Blog Update - 9 Months In

Today's post is just a "what's up with me" post.

My blogging and social media world is going pretty well right now.  I feel like I have some "regular" readers (besides my family), my Twitter following is growing well (almost 1000 followers!), and I'm getting some more likes on my Facebook page.  This is all very exciting for me.

I've had lots of interest in my book review side of this "business."  So much, in fact, that I'm starting to feel a little pressure there.  And right now I'm reading a book that I'm having trouble with.  I can't get into this book and I really don't want to have to write a negative review.  I'm so not a negative person!  I can only hope that setting aside some time this afternoon to really give this book my full attention will help me enjoy it better...

And on the topic of book reviews, I've been approached by a website which wants to list me as a "reviewer resource" for his authors.  I was asked how much I charge for a review, so I had to come up with something appropriate.  I was actually glad to give a dollar figure as this is getting quite time consuming.  Once (if?) this gets up and running I'm going to have to start paying attention to this blogging stuff as an income source. (Which is what I was hoping would happen from the get-go!)

Something else of interest (I hope!) that happened to me in relation to my blog: My dance teacher asked me if I'd blog for them!  I said "Get me the details!" so now I'm waiting to hear what exactly they want.  I also sent an email to ask if I'm volunteering this service (which is likely, and totally fine with me) or if I could blog in trade for some free dance classes.  The blog will be either at the Kingston School of Dance website or the Tett Centre's website - or maybe both.  Stay tuned to find out how this plays out!

I've joined an influencer website and I'm finally seeing the potential as far as being able to review items.  I've gotten a few email links to follow and answer some questions about whether they'd like me try out items (sent to me at no charge) and then review them.  Similar to what I'm doing with the book reviews.  The last email I got sent me to a questionnaire about hair dye and whether I'd be willing to try out some hair colour and review it.  I said sure!  My hair colour from October could use some sprucing up.  I may have to join up with Instragram to share my photos of such experiments, but I'll deal with that later if I have to.

If anyone reading this is interested in helping me get further along with doing reviews or anything else that fits my "niche" my email is iamjess@gmail.com and I'm open to collaborating with or for any brands, other bloggers or similar.  I like to think I'm pretty friendly and flexible, and I try to check that email at least twice a day so I can stay on top of all my blog-related things!

Thanks for reading today's update.  I want this blog to stay as transparent as possible.  If there's anything you'd like to know about what I do (or don't do) please leave a comment or send an email.  And if you have a line on another influencer site or brand or anything I can join up with to further my blog "business" you can leave that in a comment as well.

Until next time!
~Jess

I'm A Book Reviewer Now - Do I Have Time For It?

I feel like I've gotten myself into a bit of a conundrum.  I don't know if you, my faithful readers, remember a post I created a few months ago about "What's my brand?" (you can click and it'll take you to the post), but I basically said I didn't want to pick a brand because I just post about whatever I feel like.  And then I went on about how much other stuff goes on in the blogging world.

Well since then I haven't done anything about a "Brand" and I've continued to post whatever I want whenever I want.  So I stuck to my guns there.

But what I did do was express more of an interest in reading and doing book reviews.  I even put my name in a database of sorts so people can contact me to read their book.  All well intentioned, but now I have 6 books coming my way (in the mail, I don't like e-reading) and I hope they are all pretty good because I often find it hard to stumble through a book I'm not really into.

Luckily I made a claim that I sometimes am a slow reader (relative to pre-kids and husband) and they can't really pressure me to get things read super quickly.  In fact everyone that has approached me has actually stated in their emails that as long as I do read them and create some sort of review there really isn't a timeline attached.  I'm very grateful that people can be quite understanding.

I love the idea of getting new books (for free!) and especially that some of them are not available to purchase yet, and some the authors will sign their books for me as keepsakes.  And I like the flexibility of reading on my own time and creating a review without so much pressure.  But I'm going to have to start scheduling and replying to these people with something like "I have 6 books ahead of yours, I would love to read yours too but it will be a month before I can even start it."

Here's an oxymoron for ya: I don't want my blogging to be a business, but I would still like to make money and/or get these free things to review.  All I mean by that is I can't take away from my family time with blog-related stuff (especially if there's no payment involved!)  If this interest in my reviewing continues I will eventually have to say no.  Or at least "Not right now."

Today I am excited knowing that 6 books (4 are a set) are on their way to me.  Although I do have about 20 books already in my house that I've borrowed or been given to read, that just makes me feel like I'll have to instate "Mom's Reading Time" in which I get 30 minutes uninterrupted.  Ya, right - like that will happen!

If you're reading this and you have a book you'd like to send (or a product to review), drop me a line at iamjess@gmail.com and I will reply.  I may tell you I need 30 days before I can even look at it, but we can be candid with each other, right?  I'm always grateful for people who give me these opportunities!

~Jess

What Is My Brand? - How A Modern Mom Blogs

I started blogging because I like to write.  I'm not creative enough to compose a story, but writing about everyday things is easy for me.  I used to use LiveJournal (back in my University days...) and I had a little community there of friends, mostly from the Wide Mouth Mason fan sites, and I loved it!

Now that I have kids, and a husband, and I juggle work and home lives I thought I could easily write a blog.  I was right on that.  Subject matter abounds, whether anyone wants to read about it or not.

Turns out there are a TON of things I didn't know about blogging:

• I didn't realize you could make money from blogging.
• I didn't know you needed a "Brand"
• I didn't know you had to be on every form of social media
• I didn't know you could get stuff for free if you wanted to write about it
• I didn't know you needed more followers than God to qualify for some "sponsored posts"
• And I definitely didn't know it would totally take over my life at some points

I've read more about blogging in the past 6 months that I have read about anything since I was at school.  Sadly, I still don't "get" most of it.

I've joined Twitter - that's going okay except I've followed so many people now there's no way I can keep up with (or even focus on) all the tweets.  I have not gotten onto Pinterest or Instagram - I can barely keep up with Twitter and Facebook. (aside: I love that the spellcheck does not know either the word Pinterest or Instagram.  Makes me think the world has not gone as digital as I've thought!)

And this "Brand" business - what is that even?  I mean I get it, if you're an author, or a crafter, or a parenting magazine.  But why do I, the average mom blogger, need a "Brand"?  My brand is just me writing about stuff that I do, or my kids do, that's interesting - or maybe some drama that's happened in our lives that I want to share.  I see so many posts and sites about having a "brand."  Do I need one?  Does it help define me in some way?  I don't really get it.

I would so love to make money from my blog.  I do not have nearly enough readers to allow me to qualify for anything really interesting - and I refuse to belong to every possible social site just for promotion's sake.  I also can't fill my blog with ads - I want people to read my material, not navigate around ads!

I have done a book review, where I got the book for free.  That was cool because I love reading.  I'm getting another book (this time a children's book) for free and I will write a review for that as well.  I've applied for a few other things to review, but it doesn't usually work out since I don't have a lot of "unique pageviews" for my blog.  Some sites and companies want you to have over 1500 unique pageviews - say what?  That's unattainable for me right now.

I was super excited to see my ballet teacher share my last post about my adult ballet lessons.  Sure, my hubby sent the link to him to read, but still - someone new reading (and sharing!) my stuff!  Excitement!

I'm trying very hard to not be bogged down by all the "shoulds" of blogging.  I want to share my events, thoughts, feelings, milestones, and interesting tidbits with people who appreciate them.  If I get free stuff, or make $2 that's just a bonus.  I don't want to obsess about "unique pageviews" or Twitter followers, or whether I qualify for any specific reviews, sponsored posts, or anything else.

Friends, I hope you appreciate my candour - I will always be sure to tell you if my posts are sponsored in any way.  And let me know if there's anything you'd like me to post about.  Or if there's posts you didn't care for and don't want to see more about.  A blog is only as good as it's readers!

Making Time To Blog Is Hard - I Need Help!

When do you blog?  I was going great gangbusters when I started this blog (in the spring and early summer) but now that we're back to school and other life is happening I don't feel like I have time!

Currently I've spent a lot of time increasing my Twitter followers (and following) and trying to share my FB page with more folks.  I've been checking my affiliate sites, reading other blogs, and also trying to have a home life.  All that seems to have eaten into my blogging time.

Also we just had Thanksgiving, so that ate up an entire (long) weekend.  Don't get me wrong, it was a delicious, beautiful, family-type weekend, but it didn't leave me much quiet time.

I know scheduling is key when trying to build up a blog.  The problem I'm having is one part writers block and one part hoping to have time to me - and just to me, not blogging, gardening, cooking, laundry doing, working etc.  Those moments are hard to find.

My schedule currently involves working 4 eight-hour days, with one day off for me to get stuff done.  This week I have appointments on my day off, and I need to get stuff together for my daughter's Halloween party next weekend, as well as my foray into a live Rocky Horror Picture Show performance - think costumes, hair, props, the works!  And I'd like to get groceries and do laundry - regular mom stuff.

So then there's evenings after work.  I get home (at 5:30 or 6:30 depending on the shift) and either make, or just eat, dinner.  Try to get Emma to do homework before Rose has to go to bed (at 7:00) and then get Emma to bed by 8.  All that is often accomplished by 8:30 and then it's "my time."  So I clean up dinner, do dishwasher stuff, start or switch laundry, and sweep the dinner mess off the floor, if I didn't get that done before bedtime starts.  Some nights I also clean up toys and then, if I'm lucky, I sit down.  Hubby will have the tv on but I'm only good for maybe an hour before I fall asleep on the couch.

I try, often, to blog while the tv is on.  Some nights it works, some nights it really does not.  Depends on what's on, or how tired I am.  I'm one of those people that needs 8 hours of sleep almost every night to be functional the next day.  Yes, the newborn and baby years were hell-on-earth for me.  Luckily my sleeps are much less disturbed these days, so I can pull a few later nights if I have to.  But when I'm tired I can't form coherent thoughts, let alone interesting blog posts!

Tonight I've been crafting this post while the girls eat dinner - I've had an upset tummy all day, so no loss to me if I'm not eating with them - and now they're watching some tv and looking through the costume bin and Halloween decorations.  By the time I'm done here I figure I will have been "writing" for 45 minutes.  And really, what have I written about?  Mostly nothing.  No deep thoughts or well-researched articles.  Just fluff about how I don't have time to post anything!

So share with me your schedules, or routines.  How do you blog (and promote!), as well as do affiliate stuff and keep up with other blogs - and be moms or dads, husbands or wives, or any other functioning members of society?  Maybe with the cooler weather creeping in I may have less desire to be outside, or be doing anything else, frankly.

Really I'm just desperately curious to hear how fellow bloggers manage it all.  I really thought I'd just be writing stuff, I did not realize so much came with blogging (if you want people to actually read your stuff!)

Using Your Blog To Help Others - And Sometimes Get Free Stuff!

So I'm branching out.  I've been selected through bloggersrequired.com to review a book.  The author has contacted me directly and I'm very excited to be able to read this book (for free!) and then talk about it.

I won't receive any direct compensation for this, but I feel I'm finally starting to figure out different ways to reach out in the blogging communities and help others.  My blog following is not nearly large enough for some of the "money making" sites and companies, but I feel quite lucky to have this opportunity.

The author I'm reviewing is Dane Cobain and his book is called No Rest For The Wicked.  I know, it sounds good already, right?  He told me he was hoping to get the book in the mail yesterday, but it may not be until Monday.  I assured him I'd put aside whatever I'm reading when it gets here and start right away.  I also warned him that sometimes I just can't read.  Life is busy and this week the kids go back to school, so there's that extra layer of things to do that I am out of practice with!

If there's anyone out there, dear readers, who has other connections to opportunities for product reviews or other interesting things, please let me know!  I'm happy to tailor posts that are still my own to include mentions of things that I like, can use, or are enjoyable for me and the family.

This was a short post tonight, but I'm formulating a post for my other blog (2 Talented Daughters) about the modelling opportunity they - my 2 cutie girls - both took part in at the end of last week.  I've got photos to sort through before I can illustrate a good post!  Please be patient with me, I've got some stuff on my plate this weekend at home.

Thanks for any suggestions blogger friends, and I'll be back soon!

Blogging Needs Social Media...

...or at least it does if you want people besides your mom and best friend to read it.

I started blogging to just talk about my days.  And my family.  And whatever cool thing we did/are doing/or might be interesting.  Then I started reading about blogging.  About how to increase your readership, and how to make money.

What I was just enjoying doing suddenly had so much potential.  I could be read by people all over the world!  And I could make money while they're reading stuff!  So I delved further into the world of bloggers, affiliate links, sponsored posts, Google Analytics, and how to share everything that no one wants to read everywhere online.

I was quickly overwhelmed by all the things you can join for "monetizing" your blog.  I joined some, and put some ads up, and absolutely nothing happened.  I've since un-joined some programs, as if I'm not doing anything useful on a bunch of "make money" sites, I can make just as little if I'm only on a few.  Also I'm deathly afraid of cluttering up my words with a bunch of ads - I don't want to do that to my readers.

So then I looked into sponsored posts.  That's where someone gives you money, or free product, and then you blog about their stuff.  But I've discovered you don't just need to blog about it, you also need to Tweet about it, and pin it on Pinterest, and share pics of it on Instagram, as well as post a post on Facebook.  That seems like overkill to me.  I'd happily get some free product and then talk about it on my blog, or maybe on Facebook, but I'm not doing it on every platform available.  So none of that is panning out either.

I love blogging.  Putting my thoughts down, sharing my life experiences, hoping others can identify with my life in some aspect, it makes me feel good (and sometimes creative).  If I could find a way to make money doing this, that would be super-awesome-cool, but that's not my ultimate goal.  And I'm trying hard not to waste my time looking into all these money-making schemes, since it's not realistic to think that the 300 reads I get a month is really more than 10 people looking at my blog every day.  I'll leave up some of my click-through ads like Indigo and Amazon - people actually go to those sites - but I'm going to stop checking my sponsored posts sites I now belong to as often, since I know there won't often be things I'd like to talk about, and I don't belong to enough social media to even meet some of the requirements.

Twitter I am still exploring and trying to work out.  You can follow me there @modernmomslife.  I can see it's potential for reaching lots of people and sharing things quickly - but I'm still finding it hard sometimes to limit myself to 140 characters.  I need to find a link shortener so my blog links aren't so long.  Any suggestions?

I've been on Google+ for a while now.  Find me there.  I mostly only use G+ for sharing my posts and reading other people's.  It's well integrated with Gmail and the Blogger platform that it was a natural first place for me to start sharing posts.

I have a Facebook page here.  I share my posts and other relevant posts from mom bloggers (or whomever I find interesting).  I have a higher interaction rate with FB as I check my personal account often throughout the day.

And that's about it - I haven't joined Pinterest or Instagram as I feel like I waste enough of my life online as it is.  I don't know if I can handle more!  I need to be free to just be with my hubby and kids, and I work 30+ hours a week as well.

Comment below with your Twitter handles, Facebook pages or G+ pages.  I'm always looking for like-minded people to connect with!

Toodles!