A Mommy Mis-Adventure Update: Sesame Place

Last year you might remember I took Noodle to Sesame Place. I’d say it was a disaster, but despite all the things that happened I was still able to spend time with a great friend and at least say I tried to give Noodle a day of normalcy.

Just as a refresher, this is what she looked like in line for the first ride:

And, {you’re welcome}, but no photos of her second ride– which she “christened” with reflux.

No photos either of our wait in line at the Lazy River, and me tearfully begging a family in front of us to let us cut in front because Noodle freaked out over the overstimulation of waiting in line and was gagging and just moments from puking again.

As for photos of the 45 minute wait for food, none of which Noodle could actually eat due to her feeding issues, yeah, no pics of that either.

In a moment that can only be described as sheer insanity, I decided to try again this year. I mentioned it to my husband, and couldn’t believe it when he took a day off of work {which has been crazy busy for him}. Remembering the lunch disaster last time, I paid $66 for the 3 of us to eat lunch with the characters in air conditioned glory. Our date with Sesame was now set in stone. Errrr, and by “stone” I mean dollars.

Here’s where I had a long and frustrating internal debate. Now that we had the eating part resolved, what was the one thing standing in between a good day and a disastrous one?

Looking at the map, there were only 4 rides that Noodle could actually go on because the rest would irritate her reflux or she was under the height requirement due to her diminutive statue (at 3+ years old, she still only weighs 25 pounds). And to get to those rides required standing in a long line– which she simply can not do. It makes her anxious and overwhelmed.

Meet Carrie Higgins

Dreamer, thinker, + lemon squeezer; you'll usually find me clutching a mug of coffee, glue gun, fandeck of paint colors, and a child at any given time. This mom of two (and wife to one) loves to share freshly squeezed ideas for home and family. Join the adventure as we learn most lemons can indeed become lemonade-- with generous amounts of sweetness, perspective, and love.

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Thanks so much for the support you shown me {and my family} on my Blogging for Dollahs post yesterday. Your responses were awesome.

The author of the book that inspired it even commented (Dr. Tony Youn), so probably I should have told you I also really enjoyed his book In Stitches*. And I’m NOT just saying that so I can score some free plastic surgery. You know, just a little nip/tuck, possibly a lift here and there. It was genuinely a great read, perfect for summer, quite funny and very interesting! Really, Dr. Youn, maybe also some lipo? In fact… I’ll send my copy to one person who comments on this post. U.S. addresses only (so sorry, but I’m paying out of my own pocket). It’s a quick read, and genuinely hilarious! perhaps some botox?

Here are your questions about making money while blogging, compiled. If there’s anything you are still curious about just ask– it might inspire yet another post if there’s interest in this topic!

1. So, Carrie, how do people make money with their blogs?

After two years of blogging, here are the major ways I’ve seen others monetizing their blogs. Since I’m still fairly naive on this topic, I’m sure I’m missing something– be sure to comment if you know of other ways!

promote own products, such as an Etsy shop (Little Miss Momma is an example– fabulous shop, even more fabulous blog)

promote someone else’s products and make a commission (an affiliate); most monetized blogs are affiliates for several different companies (and did you know those coupon/deal sites earn $$$ each time you print certain coupons?! I didn’t know that until recently.)

selling ad space, or belonging to an ad network (I sell my own ad space, but some people belong to ad networks like Blogher. There are pros and cons to each, if interested comment and let me know because it’s a whole ‘nother post!)

working on campaigns for various brands, like Kmart (more info below)

writing or accepting sponsored posts, either for your blog or on another blog, through companies like Social Spark (more info below)

reviewing products and hosting giveaways (by far one of the best examples of someone who does this really really well is Dee from Two of a Kind— she has a personal side in addition to the many reviews/giveways, AND I like that she actually uses and photographs the products herself unlike some sham review blogs who pretend to review them and then turn around and sell them “new with tags”. A blog like Swell Swag also has lovely things, many from Etsy stores. Lucky duck).

turning a blog niche or specialty into an ebook (like Sharon, who once guest posted here from Good, True, & Beautiful– who now pays her mortgage thanks to helping others move blogs from Blogger to WordPress. Plus, she’s sweet as pie. Love that.)

2. How do you get connected with brands, and get offered campaigns like Glidden?

Truly, I’m a total novice at this. What has worked for me is to find a great company that works as the middleman to connect bloggers and brands. I’m sure there’s lots more out there (and if you want to share in the comments I’ll love you forever) but I’ve enjoyed working with Collective Bias. My favorite campaigns/shoppertunities have come from them, and they are super supportive. Usually you need to be invited by another member, and they very recently put a hold on accepting new ones. I asked in the forum whether I can still invite a new member, so I’ll update you as soon as I hear back in case you are interested in joining. {I make no money for having you sign up, just wanted to put that out there}.

There are other ways to connect with brands, but in my opinion for busy bloggers finding a “middleman” is the best for everyone involved.

3. Same thing with sponsored posts. Who sponsors them? How does that work?

Once in awhile I’ll get random emails of people who want to write content for my blog. So far I’ve declined every single one, because it’s my blog and I can. No, really, I am a perfectionist about certain things and writing is one of them. I like to have control over what is written, because my readers really do mean so much to me. I don’t want some junk written poorly from someone trying to sell you widgets or gizmos. I’m not saying it won’t change in the future if I find a great sponsor with high quality content that I know you’ll enjoy, but for now, they can keep their widgets and gizmos.

That being said, once in a great while I’ll have a post on here written by me that is sponsored by someone else. The company I use for connecting the two is www.socialspark.com. Of course, the first week I signed up they offered one for Pier One, hellllllooooo, and yes, please! Since then, I’ve only found one or two more that fit my niche– and, I have a broad niche. It’s a little extra money, but if I can find topics mutually beneficial for my readers I’ll write a sponsored posts here and there. Full disclosure: I didn’t realize this until recently, but if you sign up through my link I’ll make a commission. Which would be so super sweet, you have no idea. 😉

So far, I’ve never written for another site and gotten paid, but I do know those opportunities exist. I barely have enough time for this blog (my first love, behind my family of course) so that isn’t the route I’m taking at this time.

4. Dude. Whatever you do, don’t promote BBQ sauce if you are a special needs blog.

Totally. I loved the comment from JennieB on my Dollahs post. I remember reading a blog and was on the fence whether to still keep it in my reader or not because it was getting more and more sponsored with less and less personality behind it. The final straw was a post promoting Branson, Missouri. Now, I have nothing against Branson, but I probably won’t visit it anytime soon, being from Pennsylvania and all. It’s not worth it to me to publish a $15 post and possibly alienate the followers I’ve worked so hard to form relationships with. (so ignore tomorrow’s post on my blog: Branson! It’s for Lovers! hahah, just kidding). As Jennie stated, yes, that post might be what keeps the other ones coming so if it’s a blog I enjoy I just scan past a sponsored post I’m not interested in reading. Unless it’s for BBQ sauce, haha!

5. Seriously, I have nothing against Branson. Or BBQ sauce.

Just want to put that out there.

6. How tied are you to brands (in Poetess Wug’s words, how much do you have to hock their stuff?)

This really depends on the blogger, and the company, and the campaign. For example, if you belong to an ad network like Blogher you’ll make money from their ads but are pretty restricted in terms of what you can and can’t do on your blog. I’m pretty sure you can’t run giveaways unless they sponsor them, or other ads, but I may be wrong about that. That’s why you do need to be careful when working with companies and ad networks. I prefer to sell my own ad space for that reason, but it does require much more work on my part and I probably make less. Ah, well. I love my sponsors.

Social Spark and Collective Bias (mentioned above) don’t have such restrictions. Social Spark is basically “one and done”– write the post, you are done. Collective Bias depends on the opportunities, but they spell it out very clearly before asking whether you accept it or not. For example, you might need to write ___ number of posts, complete a story on ThisMoment, and tweet using specific hashtags. The more work you need to do, the higher you are compensated.

7. Why would companies hire a blogger anyways? Do people really buy things just because a blogger mentioned it? (a take-off of Olivemom’s question)

In short, Olivemom asked a very comprehensive question about marketing on blogs vs. other avenues. This, again, would make an excellent additional post and probably a page in my media kit– if I were savvy enough to have a media kit. {it’s on my massive blog to-do list}. I need to look into the statistics (they ARE out there) but research has shown people DO buy products, and quite frequently, from bloggers they trust. In my own very personal experience, here’s a few things off the top of my head I’ve purchased just because they were mentioned on blogs I love:

a specific shade of lip gloss
several books (okay, most of those I checked those out of the library, but read them because a blogger mentioned them)
a t-shirt (um, okay #2, it was a gift from a friend but we read and love the same blog so it makes it extra special)
cleaning products (Mrs. Meyers, yum)
sunscreen
groupons
a very large and expensive toy (darn it!)
countless food products, including a tub of Mocafe Wild Tribe Moka*

If you trust the person writing it, and it comes from a place of good intent, people will buy a product they may have not known about if you share it with them. I’m very interested in finding out more, statistically– but offhand, have any of you bought something mentioned on a blog? If so, what, and how was it mentioned?

8. As for the rest of the comments on my Blogging for Dollars post, you guys make me melt.

Thanks again for your kindness and rockstar comments. I wasn’t sure about the response I’d get from my post, so to know I was supported meant the world to me!

I think I answered all your questions (with a few that need more in depth follow-up), but if not, remind me and I’ll get on it. Any other questions? Ask away! If I don’t know the answer I’ll find someone who does and ~~beg~~ ask them to guest post for me.

the two products that have the (*) are linked are through my Amazon affiliate account. Seriously, I’ll make a few cents if you buy them. But a few cents is better than no cents, right? xoxo!