From the monthly archives:

June 2011

Finding Your Blogging Tribe.

by Amber on June 30, 2011

women laughing

Have you found your tribe?*

Just as in real life, people (and their blogs) come and go in the blogging world. Women you consider to be good friends today might disappear into the ether tomorrow.

And, since it’s difficult to judge tone and intent from a few flat lines of text, it’s easy to inadvertently offend someone—sometimes to the point where she no longer wants to associate with you (and your blog).

That abandonment can hurt. It can make you wonder what you did wrong—and why no one seems to like you anymore.

So, the problem becomes, how do you find your tribe? How do you find those women who think like you do and write about the same things as you do? Who laugh at the same jokes and cry the same tears?

How do you find the friends who will always have your back—in good times and in bad?

Sometimes you make a connection through a shared experience (like a pregnancy) and form a rock-solid bond.

Sometimes you make a connection through sheer persistence—commenting and tweeting until the person on the other end can’t help but notice.

And sometimes? Sometimes it’s just luck. You stumble on a blog, start reading, and before long find yourself saying, “me too! Me too!” Then, when she visits yours, she finds herself saying, “oh, I know. That’s so true!” And a friendship is born.

But even so, it’s hard to hang on to those people. Everyone’s busy, and when caught up in work,  life, and keeping your own blog up and running, it’s hard to give your blogging peeps the love they deserve.

I think that’s where Triberr comes in. I’m just getting started with it, but from what I can tell, it’s designed to make supporting your best blogging peeps effortless.

How it works is this:

  1. Someone sends you an invitation to join their tribe (membership is by invitation only).
  2. If you accept, you not only get to be in that tribe, you also get three tribes of your own to populate as you wish.
  3. Everyone within a certain tribe is networked together, so every time you tweet a post, they automatically tweet it out too.
  4. Suddenly your posts are seen by thousands of people you’ve never met, but your tribe mates have—increasing your chances of not only getting seen, but also of finding new friends—and making more of those lasting connections.

There’s a lot more to Triberr than that, but that’s the basic premise.

So even if you’re overwhelmed by life and can’t spend the time you should, your friends are there for you—keeping your blog strong and your traffic high (and you’re there to do the same for them).

And that? Is pure awesomeness in my book.

What do you think about Triberr? Have you joined yet? Do you want to be part of my tribe? Let me know if you do—I have lots of invitations to give out!

Photo courtesy of Sean Dreilinger.

Mama’s Losin’ It

{ 16 comments }

When I was pregnant, I hoped with all my heart that I’d end up with  girly girl—and I did. That toddler of mine would wear tutus night and day if I let her—paired with my tallest, spikiest heels and a tiara in her (uncombed) hair.

Pull-Ups Training Pants From Huggies

Even the package is pink!

But despite early potty training success,Tori continues to engage in some very unprincess-like behavior—going potty in her pants. It’s discouraging to say the least.

Enter the new Pull-Ups® Training Pants from Huggies®.

They are pink. Very pink. And decorated with…Disney princesses! Which, for a toddler obsessed with all things girly, is perfect.

The first time I showed them to her,  she was in the middle of a diaper changing-induced temper tantrum.

“Look, Tori,” I said. “If you’ll let me get that dirty diaper off you, you can wear these Big Girl Pants!”

After one look at the pretty pink Pull-Ups  I held in my hand, she abruptly stopped screaming.

“Pink diaper?” she asked.

“No, honey, these are Big Girl Pants. You can pull them on and off yourself!”

She grabbed it from my hand and grinned. “Big Girl Pwin-cess?”

“Yep. If you promise to try and go pee pee in the potty, you can wear pretty pink princesses all the time!”

She was sold.

We wore those pretty pink Pull-Ups all day. She never managed to actually pee in the potty (although she did pee on the floor next to the vessel in question), but she tried hard. Really hard.

So, after dinner, I logged on to the Big Kid Calls site and arranged for Cinderella to give Tori a call. Really!

The folks behind the new Pull-Ups have partnered with Target to put together a site where you can schedule calls from Disney characters to reward your munchkins for using the potty. You have two choices—Lightning McQueen or Cinderella. I, of course, chose Cinderella for my princess (although I listened to the Cars’ recordings, and they’re pretty cool).

I’d like to say she was thrilled to get the call, but honestly? She was a bit confused. When I held the phone up to her ear, she listened for a second, then said, “Gwandma?”

I shook my head and answered,  “No, it’s Cinderella! A princess!”

She nodded vaguely and walked away.

The lesson? Tori’s a little too young for telephoning princesses. But princess Pull-Ups? That’s something she can get behind. I do believe they’re going to be a fixture in our household (until she graduates to pink princess underwear).

And you know what? You can win a $25 gift card to Target so you can try Pull-Ups for yourself—and schedule Big Kid Calls for your hard pottying potty trainers.

How? Well, start by leaving me a comment with your best potty training tips and tricks. That’s good for one entry. Then, if you want extra credit, you can:

  1. Subscribe to this little blog of mine
  2. Like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter (1 entry for each)
  3. Like Pull-Ups on Facebook
  4. Follow Huggies on Twitter

And remember, leave me a comment for every thing you do! But do it fast—the giveaway for the $25 Target gift card will close July 6.

Disclaimer: This review was sponsored by MomSpark Media. I was given a $20 Target gift card in order to buy Pull-Ups Training Pants to review. But the thoughts, opinions and lisp-y dialog presented here are my own (and Tori’s).

And the winner is…

Huggies Gift Card winnerSarah B. Congrats, Sarah!

{ 49 comments }

Afraid of the Big Bad Car Dealer? Not Me.

June 27, 2011
A Bright Yellow Volkswagon Beetle

I tend to buy cars with my heart—consulting my brain only after it’s too late. As you can imagine, that attitude often ends in disaster. One personified by a lemon yellow Beetle that sat in my driveway for many years, chortling as it gobbled up every spare dime I had (and then some).   It [...]

Read the full article →

Fighting the Baby Fever.

June 24, 2011
A mini Tori purping

The world around me is full of babies. Newborn babies with their tiny feet, little hands and cutey patootie faces. Not to mention pregnant mommies, with gorgeous round bellies and those quiet, inward glances where you just know they’re checking in with  their babies-to-be. It’s enough to give even the sanest of women a twinge [...]

Read the full article →

I Admit It. I Am Jealous.

June 22, 2011
Pour Your Heart Out

I am not one of those moms who participates in the stay at home mom vs. working mom debate. As far as I’m concerned, we’re all working hard—regardless of whether we’re lucky enough to get a paycheck for our efforts. I have lots of SAHM friends, and I know that their jobs are not easy. [...]

Read the full article →

Getting My Ass Kicked By Half-Assed.

June 20, 2011
Half Assed A Weight Loss Memoir Cover

How many diets have you been on in your lifetime? Two? Twenty? 200? I’ve been on so many that I’ve lost count. Some have lasted two days, some have lasted two years, but none have resulted in permanent weight loss. I go down and then I go up. I go way, way down and then [...]

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Read the full article →