As many of you know, I am heading out to Orlando next week for Izeafest.  However, the day before Izeafest, I will be a panel speaker at the Doterati event Blog Marketing Demystified! We will be discussing how bloggers can gain a better understanding of how to fit into the traditional marketing plan while marketers learn how to incorporate blogging into their overall approach. Since I’ve been on both sides of the table, I have a great understanding of this.

Sounds pretty cool, huh?  If you’re going to be in Florida next weekend, come check it out:

Who should attend?

Bloggers (Beginner to Advanced)

Marketers, Communications, and Agency Professionals

When:

Thursday Oct 1

1 pm to 4 pm – Panel Discussion

4 pm to 5:30 pm – Cocktails

Cost

$39 for Doterati Members, Orlando Ad Fed Members & AMA Members

$49 for Non-Members

Attendees receive one free drink ticket.

Where:

SeaWorld Orlando Renaissance

6677 Sea Harbor Drive

Orlando, FL 32821

Hope to see you there!

You can register here.

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All you hear on the web as of late is how evil sponsored conversations are and frankly, I am getting a little tired of it.  If you don’t know what a sponsored conversation is, well, watch this video:

Basically, a sponsored conversation is word of mouth marketing. If I like a product, I am going to write about it whether I get paid to do so or not.  On my review blog, I own the majority of the products on there — as in, I wasn’t given them for free or paid to talk about them.  I have two kids, trust me, I have enough toys and books to keep me blogging for years without an advertiser giving me a product.  That being said, I have received lots of great products that I wouldn’t have even laid eyes on if it wasn’t for someone contacting me and asking me if I’d like to try it.  And guess what?  I have bought from a lot of these companies since!  If you have a great product, I am going to be a repeat customer whether or not you give me a product to try!

I understand that there are a ton of unethical people out there.  I am not one of them.  If I don’t like a product, I am not going to write that I do.  Most of the bloggers I know feel exactly the same.  However, you can’t dismiss an entire industry just due to a few bad apples.   I am not the blog police nor do I ever plan on telling someone else how to blog.

Have I tried sponsored conversations before?  Yes!  Did it drive traffic to my site?  Yes!  Was it worth it?  I have to think so.  ROI is hard to determine just due to me not selling products, but I like all eyeballs on my site as possible.  Would I do it again?  Yes!

(And yes, this was a sponsored conversation and 100% my opinion).

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One of the things I have to write about the Pampers Mommy Blogger Event was meeting the CEO of Unicef Caryl Stern.  Pampers and Unicef have teamed together to rid the world of tetanus. When we got to talk with her, there was not a dry eye in the room.  Let me show you why:

First, to get a better understanding, you need to watch this video.  I need to warn you though, it will break your heart.  I watched it again today, and it still brings tears to my eyes:

This is not some marketing piece that Pampers did. This is an inhouse video that we begged them to let us show the world. I’ll admit, before this, I didn’t see the big deal. We all get vaccinated, so you don’t even think about tetanus. However, after watching these poor babies, how can your heart not go out to them? Let me give you some basic facts and statistics:

*Tetanus spores are found in soil, animal excretion, and can be airborne
*It acts through a production of a a toxin that effects your nervous system
*This disease rages through newborns within days of their exposure to the bacteria
*140,000 newborns and 30,000 moms die from this
*The fatality rate is 70%-100%
*Symptoms include muscle rigidity, painful muscle spasms, inability to eat, and seizures triggered by light or touch

If you didn’t watch the video, let me explain how these babies and moms are getting this. In Africa, there is no way to sanitize your hands before you deliver a baby. They use sharpened sugar cane to cut the umbilical cord, and they pack your wounds with dirt. Do you see a problem here since tetanus lives in the very dirt that they are using to stop bleeding?

Here is the crazy part of all of this; it costs 5 cents per vaccine. Yes, I repeat 5 cents.

I know my next question was “What can we do about this?”  There are so many things you can do to help get rid of this terrible disease.

1.  Buy specially marked Pampers with the sticker up above.  You are buying diapers anyway, now you are helping a child. By the end of the year, they will have more Pampers products with the sticker.  Make sure you watch for that.

2.  Clean out your change.  If you can get one vaccine for a nickel, can you imagine how many vaccines you could provide with the change in your house.

3.  Donate.  You will notice in my sidebar that I have this widget:




If you donate, make sure you use this. Then your donation will be earmarked for this vaccination program.
4. Blog about this. If you want to include this widget on your blog, let me know in a comment or by email. I will send you the code. We seriously need to raise awareness on this. The more of us who carry this on our blogs, the more people who know, the more people who donate, and the more children who are saved.
5. Talk to people you know about it. Again, get the word out. I have told everyone I know about this since I have gotten home.
6. Give with your kids. In my house, we are going to take the loose change we have and make a donation in my kids names. They are never too young to teach them about charity, and what better of a cause than one that helps children.

Pampers has sponsored 45 million vaccines already since they started this campaign. They also gave 1,000 vaccinations in my name, and gave 1,000 vaccinations for each blogger that was there (there was 15 in total).  In a rough economy, I know it is hard to give, but truly, a little can go a long way.

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We say the Pledge of Allegiance a lot.  My 4 year old even knows it.  However, how many of us really know the background and history behind the Pledge?

First, the Pledge Of Allegiance was written Francis Bellamy.  He was a Baptist minister, a Christian socialist, and a extreme nationalist.  In 1892, he landed a job at the Youth’s Companion.  This magazine also sold American flags.  Their sales were low, so they came up with the best marketing gimmick yet.

He worked out a deal with the National Education Association to celebrate the 400th annual anniversary of Christopher Columbus landing here.  All the schools in the country were to have flag ceremonies  which meant they all needed flags.  Bellamy then wrote the saying that all the kids would have to say:

I pedge allegiance to my flag and to the Republic for which it stands:  one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Hmmm, that doesn’t sound right, does it?  That isn’t how I learned it either.  Where’s the under god?  Well, that change came in 1954.  In response to the McCarthy era, the words “under god” were added to show that we were not Communists.  Obviously, the patriotic atheists and agnostics weren’t asked their opinion on that one.  There is also a jab at the South with the line “one nation indivisible”.  This was written shortly after the Civil War, and it was to make sure that that South knew that succession wasn’t ever going to happen.  At one point, “equality for all” was also to be included.  However, the states’ superintendents of education generally did not support equality for women or African Americans, so he did not include it for fear of rejection.

I was surprised to see that Pledge of Allegiance was just a marketing ploy, so a company could make a few extra bucks.  All I can say is only in America.

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