No Moo for Me

This blog site features Savvy approved Dairy free recipes and products! If it is not {Savvilicious} then it is not on this blog! Savvy is a 3 year old little girl who is an amazing Warrior Princess! At the age of 1 she received a liver transplant and has had severe dairy allergies since. Savvy is spunky and loves to help her Super Papi in the kitchen...she loves it so much that she is the Chef making each recipe and trying out each product we review (with the help of her sous chef, "Super Papi!" and her "No Moo Crew"). Yummy or Yucky she is the one in charge and she will let you know!
If you are interested in winning an ad spot on No Moo For Me! this is the place to be! The ads must be of a family friendly product. If your company has food related products then some of the food items must be "Savvy Friendly" which means they must be dairy free. We are actually giving away 3 spots on the sidebar!! For those of you who win a spot for a free month you can continue to keep your spot on the sidebar for 50% off for the next 3 months! For those of you who enter and do not win...no worries...The No Moo Crew will offer you a spot discount of 25% off for the next 3 months (just contact me and let me know you entered).
 
Check out this awsome blog for the ad giveaway, great recipes, and more!

4 Essential Factors that Make Up a Good Web Page

The following factors make up a good web page: purpose, content, web site usability, and design.

Now that more people are using the Internet, establishing your own web page is one of the best marketing strategies for businesses to gain reputation, popularity, to build trust with customers, and to advertise their products. With many advantages, most business owners are willing to allocate a good portion of their money to have a web page of their own by letting the professionals do the programming for them. Many programmers are now accepting this kind of jobs like Sault Ste Marie web design and marketing.
But as a client, you must also know that there are certain factors to consider for you to distinguish if the web page is good enough for you business. They are listed below:

Purpose

The web page’s purpose should be aligned to your business goals. If you plan to make the web page as a company’s outlet to accept orders, then make one with product navigation and payment methods. Stick only to what the site is intended for. Designate appropriate sections in your Web site to different purposes. With your page’s purposes in alignment with your goals, it wouldn’t be long that all your business goals will be achieved.

Content

Another factor that makes up a good Web site is that contents are clearly stated and can be easily understood. Information should be laid out properly and should be straight to the point. If the Web site is more on advertising products, information like item descriptions and prices should be placed where it is prominent and readily accessible by the customers. As much as possible, the site should always be updated on a regular basis and should always have fresh and interesting contents. Also make sure that links are working and the website can be browsed in different browsers.

Web site usability

Web site usability should focus on the company’s goals and more on the customer’s needs and expectations because it will determine if visitors can indeed interact with the web page. Good usability means that user won’t have to take long and won’t have any difficulty in browsing your website, and they should be able to find whatever they are looking for without being bored. To have good web page usability, the web page should be easy to navigate and its content should be considered.

Design

This factor may be the least to consider but psychologically people instantly get attracted to things that are catching to their senses – usually on what they see and hear. The web page design also enhances the whole appearance of the site. That is why, placement of the title, images, and contents, page length and width, links, graphics, use of sounds, etc, should be reviewed carefully.
If you want your business to expand, why not try what the Internet can do for you. Try investing on a web page and see what difference it can make to your business.
Sault Ste Marie web design

Kawartha Beads - Check out Her Ad Spot Giveaway!

My name is April and you can follow my journey in handmade happenings at Kawartha Beads.


I am the proud mommy to an adorable toddler, bead addict and coffee-aholic! I began my blogging adventure as a means to promote the supplies shop that I run in conjunction with my mother and our handmade items. I am lucky to have inherited the creative fever from her and she is my greatest teacher and inspiration. I instantly loved blogging, sharing my thoughts, learning from others and exploring the endless stories behind the computer screens. I launched Kawartha Beads earlier this year after taking some time off from the creative aspect of our business to focus on my little one and evaluate my direction. I really wanted Kawartha Beads to be a resource both for the online community who loves handmade, as well as to offer local information for those in the area. I am continually working to create a balance between the two and am still learning everyday.

The creative flame is hard to extinguish and I’ve found my beads calling me late at night when my little one has gone to bed. I recently opened my own Etsy shop Kawartha Beads to share some of my own treasures while my mom concentrates on her own line of jewelry at Bijoux Designs For You. Together we still scour the globe for interesting and beautiful beads and findings which we offer in our supplies shop Rouge River Beads. Above all else I cherish the time that I have been able to spend with my mom while sharing this adventure together. In addition to expanding our family my long term goal is to be able to open my own bead boutique someday! I’ve always believed that if you follow your dreams and work hard they can come true. Hopefully you will join me in that journey…who knows where we will end up!

Visit April at http://kawarthabeads.blogspot.com/ for her fabulous ad spot giveaway!

Village of Moms Ad Spot Giveaway!

**WIN AN AD SPOT WITH THE VILLAGE OF MOMS**

Advertising is an excellent way for your product, shop or your personal blog to get more exposure! Before we giveaway the 2 ad spots, here's more info about me and this blog: Who is the mom behind the Village of Moms and Kite Koop? Glad you asked (although maybe you won't be after reading this!). In summary...

 I'm Valerie, a Christ-following coach's wife and stay-at-home mother to 2 kids under 3 (who occasionally tests my patience) that is desperately trying to find some way to (legally) live in Australia or New Zealand for a while. (We also have, two dogs.) I have traveled extensively worldwide, especially when my husband was a professional athlete, and was even born in Brazil, but that doesn't really define me. In my life I have moved too many times to count, and I seem to do it the opposite way most people do it. Most people move from small town to big town, movin' on up. I, on the other hand, moved from a very ritzy big town in southern California to an extremely small town on the east coast for college, then back again, then to a smaller (but still big) city in Colorado, and now am settled in a very small town in the Midwest. But those don't define me either.

What does define me in a nutshell (or a massively run-on sentence)? I am a creature of habit, obsessive compulsive-cleaning-organizing blogaholic who is a slightly crunchy, sometimes grumpy and definitely overwhelmed mom, trying (and miserably failing) to manage two blogs all during naptime. Oh, and did I mention that I type with one arm while holding a high-needs (code for "fussy") baby in the other even when she's sleeping (apparently that's how it's done over here)? All in all, I really am truly blessed!

What is this blog about, and why was it started? I started this blog (at the urging gentle encouragement of my husband) earlier this year as a way to keep busy while holding said fussy high-needs child as she slept in my arms. It was either blog or watch TV while holding her. Not sure which is actually better for me. So on April 1st, I officially launched my blog, Village of Moms, with a strong desire to help moms in every facet of motherhood. It's basically (and eventually) meant to be a "one-stop resource" for moms on all subjects pertaining to parenting and housekeeping and everything in-between. Make sure to stop by and have a look at our other giveaways.

To enter Valerie's Fabulous Giveaway, check it out here!

Ad Spot Giveaway for The Pumpkin Patch!

The Pumpkin Patch

For anyone who doesn’t know me, let me quickly introduce myself. My name is Sarah and I am from a little corner of the world that I like to call The Pumpkin patch. I am a stay-at-home mom to 4 little pumpkins. When we decided to start our family, we really got down to business and had them all in 4.5 years. It definitely gets a little crazy around here, but that is just how we like it. I also teach a preschool in my home for my daughter and her little 3 year old friends.

I started The Pumpkin Patch as a way to document and share what I have learned about in my life. There is a little something for everyone. On Messy Monday I share a kid-friendly craft or activity that is sure to make a mess (but not a big one) and make you and your kids smile. This is a linky party, so come join the fun. This past Monday we made Melted Crayon Art and it was so fun!

Transform Tuesday is for before and afters. We bought our house 3 years ago and the last time it was decorated was the early 80’s. We had a LOT of work to do when we moved in! I love this day because I see how far we’ve come in making our house a home. This is also a linky party and any transformation is welcome. Here is my boys' bedroom. It is my favorite so far.

Wednesdays are for Whatever I want. Sometimes it is a craft, recipe, or tutorial. Sometimes I host giveaways for others, and sometimes I feature blogs or ideas that I have seen and really like. If you’re having a hard day and need a little pick-me-up, then stop by for Thoughtful Thursday, and if you need a really great recipe, then Foodie Friday is just for you!!

Now for the giveaways…

The first giveaway is over at Thrifty Décor Chick and is for a $50 gift card to anything in my Etsy store. You should definitely go there and enter.

So head on over to The Pumpkin Patch to win a great ad spot!

Life in the Pitts Winner

The winner for Life in the Pitts Ad Spot Givaway chosen by random.org is:

#6 Ana Paula@ Get Craftin said...


I'm a subscriber of Life in the Pitts newsletter!

Please contact me at bloggerchixdesigns@hotmail.com so I can connect you with you button sponsor.  Congradulations!

Scrappy Gifts Ad Spot Giveaway

About Scrappy Gifts
Love to scrapbook and need ideas? Check out my Scrappy Saturdays to get ideas or share your own.

Need to find time to scrapbook more? Join in on my Online Crops at my Blog Frog Community to get some of your scrapbook projects done. Prizes, Games and Challenges.

Need creative crafty gifts for family, friends, or for yourself? Don't have the time to make a crafty gift or to scrapbook? Let me help you! I specialize in making scrapbooks: everyday scrapbooks, calendar, baby and wedding scrapbooks , guest books, scrapbook layouts, and creative gifts: scrappy canvas, clocks, and boxes. I can make any of these gifts: you choose the colors and what you want. All you have to do is add your pictures cut to size or pay me to add your pictures for you. Check out my Already Made Items or see ideas for a Custom Order.

About Me: Maryanne
Here's a little bit more about me. I'm Maryanne Nelson, a wife to an aspiring illustrator and a stay at home mom to a one year old boy.

I've been scrapbooking since the beginning of 2005, and I have grown to love it! It provides a strong creative outlet for me and makes me feel like I belong in Relief Society (a Latter-Day Saint Organization for Women). Sometimes I even dream about the perfect scrapbook layout.

Along with scrapbooking, I enjoy blogging, reading, playing games, learning new crafts and baking. I want to learn how to cook more, grocery shop on a budget, and sew. Plus I love learning how to do it yourself to make your home beautiful and seeing how creative people are.

I have a degree in Elementary Education from Brigham Young University-Idaho in December 2007 thus teaching is in my blood.

This giveaway for Scrappy Gifts will be hosted at her blog.  Enter as many times as you can!  Grow your blog through fabulous free advertising!  And check out all her fun activities and great tutorials.

Mommies Blessings Winner!

And the winner of Mommies Blessings Ad Spot Giveaway chosen by Random Number Generator at random.org is..

#19  Lisa said...


I am following A Mommy's Blessings through Google Friend Connect.




Yay!  Please send us your e-mail and blog address to bloggerchixdesigns@hotmail.com within 48 hours so we can connect you with your ad spot sponsor!

Ok everyone, lets keep entering for more ad spots on giveaways to come!

Life in the Pitts - Ad Spot Giveaway!

Hi, my name is Helena, and I write Life in the Pitts.
(also known as The Dramatic Thoughts of a Sometimes Crafty Newlywed)

This past year I got engaged, got married, and moved across the country so my husband could start Dental School here in Pittsburgh. It was a big year. And I'm still recovering.

It took me a while to find a job (Mostly because the job market is tough. But also because I was lazy), and so I started blogging to fill my time. But then I discovered craft blogs. And became obsessed.

I host a weekly Creative Therapy session, where you can come and link up your projects. I love getting inspired by all of your crafty ideas!

But to be honest, my blog isn't a craft blog.

I write about my life, and my life includes crafts. But it also includes friends, family, and my adorable, but super frustrating, new husband.

It's about my life here in the Pitts.
MY GIVEAWAY SPECIFICATIONS
Size of ad spot: 150x150(px)
I will offer the winner ½ off for the next three months, following their free month of advertising!

Not Eligible: Anything not family friendly (hate, obscene, porn, etc)
Want to Enter?

1. Follow Life in the Pitts through Google Friend Connect.

2. Sign-up for Blogger Chix Designs eNewsletter .

Now You've Done That But Still Want More Entries?

3. Subscribe to Life in the Pitts Newsletter.
4. Post about the Giveaway.

Leave a separate comment for each entry here on this post.  This giveaway will end Wed. June 9, 2010 at 11:59 pm Mountain Standard Time.  Good luck!

Fire Up Your Giveaway!

In honor of the next couple of months and the fabulous blogs we will be featuring, I want to share some of the ways I discovered to promote your giveaway and your blog.

Unless your a blogger who gets thousands of hits a day with tons and tons of people referring to your blog and promoting your events at their own blog, sometimes it can be discouraging to have a giveaway.  You often have to work to get people to even enter!  I remember some of my first few dissapointing giveaways on other blogs.  I would wait and wait, checking my comments wondering why they were so few and far between...

I have since learned that everything evolves around work in the blogging world.  If you leave your future to chance or luck,  its more likely than not you will flop and fail.  The internet is so vast that for someone to stumble upon anything that isn't ranked 1st in a Google Search list is like 1 in 100,000,000,000,000 - (don't quote my possibly exaggerated numbers - its more like an example to make a point :-)  Sometimes you wonder, how many sites can there be out there?  Beyond our comprehensive imagination I believe.  Just in your native language alone, how many cooking sites are there?  Lots.  Lots and lots and lots.

So when your small and want exposure through a giveaway, don't despair.  There are ways to help yourself!

1. Link up to all the giveaway parties you can.

Moms By Heart has a huge list of parties here for everyday of the week to join.  Parties do some of the work advertising your giveaway for you.

Link up Moneysavingmom.com giveaway list, Tipjunkie.com listing and any safe listing you can find.

2. Start telling people.  Leave comments on blogs, send e-mails (when you have permission), and spread the word.  Post on your facebook and twitter about it. 

3. Remind often. Put a reminder right up where your visitors will see it everytime they visit.  It takes a lot of repeated exposure before people will actually develope an interest in what they are seeing.  Leave links and make it as easy for them to enter as possible.

Let's get going!  The amount of entries and exposure you get is directly related to the amount of effort you put in.  I didn't realize this at first, and just hoped that people would find me and enter.  It so doesn't work like that for most people; unless your really lucky or get a big break.  I was not lucky.  And it was dissapointing.  Then I developed a new attitude and outlook.  And I reaped the rewards.  You can too.  Don't wait for dissapointment - go and build success!

A Mommy's Blessings Ad Spot Giveaway! - Over

Hello! I am Holly, the writer of A Mommy's Blessings...a 29 year old, stay at home mama to 6 children, ages 7 and under!
Why do I blog, and how do I have the time? Well, technically I don't. But blogging is my outsource to connect and stay focused. And to find other mamas who understand, and help them along the way too!

'Cause ya know, my hubby is wonderful, but he can only understand my day so much. After sitting at a desk, he comes home to a frazzled wife, and can't quite get it. How can I be in the middle of picking up toys with a screaming baby on one hip who thinks he has been neglected because I set him down for 2 minutes, trying to tell the 4 year old to stop pretending to kill his brother with his sword, calming down the brother who is crying because the 4 year old is pretending to kill him and he thinks he is now truly dead, giving a towel to the 3 year old to clean up his mess from dipping his stuffed animal in his glass of water on the table that is set for dinner and then "painting" everything with it, all while the pasta is boiling over on the stove...and yet still manage to get dinner on the table within 5 minutes of him walking in the door? Nope, he just can't understand.

But other mommy's can relate!
A Mommy's Blessings is a place to curl up with a cup of coffee and peanut butter M&M's during nap-time, and unwind. It helps keep our sanity!

Here you will find I post daily (well, as regularly as a busy mama of 6 littles can), and have lots to share with you.
* Mommy Mondays (tips and tales from the frontline of motherhood)

* Wednesday Win-It (where you can link up your giveaways)

* Friday Fling (all about organizing and decluttering - 'cause I'm a neat freak)

* Recipes

* Menu Plans

* Frugal Freebies and Deals

* Simple Sundays

* Giveaways are almost always happening here!
Those are some of my favorite things, and so much more....like cloth diapering, baby wearing, homebirth and pregnancy, homeschooling, healthy eating and living, being a Christian wife and mother, homemaking, frugality, product reviews, how-to's, and the crazy antics of life in a family of eight! Lots of fun, quirky posts to help put a smile on your face..and frankly mine, because in my busy day, I need smiles! And, well, my children just don't understand my sense of humor.
********************************************************************
A Mommy's Blessings has a large audience of many mother's (and father's) of little ones. They would love to see other family centered blogs or businesses geared with them in mind!

That is why I am giving away one, high profile, 125x125 ad spot to one lucky winner! I will run this ad for your blog or business for one month, and then will gladly work out a sweet deal to continue advertising if so wanted.

Interested? Good! I want to help bring more traffic to your little corner on the web!

Here's how to enter:
* Follow A Mommy's Blessings through Google Friend Connect.

* Sign-up for the Blogger Chix Designs e-newsletter.
After doing those two steps, you still want more chances to win?

* Become a fan of A Mommy's Blessings on Facebook.

* Follow A Mommy's Blessings on Twitter.

* Grab A Mommy's Blessings button and add it to your blogroll.

* Grab Blogger Chix Designs button and add it to your blogroll.

* Write a blogpost about this giveaway.
Make sure and leave a comment after each entry, and don't forget to leave your email address to contact you if you win!  This giveaway will end on Monday, June 8th at 12:00am Mountain Standard Time.

Good luck to you all, and I look forward to seeing your ad on my blog!

BCD Renewed and Button Swap Moved

Hello!  After a week of review and assesment, I have reworked BCD and made some changes.  Blogging shouldn't stress you out, and if it is, like it was me, then its time to re-evaluate!

I've made some changes.  I'm focusing on my newsletter instead of stressing about my number of followers.  I'm transferring my button swap meme to a  more permanent spot, and decided that this blog is going to be more focused on its subject.  On blog marketing, growth, and teaching ways to possibly work from home.  I really only want to post quality content to give you solutions to problems you're having.  So, welcome to the renewal of Blogger Chix Designs!

For all my great participating Button Swappers, the new swap site I host is at Button Swap http://buttonswap.blogspot.com/

I'm Here!

I'm sorry, I'm making a lot of changes for this blog so I've been working on changes instead of posts.  Can't wait to tell you what I've learned as soon as I'm done which is very soon!

Button Swap & Grow Day 4

Great news button swappers.  I've decided to make a more permanent location for the button swap blog hop of sorts.  It will be so you can go and find people to swap buttons with and get free advertising at any time during the week.  I will be developing and finishing it soon.  I hope to have it done in a few days; especially before next Friday.  If you want to know as soon as its done, just sign up for my newletter if you haven't already and I'll send you an e-mail.  I will also announce it on my blog.

Things are going well so far.  I've opened up even another project (why can't I stop?) to work on.  This one is basically an auto-pilot project.  I just manage and promote it.  I had originally thought to just hire somebody to build it for me, but after scouting around, I decided I may not find anyone to do it and if I do I probably can't afford it.  So I whipped out the old html building and template searching whips (figuratively speaking of course) and went to work slaving away on it.  I had it done within an evening.  Building your own site is so much faster and cheaper.  There are lots of good free templates out there now to make it easy, too. 

I hope you all have been joining linky parties all week.  I have and have had more visits to my other blog everyday than I even get on this blog!  Crazy!  Linky parties work.  Check out Tools for Women's list of them.  Now for day four, time to take a look at your blog's layout and design.  If its not working for you, maybe you should consider searching for free templates (Lee Lou Blogs has some great ones) or finding a custom designer.  Depends on what your looking for.  I usually either design my own for now or go with a really good free design.  I love A Blog to Brag About's free customizable templates.  I may change this blog to one of those at some point in time.  We'll see.  You can also check out this list of freebies and designers by Butterfly Girls.  I can't think of a reason that you would have to suffer with a blog design that you don't like.  There are so many options out there that its hard not to find something that is at least tolerable :-)  Good luck.

Grow Your New Blog Day 3

Day three - time to look at your blog's topic.  What niche is right for you and will be most profitable?  I recently found a great program that walks you through finding which information that you already know is going to be best for your blog (a blog is an information product by the way) or even an e-book.  It includes a blueprint worksheet to help you discover your best topic.  Of course all of this is free and reputable.  The author has plenty of resources already which is why he can offer it for free.  Its how he grows his own business.  But believe me, this is good stuff.

I went through a lot of topics before I finally found one that was right for me.  It was hard to get to that point.  There weren't any really good guides on how to do this at that time.  Mostly just trial and error.  It can be frustrating and dissapointing.  Help is good.  I've learned to not procrastinate on taking good advice from experts I trust.  Do I still do it?  Sometimes because I'm not always sure how to apply concepts to my own adventures.  But I'm learning the hard way, time delayed is potential growth delayed.  I think I'm going to make a new resolution to take good advice and put it to use.  Did this come from watching the Guru Video?  No, it actually came while reading one of my other favorite sites Entreprenuers Journey.  But it lead me to share my newly found information goldmine with you in hopes that it will help you grow your blog.  You can check out Guru Mastermind Blueprint here.

Grow Your New Blog Day 2

Alright, Day 2 of Growing A New Blog.  Today I did something that I haven't ever done before, but know will make a big difference.  I bought a domain.  Yes, me... I did it.  I have always put this off till I'm too far down the road and don't want to take the chance of messing things up.  Good thing I did it early too, because all my reader's comments dissapeard!  What?...  I was so sad, I loved those comments.  Hopefully they will come back after the domain finishes registering.  Note* Don't buy a domain while having a giveaway dependent on comments!

Setting up the domain was easy.  Its under Settings-Publish-Custom Domain.  All the advice I've read and been given somehow at some point usually encourages bloggers to lose the .blogspot.com and switch to just .com or something.  It helps with building a reader friendly blog that they can easily remember and makes your blog just easier to find during searches in general.  You can see what a tight-wad I am, talking about buying a domain, when I haven't even bought one for my Blogger Chix Designs blog.  I want to but I also want to change the name to something more relative to my current blogging subject but haven't decided yet.  We'll see I guess.

The next step I took was setting up my Chic Chick Media Ad and Widget.  I've had great success with this advertising program and didn't want to waste any time setting it up. 

These are two big steps for me to take so early in a blog's developement.  I usually waste time putting it off waiting for...I don't know what.  Maybe to see how things will go or something like that.  It depends on how you feel about your blog I guess. 

I plan on continuing linking up to all the blog parties throughout the week.  So far so good.

Now, time for Talk About It Tuesday!  What are you up to? (Family Friendly Please, Thanks :-)

Growing Your New Blog

Ok, so to further teach, I've decided to "grow" my new baby blog the right way, and take you along for the ride.  Like I said last week, I've found a secondary niche as a new outlet for me on top of this one.  Because I've become so interested in living on less and saving with homemade, I started my new blog and it is now a week old.  So far I've

Built my Grab Me Button
and
Set up my e-mail newsletter sign-up using Mad Mimi

(you'll notice both this blog and my Living On Homemade blog have e-mail only entry forms - I decided people may be more comfortable, the less info they need to provide - why do some company's need so much info anyway, besides to send flyers to my mailbox?)

I believe those two things are so important that I did them in the first week of my blog's life.  I have a list of things I will be doing this week and will show you how to set yourself up for success.  I haven't even done all these things with this blog - kind of backwards, I know.  But I decided that the new blog needs my current funds so I can set it up right.

After its completely set up, its success or not will likely depend on two things: whether I've found the right niche for me to write quality content, and whether or not I can reach the people who would be interested in my topic as well.  This is a huge factor.  I can do everything right, but if I can't come full circle with content and readers, it will be futile.  So, today I'm off to the huge Monday Link Up Party Listing at Tools For Women to link up some of my Living on Homemade blogposts on sites that my have my future readers.  I'll be doing this all week as well.  Let's get started on growing our blogs!

Button Swap Blog Hop #3

Today is the 3rd weekly Button Swap Blog Hop!  Where bloggers can get to gether and swap buttons to help promote and support each other. 


Here at Blogger Chix Designs I encourage bloggers to be proactive and involved in growing their blogs.  Swapping buttons with other bloggers is going to get your name out there so new readers can find you which will increase your traffic.  So whip those buttons out and get ready to swap till you drop :-).

Guidelines:

1. Grab the Blogger Chix Designs button and put it on your blog/blog roll (first link on the list).  Leave me a comment while you're there and I'll grab your button and add it to my blog roll too!

2. Add the blog hop list (instructions below list) to your Button Swap Blog Hop post on your blog.  Be sure to include the guidelines so all the buttons you swap with others will be returned by them grabbing yours as well. *Be sure to include your button's copy code in you Swap Post.

3. Link your blog post up to the blog hop.  (You only need to link up once and it will show up on all the hop lists on all the blogs participating).

4. Then start visiting the other participants!  Grab their button and add it to your blog sidebar or blog roll, and leave them a comment telling them your visiting from the BSBH party!  Be sure to return the favor to anyone visiting you.

*Tip for having lots of buttons swap success - don't wait for others to come to you, go to them first!*

My buttons:



Copy and paste the html code below. <a href="http://bloggerchixdesigns.blogspot.com"><img width="125" alt="Blogger Chix Designs" src="http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac142/pocketbookpearls/Buttons/5cc79175.jpg" height="125" /></a>

  or


Copy and paste the html code below. <a href="http://bloggerchixdesigns.blogspot.com"><img width="125" alt="Blogger Chix Designs" src="http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac142/pocketbookpearls/Buttons/894f7c37.jpg" height="125" /></a>

I Found Julie's Blog

You know your a geek when you watch Julie and Julia and at the end you just really want to see her actual blog.  Granted I watched it a while ago and just barely got around to searching for it via swagbucks (I love swagbucks), but it was really interesting.

If you haven't watched the movie, its about an average woman who decides to cook through Julia Child's French Cooking cookbook, blogging about it the whole way and it changes her life.  The blog turns into a book and a movie.  Isn't that something?  Can you imagine all that coming from just your little blog?  Why was her's special, you wonder, and what's the difference with yours?

I think the biggest factor that gave Julie an edge was she set a crazy goal.  Cooking through the whole cookbook in one year?  Fans loved not only her writing but where anxious to see if she would actually make it.  I think its the same with Stepanie's A Year of Slowcooking.  Stephanie's blog turned into a book too.  There's just something special about setting goals for yourself.  We're not talking easy-peasy ones, these goals were challenging.  Now, I'm not saying that if you set a challenging goal you're going to get published or made into a movie; I'm suggesting that goals are hugely successful tools for motivating yourself.  It makes you more accountable than just a thought or an idea.  If I found a blog that had an author with a challenging goal they were trying to meet, I think I would become a consistant reader too.  I absolutely eat it up.  I love people with goals, values, and standards.  They're an inspiration to me, and you know you can count on the majority of them to hold true to themselves.  To me, that's a big deal.

I think I began pondering this subject while I was working on a goal I could have for my other blog Living On Homemade.  I have been so almost obsessed with the idea of becoming more self-sufficient that I just had to start a blog about it to share my experiences. 

So I encourage you to perhaps set some goals you can share with your readers.  It will give them a purpose to check in on you and will hopefully lead to returning readers.

Bloggy Conferences for Us Stuck @ Home.

Talk About It Tuesday.

There are so many blogging conferences going on. I really want to go! The thing about all of these though, is that you basically have to go on your summer vacation to get to one. Take off time from work, possibly leave your family alone for a few days, buy tickets for travel, the conference, hotels, eating out and so many expenses. Oy. I'm just not going to make it. Why do they all have to be on-location only? Isn't the reason we all love blogging is because we can connect with so many other people on the web?

I think I'm just going to plan my own bloggy conference. One that all those stuck "at home" (can't leave daily life) like me can go to. We won't have to make it such a huge expensive event that you go broke. And you can participate right from home. We'll get in on the party too!

So, I'm open to any suggestions you may have.

• What classes you would like to have.
• Things you would like to learn.
• People you would like to meet.
• Reasonable Prices (to cover everything).
• Anything else you want to add.

This all started from the growing envy I was trying to avoid while reading about all the things the other conferences were having.  I would almost start to drool it sounded like so much fun and learning.  I don't like being left out because of one thing or another, so I just make my own plans and fun.  And I totally want to invite you!  So let's get planning!