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Adding a Newsletter For Blog Readers

Published on June 27, 2009 by brandyellen in Featured, Work At Home Support

If you are a blogger it means you wish to write, tell your story, or share your expertise with the world. There are so many reasons why people become bloggers, we have mommy bloggers, review bloggers, giveaway bloggers and the list goes on and on.

Having a newsletter is very different than a feed for your blog, many people enjoy reading what you have to say, but are not interested in a daily email digest or some don’t even know what an RSS feed is. Having a newsletter means that it’s one more thing to keep up with, so if you are already booked on time, maybe a newsletter is not for you, but if you are looking at the BIG picture of building up your brand, your blog, who YOU are, then a newsletter is something to think about.

I have a weekly newsletter, some create a monthly newsletter and others occasionally will send out a newsletter – for instance when they have ‘news’ to share.

After you have made the decision to include a newsletter for your blog readers, you must decide on a program to maintain your newsletter list and create your newsletter. I have only used MailChimp and can personally recommend them because FIRST they are FREE and second they are super easy to use. I have yet to use another service because I have had no reason to switch. Feel free to research for other newsletter programs, because it’s all about what program you are comfortable with.

Next, will you be creating a weekly or monthly newsletter? This is a very important part of your decision and is mostly based on how much content you feel you will have for your subscribers. Weekly newsletters work great for me, because I usually have new events, exciting news and other tidbits every week, but if you will not have enough new content for a weekly newsletter then you should choose to issue your newsletter once a month.

Now you have your newsletter and email list program, chosen weekly or monthly newsletter release dates, and so you are ready to move on in creating your very first newsletter.

If you are ready for this next step, I highly recommend you read Jessica Knows recent blog post titled, Bloggers: Use An Email Newsletter to Drive Traffic & Tell a Story.

Tags: blog, Electronic mailing list, MailChimp, newsletter, On the Web, RSS, Syndication and Feeds, Weblogs

8 Comments

Send Free Ecard To Your Clients

Published on June 26, 2009 by brandyellen in Uncategorized

As a virtual business owner, I don’t get to shake my clients hand and thank them for their business. I often can tell them thank you

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over the phone or in an email but it’s not as personal as a hand shake.

Sending a free ecard is a fantastic way to say THANK YOU to your clients. Saying thank you doesn’t have to cost you either, you can send low cost or free ecards to your clients to show your appreciation with Smilebox. This is a fantastic service I have used for a few months now and it has made my clients, my friends and my family smile every time.

When you, a virtual assistant, take that extra step to show your clients that you appreciate their business, you get more positive word of mouth exposure, happier clients and in turn more business!

Why send a free ecard:

Thanking a new client for their business
Saying Happy Birthday to a long term client
A quick hello to a business colleague

How it sets you apart from the crowd:

Shows you truly care about your client
Proves you are appreciative of your clients business

With technology advancing faster than we seem to be able to keep up with, Smilebox

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has created the solution to sending free or low cost ecards virtually any time of the day or night from the comfort of your home office.

Full disclosure: I used my affiliate link with Smilebox, but have been using their free service for a long time and am very happy with it!

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Tags: business, Business Services, Client, Oceania, Office Services, Secretarial Services and Virtual Assistants, virtual Assistant, Word of mouth

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Giveaway Blast Day # 10 Bliss Living $25 Gift Certificate

Published on June 26, 2009 by brandyellen in Featured, giveaways

I am very exciting why? Because today is Day # 10 of our giveaway blast, we are one third of our way through this fantastic giveaway event and we get to wrap it up on July 18th when we vlog the FINAL GRAND GIVEAWAY winners .. which is ONE hug compliation of items that we feel represent who we are as moms, women and friends!

Today I get to feature Bliss Living and have had a blast surfing their website. They have offered me a chance to give one lucky person a $25 gift certificate for use on their website!

Talk about a company that has a little bit of everything:

Diaper Bags
Mother Items
Baby Gifts
Jewelry
and just so much more!

Do you have a birthday or special event coming up? Maybe a birth of a child? Well they even have a gift registry! How cool is that?

I am so excited to share this site with you, well because I am a Mom and I love affordable, high quality items for myself and my children all in one place!

Ready to shop? Head on over now to Bliss Living and get your shop on!

Ready to win? Giveaway starts today and ends 12am July 8, 2009

Here is how to enter to win; you can do any or all of the following and please leave ONE comment for EACH completed item:

Sign up for Bliss Living’s newsletter and get 5% off instant coupon.
Blog about this giveaway linking to Bliss Living {www.blissliving.com} and Happily Blended {www.happilyblended.com}
Subscribe to Happily Blended blog via email or RSS feed.
Follow @brandyellen and tweet about this giveaway using #giveaway and #contest hashtag
Enter any of my other giveaways and leave a comment here telling me you did.
Donate any amount of money for extra entries .. click here to read the complete rules and details.

Good luck and have fun!

Tags: 'giveaway, Birthday, bliss living, Child, children, contests, Contests and Sweepstakes, family, home, mom, mommy blogger, RSS, shopping

66 Comments

Fitness Friday: Lovin’ Shopping Again

Published on June 26, 2009 by brandyellen in Brandy's Life, fitness

I am so happy to have the support of the Wii Mommies Forum and #wiimoms and #bigrace friends .. why? Well because of all of you I am Lovin’ Shopping Again!! I can honestly say I have not once enjoyed shopping for clothes since the birth of my first born nearly 7 years ago, why? Well because I took the “eat for two” saying literally – and gained near 100 lbs! OUCH!

So after my first came out at 8lbs 13oz I must say I was rather disappointed, why didn’t my weight go away?! I struggled for many years trying to find a system that worked for me. Yeah, I could have gone out and bought all those fast working diet pills, not that I really think they work, but I am a nerd in some ways – I actually research anything before taking it – yeah that’s me! I literally look online, talk to others and ensure that a product has been out longer than just a short period of time before consuming it.

I have seen too many phen phen and other diet pills gone wrong to take the chance, plus call me silly but I feel like a pill is not going to solve my weight issues and keep the weight off.

I love walking, I love running with my kids in the backyard and being active .. we also do family hiking trips so that’s a great way to get the family out and active on a nice day!

So a HUGE thank you to Nintendo for creating the Wii, because it has been a huge way to help keep my family active on days when we wouldn’t be able to go outside and be active!

Well I suppose that’s all for this Fitness Friday update .. I am just so happy to have #wiimoms support and can’t wait to read everyone else’s posts …

Tags: Chats and Forums, diet pills, Health, Programs, shopping, supplements, Support Groups, Weight loss

6 Comments

Uprinting Blog Sponsorship Program

Published on June 25, 2009 by brandyellen in Brandy's Life

I read a lot of blogs every couple of days, since work as become quite busy I do not get to read daily as I used to, anyways, as I surfed other blogs I came across a very similar trait – most had a badge saying they were part of UPrinting’s Blog Sponsorship program. One day I clicked on the link, but never entered thought “really me, probably not”, but THEN one day I heard on Facebook from another bloggy friend that she had won $100 from UPrinting as part of their blog sponsorship contest or something and I thought “WOW, really $100? I mean that could buy me some diapers, or buy me a blog design..” and so I went over to sign up. I was super excited when I found out that I was approved into UPrinting’s blog sponsorship program!!

Although I have only been a part of this program for a short amount of time I have already been offered some fantastic opportunities, and I will say my experience being a part of UPrinting’s Blog Sponsorship program so far is a positive one. It’s like I am a part of something bigger than me, a team of bloggers united under a sponsorship program that will help further my blog and in turn further my virtual assistant business.

Why UPrinting.com isn’t your average printing company:

Blog Sponsorships:
If you are looking to find a sponsor for your blog, UPrinting.com is definitely interested. We offer giveaways, advertising and more for qualified bloggers.

Non-Profit Sponsorships:
The U-Community Program sponsors hundreds of non-profits and education to improve our local communities.

Social Justice Projects:
The UPrinting Kiva account promotes small business growth in developing countries.

Green Printing:
UPrinting supports a sustainable future by recycling, using non-toxic inks, and offering eco-friendly recycled paper stocks for business cards and postcard printing.

Tags: blog, business, Business card, facebook, Kiva, On the Web, Publishing and Printing, Weblogs

4 Comments

Child Care Exchange for Working Parents

Published on June 25, 2009 by brandyellen in Work At Home Support

I often tell people I have a “Mommy’s Helper” and really it’s simply my sister or someone else helping me while I work my regular business hours at home. It is not always easy for me to have family or friends help watch my children while I work and it’s not always easy to afford to pay for this help. I am lucky to have a younger sister who is going to school and needs extra cash to help me for a lower than normal rate, and it’s a plus because my children get to spend some time with their aunti. I recall my younger years spending Summers with my aunt and I loved it! I am glad my children get to have some fun aunti time while mommy gets some much needed work done.

For those of you who work outside or inside of the home and find it’s hard to pay for child care, Care.com has a great service called Child Care Exchange. I have heard mixed feelings about child care exchanging, however, I think it’s an excellent idea. As parents we need to get a break whether it’s for a night out or to get some work done and as more and more people find themselves living paycheck to paycheck it’s HARD to afford to have care. Care.com hears parents and understands YOU, so they have created the Child Care Exchange program.

I love recommending this site and service to my friends and family because they offer free background checks, that is a money saver in itself! If you are unable to afford a babysitter but are in need of one please take a peek at Care.com’s Child Exchange program, it’s fast, it’s easy and you will be able to possibly create life long friend for your little one.