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Yep – I’m a Joiner!
Wii Fit Plus with Board & Fitness Ultimatum 2010 Giveaway
Sports Authority and I are giving away a Wii Fit Plus (with Board) and a copy of Jillian Michaels’ Fitness Ultimatum 2010.
Come on over to MommyBlog Reviews and enter the contest running through November 23 @ 9am CST. More details including date and location of personal appearance are available on the site.
Good Luck!
Why I Love Documentaries
It was a weird morning. One of those mornings that make you realize how different and how alike you are to your spouse all at the same time.
He looked over at me from his laptop and said something about Michael Jackson – some post-mortem update.
I looked at him and asked him to watch a clip from a documentary I was watching on the actors that dress up and walk up and down Hollywood Boulevard. (If you’re curious, it’s called Confessions of a Superhero and it’s awesome and available on Hulu!)
My husband is interested in “big” things. I think this is fairly normal. Interested (not obsessed, thank goodness) in world affairs and news and the things that people are talking and writing about. Things you can flip on the news channel and see – and hear – pundits talking about and judging and reporters looking for even more information on.
I like documentaries. Especially about people.
Watching the lives of people I don’t know and learning about lifestyles I would never know existed if a filmmaker had not thought, “Hey, people should know about these people.”
I love individual stories, individual lives, and the chance to look at the world through someone else’s eyes.
It helps me feel connected to humanity, and makes me feel like I can understand people in general more deeply for having understood just a few more individuals.
Image Source: julosstock via sxc.hu
Why Not Having A BlogHer Sponsor Is Okay
This will be my first time at BlogHer (let the virgin jokes commence!)
I hear there are parties, swag, and sponsors everywhere.
Over the past few months I’ve suggested people to companies as well as suggested to companies how many people or what kinds of events to sponsor with those magical marketing dollars.
Because it’s starting to look like everyone wants a sponsor.
Most of the people that are looking for a sponsor (not all, not you, just most people…don’t get defensive, now) can’t afford to go without one. I don’t know why companies aren’t looking at that and thinking, “Oh, hey, that’s a problem.”
I mean, when someone is hiring for a job they look at the resume and if they see you’ve never had a job before they inevitably say, you need experience, we need references…calls have to be made to see if you know what you’re doing…
But not with blogging. If you’re a Walmart Mom it’s assumed you are a successful social media blogger. If you have been sponsored once, you’re considered a horse worth betting on.
I guess I just don’t understand what the criteria are for sponsorships. Other than having a pretty blog with commenters and contests.
Maybe I’m just a little burned out right now – being tired makes me pessimistic.
That, and I’m hoping my days at BlogHer aren’t filled with people telling me about their sponsor instead of about themselves. I’m looking at this as a social event (which is why I’m not going to Business BlogHer) and hope it manages to be a social event even with all the sponsorships.
You know, I’m sure it will be. But it will be like trying to have a conversation in the middle of Akihabara in Tokyo. Very ad-heavy.
So I’m okay not having a sponsor. Mostly because I never looked for one and did not want one. I want to be able to go to this conference and enjoy myself, not be thinking about the ROI I can provide for my sponsor so they’ll keep working with me.
Of course, I don’t know if the sponsored individuals think about the ROI of what they are doing, so maybe I just shouldn’t have a sponsor because I wouldn’t be able to have a good time without constantly worrying about my performance and what the execs would think of my choices and approach.
It’s entirely possible I ruin things by overthinking them.
You know who has the right idea? Jessica Gottlieb. Really, she does. It would still ruin the fun for me, but she’s not seeing it as a vacation – she sees it as part of her work – I have to respect that. Even while I wonder how she doesn’t get burned out. Amy Lupold Bair (aka Resourceful Mommy) also makes me TIRED just watching her work her tail feathers off.
So, if you see me at BlogHer – I look forward to meeting you, hugging you, and talking to you. But trading sponsorship stories? Sorry…I just won’t have one to share. Maybe we can break the ice by asking what our majors were in college….or stories about getting to the event….or anything else.
If you are sponsored, it will be a nice break for you from everyone else asking you how much you’re being paid and what you had to do to score your sponsorship. So hey, I could be like the ad-free zone at BlogHer….I like the sound of that…
Image Source: realbasic
Stop Kissing My Butt (aka Open Letter to Companies on New Media and Blogging)
Seriously.
It makes me kind of queasy when I see people throwing around power of bloggers, the new PR, blah blah blah.
Bloggers saying bloggers are powerful is the most worthless statement in the world. It’s like people named Jen all declaring that people named Jen are the smartest. Yes there are a lot of us and we all have a voice, but if we all banded together and banned your company’s product from our homes…you wouldn’t go out of business.
But back to my point…
From business-minded listening (I guess when you don’t call it customer service you get paid more than $12/hr.) to new media PR – this is all the same old stuff with a new bow.
And companies are paying through the nose for it.
- Motrin pulling their ad? Stupid move.
- Dr. Pepper responding to Guns N’ Roses angry mail? What a joke!
- Burger King bowing down to protesters because bloggers are saying they are commercializing rural areas? Come the hell on.
The reason companies freak out when bloggers complain is because we are smart, we are early adopters, and people listen to us.
The same people listen that blog. Other than some coverage on CNN and a few other channels, plus a Good Morning America interview here and there as well as some other morning shows it is a closed loop.
Walmart shoppers that go to buy Motrin? How many of THEM read blogs? Hell, how many wear their babies? They’re too busy working two jobs and worrying about not losing the house or farm or whatever.
Catering to web dilettantes because you think they control the world – unless they are your primary/core demographic – is wasting money and time and is utter stupidity.
Yes, bloggers are important and can bring notoriety and presence to a company’s brand. Heck yes they can! But if you make them mad, apologizing will only make them feel more superior and angry…it won’t make them loyal to your brand when they were mad…because most bloggers are grudge holders. It’s part of the demographic that spends more time sharing their thoughts and lives with a monitor and keyboard than in a large group in a restaurant on a Friday night.
I’m not saying the companies above should have done nothing, but kissing ass is not going to get them anywhere. Equal and opposite reaction, but from a different angle entirely, could have strengthened the brand while not bowing down to the demands of a petty and elitist mob.
Then companies could spend their money selling things to the other gajillion people that aren’t reading and writing blogs.
Throwing everything you have into emerging technology when you don’t understand where it’s going is like being a venture capitalist investing in laser discs. If you don’t know what those are…well…that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?
There is absolute and measurable value in having a social networking and media presence for companies. But if your company is going online, don’t be a fool and get into an ass kissing contest with your fellow companies because small segments of the blogosphere decide they don’t want to play ball with you and talk smack about your company to everyone they know.
You could still run your company and make oodles of money if every blogger on earth stopped buying or using your product.
Unless you’re the owner of Typepad or Wordpress. Then you’d be way screwed.
Gap Casting Call (free stuff link inside)
I’ve been looking for an excuse to take my kids downtown for the first time.
We’re going to the Third Annual Gap Casting Call. Because then I go downtown, do some interviews, host a giveaway, AND get professional pictures of the kids for future use. Beat that with a stick.
After you’re done beating with said stick, visit MommyBlog Reviews to learn more about the Gap casting call and enter the MommyBlog Reviews Gap giveaway. It’s a good one. You don’t actually have to go to a location to enter, either. It’s open to everyone with kids 10 and under. Even baby-babies are eligible.
Even if you don’t wear Gap clothing, you can put your kids in some free gear instead if you’re so inclined. Wondering what I’m talking about? Click the link up there and see what I’m giving away!
Sinus Headaches and Giving it Away for Free
Whatever pressure system is going through my area is giving me a sinus headache. One of those headaches where you kind of wish your head would explode because it would be such a relief.
I’ve been writing and talking to people in the blogosphere to get more information on financial writing. It always makes me feel so backward and weird when I hear others talking about having problems with the marketing but they have no problem finding the outlets.
I’m like a big gun waiting to fire but I don’t have a target.
So, when that happens, I just start marketing and figure the outlets will come later.
This time I’m starting in a place where I don’t know anyone already. Okay, Fussypants is an acquaintence…of sorts…on Twitter, but I don’t know her like I know, say, eMom. Which isn’t much better, but I’ve at least met Wendy in person, so that counts for a step up on the social ladder.
But I do know that Fussy is smart, and she went through some drama a while back and I thought she handled it very well, so I have respect for her in that, “Ooh, I saw your drama get aired in public” kind of way.
So I’ve been wanting to write more about finances without turning this blog into finance central all the time, plus I kind dig Fussy…One plus one equals two, right?
I’m the newest contributor for Financial Bliss (over at Blissfully Domestic) which, I hear, got changed last night to Frugal Bliss. If I had a vote (I totally didn’t) I would have named the section Blissful Wealth. But, you know, that’s just me.
I even get a cute little badge to show off my membership and contribution to the new clique.
Now that I put it in the post, it’s not really a little badge, huh? Oh well, it will look good hanging out in the sidebar with all my other “Flair” – are there 22 pieces yet? Do you all remember Office Space well enough that the flair joke is even funny?
Ok, I’m going to crawl back into my sinus headache. You can click here to read the first post I wrote for Financial Bliss (now Frugal Bliss should be Blissful Wealth or at least Wealthy Bliss but, again, I’m a brand new contributor and have no right to do anything but provide good content and snuggle my graphic.)
Hope you enjoy the site. As far as group sites like that go, it’s one of the nicest I’ve seen. Great branding too, which makes me feel good about writing for free and putting it in my portfolio so people can see the body of financial writing I’m attempting to create.
The first post that is going up is on current events, but we’ll be talking a lot about investing with small amounts of money to start building a portfolio even if you aren’t moneybags. Because, yeah, the stock market is not just for the rich or stupid. It’s for anyone that is looking for the path that leads to true wealth. That little place at the end of The Game of Life (by Parker Brothers, right?) where you want to get your little pink care with the little pegs.
How to Start and End Your Day Happily in the Negative
Here’s the weird thing about a ShareBuilder account with ING.
When you buy the stocks, you buy them at the price they are when you buy them. Common sense, right? But the prices of stocks fluctuate overnight. When I bought my Lehman Bros last night it was at $.13 and Fannie Mae was at $1.78. So my bank account was charged a grand total of $277 because of what the pricing was when I placed the order.
When the actual Buy Order went through this morning it went like this:
Lehman Bros – $.25 x 100 Shares + 14.95 comission = $39.95
Fannie Mae – $2.01 x 100 Shares + 14.95 comission = $215.95
For a total of $255.90
But since I’d only agreed to pay a total of $227 for both of the stocks, I started the day with a negative account balance. The difference between the opening prices and the prices when I made the order. A difference of $28.90.
So when I first logged in this morning and saw that my account was -$9.90 I felt pretty good about it. I’d already made back much of my loss.
There was a way around it
I could have found a way to trade on another market to buy the stocks. Australia is getting up while we are going to bed. It is possible I could have purchased the stocks through the Australian stock market (I don’t know if one even exists, just so you know, this is only for the sake of example.) That would have assured my purchases would have happened at the prices I wanted to the penny.
I haven’t started researching overseas trade, but I imagine it costs a little more to execute than the $9.95 it costs with ShareBuilder from ING. Even if I wanted to do a phone trade with ING it would cost $29.95! I’m happy sticking with the Internet.
Where I ended up when the market closed
When all was said and done at the close of the market (4:30pm CST) I was down in my ShareBuilder account by $29.90. While you could look at that and say, “Wow. Don’t you feel all freaked out being in the negative on an account?” I don’t.
Because I started out at negative $28.90 and ended at negative $29.90. I lost a dollar today.
Considering the bailout plan got shaky during the last hour of trading I’m surprised I’m not down a whole lot more. When Twitter reports were coming through that they had made a bailout deal before McCain could even get himself to Washington, DC everything spiked (as expected) and at my highest point today there was a whole $49.60 in the account. Not negative, either. A positive balance of almost fifty dollars. (Had I cashed out it would have meant I made $78.50 – the combo of covering the negative I started the day with plus the profit at the peak of the day.)
I don’t generally think in terms of how much I made when I wasn’t even planning on selling, I just want to make sure I’m being clear how I can be happy ending my day in the negative.
That and you and I both know I didn’t buy these stocks to sell them today. I bought them this morning JUST IN CASE the bailout somehow went through today. Lehman closed at .33 cents today when I bought it at .25. Fannie Mae closed at 1.97 when I bought it at $2.01. The slight differences between opening and closing prices (basically my stocks for all intents and purposes are almost exactly where they were when the market opened) when the overall Dow Jones closed UP 196 points tells me the market and everyone in it are probably going to stay about the same until something happens.
Like, oh…I don’t know….a bailout perhaps?
How I want to play this
That means my job is to wait. Wait for news that will make a difference in how these stocks act. Something that will make people feel one way or the other about them.
For now they are just kind of sitting. Flucutating a little based on the day’s news and any whisper coming out of those bailout meetings. But that won’t make the big difference.
I don’t really expect to even consider getting rid of these stocks until Monday.
Until then I plan on watching the Fox Business Channel. The mix of Dave Ramsey on one end of the spectrum and Jim Cramer on the other helps me stay focused on where I want to be.
Stuck in the middle with you. Of course.
Freelance Writing Jobs Radio Show
If you’re a writer and looking for a radio show, have I got something for you!
Deb Ng from the Freelance Writing Gigs blog as well as super-amazing Community Manager at BlogTalkRadio is hosting the brand-spanking-new BlogTalkRadio show Freelance Writing Jobs.
It starts today at 8am Pacific / 9am Mountain / 10am Central / 11am Eastern.
