5 Ways Blogging Is Like Being A Parent

I had the honor of being accepted to a site called BloggersCompete in which myself and other bloggers work toward winning a blogging contest or two---or more.  They are always looking for bloggers to join the site and compete for prizes and cold hard cash. Check them out and and see if you too can join the fun and win some cash.  The following is my entry into the 5 Ways Blogging is Like_______ contest.

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People compare blogging to a lot of things, but if you really think about it, it's a lot like raising a family. Being a mom, I know full well what it takes to watch your babies go from helpless beings who can't do anything without you to full-fledged adults who need to face the world without you holding their hands. Here are 5 ways in which blogging is like being a parent.

It's up to you to come up the perfect name
Naming your new blog is a lot like naming your new baby. You want a name that the world will remember, but won't think is too strange. You want something that is easy to spell, but still maybe just different enough to set them apart from the rest. And you want something that feels natural when spoken.

You become protective of your baby

As you start to put your new blog together, you start to become attached to certain things. And when someone comes along and criticizes any part of it, you become defensive and are ready to fight. Even if that person was only trying to offer some help to bring your site up to the next level, you feel as though you've been personally attacked and your site is being punished.

You're always trying to keep things neat and tidy
You know you have to add content and ads and other such things, but you don't want your blog to end up looking cluttered. You might find a couple new themes to try on, you rearrange your sidebar widgets and ad spots, and you try to make sure your posts are well written and in order. And as you add new elements to the site, you work to make sure they fit in with the other things already in place.

You're always trying to come up with ways to make everyone happy

As you add your posts, you want each one to be received by the public with open arms. You go out of your way to write in such a way as to make you readers happy, but then you worry that the search engines won't like them. So you work toward writing for the search engines and find that your readers aren't happy with the content. But over time, you find a happy medium that makes the readers and the search engines happy with what you present to them.

As your site grows and becomes more popular, you realize all it was worth all the hard work

In time, you see that your little blog has taken on a life of its own. You don't have to coddle it quite so much anymore and you find that there are a lot of people coming by to see your site. You realize that your baby isn't so little anymore and that there are others out there who like hanging out on your blog. It's at that point that you realize, like any good parent, you've done your job and you've done it well.

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If you liked this post and want to try your own hand at winning a blogging contest or two, or if you just want to engage with bloggers who have similar blogs as yours, check out the site and see if your blog has what it takes to join in with BloggersCompete.com

Let's Win Some SuperPoints

I have found one of THE most addictive time consumers ever.  It's called SuperPoints and it's easy to do and can help you win money and prizes.  Seriously, if I can do this, anyone can.  There's nothing to it but to sign up and push a button.  Let me explain.

SuperPoints is a site that allows their users to earn points and spend them on a whole slew of items.  Depending on the amount of points, a person can win gift cards, electronics, and even cold hard cash.  The trick is to get members to sign up under you, and the more who sign up under you, the more you win.  That's right.  For every member you get to sign up under you, you get a percentage of their points.  So the more friends you have, the faster you earn your way into the big prizes.

You may have noticed I just used the term "big prizes".  That's right, boys and girls, you can win items such as Amazon Kindles, iPods, or even laptops.  There a lot of stuff in their Network Store.  And all you have to do is earn the points.

So, how does one go about earning the points???  Easy.  Every day members are allowed up to 30 clicks on the Super Button.  This button can give out 1,2, 5, or even 50 points at a shot.  I don't know how high the amount goes, but I have won the 50 point amount.  The button doesn't give out points on every spin, but it's still fun to try.  Other ways of earning points include completely various offers and just watching different videos.  I mean, how easy is that?

So come on, join me and lets see just how many cool prizes we can walk away with before it's all said and done.  Remember, you can trade those points in for cash too.  Kinda like winning free money just for playing online.  Right on!!!!

Win An iPad2 or $500 Cash

Hey kids!!

I know it's been a day or 12, but like has been going a thousand miles an hour this month.  Between getting things ready for school to start and trying to keep up with 2 blogs in the NaBloPoMo challenge, I've been slightly busy.  But then I say a new-ish contest out there and I had to tell everyone about.  It's a chance to win either an iPad2 OR $500 sent to your Paypal account. 




This giveaway is being hosted by Mama B Blog, Baby Dickey, and Little BGCG.  These three ladies were lucky enough to represent Shari Criso and her My Baby Experts web show at BlogHer '11.  The show is a live web show, the next of which will be on August 23rd from 9-10pm EST.  If you're a new mom or about to become one, RSVP for the show and get in on all the latest in the mommy world.

This giveaway is open to entrants worldwide and will run through August 30th at 11:59pm EST.  This is a big giveaway so get in while you can as there are already thousands of entries into this one.  It's important to note that a winner chosen from either the United States or Canada will have their choice of either of the two prizes, while an entrant from anywhere else in the world will only be able to win the cash.

Summer Giveaway Hop

One of my all-time favorite book blogs is co-hosting a killer week long giveaway.  I'm a Reader Not A Writer and BookHounds are holding the Summer Giveaway Hop.  This giveaway event has more than 300 other bloggers involved, all of which are holding their own giveaways.  Now mind you, there is absolutely no way I could ever enter that many giveaways in a week's time, but I'm going to jump into as many as I can.  I love a good giveaway and this one's gonna be killer.





The thing to remember about this giveaway is that it only lasts for a week.  From today through this coming Sunday night, 316 sites are going to be giving away some really cool books and other likewise items.  Be sure to check out the two sites co-hosting this event to get a full list of participating sites.  Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some entering to do.  And so do you, so hurry up and get over there cause I can't do this one on my own.  LOL

Not really into books that much???  Well then maybe you'd be more interested in the Boost Your Buzz event going on thanks to Survey Junkie, Simply Stacie, and Little Yaya's.  So what's with this one?  Well one lucky person is going to win $1,000 to be sent via PayPal.  There are a bunch of blogs also involved with this one, but getting in on this one is as easy as joining someone's social media group, following them,  or subscribing to their RSS feeds.  Head on over to any of the girls' sites and fill out the forms.  Who knows, you could win the whole thing.  But it ends on August 15th, so better do it now!