mamikaze

My subscribers may not notice, but I do paid posts via Social Spark and payperpost. The reason you wouldn’t notice is because they don’t go into my feeds. I try not to obsess daily about my subscriber count (167 as of right now), but it means a lot to me. It is nice to now that there are people out there interested in what I have to say.

I have heard both sides of the pay for post argument. I have bills to pay. Lots of bills to pay. Every cent from my paid posts goes to my kids’ an my medical bills. Mama’s gotta do what mama has to do. Simple as that. I am picky about the products I post about and the requirements of said posts. Companies are paying me 10-20 cents per word and it allows me to work from home. So be it.

This summer, I installed the Ultimate Category Excluder Plugin. This allows me to filter what show on my front page, feed, and archives. I have paid posts show on my front page because I am contractually obligated to do so.

However, I do not show my product reviews on either my front page or feeds. This is because I have found that those posts are only of interest to search engine traffic. I like the challenge of writing good and bad points of a product and if you ever want to see my recent reviews, the link is at the top of my page.

The best part of doing paid posts is that is requires me to post authentic content on a regular basis. Seriously. I must have a personal post between paid posts. It is helping me keep it real. How ironic.

Are you tired of the “read more” in my recent posts? Don’t hate me. It’s because those are paid posts. I want you to want to look at them. No hard feeling s if you don’t. I am trying to earn some extra cash for an upcoming trip. Fluffy and I are going to a family reunion at the end of May. While she has cash stashed in the bank, Mama had to use hers to balance the checkbook. Oh the joys of adulthood.

On the subject of raising funds, I am announcing a “sale” on my web services. Get any of these for $20 or all three for $50:

• All Twitter backgrounds are $20, all the bling you want for one price.
• Blog headers
• Ad banners

Also, I can set you up with a rockin’ Wordpress blog for $150. That includes:

• installation
• plug-ins
• theme customization
• importing of your posts
• one full backup on my hard drive

If you’re looking for a host server, get 25% off when you sign up at DreamHost for one or two years. Use the code ‘mamikaze25′. DreamHost is a top-rated site with excellent customer support. I have been with them for a year now and have nothing but compliments. If you are migrating from another server, contact me for the workaround.

Do you have a URL that you want to register? GoDaddy has a deal for you:

GoDaddy is the world’s largest web domain registrar and web host. Be like all the cool kids are get your very own domain. The have low prices and the new .me domains available. You can register your domain name for as little as $1.99 per year. Web hosting is a dirt cheap $4.74. Sounds like a deal to me.

I have been working on the Type-A Mom 12 Days of Giveaways for weeks now. It has been so much fun getting products in the mail for reviews. There have been CDs, video games, cheese, plastic wallets, chocolates and computer stuff gracing my porch. I have lost count how many times my hawt UPS delivery man has caught me unshowered and braless (I had my trusty hoodie on, don’t gasp like that) but he always has a smile.

This has been a great opportunity for me to neglect my children. I can stick my nose into my laptop with abandon because “I have work to do.” Too bad they aren’t letting that fly. They have no qualms about coming up to me 3,456,735 times to ask the same questions. Or sneak into my bathroom and throw everything into my bathtub. Or turn or my docking station as they head to the washer to pull out all of the wet clothes.

I am so excited I could pee myself. I have been enduring hourly headdesk moments in the hopes of creating a kickass giveaway and it is paying off. The Dads giveaway items total over $900! I want to win these for myself. My #12days spreadsheet is worth more than my computer.

I think I may have a budding career as a giveaway setter-upper. I have my fingers croseed that some of our entrants click through my Amazon links and buy stuff, I could use the referral fees. If this giveaway goes well, I may break the $20 mark in my AdSense revenue this month. At this rate, I’ll have a payout by next summer! Wow, if YouData finally gets its shit together, I may have income to report next year.

This house is not conducive to productivity. I cannot stay focused on my work here. So, instead of morphing into a WAHM, I am becoming a WFSM. That stands for Work-From-Starbucks-Mom. Even when the girls are at school, I can’t get things crossed off my to-do list sitting at my kitchen table. There’s laundry to do, dinner to make, you know the drill.

I love having projects to keep me busy. I am a workaholic at heart. I can easily get wrapped up in work and forget the rest of the world. When I buy a Starbucks card, I get 2 hours of free wifi everyday. I can put my headphones in, listen to my playlist at last.fm and work productively. As long as I load it and use it monthly, the free internet continues. I bring in my mug and drink Pike Place Roast half-decaf with room from 12-2 everyday I can get out. No dogs barking or mail carriers knocking.

It’s good to have a project. I am learning a lot. I am not going to tell you what I am working on specifially, but I will say it’s HUGE and involves Type-A Mom. I have been knee-deep in product pitches for a week now. I brought it on myself. When Peter Shankman says he has 23,000 sources, he is not joking. Help a reporter is a great resource.  Almost too good. I am averaging 200 emails from my queries. Yowza!

This kind of thing is reminding me why I prefer to not work in an office. No matter how explicitly you word a message, at least 5% of the respondants will give you “wha?” responses. Seriously. I spelled out exactly what my needs and intentions are and someone is bound to ask a dumb question. My answer for that? Delete. No free crap is worth such idiotry.

Mark your calendars. Somthing big is going down on November 11th. Until then, I am writing 26 product reviews, possibly more. Free stuff is not free.