Ain't Too Proud To Beg - I Need Your Vote To Become A Hopscout Editor!

I don't ask for a lot. Really. A strong cuppa joe, some comfy jeans and a stash of chocolate are all I need to be happy most days. Ok, ok, I'm a little addicted to my kids, my blog and my iphone too. But generally speaking the simple life is good for me. Today however, I am asking, begging, pleading for one thing more: I need your vote.

You see Hopscout (formerly Lilluxe) is looking for 5 new editors. Don't know Hopscout? Well you should! It's the fabulous little company that strives to do one thing well. That is to offer fine quality toys for kids at a great price. They are 100% committed to offering only simple, timeless, classic toys that promote imagination, inspiration and family togetherness. These are the things that make your heart sing. The treasures that conjure up memories of long summer days, lemonade stands, living room forts and games of kick the can. Simple childhood joys and memories that sustain us and enrich our lives forever.

And guess what? Those talented treasure-hunters at Hopscout are looking for 5 magnificent moms and dads to think, act, write, design and create on their behalf as editors! I have submitted an entry online and I need your vote. Pretty please?

Voting closes on April 22nd so if you have a minute (that's all it takes!) Please visit this link and vote for me ;) And if you are so inclined to share, repost, beg on my behalf, etc., I would be forever in your debt.

PS I love supporting hardworking moms and dads and my fellow bloggers. If I can friend, follow, fave, tweet or vote for you in any way I am more than happy to return the favor. Just let me know!

PPS If you don't already have a Hopscout account you can sign up here for free. Good stuff! I promise.

How is Your Life Better Than Ever? Dove and TwitterMoms Want to Know

"TwitterMoms and Dove® gofresh™ are teaming up to bring you a fun new blogging program! If you haven't heard, Dove® gofresh™ just got a boost of NutriumMoisture™. The folks at Dove® feel this has taken Dove® gofresh™ from good to great. That made us wonder, what in your life has gone from good to great... what in your life is better than ever? We want to celebrate how your life has evolved. Look at where you are now, compared to your life in the past. Taking time to stop, reflect and be thankful is always so refreshing!"

I read about this contest and thought: what a great idea to slow down and reflect on the things in life that are better then ever. With all the news of the down-turned economy, job losses, oil spills, and tragedies, it's easy to buy into the doom and gloom. But, the truth is, we have a lot of control over how rich our lives are. Remember, the best things in life are free!

As I reflect on the last several years of my life, I can see how much richer I am. Sure we need a bigger house, as we're welcoming baby 4 into this little 3 bedroom ranch; and we really need a new car for daddy, who sweats in the heat wave every day on his way to and from work with no A/C! But, in the grand scheme of things, those are small worries. First off, we're all healthy and well, which is a huge blessing. And beyond that, I know that we are blessed to have each other and be able to spend so much quality time together.

Years ago, when I was a single working girl in an ad firm, life was great when I could hit the mall and score a new pair of shoes, or have a big night out with the girls. I eventually found Mr. Right, and when I was a newlywed having my first baby, I had planned on going back to work after 6 weeks. We had hoped to find a nice house and keep up with the Jones's, designer shoes and all.

I had little idea of how my world would change so quickly. As it turned out, I became a stay at home mom and later a homeschooler. Being able to watch my kids grow and learn...and to grow with them every day, has been such an amazing adventure. I never would have imagined all of the joys and trials, the exhaustion and inspiration, or the lessons and rewards that this journey would offer. And I do it all, happily, in my store brand flip flops.

Today I am so much more responsible, grateful, patient and wise than I was all those years ago as a young working single girl who lived for happy hour. Sure, I have some great memories of good times with friends and professional accolades, but they pale in comparison to the fulfillment and wealth of love I experience now. Life is so much better than I could have imagined. Better than ever!

So, what about you? What in your life is better than ever? Stop by TwitterMoms to link up your posts on the topic, or visit Dove's Facebook page to share your stories and photos.

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Dove® gofresh™ blogging program, making me eligible to get a $25 gift card and some product. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Tips for Using Twitter to Promote Your Biz or Blog

Do you twitter? Here is an interesting article from Chris Brogan.

First Steps

1. Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor’s names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
2. Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you.
3. Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn’t sell more widgets, but it shows us you’re human.
4. Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you.
5. Share links to neat things in your community. ( @wholefoods does this well).
6. Don’t get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( @jetblue gives travel tips.)
7. Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out.
8. Promote your employees’ outside-of-work stories. ( @TheHomeDepot does it well.)
9. Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc.
10. Talk about non-business, too, like @astrout and @jstorerj from Mzinga.

Ideas About WHAT to Tweet

11. Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
12. Have more than one twitterer at the company. People can quit. People take vacations. It’s nice to have a variety.
13. When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link.
14. Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
15. Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who she follows, and follow her.
16. Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”
17. When you DO talk about your stuff, make it useful. Give advice, blog posts, pictures, etc.
18. Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections. Point us to pictures and other human things.
19. Don’t toot your own horn too much. (Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this. I do it all the time. - Side note: I’ve gotta stop tooting my own horn).
20. Or, if you do, try to balance it out by promoting the heck out of others, too.

Some Sanity For You

21. You don’t have to read every tweet.
22. You don’t have to reply to every @ tweet directed to you (try to reply to some, but don’t feel guilty).
23. Use direct messages for 1-to-1 conversations if you feel there’s no value to Twitter at large to hear the conversation ( got this from @pistachio).
24. Use services like Twitter Search to make sure you see if someone’s talking about you. Try to participate where it makes sense.
25. 3rd party clients like Tweetdeck and Twhirl make it a lot easier to manage Twitter.
26. If you tweet all day while your coworkers are busy, you’re going to hear about it.
27. If you’re representing clients and billing hours, and tweeting all the time, you might hear about it.
28. Learn quickly to use the URL shortening tools like TinyURL and all the variants. It helps tidy up your tweets.
29. If someone says you’re using twitter wrong, forget it. It’s an opt out society. They can unfollow if they don’t like how you use it.
30. Commenting on others’ tweets, and retweeting what others have posted is a great way to build community.

The Negatives People Will Throw At You

31. Twitter takes up time.
32. Twitter takes you away from other productive work.
33. Without a strategy, it’s just typing.
34. There are other ways to do this.
35. As Frank hears often, Twitter doesn’t replace customer service (Frank is @comcastcares and is a superhero for what he’s started.)
36. Twitter is buggy and not enterprise-ready.
37. Twitter is just for technonerds.
38. Twitter’s only a few million people. (only)
39. Twitter doesn’t replace direct email marketing.
40. Twitter opens the company up to more criticism and griping.

Some Positives to Throw Back

41. Twitter helps one organize great, instant meetups (tweetups).
42. Twitter works swell as an opinion poll.
43. Twitter can help direct people’s attention to good things.
44. Twitter at events helps people build an instant “backchannel.”
45. Twitter breaks news faster than other sources, often (especially if the news impacts online denizens).
46. Twitter gives businesses a glimpse at what status messaging can do for an organization. Remember presence in the 1990s?
47. Twitter brings great minds together, and gives you daily opportunities to learn (if you look for it, and/or if you follow the right folks).
48. Twitter gives your critics a forum, but that means you can study them.
49. Twitter helps with business development, if your prospects are online (mine are).
50. Twitter can augment customer service. (but see above)

How are you using Twitter for your business? What else would you add?

Source: Chris Brogan You may also be interested in the post on Twitter vs Facebook by Julie at Momspective.