To Advertise Or Not To Advertise? That Is The Question.

Posted on January 23, 2012 by SzaboInSlowMo

I’ve been pondering this question for a while and would love some feedback from fellow bloggers/readers. WordPress is now allowing advertising on blogs that are on their own domain, but that are hosted by WordPress. We’re assured that the advertising will be tasteful. You must submit a request for them to review your blog, and then you must be approved.

Being the procrastinator that I can sometimes be, I have yet to dig any further into this.

But I’m considering it for a few reasons:

I’m blogging for free now.
I could always use some extra dough.
Being paid may motivate me to take this whole thing to the next level. I have no idea what the next level might be, but humor me.

I also have some concerns:

What does it take to get approved? What does it take to get declined? For instance, could this post alone disqualify me?
Is advertising considered “selling out”? Will it cheapen my blog? Any more than it is now? Will my margarita turn into a Skinny Girl margarita with Bettheny in my banner?
Will I no longer be taken seriously as a writer? I know…I just choked on that one myself.
And most importantly, will I lose readership?

So this gives me a great opportunity to implement my very first poll.

All joking aside, I’d love to hear what you all think (or already know) on the subject, so please feel free to elaborate in the Comments section.

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Guess What? I’m a Facebook Creeper!

Posted on January 10, 2012 by SzaboInSlowMo

Photo Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons. '''Photographer''': ''thesaint'' a.k.a Matthew Bowden

And if you’re a parent with a son or daughter on Facebook, you’re probably creeping right along with me.

That is, if they ever even accepted your friend request.

The parent/child Facebook friendship has been explored to death already. As parents read articles such as “How Not To Embarrass Your Child On Facebook”, they’re told helpful hints such as “don’t comment too much on your child’s activity”, ” don’t share too much information that your child doesn’t want to know”, “don’t tag them in old baby photos”, “don’t remind them of chores”, “don’t friend all their friends” and “don’t try to be cool – you’re not”.

Meanwhile, our offspring are submitting screenshots of our most embarrassing interactions to websites such as ”Crap, My Mom Just Sent Me a Friend Request” where you can see parents completely shattering their child’s cool online persona, talking about “the runs”, reminding them of chores, questioning relationship statuses, and using Facebook as a glorified brag book.

My creepiness came to light because I commented (verbally, mind you) about a Facebook message thread. At first I thought I was being called a creep. Now that I know I’m just a creeper, I can relax, because it’s my job. But if you think I’m going to go all parental here and talk about our responsibilities as a parent to monitor our children’s’ activity, limit their usage, check out their friends, lay low and take it all in, blah blah blah…I’m not.

But I do think it’s important to draw the line between acceptable Facebook usage vs. Facebook creeping. And I’m not just talking about parents. No, this goes for everyone. I even consulted Urban Dictionary on this, because that’s the place to go for knowledge on hip and happening terms, as long as you’re willing to insert your own grammar and punctuation. With that said, please humor me with the following little self-help quiz:

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How I Was Found: My Top 75 Search Engine Phrases of 2011

Posted on January 5, 2012 by SzaboInSlowMo

Yes, I’m still clinging to 2011 like the stubborn mule that I am. After all the Top Whatever lists I’ve had to endure in the past few weeks, I’m proud to finally present my own 2011 recap (though my blogging history only spans a few months at this point, but that’s a technicality).

To me, one of the fringe benefits of blogging is being able to analyze how people, if anyone, find your little domain that is but a mere speck in this vast internet universe. While I readily admit to being one of those inquisitive folk who type in ridiculously inane search queries, I must admit to a few tee-hees, some slight confusion, and the random “Crap, how did this land them on my page” reactions.

2011 was the year when writing about boots brought me instant glory, and I’ve already made the mental note to ponder if I can start writing about wearing flip-flops before Easter in an effort to recapture that again. We’ll see. Cell phone companies, banks, and fast food restaurants drove me mad. I longed to be a “Housewife”, turned 1/3 of my hair orange, and ranted about weight gain, aging, and generation gaps. I further tested the waters by presenting my own rules for soccer parents, more rules for what not to say at the office, and I rolled the dice literally at Bunco. At one point, I put a disclaimer on it all, when I realized there were people actually reading my random thoughts.

So it doesn’t surprise me that my stats show some rather random search phrases.

Stat-watching is fun. Knowing what people were searching for when they found you can provide insight to what you’re doing right or wrong on your blog, whether you’re reaching your intended audience, and whether the end result was that the person that landed there found what they were looking for…or at least decided to hang around a while. It can also provide some great material for future posts. In other words, being the capitalist that I am, I have to look for a way to cash in on this information. (I’m still working on that.)

But on top of all of that, this data can be quite entertaining. That’s why I’m sharing my list of my favorite/funniest/weirdest web searches that resulted in someone landing on this little website.

Maybe this will seem a little gratuitous, but that has never stopped me before, right? I present this list of my Top 75 Search Engine Phrases, ranked solely at my discretion, (and in some cases, my indiscretion). I swear these are presented verbatim, other than my usual side comments in italics. Here goes nothing:

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Holy “Freshly Pressed”, Batman! What Did I Do Right?

Posted on September 21, 2011 by SzaboInSlowMo

I got off to a rocky start today, suffering from lack of sleep and an aching back. I had to do a quick preparation for an IT training class and my only goal was to make it through with no permanent scarring. And on top of all that, I had to face the daily commute with my hubby driving Earnhardt-style. I did what I always do from the passenger seat to avoid assuming the fetal position…my phone “stuff”.

Now phone “stuff” includes, but is not limited to, the following: checking emails, Facebook notifications, Tweets, a round of Words With Friends, Hanging With Friends, reading important news, such as how Kirstie Alley lost 100 pounds, and a quick glance at the ol’ blog stats.

Nine views. I was content with that for such an early hour. But while my post count was moving, I had no referrals, no clicks, and a general lack of data. I made a mental note to visit the WordPress forum to make an inquiry. Later. I had bigger fish to fry.

So by the time I was able to do my next stat check, you can only imagine the shock. 200+ views by lunchtime. WTH? I was fearful. Fearful that I had made a major blogging faux pas, a horrendous typo resulting in an obscene word in a headline, a video link that links to a porn site or worse yet, some spamming scam. Or had I been hacked? I know…my mind goes crazy places.

Before I could look into this further, views were up to 400+.

“Could it be?” I thought. “Dare I look? ” Well, if you’re here, you may already know the answer.

Yes, I’ve been fresh-pressed! To non-WordPressers, this means my last blog post was highlighted on the WordPress home page. It also means that I get a you-know-what-load of traffic (I’ve learned Freshly Pressed doesn’t like bad words, so I’m being good). And I can skip the forums now, because all my stats are working. Man, are they working! At last check, it showed 3,000 views and referral links through other blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and places I’ve never heard of (maybe a porn site for “Men Who Like Boots”). A little scary, but at least I’m not talking to myself any more.

I don’t know how or why, but I’m there for the moment, and I’m going to bask in the spotlight for just a while and welcome all the new followers that are here. I’ve got lots of new blogs to discover, so I’ll be reading for a while.

Then I will start on my next goal.

The Stress Of Social Media

Posted on July 18, 2011 by SzaboInSlowMo

Social Media experimentation was supposed to be fun. First MySpace (which I actually skipped, and still will in spite of Justin Timberfake’s new takeover), then Facebook, Twitter, blogging and hubs. Blogger or WordPress? Get your own domain or save the money? Write for fun or for profit? Sell yourself, spread the word. To advertise or not to advertise, that’s another question…it goes on and on.
Well, hey, at least I got a $1.19 deposit from Google last month. It’s a start. Don’t laugh. Then again, maybe I’ll laugh with you, because if I was in it for the money, I could have put all that time in at Mickey D’s in the evenings and met some interesting people via the drive-thru and would have made enough for a vacation this year. Instead, I treated myself to a Diet Coke and still owed sales tax.

But it’s all been just experimentation to see what clicks. I’m finding that it takes a lot of education, dedication and zero procrastination. A lot of research, a lot of writing, a lot of reading and, yes, salesmanship. In short, it’s work. I’ve learned that if you write it, they don’t necessarily come.

Then again, I knew that all along. I was just a little internet-shy.

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