Overcoming Blogging Pitfalls

I don't know how many times I've made absolutely ridiculous mistakes and spent an entire day just to fix them. Sometimes more! I always look at it as a learning experience. Which it is. However, when you're trying to meet a deadline and Twitter decides to change your "following" list from 8,000 to 4. Or facebook decides to notify you of several posts they decided may be tied to a sponsored post or a paid ad and you have to explain yourself. Or if you're like me, you spent an entire day trying to remove the period from a link because an advertiser asked you too. (That was one of my most favorite adventures!)

I have a couple of blogs and have social media accounts. Just like every other blogger. I have days where I log on and have an hour to myself to catch up, only to find that somebody has been applying for credit through my Amazon account or that somebody hacked Yahoo emails and my email account has been compromised. Of course, that ends up eating up that quiet and cozy hour I had with just me, my laptop, and a fresh pot of coffee.

List Your Priorities

One of the easiest ways for me to attack the constant pileup of emails and what I call "tidbits" (check-ins, blogger groups, Tweets, little things.) is to make a list of 5 separate parts of my business. 

For instance, I will have emails/filing/replying/connecting in its own group. Next will be social media. Tidbits, networking, and posts. It took me a few years to find a system that would work. I think I must have ordered and used and gave away at least 2 dozen agendas and blogger planners I've found until I realized that somebody else's system may not work for me. There are a lot of great planners and agendas out there! I love being organized as best I can and I love having a planner I can keep notes in. If only I could create and produce my own...

Keeping notes on paper and in an agenda of some kind has proven to be the best way for me to make sure I don't miss a deadline or a possible connection for an upcoming gift guide. We all have our own ways to stay on top of the world. We just have to find it and stick with it! 

Health And Emergencies

This is something I struggle with a lot! If I ever have the opportunity to hire somebody as an assistant or train one of my older children, I will be jumping at that chance! 

Owning and running your own business is so fulfilling and rewarding. But, who do you call when things get rough? (I usually text or call my mom.) Things can start to become overwhelming and you feel like you're drowning and can never keep up at times. When an emergency happens or you have a disability or an illness of any kind, there may be times that you have to "shut down due to emergency". I've had to do this a lot, due to disabilities and illnesses and it's a terrible feeling. I try to at least always have my cell phone with me so I can contact super important contacts about posts or anything that needs to be done. Times like this are where a virtual assistant would come in handy! 

How do we overcome this type of pitfall? I don't know just yet. But, if you have any ideas, please share! The only thing I can come up with is to hire somebody, ask somebody for help if it is only temporary, hope to be able to get home from the hospital or out of surgery soon enough to apologize to everyone, or hope to have good WiFi in the hospital. If you are working with a client you have worked with in the past, they are most likely aware of any disabilities and/or illnesses you may have already and are a bit more forgiving than others may be. Just know that you're not alone in this! 

Family And Kids

It happens to everyone. There will always be something that just pops up out of nowhere. Whether it's a fall and a quick trip to the ER, a day filled with appointments, the dog got loose, somebody forgot to tell you they need a white 3 ring binder with pockets on the inside and a black lead pencil by tomorrow and you live 30 miles from the closest store, something always pops up. This always makes it hard to plan and get everything done when it needs to be done. 

It seems that every time I wake up, something new happens that has never happened before and you just have no choice but to make it work somehow. That's just life and I wouldn't change it for the world! But, there are times I feel like ripping all of my hair out of my head! This is where some aromatherapy, an entire pot of coffee, or whatever it is that you do to help yourself relax would come in handy. Much like the above dilemma, I don't have an answer for you. Other than to find somebody to be on call or go through the steps in the previous section, you just have to deal with it, accept it, and learn to love it. Running a business is tough but it can still be so rewarding! (Always remember that because sometimes, that is all you have to get you through!) 

Technical Issues

I know I already touched on this earlier but, this is an important part of blogging. You're going to have to learn a little bit so you can fix some of your own problems. I usually try to read up on everything when I see something new about SEO or any guides I find about how to do well, pretty much anything. I'm a big fan of eBooks and how to guides. 

When an expert writes an eBook on how to better organize your blog or how to use plugins, I'm there! If you haven't already had any concerns about whatever it may be about, you probably will in the future. So, go ahead and download until your heart's content! You may be relieved one day in the near future! 

I like to try my best to remain positive and to understand that I can't possibly do it all. One thing that really helps is when I find somebody like, Grace Lever reviews, who is a positive role model for many female entrepreneurs. 

You could always network and find somebody to barter with or somebody to hire to be on call for tech support. Commenting on other blogs, sharing some posts, Retweeting, these are all ways to find some good, trustworthy blogger friends. Besides, we should all be supporting each other out here! 

Back To School Blogger Opp

 Blogger Opp Back To School Giveaway

1 Winner

Sponsored by:
Mead Five Star

Zest

Salon Graphix

(more are being added this week)
Hosted By

Amy & Aron's Real life Reviews

Each blogger will receive up to 3 Free links  
for posting and promoting this giveaway 

Giveaway Date

8/9 to 8/23
Open to US

 Giveaway will be 2 weeks long. Make sure if you are purchasing links they will be valid that long. We don't want blank entries.

Prizes: 
Mead Five Star Backpack with an assorted bundle of supplies
Zest shower gel
Salon Graphix hair care products and more will be added
(and more)

The more bloggers promoting ~ the bigger the results ~ the more giveaways we get to do together.

Sign Up Here or Below

Co-Hosts spots are unlimited, Co-Hosts Needed

Co-Hosts
$5 for 5 additional links (up to 8 total) plus backlink to your blog.

Custom links available:
Adding social links $1 each limit 3

 (link to specific post required)

This includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube, etc
Daily links $2 each or 3 for $5 (Limit 3)
Daily Comments, retweets, post shares, email sign ups, secret word, etc
(link to specific post required)

Any payment needed please send to grovesamy81@gmail.com as a friend/gift, BTS in the notes

Posting will be required within 24 hours of launch.

I hope to see you there.
If you have any questions about this giveaway please email Amy at grovesamy81@gmail.com or amy@aarlreviews.com

Has There Ever Been A Successful Blog Transfer?

I have a blog, well 2, on Wordpress. So, a few times over the years I thought, well, maybe I should throw my Blogger blog over on the Wordpress platform so they're all in one place. (I have to tell you, I am not a big fan of Wordpress. I love Blogger. But, this could be due to the fact that I am not so up to par with the tech side of everything.) I'm used to Blogger and want to keep my design. Even if it is about 6 years old.

Every once in awhile though, I receive an email from a fellow blogger who is having a promo or some sort of deal on blog transfers. If the price is right, I'll reply and ask a few questions, send over my password, agree to a date, and then wait. I've done this twice and both times ended up being one of the hardest and most stressful things I ever had to deal with. (Involving blogs I mean.) After this last attempt at a blog transfer, I think I will stay put. I like my Wordpress blogs and hope to be able to fill them in with content ASAP! But, I also like my Blogger blogs right where they are. (and I have been up for countless hours trying to republish everything that became unpublished and rewriting things that disappeared.)

I understand that sometimes content is lost during a transfer. At least this is what I'm told. I don't know if this is true or not or if it's just to save the person who will be doing the transfer. This happened to me both times. The other peculiar thing that totally threw me over the edge was that even after knowing the URL and the blog name, (Busymommylist), neither person transferred the proper blog! They transferred another blog that I have on Blogger. (Yes, I went crazy a few times and purchased a few domains that I liked and just started a blog to keep the name.) By then, it was to late. I was informed that I won't be able to have it transferred back and have this blog transferred unless I pay another fee! Um, no thanks!

The first time this happened, I had a couple of years of redirecting issues and no matter how many times I would call, Godaddy, it was never fixed. This was messing up my page rank, tracking, analytics, and naturally, a lot of opportunities I could have had if all of the above wouldn't have been a problem. One day, I called with hopes of reaching somebody who would understand my troubles and could either point me in the right direction or with any luck, fix it for me. The person who answered the phone was more than helpful and knew exactly what I meant when I started to explain and he fixed it on his end while I was still blabbing about how this has affected me and VOILA! He said, "No worries! I found the issue and it's all fixed. Give it a few hours and everything should start to fall in line." We had a conversation about burgers and other food suitable for tailgating (He was reading a few posts where I reviewed a few products and some recipes I shared.) and that was that! So, I was reluctant a couple of months ago to try this again and now I wish I had went with my gut and just let things the way they were.

Instead, I thought I was helping another blogger and giving her business and if she says my design and content will be fine and she seemed well versed in the whole redirect concerns I had, everything would be good to go. The problems I had the first time around with the URL and whatever these redirect issues were, are no longer there. Instead, I lost several hundred posts. Most of which I have been finding are still here. Just unpublished for some reason. The rest? They are gone. Forever. Until I redo them all and start filling in some holes.

I know it's not the end of the world but I really don't have the time or the patience or the stress levels necessary for such a small "disaster". I find it odd that both times things went wrong, I would go on to email and be very kind and thoughtful and careful not to sound angry or upset. Every single email would be ignored. Never even a tip or a name of somebody who could help me, nothing. and to think that I still receive emails from the one on a regular basis. No matter how many times I would unsubscribe or leave a comment on one of her posts asking for help with my situation. Does she even read her emails or comments??

I Tweeted a few times about this and somebody replied and told me that there is a "transfer" option on Blogger. Maybe the next time I will attempt this on my own. Or maybe I will just stay here. Since I'm comfortable here and I kind of like it.

January is Pamper Busy Moms Month (Giveaways!!)

What are your New Year's Resolutions?
I made a few, lol, as usual, but who knows if I am going to have the time to get through the list?
I live a very eventful life, and at any hour of any day, this family can be thrown into topsy turvy mode!
We have medical issues, little 2 year olds who find amusement in dumping full containers of Coffeemate cream all over the carpet, problems with my husband's tractor trailer, (yes, we are self employed so the problems are our problems!), pretty much anything can happen, and it has. 2012 has been a very crazy year and I am honestly happy to wave goodbye.
Like everybody else, I make a little list of things I would like to accomplish, throughout the year, and by the end of the year. I figure, if I give myself a year, it will get done. (My weekly to do lists have lots of transfers from week to week), and with Deegan getting a little older, I am hoping this year is the year this little monkey boy calms down.
I realized I had a whole pile of gorgeous products to give away and review, hair products, vitamins, eye cream, (my favorite beauty product!!), gift cards, and breath freshners,  all kinds of things that are going to help with my own personal resolutions, so I thought, maybe some of you have a similar idea for 2013.
I am going to take more time to take care of myself for once, I know this is rough, and sometimes if we even get showers, they might last 5 minutes.  Maybe this is partially a resolution for my husband and kids, lol, but either way, I am somehow going to make time for me, and along with this comes confidence, self esteem, and hey, who knows? Just maybe, I will get more accomplished;)
I am 38 years old, and and a grandma now, so, I have to take more time. (Ok, maybe I am grabbing here lol), but I am just going to do it, and pray this works this year.
If you are anything like me, and I know a few of my readers quite well, so I do know that a lot of you are. Whether you can relate with chronic pain disorders, neurolgical disorders, being a grandma, or even just being a mom or wife, we all need to take more time for ourselves. Imagine how much more pleasant things would be at home for our husbands and kids, if mom had more time....
I will start posting giveaways today, the more you enter, the better your chances of winning!!
If you share, and tweet, the more entries you receive!
and if you are a blogger and would like to help promote or advertise, I will be adding free links, (up to 10), as well as extra links for $1.
The proceeds will be going to create beauty mom boxes to send to 5 wonderful busy moms who could really use a pick me up, and who really deserve it!!
If you are a brand who is reading this, please contact me at busymommylist@yahoo.com oif you have products or books even that would fall in these categories. We would love to get these reviews and giveaways all done in time for Valentine's Day!!

Great Deals are NOT Always Great Deals

I learned a few lessons lately, since the end of summer, or mid summer I don't even know anymore. All I know is that, "You get what you pay for!!"
Please try and keep this in mind, when it comes to anything! Whether it's grocery shopping, cars, clothes, repairs, a house, and most of all, web design and transferring!!
I thought I could save some money and grab an unknown website designer, builder, and have him transfer me to Wordpress, and since it cost next to nothing, I thought I found a great deal. Well, he or she, I would have no idea since I only messaged them through a site where you can hire people to do all kinds of things for practically nothing. They seemed trustworthy enough and I was so anxious to get everything taken care of and where I wanted to be.I recently also went through a real professional, who will be transferring my other blog to Wordpress, and she is very reputable and trustworthy so I really have no stress over that move! (Just in case you read my other blog, there isn't much there right now because it is going to be completely redone and new tabs and content will be added to make it a much cooler blog:)
I have no idea where to start except for I have finally found all of the missing reviews, posts, links, articles, pictures, everything that has been lost is at least known now! The part that is driving me crazy is the reposting everything, there was at least half of everything, gone, and this person, at least I believe it was this person, also got into my email.
I am not real creative when it comes to passwords, lol, so yes, I have the same password for everything. That's why I am assuming that this person was in my email, deleting contacts, after I went crazy and flipped out about losing and deleting my blog!! I did find some contacts again, because I luckily had some in a different email and some from Linkedin.
But, besides all of that, I have had 2 weeks where I could not log in and was blocked from this blog, and a few days of this specific blog being "parked" by Godaddy. (That was a another mess and that is all taken care of now;)
So, to make a long story short, please remember that a great deal may not always be a great deal!! Also, if it seems to good to be true, it most likely is! AND never use the same passwords for everything! AND always remember to change your password after somebody comes in and destroys everything you have worked so hard for for almost 2 years!!
I apparently don't have a lot of common sense, because after all of that, and knowing this person had my password for all of my Blogger blogs, I didn't think to change it. After I thought I could get back to normal and start refilling everything in, my own password was changed on me and I had to somehow manage to persuade Godaddy and Google that I was me. and that process takes a bit, unfortunately. But, thank God! I am logged in and can stay without being kicked out, lol, and it is mine again! Yay!!
All of my passwords are different now, this is a new password, and when I save enough, this blog will be transferred just like my other, and by an actual professional:)