A Special Sheilacakes Annoucement

I am excited to announce that I am now available for press trips and brand trips. Since I am a single mom, it was hard to be able to be available for these trips. Now that Noah is in school, I am able attend without any hassles or asking my mom to take off time from work. I thankfully have options for after school care too. 

I would love to represent your brand and learn more about your company. I feel that I am a great candidate because I am a very passionate person and I have great ideas. I would love to share my thoughts with you in a face to face setting. I would love to get in there and see how things are done. I feel that once you experience being in the heart of a company you truly can relate and understand all the hard work that they do. It makes it more personal. I would love to have my voice and my readers voices heard. I feel like I not only represent Sheilacakes, but I also represent my readers and moms everywhere. I would love to open up a dialogue with you.

I also love to travel. It is one of my greatest passions. I am the go to person when it comes to sharing the best places to visit or stay. I think of every trip as an adventure and a chance to experience a new place and culture. Even in the US each state and region is different and I believe you don't have to go to an exotic place to have a great time. Some of my favorite vacations are random places my family has decided to visit.  I am a very family oriented person, my son loves to travel too. He went on his first vacation when he was two months old. I would love to check out some great places to take family. I am a single mom so vacations for my family have to be affordable and lots of fun. I know that having both of those elements can be kind of tricky.  I am also a big advocate that every mom needs mommy time or should go on kid free trips with her friends. It replenishes us, makes us once again ready for motherhood.  So, if you are looking for a traveling mom blogger to check out your hotel, location or city  I  would love to help.

I would love to discuss opportunities that we can work together further. I look forward to hearing from you.

How Do You Start a Blog?

When I talk about blogging with my friends that are not bloggers I always get a lot of questions about it.  I have had a few ask me what it is because they are not sure what a mom blogger is.  They are usually older and no so internet savvy. Some of my friends that are familiar with blogs ask me how I did I get started in blogging. I tell them that I have always loved to write; even when I was younger I kept journals and wrote poems in a notebook. I have had a blog since 2001, I was on Live Journal. I wouldn’t really call it a real blog. It was just random thoughts about things.  When I told my aunt and uncle about blogging, they were kind of skeptical at first, but quickly realized it was legit.  I have friends that ask me how do I get in to blogging.   I always tell them, first start a blog. Write as much as you can about what you love. If you want to review products, start writing about things you use at home that you love. It is important to show your writing style and personality. The brands you will possibly be working with, will want to know that you are a great writer. I had never been big on spelling and grammar, I would try and use good grammar and spell things correctly, of course but other people’s spelling and grammar didn’t bother me all that much, until I started blogging. I am not sure why that is, probably because I am more aware.

The most important thing to learn when you decide to start a blog is, it takes a lot of time. You have to start small when asking for products for review. You will be doing most of the grunt work when it comes to finding reviews. You will eventually start receiving emails once you have been noticed by companies and PR reps. It can be hard in the beginning. I remember that I cried when I started blogging. I was afraid I wouldn’t get anything else to review and what I had on the list was it. Once I built up my Brand experience working with many companies, the emails keep coming. The more you blog the better you will get. Blogging is fun, but it is also hard work. You really have to have a passion for it.  There will be times you will get overwhelmed or told no, but if you keep trying and keep blogging you will get past it.  You will meet some of the most amazing people through blogging. It is such a great job.

The Importance of Having a Logo

One of our favorite things to do as a family is go to fairs and festivals.  Living in Florida is the best possible place for that. Every weekend there is something going on. Many times there are so many things going on we have to choose what we want to do.  We have gone to a few events in a weekend before.  There is just so many things to do down here. We always come home with pens, pencils and other things with a company’s logo on it.   We have things from local police departments to window companies and everything in between.  Let’s face it, a logo is a big thing. It is an easy way to remember a company’s name or identify who they are.  Most children know Mc Donald’s logo by the time they are two.  That is pretty crazy. I remember when Noah was three he knew where Comcast was before he could read it.  He saw the logo on their building and pointed it out in the car.  He knew where it was before we did.  I thought that was kind of funny.

It is important if you have a company to have a custom made logo.  It’s easy to do.  I think your logo and name should go hand and hand. Not everyone will remember your company’s name but if they know what your logo looks like, they will remember.  It will even jog their memory if they can’t remember. I know there have been times I can’t remember a company’s name but recognizing their logo I can remember. That is especially true when it comes to grocery items.  You will look for the products with visually appealing pictures and logos.  I have had friends explain to me what a logo looks like for a product to buy.  Especially when the company name is hard to pronounce, spell or remember.  After you have your logo, it’s important to have pens, pencils and magnets made. It will make your number and business easy for them to access. It will also constantly remind them to use your company.  I had a pizza magnet on my fridge and I think I ordered more than I would have because I would see it, and then  get hungry.

You also need a logo to be easily identified on social media, like Twitter and Facebook.  When I am on Twitter, I don’t spend a lot of time looking at Twitter handles, but the picture is what draws me in. Speaking of logos, I need to make a logo for my site. I am not an artist by any means, so I am glad there are sites like Logastar that will create a logo for you in just a few minutes.