Sunshine and Sippy Cups

“If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it.” – Jonathan Winters

Summer was super challenging for me. I feel like I’ve gotten way of course, off track, off schedule. Having my nephews here all day every day – in addition to my little girl who just turned two – was a lot more work than I had anticipated. I worked too much, didn’t make enough time for fun, yet still didn’t accomplish even half of what I should have the past couple of months. But – a new school year always feels like the “real” new year to me…. I’ve bought a new desk calendar and a few new office supplies. I cleaned out my Blogging Binder {which I need to do a post about since ya’all keep asking…} and cleaned off my bulletin board. My brother and the kids just moved out, after us all living together for the past 2 1/2 years…. Bittersweet. I miss them already, but I am excited to have more space for a real office, and a playroom for Abby. So – over the course of the next couple of weeks I’m going to re-evaluate things, and revamp. I’m totally ready for fall and new opportunities – are you?

Remember – Feel free to share your best blogging tips posts, event sign up forms, linkys and hops – anything that you think others might find helpful, share it in the comments! I love seeing all the good stuff you guys post too.

Makin’ Money with your Blog

• Paper Coterie: This is quickly becoming my VERY favorite affiliate that I’ve ever worked with. Not only are they super simple to use {their system is set up just like Escalate, very user friendly} – but they even send out emails once every couple of weeks or so with a FREE PRODUCT coupon code! This is a great way to start stocking up on really pretty, personalized, paper products for holiday gifts.
• BlogFrog Influencers: Join the Influencer Circle on BlogFrog – see their site for the minimum requirements. If you meet them – apply for opportunities to share great brands and campaigns with your readers, and earn fun compensation too!
• Bloggabase: This is a brand new network – but you can sign up to be notified when they officially launch. Says it’s a network from the bloggers perspective – with new ways to monetize, get opps, and more. Sign up for Bloggabase here.
• Social Spark: Super simple posts that you write right on their site, and you get to choose whether to accept posts, to ensure you only share brands that are a good fit to be interesting to your readers. Good payouts that pay directly into your PayPal account. Going into the holidays, this is going to be a great money maker – Last year it was one of my best.

Promote Your Posts

• Blog Nation: Submit your blog’s RSS feed to Blog Nation – they’ll syndicate all posts to their site. Users who are reading posts there can click whether they like them or not… The more popular your post, the more likely it is to get shown to more and more people – driving traffic your way! Easy peasy.
• List your Blog: I loooove this list. I haven’t finished it all, but try to go back to it once a month – 62 Places to List Your Website or Blog for Free. The more “doors” there are to your site on the web, the more ways people can find their way to you. Plus some of the links are do follow, which helps build your page rank.
• Promoting Posts: I love this infographic that shows 12 Things You Should Do After Writing a Blog Post. It’s so important – especially on your good quality evergreen posts – to get them promoted in a variety of different ways. I’ve used many of these tips with success – and it’s a good reminder. I printed it out to add to my blogging binder!
• Drive Traffic: This is a great post – 50 Ways to Drive Massive Traffic to Your Blog. Each tip is a one liner – super simple ideas that are totally do-able. Many you’ve probably already tried, or thought of… But it’s a great way to jump start your creativity again, and think of new ways to boost your blog.

Tools, Resources, and Good Reads

• Rafflecopter: This is a really great break-down of survey results that Rafflecopter did to determine how many entries should be on a giveaway form. It shows how many most businesses and bloggers use, and what most giveaway entrants prefer. Interesting – and I was glad to see I fall into the middle ground on this one.
• Ethics: This is a great post about ethics in blogging – following the laws and regulations that apply to you, as well as doing the right thing – even when you don’t have to. Get it here Tips to Avoid Ethical Pitfalls in Blogging and Social Media.
• Facebook: This is a perfect post on how to get more interaction on your Facebook fan page. I mean – there’s only so much that you can control, Facebook changes all.the.time. But – when you learn a bit about how Edgerank works, and how Facebook decides which updates to share in people’s newsfeeds, you can bump up your “seen by” numbers quite a bit.

Events to Join

• Eddie Bauer Giveaway: This rocks – Join in this great event to give away an Eddie Bauer 3-Wheel Travel System! If you’re a member of MDIB you get one free link – extras are only $1 each. Super cool. Join here.
• Blogs to Riches: I love Lisa Cash Hanson from Mompreneur Mogul – such a fun site packed with great tips. And – she has a new community, Blogs to Riches club. To celebrate, and have a chance to win some fab bloggy prizes, join her giant giveaway event here: Blogs to Riches Membership Giveaway Event.
• Party: Healthy Child, Healthy World is looking for influential moms to host in-home parties to share great “green” brands, like  Seventh Generation, Plum Organics and LUNA. Apply on their site if you’re interested.
• Keurig: Join this new giveaway event coming up to give away a new Keurig, which are usually really popular events! And, if you refer the most visits during the giveaway you can get your spot for free. Find details on the sign up page here.

Awesome books to read

• Photography: This is a fab book for anyone, NOT just crafters. It’s full of great tips on photographing product – which is exactly what bloggers do in reviews, tutorials, and more. The Crafter’s Guide to Taking Great Photos is super helpful, and I’m lovin’ it.
• Business: I know that there are a LOT of bloggers who’d love to quit their day job, and make blogging into their full time career. Never Get a “Real” Job: How to Dump Your Boss, Build a Business and Not Go Broke is a perfect book to help give you tips, tools, and resources to do just that! I loved it.
• Motivation: I just started reading Life Is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally, and it’s really cool. It’s just like a breath of fresh air into your daily routines – even though that sounds really cheesy :) It’s got actions to take, projects to do, things to check off. So it really helps you re-evaluate where you’re at, and boost your happiness and productivity.

Networks to Join

• Question Moms: The “Meet the Moms” promotions, where we were promoting mom-invented daily solution products, is coming to a close. We’re on our very last campaign now. But – sign up to be a part of Question Moms, so we can notify you this fall as we roll out some cool new ambassadorship campaigns, and other cool new opps. I’m very excited to see things coming together!
• Nick Mom: Have you heard of this yet? It’s a super fun new rewards networks for crazy-busy moms like us. Check it out and join here  – Nick Mom. Win prizes, connect with other cool moms, and get free stuff. What more can you ask for, right?
• Social Moms: This is an easy way to earn free stuff like Amazon gift cards… All of your activity on the site is rewarded. When you do things like tweet out a post you like, or leave a comment, you’ll earn points towards freebies. And, there are loads of giveaways – I’ve won a couple hundred in gift cards here over the past few months, just by having the winning comment on a post. Very cool.

If this post was helpful – be sure to share it with your own networks and friends too…

Bloggertunities: 20 New Resources for Bloggers this Week sunshineandsippycups.com/2012/08/blogge… #blogging #tips

— SunandSipCups (@SunandSipCups) August 31, 2012

Want more good stuff?

You can check out all of the older weekly Bloggertunities posts too – some of the events and opps are expired, but there are tons of great networks to join, tips to read, and other helpful stuff. You can also check out my Blogging & Social Media board on Pinterest too – to find some of my favorite helpful tips, sites, and resources.

{Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. But all opps and leads listed are things that I trust, and have used myself. I only share what I love with ya’all! Photo Credit.}