Alexa Toolbar Benefits

Blogging Tips

Internet Tools

I’ve been doing some blog tweaking lately.  Recently I’ve installed the Alexa Toolbar.  Apparently it’s working out well as my Alexa rating has been steadily decreasing.  Also, I’m toying with the idea of switching to the Thesis theme, even though I’m not too good at coding.

There are numerous tools available on the Internet to assist in online business blogging.  A valuable tool that you should use is the Alexa Toolbar. Even better -  this tool is free.

If you have a blog, you might want to consider adding the Alexa toolbar to improve your stats. Theoretically, the Alexa toolbar isn’t spyware as it doesn’t retrieve any private or personal information.

Alexa is owned by Amazon, and ranks sites from 1 to 5,000,000 and sometimes higher. Ranking  #1 has the most traffic while anything below 250,000 and you should be getting some decent traffic levels. Right now my current Alexa rating is 74,800.  This information can be used to determine how well your advertising campaigns are going and how your traffic levels are growing over a period of time. Since I write product reviews and have a PR Media Kit, I monitor these statistics and update my Media Kit periodically.

This information can also be used to determine how your fellow bloggers are doing and keep you one step ahead of them. The tool provides you with essential information regarding any site you’re looking at, including your own. If a company approaches you claiming they have lots of traffic, you can just pull up their site and review the Alexa statistics. This allows you to verify who’s receiving a significant amount of traffic and who’s feeding you a line.

So now you want to know how do you use this tool? First, you download the Alexa Toolbar as follows:

1. Go to Alexa.com
2. Click “Download Alexa Toolbar” at the top of the page.
3. Click “Install” on the next page.
Reload the page you are viewing and the toolbar will appear across the top of your browser.

If any of your readers have the Alexa toolbar installed, any time they visit you, it will help your rankings.  In turn, when you visit their sites, you’ll be building back links while helping your fellow blog buddies out.

Why not try an experiment for a month – download the toolbar and monitor one of your sites.  Once you see the data you receive and the way it can be interpreted and used, you won’t know how you survived without it!

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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Tips To Get Sponsorships To Blogger Conventions and Conferences

Blog Sponsors

How To Get Sponsored to a Blog Conference

If you’re new to blogging, you’ve probably seen quite a few posts around the blogosphere from many of this year’s attendees at BlogHer09 conference convention in Chicago.

Besides BlogHer, future conventions include TypeA Mom Conference in North Carolina and Mom Summit 2.0 scheduled for 2010 in Houston.

Not only are the conferences educational where you can pick up valuable blogging and marketing advice, but you also have the opportunity to meet many of your fellow online blogging buddies.

I am looking forward to attending BlogHer10, which will be held in New York City next year.  As you know, I’m from Connecticut, and it’s just an Amtrak train ride away for me!

The benefits of attending these conferences don’t come without a price though.  Many moms blog for the sheer enjoyment of sharing personal experiences, while other moms and grandmoms blog to try to supplement their income.

In order to subsidize attendance at these conferences, many bloggers can’t afford to foot the bill from their personal finances alone and seek a sponsorship from companies that they have formed relationships with.

I too, am seeking Partial Sponsorships in order to attend BlogHer10.

Whether you’re just out-of-the-gate or are an established blogger and would like to attend any of the upcoming conferences, Trisha over at MomDot has done a terrific blog post summary on what to do in order to help you obtain Sponsors and get you started.

Check it out at MomDot: How to get a sponsorship to a convention

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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Spotlight On PR

Spotlight on PR

Spotlight on PR for Mommy Bloggers

Tara from Feels Like Home has partnered with Adrienne of Adrienne’s House to introduce bloggers who are interested in connecting with PR Representatives and getting started in the field of Product Reviews and Giveaways.

This is an excellent opportunity for WAHM moms to learn about and become noticed by PR professionals as well as gain some valuable connections.

I’d like to introduce myself to those PR professional who may not know me.

About Moomette’s Magnificents

As Moomettesgram, I’m a Baby Boomer and thrifty Gram from New England. I’ve been ‘Around The Block‘ awhile and am familiar with many products, both household and child related. I’ve seen what were the “hottest trendy household and baby products” when my daughters were little in the ’80s, and I know what the “hottest trendy household and baby products” are now that I have my own grandchildren.

My Baby Boomer status qualifies me to have an opinion on just about everything – which I’m more than willing to share!

The Internet is quickly becoming the medium of choice for marketers and statistically proven that Mom Bloggers are increasingly influential in getting the word out to decision makers ~ Moms and Grandmoms ~  about the newest and hottest products on the market.

As I’m a big supporter of Work-At-Home Moms ~ here’s a great way to gain exposure and get the word out for your WAHM unique hand-crafted items and online website.

I have an established presence since 2007 throughout the Internet on many social networking sites, including Twitter, Facebook and many social Ning forums.  My interest include childrens clothing and toys, health, beauty, as well as eco-friendly products for the family and home.

Please use my “Contact” button if you would like to get in touch with me or request my Media Kit.

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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Look For Me On The Veranda In August – I’ll Be Sipping Iced Tea

Time Out To Smell the (Beach) Roses

Look for Me On the Veranda in August

During the 4th of July long holiday weekend, I spent 5 days camping down the Connecticut shore with my oldest daughter and her family, as well as my youngest daughter.

It was marvelous to get away, and although I wasn’t tethered to my computer’s lifeline, I did manage to sign into my email and Twitter via cell phone on occasion.  I didn’t want to make it too obvious to the family though, because they think I’m somewhat “obsessed” you could say, with blogging.

I’ve been doing a bit of introspective thinking lately, and Trisha, over at MomDot must have read my mind, or at least gave me reason to pause and  realize I had to step back and take a deep breath, if just for one week.

Many of you know I wanted to take the early retirement from my day job, but couldn’t.  I have so many blog posts written in a journal that I’d like to put up here, but there isn’t enough hours in my day to type them up, as well as do all the administrative work that goes along with maintaining a blog.

I didn’t start out as a Product Reviewer, but created my blog, originally called “Moomettesgram’s Musings” to offer just that – Musings of a Baby Boomer Grandmom from New England.

The “musings” part has sort of fallen off, and been overtaken by product reviews, and all the associated administrative work that goes into it.  When you add into the equation I still work full-time, take care of the grandkids after I get out of the cubicle, have a DH, house and The Cat to take care of – besides keeping up with social networking and a PR4 blog – it’s overwhelming.

Those of you who know me see me on Twitter until 3 am many nights.

If you haven’t read Trisha’s post about the  PR Blackout, please do.

We want to see your blog naked, raw, and back to basics. Talk about your kids, your marriage, your college, your hopes, your dreams, your house and whatever you can come up with for one week.

I thoroughly enjoy working with the PR reps who contact me, as well as offering my readers insight into new products from the perspective of a “Baby Boomer Grandmom Who’s Been Around the Block.”

My husband and I sent our daughters to a private all-girls high school.  Several times during the year, all the students would go on a “Retreat” and reflect on life and whatever else was the topic of the Retreat.

I will be taking my own “Retreat” and respite from posting product reviews during this time – stepping back to take a breather, clear my head  and get all those “musings” that are in my precious journal up for you all to read.

So I’ll be on vacation, but it’ll be a “working vacation” – a vacation for my mind, body, spirit and soul – a chance to rejuvenate.

Look for me on Veranda Chit Chat during August 10-16.  Come join me as I’ll be sharing about family life; adding to my 101 Things About Me tab; offering up some favorite recipes, and maybe sipping a Long Island Iced Tea.

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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Dream Team: Mommy Bloggers and PR Reps

Read the latest on the new Pitch Bloggers website for Reviewers & PR Reps:

Recently there has been quite a bit of press about the ethical implications of Mommy Bloggers doing product reviews.  I believe in transparency and  have always had a Disclosure Policy on all of my blogs.Pitch Bloggers ~ Ethical Standards for Mommy Reviewers | Moomettesgram’s Musings, Apr 2009

You should read the whole article.

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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Increase Traffic and Your Blog’s Exposure – Join Slogbite Site Directory

If you’re a work-at-home mom, chances are you have a limited advertising budget.  Submitting your blog or ecommerce site to a Site Directory is a great way to gain exposure, traffic and readership.

I’ve submitted all of 3 of my blogs ~ this one, Moomette’s Magnificents Reviews and Mama Mentor to the newly launched Slogbite.com

What distinguishes Slogbite and makes it unique from the run-of-the-mill directory sites, is that Slogbite seeks to establish a “sense of community” among it’s participants ~ which is all part of the new Web 2.0 marketing trend.

To increase your site’s exposure, increase your sites traffic, increase your site’s readership, have fun and become part of a growing and influential community.

You have the ability to submit to multiple categories as well as add your banner.  Once entered, each banner will rotate on either of Slogbite’s sidebars.

Mel has done a terrific job of offering technical support if you need help, and is quick to respond by e-mail with suggestions to help you out if you get stuck.  Not everyone is a techie-and Mel understands that!

Like any good Oscar celebrity party, there’s an “A” List and a “B” list of participants.

Do you belong to Entrecard?  There’s a whole check-off box for that so any Entrecard member can easily find your blog or site.

Slogbite is definitely worth checking out ~ let Mel know I sent you!

Visit: Slogbite

Further Reading: Increase Blog or Website Traffic

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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You’ve Decided to Tweet ~ Be a Model Twitizen: A Twitter How-To

By now you’ve either decided to sign up for Twitter, or you may still be on the fence.  I would say ~ Go For It!  I actually came across this valuable information by being referred from a Tweet, and thought, I must share.  It’s the most succinct set of guidelines that I have seen yet.  Don’t forget to Follow Me on Twitter ~ Moomettesgram ~

Be a Model Twitizen: A Twitter How-To

by LaSara Firefox, MPNLP, www.lasarafirefox.com
(Follow me: http://www.twitter.com/Yoga_Mama)

I was skeptical at first, but now Twitter is my golden city. As a busy mom and entrepreneur, I can take a few minutes and digest a handful of posts from my favorite Twitter friends, or post a bite-sized delight about my own day – all condensed to 140 characters or less. Who doesn’t have time for that?

Yes, often those posts will contain a link that may lead to an off-site exploratory mission, but so far it’s the most organic and dynamic way I’ve found to keep to my finger on the quick-beating pulse of the magical and diverse interwebs, and at the same time keep a constant stream of interest in what I have to offer.

If you’re new to Twitter, or have yet to join the chorus, here are a few ground rules that will help you to make your tweets harmonious.

1. Follow me, and I’ll follow you…and vice-versa:
If I follow you, please do the community-oriented thing and follow me, too. That way it becomes a conversation, a collaboration, a community. For us dedicated tweeters, Twitter is about building relationships. Build one with me!

Most of us don’t tweet to hear the sound of our own voice. No one wants to be shouting into a well. Consider my follow an invitation into my world, as well as a tip of the hat to your skill in presenting a doorway into yours.

2. Write a good bio:
In the beginning, this tiny bio is all we know about each other. 160 characters of character. The bio is often an under-utilized aspect of Twitter. I’m encouraging a bio revival! Make me want to know you. (It’s great practice for your elevator pitch, too, right?)

I encourage you to include something about your openness to new followers, or the reason you’re on Twitter. I put “Follow me, I’ll follow you,” in my bio. If you only want people you already know to follow you, you can protect your updates. In addition, you could say “I only follow people I know.” This little step will save both of us time, energy, and pride.

In addition to the bio, there’s a spot for a url. Add a link to a place where I can find out more about you; your blog, your website, an article you’ve written, your facebook profile.

3. Building your “Twitterverse”:
The way to build your network is to follow people. Yet, you ideally want a good balance between following and followers. So there’s a rhythm to building your twitterverse. Here’s how mine goes:
a. Find prospective Twitter friends (see step 4 on some tips on that), and follow them.
b. Allow a few days for the prospective community member to follow me in return.
c. If they follow me back, I make personal contact through a direct message (aka, “dm”, see section 6 for more info) and all is good. If they don’t, I evaluate whether they’re worthwhile to follow without the benefit of a two-way conversation. If they are, I keep them on. If not, I unfollow them.

4. Finding your twitter-posse:
You want to follow people you find interesting. You want to be followed by people who will find you interesting. Whether this is for work, fun, community building, or all of the above, your skill in creating your personal Twitterverse predicts how rewarding your Twitter experience will be.

There are worlds of possibility in every moment, but even more so in Twitter. Bloggers, and moms, and marketers, oh my! Really, you can find followers and followees from all walks of life, and with interests that run the gamut. These people are going to be getting into your head, and introducing you to new worlds day by day. Choose accordingly!

First off, click on the Find People tab on your home page (upper right, see it? good!) you might want to follow your irl (in real life) friends. You can search them by name or e-mail address. You can also invite them to join twitter, if you think they’d enjoy the experience.

Next, you’ll want to choose a few terms that indicate shared interests. For me, those terms were mom, mommy, mama, momma, and the dad variations, too. Then yoga. You can either search by terms at http://search.twitter.com/, or you can use the Find People tab again.

When you search your terms, the search will bring up profiles that list terms in the Twitter user name, in a tweeter’s bio, or even sometimes in a tweeter’s tweets. I found pages and pages of members listed on most of the terms I searched.

I chose selectively from the tweeters listed. Some of the parameters I used to decide whether I should follow someone or not were;
* The date they last tweeted – if someone hasn’t been on in months, what are the chances they’ll respond to a follow alert from a stranger?
* What their most recent tweet said; for example, if the tweet said “Why the hell are all these strangers following me? Creepy!?!”, that member is not a likely candidate for community building!
* Their bio, and whether it sounded like we’d be a good match.

Most often I would choose not to follow people with protected updates, but in rare cases I’d risk it and request permission to follow. I recommend that you judge that one on a case-by-case basis.

Another way to find like-minded tweeters is to go to a like-minded tweeters page, and follow the tweeters they follow, and those who follow them. You can see bios by placing your cursor over a tweeter’s name.

I would follow as many tweeters as I felt inspired to in one fell swoop (I think my “following” list got up to around 2000 once), and see who followed back. After a few days, I’d go back check out which tweeters had responded, and go through the evaluation of whether I would keep following tweeters who had followed back, or not.

Through this strategy, I built my list of followers up to over 700 in a matter of days.

5. Ethics for business (and personal) networking:
Some disagree with me on this, but I believe that even – or perhaps especially – if “you” are a business, you should follow in return. Yes, Twitter is free advertising, and it’s SMART advertising – JetBlue, Zappos, Vans and thousands of entrepreneurs can’t be wrong!

But, as always, there needs to be some buy-in. In this case, imnsho (in my not so humble opinion), the buy-in is this; I’ll pay attention to your posts, but I expect you to pay attention to mine, too. It’s a give and take, baby!

Besides, think of the marketing information you’ll be able to gather. Two-way communication with your demographic is just plain smart business sense.

Also, it’s not good manners to follow me, and then turn around and unfollow me when you think I’m not looking. I will come back and check from time to time, to see if those I follow are following me. (I do the same for those who are following me, too. I go and check my followers and make sure I’ve returned the follow.)

Not only that, there are tons of third party systems coming into being that are created to augment the Twitter experience. One of these even helps twitterers keep track of their follower activity. And, there are sure to be more of them as time goes by, and Twitter’s popularity continues to soar to new heights.

There are a few exceptions to the rule, but I generally don’t follow those who aren’t willing to follow me in return. I cast a line out, and if you grab hold I’ll hang on too. However, if there’s no resultant tug on the rope, I’ll reel it back in and cast in another direction.

If you have something amazing to say, and I just can’t live without your voice, I’ll stick around. But I tell you, it’s so much more fun when we can all sing out together!

6. A few easy commands that will be useful to know:
@username: this creates an automatic link to a tweeter’s profile, and alerts the user that you have sent a public post that cites them. If you’re replying to a tweet, including @username (like @yoga_mama) is great. It both promotes the tweeter, and creates a connection between you and the tweeter in question.

#tag: (like #gratitude, #palin, #debate, etc.) makes it easy to search an item, and get all the tweets that are relevant. It’s also is an easy way to see relationships between tweets by multiple tweeters.

rt, or retweet: when you repost someone’s tweet, it’s proper to add “rt @username” and then the retweet. Basically, it’s a way to give credit where credit is due. And again, it promotes tweeters who are tweeting things you appreciate or agree with.

d username: direct messages are the way to send a private note to another tweeter. Remember, it’s “d(space)username(space)message”. You’re only able to “dm” tweeters who are following you.

In closing:
Twitter is a community. In some way more profoundly than any other networking site I’ve ever been part of, the tweeters I follow have worked their way into my heart.

Maybe it’s the often unguarded, haiku-like quality of the “microblogging” experience. Maybe it’s the frequency with which I see the words of a given tweeter. Maybe it’s the fact that the Twitter experience has the contour and context of a conversation drifting in through the kitchen window.

And this in a country (the USA) where we often don’t have a sister or best friend living next door, or a neighbor we could easily ask for advice on a moment’s notice. Much less, hundreds of neighbors, many of whom might send well wishes when you need them, and heartfelt advice when you ask for it. (Or, just like any family, sometimes even when you don’t!)

Twitter has brought us into one another’s living rooms. It’s allowed us to share our vacations, our kid’s Big Game, our successes and heartbreaks.

It’s opened a window into a community that never goes to sleep – tweeters live all over the world, as one tweeter tweets her last missive of the night, another wakes up to a brilliant new day. A community that is always willing to give a shout out, send a smile, talk about politics, and lift one another up in a challenging moment.

Remember this as you build your personal Twitterverse. You are creating a new world, from nothing. Build it, grow it, nurture it with intention and care. And you know, everything will be just right.

About the author:
LaSara FireFox, MPNLP, is a coach, trainer, and published author. LaSara helps clients find balance in their lives, and alignment with their personal and family-held values. She teaches and coaches internationally. She’s wife to an outstanding man, and mom to two brilliant girls.

You can find out more about LaSara at www.lasarafirefox.com. While you’re there, be sure to check out LaSara’s weekly conscious parenting podcast; Yoga Mama Satsangha.

(Please feel free share this article, in its entirety. Repost, send to your list, share with your friends. Please include all links, and LaSara’s bio. Quoting is always welcome, and should be executed in accordance with basic MLA quoting guidelines.)

Related:

So You’re a New Blogger: What Makes Twitter so Hot?

How-To Tips for Incorporating Twitter into Your Daily Business Routine

Copyright 2010 Moomette’s Magnificents – All Rights Reserved

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@Moomettes