Aulani opens!!!

Less Than A Year From Now… is a post from: Multitasking Mommy

She briskly walked to her class!

Look Who Went to Kindergarten is a post from: Multitasking Mommy

We should be packing backpacks, choosing the official “first-day” outfit, and charging our camera.  But, instead, we’re doling out Ibuprofen and taking temperatures.  Yep, my little girl, who is supposed to start kindergarten tomorrow, is sick.

When I returned home from Honda back on Saturday night, she had a slight fever.  Sunday morning, she had a 102 degree fever, and was sick all day.  I took her to the doctor Monday, and there was no need for medicine.  But she’s still sick…

So, we’ll see what happens in the morning.  But, I may have my little girl home with me for at least one more day.

On The Eve of Kindergarten… is a post from: Multitasking Mommy

I’m back from my less than 48 hour trip in San Diego for the Honda Ride N Drive event.  While I can’t yet talk about the new Odyssey, or my driving impressions, I can talk a bit about the trip.

My flight to San Diego was easy and uneventful.  Direct flights make things so much easier.  Niri and I were met at the airport by a driver who took us directly to our fabulous hotel (see pictures below).  We were able to grab lunch at the hotel, hang out a bit in our rooms/Honda hospitality suite, and just relax in general.

The event itself was fabulous.  I loved meeting new bloggers as well as the wonderful Honda employees, and hanging around with some of my friends.

And… the best part?  Thanks to my readers, Facebook friends, and Twitter followers – I won the contest and will be a red carpet correspondent at Variety’s Power of Women Event presented by Lifetime!  The event is in one month, and I can’t wait!

More on the 2011 Odyssey on Mom’s Favorite Stuff next week!

Honda Event is a post from: Multitasking Mommy

Weep…

She’s Going to Kindergarten in a Week…. is a post from: Multitasking Mommy

As I mentioned in Part One of this series, affiliate programs can be good way to make money, but it doesn’t work for everyone.  There are a few ways that you can potentially optimize your earnings, however.  Keep in mind that it’s important for you to constantly monitor how these programs are working – results can vary significantly depending on your blog and audience, and with a little extra work you can optimize all of the revenue generation methods of your site.

Affiliate programs work best when you promote a specific product, rather than the store.

If you are already talking about a product, and can find it within one of your affiliate programs, link it up (disclosing, of course)!  That way, you’ve discussed why a reader should buy the product, and with just a few clicks they can own it.

It’s all about the cookie!

Each affiliate program offers a different cookie time frame.  This is the single-most important differentiator within affiliate programs.  The cookie time frame essentially sets the terms for how long your reader has to make a purchase decision.

Here’s an example:

Your affiliate program for XYZ Printing has a 120-day cookie.  Jane reader clicks the link and bookmarks the site for a purchase later that month when she needs invitations printed.  When she goes back 30 days later to make a purchase, you’ll get paid because the cookie is still valid.

In general, look for longer duration cookies for stores such as the example above where your reader may not make the purchase immediately.  Amazon’s affiliate program has a terrible cookie (24 hours), along with awful payout (starting at 4%) so keep that in mind when selecting affiliate programs.

Not all creates are created equally

When you choose which ads to display, seriously look at the banners offered from the perspective of a reader/potential buyer.  Think about what would make you click to the page.  Coupons are especially attractive, because they encourage the buyer to purchase immediately.  Keep in mind that you can switch out creatives that aren’t working.

Consider using an ad server

If you have a reader that visits everyday, and they don’t click that affiliate banner the first few times they see it, they probably aren’t going to click it the 15th time you see it.  If you use an ad server, you can set a maximum amount of times a reader will see a specific affiliate.  This is a great way to maximize earnings.

More on ad servers in a future post.

Part Three: Making Money With Your Blog – Affiliates is a post from: Multitasking Mommy

There’s lots of stuff going on here – starting with my little lady’s last week of freedom before kindergarten starts!  We’ve been to  play date organized by the school, so at least she knows two other little girls in her class.

This week, I’m shooting a series of videos for Demand Studios about baby showers.  I’m looking forward to see how they turn out.

Also, the “top secret” project I was working on will be public at the end of next week – finally!  I’ll post it here when I can!

I decided not to go to the Type-A Mom Conference.  I really wanted to, but my daughter’s kindergarten family supper is that Friday night, so it wasn’t going to work out.

And….  this is from Mom’s Favorite Stuff, but I have to re-post it here…

Next week, I’m heading off to the left coast to participate in Honda’s Ride N Drive Event. In advance of the event, Honda asked the participants to write about what the Power of Women means to them. I choose to write mine as a letter to my 5-year old daughter as she enters kindergarten. I love being a woman and I hope she does too.

Honda is sending 11 of us (including me!!!) to the 2010 Variety Power of Women Luncheon in Beverly Hills. This event is no joke – take a look at some of the photos from last year. The two bloggers with the most entries on their essays will be selected as red carpet correspondents!

I’d love it if my readers would click on over and vote for me! I’d love to be on the red carpet – seriously a dream come true for me! Just click then photo, find my essay, and vote!

Jodi 411: Red Carpet Edition is a post from: Multitasking Mommy

Remember when I wrote this post about making money with your review blog last month?  And, then I said something like, “Next week, I’ll write more about….” (Note to self: do not make promises about new posts in the future).

Better late than never?

In this post I’d like to talk about how you can best make advertising money with your site.

So, remember a few of the terms from the last post?  Above the fold, CPC, CPM, affiliate, and impressions?  (if not, go back and read).  Those are important for this post.

To start an effective advertising program on your site, you need to first define your inventory.  Your inventory is the space that you are dedicating to ads.  There are standards for banner size that you should consider. For instance, I have some dedicated space in the shape of a leaderboard (top of the page banner), large rectangle (336×280), and two wide skyscrapers (160×600), but only the first two are above the fold.  Keep in mind that if you have a huge header on your site, you’ll have very limited above the fold space, and you may not be accepted to some networks.

Next, you’ll want to consider how you want to deliver your ads.  Some bloggers just want to put network code up on their site and then be done with it.  That’s totally fine, if that’s how you want to proceed.  However, if you want to sell your own ads (more work but more money), you may want to consider a free ad server.  The two most common ones are Openx and Doubleclick for Publishers.  I’ve used both, and have found Doubleclick for Publishers to be easier (but in no way easy – it can take a while to figure out).  In a future post (see how I’m not committing to a timeframe??), I’ll write about how to best use these ad servers.

Finally, if your networks pay on impressions, you’ll want to increase those.  You can break large posts into two pages (as I’ve done here), to double your impressions on one post.  You can also utilize plug-ins that offer up suggested other posts to encourage readers to stay on your site and read more of your content.

More on ad servers in a future post…

Part Two on Making Money With Your Blog is a post from: Multitasking Mommy

You don’t like to go to the dentist. I don’t like to go to the dentist. I’m pretty sure no one really likes going to the dentist. But, I’d rather get a root canal, with no anesthesia, than take my son to the dentist again.

It all started out pretty easy.  Both kids were dressed, and ready to go.  We made plans – first the dentist, then lunch – kids’ choice.  My daughter’s appointment was first, and it lasted all of ten minutes.  Clean the teeth, polish the teeth, fluoride, and then a brief check by the dentist.  All set – no issues – don’t come back for 6 months.

Then it was my little man’s turn.  His teeth, despite getting the same cleaning and brushing as his sisters’, are just worse.  They needed cleaning and polishing, and since he’d had a cavity before, we knew he needed a good exam.  He quietly picked out a toothbrush and polish flavor, then refused to sit in the chair.  After much pleading and begging (and him saying it was the worstest day ever) he still refused to sit, and even started screaming.

At that point, the dentist and hygienist decided to move him to a private room.  We all packed up, and they assigned an assistant to watch my daughter.  The little guy continued screaming, and they told him that mommy would have to leave if he wouldn’t cooperate.  Since he refused, I left the room.

By this time, about 30 minutes had gone by, and we hadn’t progressed at all.  While my daughter and I sat outside the room listening to his screams, I counted the minutes until the door opened.  Thank goodness…

But no.  The hygienist had decided to find a different hygienist to work with my son.  So, we all sat together and waited for Debbie, the most experienced hygienist there, to try her magic with my little guy.

It started out well.  She opened his toothbrush and asked him to show her how he brushes his teeth.  He obliged.  Then, she showed him some “tips”.  He smiled.  She asked to count his teeth, and he allowed her.  Then, she told him it was time to polish, and he refused.  So, once again, he was told that if he didn’t cooperate, mommy would leave.  We counted to five, and then I left the room.

This time, when my daughter and I sat outside, we didn’t hear a peep.  The dental office staff walked by, marveling at the silence, and noting that Debbie is “the best”.  We started making plans for lunch, figuring we’d be free soon.  After another 20 minutes, the door opened, and…

Debbie was now at her wits end.  He refused to open his mouth, so she did everything she could.  Finally we just had to restrain him.  One tech held down his legs, I held his arms/torso, and Debbie polished his teeth.  He cried his eyes out and wiggled around while my tension headache deepened.  Then, they delivered the bad news – he has two cavities.  And, the dentists gently “suggested” he see a different dentist.

I’ve got to go back with him.  Twice.  (banging head against the wall).

When my husband got home, I was looking for sympathy, and told him my tale of the hour and a half dentist appointment.  He responded, “I know what you mean.  My gym had no hot water today”.

Okay then.  Guess who’ll be taking the little man to the dentist next time?  I’ll be taking a cold shower.

A Trip to the Dentist is a post from: Multitasking Mommy

This month’s Yahoo! Mother Board topic is back to school, an obviously timely topic this month.  For us, it’s not Back to School, it’s TO SCHOOL.  Yes, my baby girl, the one who I swear was born yesterday, is headed off to kindergarten.

Having been born in September, she going to be one of the oldest in her class, and I think she’s totally ready.  But that doesn’t mean that I’m ready.  My 4-year old son and I will have some major adjusting to do as we send her off in the morning and then spend our days together.  We’ve had a brief taste of this experience this week when my daughter went to camp, and I think my son actually enjoys having mommy alone time, even though his best buddy and partner isn’t around.

Wish us luck!  She starts in just a few more weeks!

Back to School (Or To School, In Our Case) is a post from: Multitasking Mommy