I’ve never been a big fan of my mailbox.  However, it served its purpose till last night.  We woke up this morning to our mailbox laying on the ground.  Since a lot of my product reviews are sent by the mail, this is a very bad, bad thing.  Second problem, it snowed here last night, so the ground is frozen.  We think it was hit by the snow plow in the middle of the night (it was still there at 11 pm).  The beam that actually holds the mailbox is split.  We had to do a horrible fix job in about 20 degree weather today.  Bill took some industrial clamps and zip ties and that is the only thing that is holding the beam together.  The beam also leans forward pretty bad, so we had to take stakes and pound them into the ground around the base.  This looks like the worst white trash mailbox I’ve ever seen, and there is no way to fix this until the ground thaws out.  I am hoping to get some pictures of my sorry looking mailbox tomorrow.  If anyone has any ideas of how to get new a mailbox into the frozen ground, I am all ears.

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Izea is having a pilot program to help them spread the word about IZEA sites, products and services, create a stronger bond within our existing community, and provide provide product insight and assist in continuing innovation. They are looking for some people to give them a hand and want to know why we think we are a great fit for this position.  What do you get for doing all this for them?  Well, there is no hourly rate (darn!).  However, you will get a $1500 travel fee, Ted Murphy’s phone number with access to him, a blog makeover, the ability to try out new products before anyone else, recruiting bonuses, Postie Packs, etc.  As you can see, there are a ton of fringe benefits.

I wish I could say that I was one of the first members.  However, PPP started in July of 2006 and I joined up in September.  I had started my blog to keep in touch with my parents and friends in Green Bay, Wisconsin (I live in Illinois now).  In 2006, I only had my daughter, and she was growing up so fast.  However, as a stay at home mom, we really did need me to make some extra money.  Since 2004, I had been doing freelance work for various companies (creating websites and such).  That extra money paid for satellite TV, daily newspaper, internet access, etc.  It also allowed me to step out of my mommy roll and allowed me to be an adult again.  However, as anyone who works freelance will tell you, sometimes there is a lot of work out there — sometimes there isn’t.  I came across PPP on somebody’s blog (I don’t even know who) and signed up.  That was the beginning of this fantastic journey I have taken over the last 2 years with them.  My blog has went through my ups and downs of my family (there is a miscarriage and my son’s birth involved in there).  Currently, I am a work at home mom.  I still freelance, and now that I have 5 blogs under my belt, I consider myself a professional blogger.  I am lucky.  I make enough money to pay for the extras we need and want (see basement remodel), so I must be doing something right!

What do I know about marketing?  Well, one of the places I freelance for considers me their social media manager.  I have accounts at places like StumbleUpon, Digg, Mixx, Reddit, Yahoo Buzz, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, etc to name a few.  I even have joined a new bookmarking service called tagfoot that is still in beta and requires an invite to join.  I promote all of my blogs using social media.   I belong to several social networking sites such as Facebook, Namyz, Ryze, LinkdIn, Twitter, SocialSpark, Entrecard, and several forums.  I even was a moderator for six months on the Izea forums!  I also belong to MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog.  I also moderate over at Chicago Moms Like Me (which is a social networking site for Chicagoland moms).  Here are my stats for this blog for since October 1st:

I was able to achieve these numbers due to social media.  I think I would be extremely helpful in recruiting a crew for several reasons.  I know a lot of posties just due to being here so long.  When my son was born, Amy ran a baby pool on the forums for me ( I can’t find the link due to the boards not letting me search that far back).   As a moderator, I had several posties tell Izea not to get rid of me as a moderator, so I get along great with the posties on the forums.  I know several of the posties personally like Robyn, Elizabeth, Corrin, Christine, Julie, Breezie, Drew — just to name a few.  I know I am missing a lot of people in that list, but it’s just a start.  I try to help when possible too — check out this thread on the forums about bluehost and hostgator for hosting.  I often get emails and tweets from people with questions, so I think I am considered a very approachable person which definitely makes recruiting much easier.

What events have I attended?  I was at Blogworld last year:

I also attended PostieCon and did a cake plow (that alone should score me some bonus points):

In January of this year, I attended the Social Networking Conference in Miami.  I actually ran into Ted there.  However, I didn’t bring my camera, so no pictures for that conference.  I worked a booth here also, so I do know how to do that.

In April, I attended the Sony Mommy Bloggers Event with Laura and Heather who also are posties:

In May, I went to Agency Bootcamp here in Chicago:

In August, I was invited to the Pampers Mommy Blogger Event:

I also attended Izeafest this year:

Also, I have been invited on October 23rd to attend the Epson and Sparkplugging Girls Night Out (pictures to come).  As you can see, I’ve attend several blogging events and conferences this year.

Three conference I would have loved to attend are SNSX, Blog World Expo, and BlogHer.  However, travel expenses for these three events were not in our budget this year (especially with the downturned economy).  I own a  laptop that follows me everywhere.  I actually use my laptop so much that many of the keys have the letter rubbed off them!  I do not have an aircard.  However, my husband tells me when my cell phone contract is up at the end of the month, he’d like to get an iphone (so any iphone advice is appreciated).  I have heard that you can use your iphone as a modem of sorts, so does that count?

I would love to have Ted’s ear.  There are several things that drive me completely insane with Izea, and I would love to hear what he has to say about them.  I have to be honest, I don’t think my actual resume is this long!

What do you think?  Should I be picked as an Izea Insider?

EDIT:  Here’s a pic from the Epson/Sparkplugging Event:

I was also asked to join the Social Media Club here in Chicago.  I missed last night’s meeting due to not having a babysitter, but will try attend other ones.

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Okay, I am putting myself on a diet.  Ok, not quite a diet.  It is a new product called Sensa.  I’ll be honest — I’d love to lose about a hundred pounds.  However, at this point, I would like any sort of weight loss.  My goal is to do an update post each week.  If I don’t, somebody clock me upside my head and remind me.  Sensa is a product that allows you to eat whatever you want.  However, it helps with your portion control.  All you do is shake a some of the Sensa on your food everytime you eat, and it does it’s magic.

I weighed myself this morning, so I know my starting weight (no, I am not listing it here) and I took some pictures (well, my mom was here and took them):

So I guess we can call these the “before” pictures.  I’ve watched the DVD that came with the Sensa, and it said that some women don’t see a change until 3 months into this.  I hope that isn’t me.  I am all for instant results.  The first thing I have noticed is that the Sensa makes my food taste better.  Now, I plan on mostly keeping to my normal lifestyle, and we will see if this works for me.  If you’d like to join me on this journey, use ROCKETXL to get 15% off your order (no minimum order either) and you’ll get free shipping too.

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I just recently ordered some return address labels from Superior Labels. I have to say that I am impressed with their service and their quality of labels. There is nothing more that I hate than to have to put my return address all of my Christmas cards or birthday invitations.  What I like most about Superior Labels is that you can order by the sheet or by the roll.  Basically, you can order whatever your needs are.  You can pick what you want on your labels also.  Do you want a black and white graphic?  They have those.  Do you want a color graphic?  They have those too.  How about custom graphics?  Well, you can do those also.  They even have university graphics!  Not sure what exactly you want?  They have an entire online catalog of graphics to choose from!  You can even get return address labels starting at only $1!  Now, I personally ordered a roll of labels.  It is a huge roll – I didn’t realize that 300 labels were that many!  I am so glad that I also ordered a return label dispenser too.  I am hoping that it will keep my children from using these labels as stickers!  It also keeps the labels from sticking to other things they shouldn’t in my cupboard.

What I like best about Superior Labels is that they have very cheap shipping.  The cheapest shipping starts at $2.95 (vs $7.95 from their leading competitor).   There is also no upload fee for custom graphics (which starts at $5 elsewhere).  I love that you can even order free address labels and do a test run (you just have to cover the shipping).  If you want a good quality product for a great price, check out Superior Labels.  You won’t be disappointed.  (I know I wasn’t!)

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Oh the joys of having a four year old (who is almost five and cries almost everyday because she is not five yet).  Madison has finally started noticing things – especially things called commercials.  Every single commercial she sees she wants whatever product their are selling be it a pancake ball maker to a baby that swims (though she said she wanted that and a towel to dry her off too so she is able to think beyond the commercial).  It has gotten to the point that she actually will take the remote and pause the TV to make sure you see what she wants (and no I am not kidding about that).  Needless to say, we have started talking about money.

I will be honest — Madison has no concept of money whatsoever.  However, we have explained to her that daddy goes to work to make money so we can buy things we want.  (Madison asks every morning where daddy is and why does he have to go to work).  This conversation is daily so hopefully one day she’ll get it.  She is too young to understand that 5 pennies is the same as a nickel.  In her head, more coins equals more money.  I am hoping that because we are starting to talk about money now already that she won’t fall into the traps so many of us have.  I don’t want her to be one of the many Americans who carry loads and loads of credit card debt (which her parents do not.  We pay off ours every single month.  If she does choose to have credit cards, I want her to be smart about it.  For example, the one credit card we have gives us 1% of purchases.  That 1% is then directed to the principal on our mortgage).  I want her to be able to live within her means and be happy (which her parents also try to do).

Capital One has stepped up to the plate and has developed a Moneywi$e eLearning tool to help us teach our kids about money.  It is more for teenagers than my little ones.  However, there are definitely some tips on there that I can start teaching my children now.  I have to thank Parent Bloggers for bringing this to my attention.

When did you start teaching your children about money? Over at Bargain Life, there’s a great article on the effects of couponing and the family.

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