, and she reminds me a lot of myself when I was in college. She also shares a lot of my same interests, she believes in saving animals, and she's not a girlie girl. She's even a gamer, so I definitely like her! Why don't you stop by and check her out? If you do don't forget to leave her a nice hello!

Do You Use Blogging Ads?

I've got a question for those of you who do paid posting. Are any of you using Blogging Ads? I signed up with Blogging Ads months ago, and for the most part I used to like working for them. The ads are really easy to do, but sometimes you can go months without getting anything. You've got to login daily, and you've got to be quick to act before all the ops are gone. Other than that I like the service.

Unfortunately you can only post 3 of their ops per blog per month. Of course you're allowed to have more than 1 blog in the system, and that's where I've got a question. Tonight when I logged into Blogging Ads I noticed one of my blogs that was previously approved was now showing as declined. I had to delete the blog and resubmit it.

Now when I originally joined Blogging Ads it only took a few days to get my blog approved. Previously the site said (and it still mentions this on your approved blogs page) that it should take up to 2 weeks for your blog to be approved. This is what throws me off. When I resubmitted my blog I received a message saying it could take up to 6 weeks for a blog to be approved. Does anyone else think that if it's going to be up to 6 weeks the site should say that everywhere instead of making 2 different statements?

Have You Seen A Pink Dolphin?

I saw something on my friend Connie's blog that I just thought was too cool not to share. Have you ever seen a pink dolphin before? I had never seen a pink dolphin before, and I probably would have said you were crazy for thinking dolphins are pink if I hadn't seen the photos Connie posted on My Chronic Life. Apparently pink dolphins are actually albinos, and they are absolutely gorgeous! Head over to My Chronic Life to check them out! While you're there remember to leave Connie a nice little comment saying hello!

Determining Tax Deductions For Bloggers

If you make any income from blogging it's time to start thinking about taxes. I know we don't have to pay them for a few more months, but I always like to have everything in order by December. Since hubby and I both have self employment income, I always start getting things together around the beginning of October. Most of the 1099's we receive come in during the first few weeks of January, so by that time I'll have everything ready to go.

With self employment it's always important to itemize. It makes a huge difference for us. Last year we would have payed in over $15,000 in we hadn't itemized, but because we did we only had to pay in a few hundred instead. There's a great post over at ProBlogger today called 46 Tax Deductions That Bloggers Often Overlook. I suggest printing out this list, and keeping it with your tax information to give you an idea of some of the things you can deduct. It's a pretty nice list, but remember there are other things not mentioned on the list such as the home office credit so always talk to your tax preparer to see what else may qualify.

Also, we pay our taxes quarterly. This helps because it's a guesstimated amount of your yearly income divided into 4 payments. It basically makes the hit from tax time not so hard because you're coming up with 4 small payments through the year versus dropping a large sum to the IRS come April. Come tax time, if you've over payed with your quarterly payments you'll get a refund on that cash and anything else you may be owed. I don't know if I would be paying quarterly if we didn't have 2 self employment incomes in our household, but it really does help us a lot.

What do you guys think about quarterly payments? Are there any bloggers out there who are doing this?

Spreading It Thick

Aren't all blogs a gossip center of some sort? Whether we're talking about products, discussing other bloggers, or things that happen in our daily lives, we all are gossiping in some way. I know I've been guilty of blog gossip before on a couple of my blogs. Most of that gossip dealt with my personal life, friends, and family, but some of it has also been about other bloggers. A lot of us choose to spill it to our blogs instead of gossiping to our friends.

Blogs and gossip are two key features of a new tv series Gossip Girl on The CW. Gossip Girl is a new drama centered around teenagers and based on the novels of Cecily Von Ziegesar. The show centers around the lives of a bunch of teenagers in New York, specifically the Upper East Side who deal with teenage issues including sex and drugs while attending an elite school of some sort. The show is created by Joshua Schwartz who also created The O.C., and Stephanie Savage.

What's so interesting about this new teen drama? While the show mainly deals with the lives of two best friends, Serena and Blair, and their crush on the same guy, Nate, the series is actually narrated by "Gossip Girl", a blogger who uses her blog to gossip about the other teens to keep rivalries stirring and the gossip spreading. "Gossip Girl" is voiced by Kristin Bell, and she keeps the flames of gossip burning while she continues to anonymously blog about the inner circle of these friendships. It wouldn't be much fun if her friends found out she was the one dishing the dirt would it?

Gossip Girl airs September 19th on CW, and I think it's going to be a show a lot of teenagers will tune into. Check out the Gossip Girl widget below to get a sneak peak for yourself.

Paid Blogging

Due to some certain circumstances with a certain paid to blog company, I almost decided not to post for them any longer this week. I'm not going to name any names right now because this company has decided to try to rectify the situation they created that outraged many of their bloggers, but once I get the details on everything that has been decided upon I will give you the full details.

Basically this certain company decided to change their TOS to state that not only did there have to be interim posts before and after any paid posts for their company, but they were going to require interim posts before and after any paid posts no matter what company they were written for. I certainly don't agree with this. While I do agree that it's good procedure to place at least one non-paid post between each sponsored post, I don't believe any company has the right to dictate the TOS of any other company, and that's exactly what was going to happen.

This would also effect the posts I do for another company. This second company allows me to insert contextual links into posts of my own content. Yes, I write the posts normally like I would any other post, but I can then find certain words to link for this company. You will sometimes see these posts back to back because they ARE my original content and would still be posted with or without the contextual link. Unfortunately if the first company had decided to stick with their new TOS change, I would no longer be able to conduct business with the second company as I have been doing all along. It a sense it also meant that paid blogging company would now have control over all content posted on the blogs of anyone who decided to conduct any work for them, and that's just not right.

I am NOT an employee of said company. I am an independent contractor who does occasional work for said company. If and when this company decides they wish to control my entire blog, I will no longer work for them. I hate to say that because I do love doing work for this company. I have found many interesting products and websites that I would have never known about if I hadn't worked for this company, but I don't believe they should have full control over my blogs.

I've gone back and forth over this situation for about a week now, and I've had a hard time deciding if I was going to continue working for them. I have decided at this point that I will continue to include paid posts from this company, but I'm proceeding cautiously.

Mother In Law's New Blog

Awhile back my mother in law gave up on her blog. She was working as an assistant editor for a newspaper, and she really just didn't have time to maintain her blog anymore. She just started a new job at a market research firm, so now she's got more time. I'm going to help her setup another blog, so start looking for a sidebar link in the near future. I had planned on setting her up a blog via my domain, but I think she's decided to use blogger again because that's what she knows. I was going to help her to setup her new blog tonight, but after hubby's motorcycle wreck today, I think it'll be later this weekend before she debuts it.

Blogkits Review

It has definitely been awhile since I posted a review of any of the paid to blog companies. That's probably because I've already told you about the ones I deal with on a regular basis until now. Recently Blogkits released a new portion of their site called BlogKits Review
, and although the program is relatively new, I like it. There aren't a whole lot of ops to choose from right now, but that also comes from the fact the program is relatively new. The program is different from the other paid to blog type companies because of the way bloggers earn cash and advertisers pay. I think this setup will be more appealing to advertisers in the long run.

With the other companies, you earn a set amount for posts paid anywhere from a few days to 30 days after the post is completed. Blogkits is different in the fact that their posts are pay-per-click type advertising. This means you won't receive a set amount for that post, but unlike the other companies, if you write a good post and promote your product to your readers in a good manor, you can earn even more for each click.

On top of that, Blogkits offers special weekly promotional drawings for some of their campaigns. I recently participated in a campaign they ran for Peapod. As a special promotion, they are giving $100 away for the best post each week, and I was the lucky winner of last week's giveaway. I wrote the post not knowing if I would actually make any money off the pay per click or not, but I took a chance, made some cash from the post itself, and ended up winning $100. I really think it was worth taking that risk!

The other reason why I like Blogkits is because they don't require positive posts. They want HONEST reviews of the products or websites their campaigns are promoting. They apparently realize that honesty can do a lot of good for companies, whether it's positive or negative feedback. Positive feedback is great of course, but negative feedback from everyday consumers gives the advertiser some insight into things they might need to change about their site or product to make it more appealing to the general public.

Head on over to Blogkits, sign up for a free account, and check out the new BlogKits Review
if you're interested in blogging for cash. I'd love to hear what others think about it. Is their anything you see that they can improve upon?

In A Rut

I've been in a blogging hump this week. I've bought some wonderful things to review for you guys, but it seems like every time I sit down to write about them my mind starts to wonder to something else. It's also got a lot to do with the fact that my sleep schedule is all messed up again. I can blame my migraines for that. It seems I've had one kick in during the afternoon just about everyday this week. That's causing me to take my migraine meds and sleep through the evening, waking up about the time hubby's going to bed. I know I can't let myself get into that rut where I'm not posting at all, or I'll have a hard time finding my way back. That means my posts might not always be relevant, but I'm posting them for a reason, ya know?

What do you do when you find yourself in a blogging rut? I'd love to hear from some others who've experienced this.

Book Of The Week

If you love to read, I've decided to start a new weekly post on my blog Everyday Randomness where I showcase a book I'm reading that week. I love to read, and it's obvious when you see how many books I have. I've decided to start my own personal little reading mission. I normally read a book in 2-3 days if it's interesting, so I've decided to read one book a week and post about it on my blog.

You can read weekly about the book I'm reading and decide if it might be something you'd like to pick up. Some weeks will more than likely contain more than one book because I have a habit of sometimes reading 2 or 3 books in a week. It will all depend on how much time I have, but there will definitely be at least one book post a week. The first post is already up, and I've just finished reading the book, Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts.

Debt

I'm considering starting yet another new blog on my own domain. I've been throwing around the idea lately of creating a niche blog discussing ways to handle debt you may have already incurred, avoiding debt, and different financial related articles. I've had plenty of experience with dealing with my own debt, going through debt consolidation, and finding myself back on my feet again, and I do think I have a lot that I could share. I actually had a post written up that I was going to post here dealing with why it's not a good idea to get a cash advance if you can help it, but I just started pondering the idea of another blog, so I'm going to hold off on that post for now.

So, I guess what I really want to know is, how many of you would be interested in a financial/debt blog that gives you tips for avoiding and/or clearing the debt you already have? I know there are many financial type blogs out there already, but with mine I would be giving you information based on what I have learned from my personal experiences. I would love to know what my readers think about this idea.

Magnifique!

What's it like to be an American living in France? Betty C. knows all about it. She's been living in Aveyron, France for 17 years now, and I can just tell she loves it. La France Profonde captures Betty's daily life whether she's at home in France or dreaming of France while on vacation back in Washington. You can see how much she cares for France through the many wonderful photos she shares. I could almost call this a photo blog, but there a few posts that aren't centered around photos. The layout is a very beautiful one, and easy on the eyes. I absolutely love the beautiful header photo, which I assume is a photo taken somewhere in Aveyron.

If French cuisine is what you're looking for, Betty can also provide you with plenty of it. She also writes Cuisine Quotidienne, a very delicious looking blog about everyday french cuisine. I must admit, some of the dishes she has featured make me really wondering if I could actually eat it. The layout of this blog is very nice, and it does actually make me hungry just looking at it! I have to say both blogs are extremely well written...much more than I could ever do! Cuisine Quotidienne will be on hiatus for the month of August, but I will definitely be adding both to my blog reader for future viewing!

Suncoast Scribe

If you're looking for a little insight into life on the West Coast of Florida, Angie's your girl with her blog Suncoast Scribe. Follow her as she struggles with the real estate market in Florida, raises her family, and still finds time to blog! I don't see how she does it! I hardly find enough time to blog without a family and hectic schedule.

I love the layout of her blog. It's a nice, clean layout that is very easy to read. There isn't a lot of fluff in the sidebar, so the page loads fairly quickly compared to a lot of other blogs I see (including some of my own). The posts are well written, and I've found quite a few informative posts that have held my interest. This blog isn't about any particular niche, and I like that. Not every blog needs a specific topic as long as it is well written. But, if you're in the market for a good niche blog, Angie also author's FriendlyBabies.com, a baby and parenting blog.