Thursday Tutorial: Do You Know How to Comment on a Blog?

Maybe everyone has figured this out by now...but I love blogging.

No.. like, seriously....I REALLY love blogging.


BUT I have also noticed that people in the Lakes Area are not real familiar with blogging and the Blogoshere. Fellow blogger and local gal-pal Laura Radniecki from The Rad Life said it best:

"When I tell people I'm a Blogger, they look at me like I just said 'I'm a booger".......

However, it is getting better. People are more informed these days. More interested in what blogging can do for them or their businesses. I hope they continue to be interested because, like I always say, "dude, the tsunami that is Social Media is here, and there still tons of people that don't know how to swim."

So why I thought I would try something new today. Kind of a Mini Tutorial so-to-speak on an easy, yet important part of blogging and reading blogs. How to comment on a blog. It's not hard, and yet some people are intimidated by it. I admit it, I am a glory hound. My needy side really wants to know what you think of what I write.

I am a comment ho.

So here we go. How to Comment on a Blog:

When you enter a blog to read something, usually at the end of the post you will see something like this:

If you click this link or the "1 Comment" (like above), you will go to the comment posting page. (Note: in some templates, this link may take you to the post page first. From there you should be able to find the "Post a Comment" link which will take you here.) The comment posting page looks like this:

On the right hand side of the page is the space for you to enter your comment. Beneath that are the identity options. (Some of these may not be available, depending on the blog's settings.)

The options are these (pick one):

* "Your Blogger user name" (if you already have one or have a Blogger blog): Your display name will appear, along with a link to your profile and your photo (if you have one). This is a super useful tool in getting your own blog visited. You visit a new blog and comment, the owner of the blog can see who you are, click the link, and pop by your blog to return the favor and become a Follower.


*"Other": You can enter your name and a link to your website, without having to have a Blogger account.


*"Anonymous": No identifying information is displayed. The comment is credited to "Anonymous" without a link. This works good for people who are not registered with Google or don't have their own blog yet. If you want to identify yourself, simply include your name and email (if you want) within your comment. Don't think this is an easy way to be snarky, rude, obscene, or disrespectful. Leave an inappropriate comment as "Anonymous" and I can still find you. And trust me, I will.

Your final step would be to click the big blue "Publish Your Comment" button. Some blogs have a word verification box pop up that requires you to type a code before your comment will publish. This is done to cut down on spam and make sure you are human, not a robot. 

There! You did it! See? Not so hard, eh? I hope to see your bright, shiny, inspiring comments on this blog soon. Next week I will take it a step further and talk a little about Comment Best Practices.

Oh, and before you vamoose, check out our newly updates Smart Friends Page. Lots of cool new peeps and businesses have been added. ttfn!

Becky Flansburg is author and creator of Mom Squad Marketing and owner of LAMS Communications. Becky is a blogger, writer, virtual assistant, and social media junkie. The main goal of Mom Squad Marketing is to shine the spotlight on local moms/women in business and provide info, tips, and ideas to make women entrepreneur's lives EASIER. You can reach Becky at rebeccaflansburg@gmail.com

Simple, Common-Sense Telephone Manners

Simple, Common-Sense Telephone Manners

       Our telephone presence is one of the most important parts of our business image.  Assessing our telephone “appearance” can be helpful in improving the impression with customers, and  good for business too.

          Basic telephone manners are for the most part "no-brainers", but it never hurts to give our phone etiquette a quick “polish” now and then. The following are some guidelines to help you put your best customer service foot forward when using the phone:

          #When you are calling someone, always ask “am I catching you at a bad time?”  By expressing respect for their time, you show consideration, and proof you are a true professional. 

          #Never call a customer or potential customer on their toll free line (unless you are invited to do so). Toll free numbers are for their customers, not you!

          #Smile! A smile will show through in your voice make you a more pleasant person to talk to.

          #Avoid slang such as “oakey doakey” or “bye-bye”. Unless you know the customer very well (or work at a daycare) baby talk is never a professional choice to make. 

         #As with baby talk, the same rule applies with non-words like “um” and “ah." News anchor Don Shelby from Fox 9 News has an excellent statement about monitoring the "ahs" and "ums" in our conversations; "Silence is more intelligent that the word 'um'".....

          #Slow it down! Talking as fast as an auctioneer makes you hard to understand and is annoying as well. Keep the conversation flowing at a natural, relaxed pace so you don’t make the person on the other end of the line feel anxious or rushed.

          #Be prepared. Today’s workplace is more rushed and harried than ever. Don’t waste your client’s time by hemming and hawing or scrambling for information. Have a briefly outline of the task at hand before you even place the call.

          #Keep personal problems just that; personal and to yourself. Dumping, complaining, or whining crosses a line with your customers and changes your relationship with them forever…. and not in a good way either.

          #If you do need to leave a message, speak slowly, enunciate your name, and repeat your name and number again after you state the reason for your call. Someone left me a message one time where the caller spoke so fast, that even after replaying it 4 times, I had no idea of her name and number. I gave up and moved on. Opportunity lost.

          #This one may be subject to debate, but I believe in addressing people by their first names. If someone calls me and addresses me as “Mrs. Flansburg” I am instantly on guard, even a little suspicious. Using first names break down barriers and puts people at ease. However, there some instances where I would NOT advise using first name unless invited to do so.  When addressing heads of major corporations, authority figures, and even civic leaders, use your own judgment and err on the side of caution.

          #The dreaded “on hold” button. Be aware that the longest to leave someone on hold is 15-17 seconds. If your customer is busy and or irate, those seconds are going to seem like an eternity. If what you are checking on is longer than your think, take their name and number and call them back instead leaving them stewing on hold.       

          Understanding the importance of good telephone etiquette is a must for business professionals.  By being respectful and considerate of the people we call, we can strengthen our own credibility and help ensure a more secure future.

Becky Flansburg is author and creator of Mom Squad Marketing and owner of LAMS Communications. Becky is a blogger, writer, virtual assistant, and social media junkie. The main goal of Mom Squad Marketing is to shine the spotlight on local moms/women in business and provide info, tips, and ideas to make women entrepreneur's lives EASIER. You can reach Becky at rebeccaflansburg@gmail.com .

Guest Post:: Can Moms Make Money Between Drop Off And Pick Up??

 

Can you make money between drop off and pick up times?
By Jennifer Pate,
Co-author of The Mothers of Reinvention: Reclaim Your Identity, Unleash Your Potential, Love Your Life

I remember something my husband said to me about 5 years ago. If you could just make $100k per year and still be there when the kids get home from school, it would be great. He said "you could do that; you're a smart woman. " I remember smoke coming out of my ears. Really? What pray-tell job is that? Do you have any idea how much I have to do during the day? How dare he?! Funny thing is that that off-the-cuff comment )that he doesn't' even remember) lit a fire under my butt. I was so mad. While he was clearly stressed about being the sole wage earner at the time (and I truly have compassion for that), he had a lot of nerve!

I decided right then and there that I had only one option. I was going to take the money conversation off the table. I didn't know if I could meet the $100k figure that he so nonchalantly threw out, but damn it, I was going to try. But, what was I going to do? I had taken time off work to be a stay at home Mom for both my kids. They were still young and only in nursery school. As much as I liked my old job, I worked no less than 9 hours a day. That was not going to work in my life. I had to reinvent my idea of what a job was. It was time to think outside the box.

First, I started talking to everyone and everyone who would listen. How did other moms manage work and family? Did other moms like their jobs? What about the moms who had nannies? How did they feel? My biggest take on the information I received from all my prying was that the moms who had something they were passionate about and brought some money into the family, were the happiest. What was I passionate about that I could also make money at and work on my own terms? With that "if you could just make 100k" lingering in my brain, I soldiered on.

There were a couple false starts; ideas that seemed great that weren't going to pan out, but I kept on trying. I had become great friends with Barb, who I met in a Mommy and Me class. We started talking about what our perfect life would like, what we were passionate about and how we could make it happen. We were clear that we had to have our own business (even though there are some employers out there that have flexible hours), wanted to be there for drop off and pick up (most days we still are), make money and spend time with our family. Once we honed in on a web show for moms, we decided to make an initial investment of 5k each (not the most fun conversation I have ever had with my husband) and try and make our dream a reality.

Let me make something very clear, however. While Barb and I now make money and are almost always there for drop off and pick up, we work often at night when our kids go to bed (it is 9pm on a Tuesday right now) or on weekends when we can sneak in some time or have even taken East Coast calls in our pajamas while it is still dark in LA. I wish I could tell you that you just work from 9-2, then you're done. That may be the case for some, but not for us and that is okay. We are making our dreams fit into our reality and that is the big lesson here.

If I had to boil it down into tips for having a career and a family (one that you see more than just an hour in the morning and an hour at night like a lot of working women do), here is what I would say:

1. Set Your Intention: You are going to live life on your terms. We are a generation of women whom have opportunities like never before. Let's take advantage of what the women before us have done for us!
2. What Is Your Goal: How much money are you looking to make? What is realistic? Put it out there.
3. Delegate: If you are going to try and be there for the kids before school, after school and work while they are at school, you are going to need some help. Maybe your husband can drive the kids to school a few days a week. Maybe you are going to have to pay for a cleaning person occasionally, maybe your kids are going to have more chores. You cannot do it all, so don't even try. Farm out as much as you can!
4. Don't Sell Yourself Short: Maybe you've been out of the work force for a while. Us that as an asset. As a Mom, you can multi-task better than anyone out there! Believe in you!
5. Everything Isn't Wrapped in a Perfect Bow. There are some days that run smoother than others. There will be days that you will not be at pick-up or that you will be working and get a call that you have a sick kid at school (happened today).
   

Start living life on your own terms!
© 2012 Jennifer Pate, co-author of The Mothers of Reinvention: Reclaim Your Identity, Unleash Your Potential, Love Your Life
Author Bios
Jennifer Pate, co-author of The Mothers of Reinvention: Reclaim Your Identity, Unleash Your Potential, Love Your Life, is the mother of two, Cooper and Lilah, and lives in Los Angeles with her husband Jonas. After retiring from a professional dance career that spanned ten years, Jennifer became a casting director for TV and film, and co-founded Colloff, Fishman, and Britt Casting. She then went on to her most interesting and challenging career of all: becoming a stay-at­-home mom. Currently, Jen is the co-creator and co-host of the award winning web series "Jen and Barb, Mom Life."
For more information please visit http://www.jenandbarb.com, and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter

What things do YOU do to generate $$ while the kids are at school or daycare??

Party World Balloon Artistry

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5 Tips on How to Find Time To Blog When You Work an 8 to 5 Job

One of the hardest things (for me anyway) when it comes to blogging is lack-o-time. When I was still working out of the home, I would get up at 5:00 a.m to write, create, and blog.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

I came across this great article on LogAllot on finding time when you don't think you have any, and I want to share it with you.

Here are 5 Tips you can use to find time to blog when you think you have no time:

•  Set up a Calendar and write down everything you do on a daily basis – For working mothers that work 8-5 jobs, it can be very difficult to handle kids and family. Write down all the activities you do for each day to see realistically where you have time to blog.

• Keep a Note pad with you to jot down ideas for inspiration – Even at work you can find topics or ideas to create a post for your blog. Having a notepad close can ensure that you don’t forget something you saw on a billboard or something funny someone said.

• Pick a day or few hours that you can blog consistently without interruption – Picking the right time during the day is important when you want to bust out a post. If you have kids, nap time might work best, or if your at work, using your lunch time might be perfect.  Pick 2 times that might work with your schedule and stick to it. If one doesn’t pan out, then use the other time you picked to see if that works instead. Be mindful that emergencies might pop up when you least expect it.

• Set up Realistic Goals – Not everyone can bust out article after article. Some people may have more time on their hands then others, so figuring out what you can and can’t do is essential. Trying to push out an article defeats the purpose if you publish something you think is done with no heart. Don’t push yourself into doing something you don’t have time for. If you can only post 1-2 times a week then do that. Your readers will get use to the way your post, but stick to a plan and be consistent.

• Create an office or separate area to blog – Most times you can’t always get away from the distractions around you, but if you can find a place where you can get some time to concentrate, it can be very helpful. If you have a separate room or place you can go to, identify that area as your location to blog and write. This will help others see in your house that when you’re in that room, it’s your time to write and you want to concentrate.

• Utilize other blogs you see for inspiration – I love visiting and commenting on other blogs. I find awesome ideas to expand on and I get to network with some inspirational bloggers. Never miss the opportunity to learn from other bloggers, as they can teach you a wealth of additional tips and tricks that you can use to evaluate your blog to the next level.

• Don’t beat yourself up because you want to take a break – We all have writers block or become consumed by everyday life where we can’t come up with any ideas on what to write about.  Forcing yourself to come up with a post will only produce articles you might not be proud of later on. If it’s not there, take a break and come back when your mind is clear.

Your niche might determine the nature of time required to keep your blog up to date and innovative. If you run a site dedicated to Coupons and Deals, you want to post daily and often. Other types of blogs might not need that kind of updating and you can get away with posting a few days a week.
http://logallot.com/5-tips-on-how-to-find-time-to-blog-when-you-work-an-8-to-5-job/