Posts Tagged ‘jazz’
The Dance Shop Inc. – Madison’s Birthday Party!
I am so excited. The kids and I booked Madison’s birthday party last night (yes, I know her birthday isn’t until January. However, I’m anal. I look to book things early. I mean I’ve already talked to the caterer for Madison’s first communion which isn’t until May. Yes, I know I am crazy).
I have been trying to decide what to do for Madison’s birthday. When your girl turns 8, it is incredibly hard to find something that is affordable yet fun for the girls! Madison, who has never taken a dance class in her life, does love to dance around the house, so when we got the flier in her school backpack (many local businesses will give the school things to throw in the kids backpacks. I don’t mind at all, and it introduces us to new businesses in the area), I knew what we were going to do for her birthday party. Yes, we booked a party at The Dance Shop.
I got to meet with the owner last night, and she was sooo nice. They host birthday parties for 12 girls for $200 (it is $5 for every girl after that), and you get a choice of a Hip-Hop party or Ballet. Madison went with Ballet (which was surprising since I guess most girls her age go with Hip-Hop). She is so excited.
I love that we are able to help support a local business. When I was talking about this on Facebook, I’ve already got a couple moms interested in checking them out for lessons. Since this place is very close to Madison’s school, I am glad that the moms get to check them out. As for lessons, they have ballet, hip-hop, zumba (I guess these classes are pretty busy!), tap, jazz, and ballroom (think I can get Bill in for this one?). (You can check out their class schedule here if you are interested.)
I am so glad to be working with them on Madison’s birthday party! If you are in the Chicago south suburbs, The Dance Shop Inc. is definitely worth checking out! You can also walk in and register any time you want!
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Blogging, Hosting, and All That Jazz
Once people find out that you do blogging and sometimes even get paid for it, they all seem interested in finding out how you do what you do. The hard part for me is taking almost two years of knowledge and condensing it down to a five minute synopsis and still have them understand what I am talking about. I try to hit the major points and let them make their own decisions from there.
One of the first things I tell them is that they should get their own domain. If they just want to try it out, yes, a free platform is okay. However, if you are truly serious about blogging, you really need to be on your own domain. If you want to make any money blogging, it is almost a requirement that you are on your own domain. Most advertisers do not free platformed blogs. Having your own domain shows that your serious. Would you trust an expert whose domain ended with blogspot.com? Most people would not.
After you have your domain, you have to host that domain somewhere. There are so many sites out there to choose from it can actually make your mind spin. There are sites out there like Web Hosting Bluebook that really can help you make your decision. They have everything from a hosting glossary to reviews on each of the services, so you understand what each one is offering. You have decide what company works best for you. I personally use Bluehost and love them (which is listed on their list!).
Once you have your hosting, you also have to decide which blogging platform you want to use. There are several platforms to choose from: everything from Typepad to WordPress. I personally use WordPress, and I love that too. Once you figure out how to use it, it really is easy. There are thousands (yes, I said thousands) of plugins that can do almost everything you want them to do (now, if you could get one to clean my house I’d be in seventh heaven – lol).
Once you have done all the above, you really need to figure out what you are going to blog about (though you may have figured this out before you bought your domain). You can have a niche blog or just a general one. Niche blogs mean that you only talk about one topic whereas a general blog pretty much covers everything under the sun. This post is on my general blog. However, I have 3 niche blogs also.
I guess my last piece of advice I can give to you is that you need to have fun with it. If you dread blogging each day, it will show in your writing. If you feel like you are burning out, take a step back. I love all the people I have met blogging, and this is something I will never regret doing.
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