In defence of Blogger blogs

An article was shared in a blogging forum I belong to today, called "36 Reasons Why Having a 'Free Website' is a bad idea". It was shared with the hope of putting the idea of free blogging platforms to rest once and for all. Thing is, I disagree with almost every point and would argue that it doesn't have anything to do with blogging on Blogger. Some of it would be an issue if you're creating a website... but we're talking blogging as it was raised in a blogging forum.

I don't understand the whole "my platform is better than your platform" malarkey that goes on day in and day out. It would seem that some people can't appreciate that what is important to them is not important to others, perhaps?

I remember back when I first started my blog and I had no idea if this little hobby would be something I stuck with for a month or even a week, there was so much pressure to move to WordPress. The person who did the most pressuring ended up having his WordPress sites hacked to the point where he could not retrieve any of the data and had to start again. Yet here I was on my free platform, plodding along nicely.

Turns out I did stick to it and my blog turns seven this year. Woah. So I have six years of experience with Blogger being NOT TERRIBLE. Sure, way back in the beginning there was less functionality, so perhaps people are writing these articles from how it used to be?

But I'm going to come out in defence of Blogger for no other reason than I'm tired of people assuming I'm stupid for choosing it. It suits my needs. I'm not saying it suits yours. So here is my point by point rebuttal:

1. Extremely slow websites

In my experience the slowest websites are those who have massive images, and it has very little if any to do with the platform those massive images are held on.

2. Unprofessional web addresses

Um, heard of buying domain names? Mine costs $10 per year.

3. Trial service is not really free

Doesn't apply to Blogger.

4. Hidden charges for free website

Doesn't apply to Blogger - unless you want to buy your own domain, but you have to pay for that no matter which platform you choose.

5. They can lock down your data

Migration services are not a problem if you've been backing up your blog. See that? I'm all for migrating platforms if your needs change!

6. Irrelevant advertisements on your website

You can choose to have Adsense running on your Blogger blog or not. If you choose to have it, it uses magic sparkle power to figure out which one will work best - i.e. an algorithm to find key words and put up an ad that it thinks will match. You don't have control over the specific ad shown but you can say no to all ads if you wish. This is for any site that uses Adsense though, not just Blogger.

7. They can shut down your website

Technically yes! They can come along and boom! All gone. If you've been backing up, this shouldn't be an issue. But I'd like to point out that your hosting company can also do this. If your content promotes horrible nasty things like killing kittens or listening to Nickelback, or breaks the law they can remove it. I personally know a case where a small hosting company didn't like a review they got from one woman and held her content to ransom if you will. Unless the server is in your own house, someone else has an element of control.

8. These companies can disappear at any time

As can your host. I'd like to think that a company as big as Google would give me a little notice when it shut down a service. They've shut down things before, usually with six to twelve months notice. So I can scurry along and find another service then if I need to.

9. You will lose your site address

Again, heard of buying your own domain?

10. They can sell your information

I absolutely agree that if you're not paying for something, you are the product. And that's fair, because companies need to make money. But free services are not the only ones that sell off their mailing lists to other companies.

11. No site building tools

Sigh. There's plenty. And look, we're talking about blogs here, I'm not trying to convince Myer to move their website to a Blogger blog.

12. No WordPress

Yeah, that was actually part of the appeal of Blogger for me back when I had zero skills. If you aren't capable of maintaining plug ins and backups, then WordPress might not be for you. SHOCK! HORROR! If you can't run the back end, then you're leaving yourself open to security holes and hackers. Not everyone wants to control the back end. Add euphemism here if you wish.

13. Limited WordPress

See above.

14. Malware distribution

Again, not for Blogger. You have the power of Google behind you. You know what is notorious for malware? Plug ins! Third party apps and widgets and whatnots. There are some fabulous, well respected, awesome plug ins, no question. Keep them updated and it usually isn't an issue. Usually.

15. You may become part of a link farm

Do they grow baby links?

16. Limited bandwidth

Again, we're talking blogs here, not companies with big websites that also have a blog to show you how hip and relatable they are. How much bandwidth do you need?

17. Low disk storage

My storage is always telling me I've used 0%. Six years of blogging and it's still not enough data to even register. I remember it went up to 1% once, and not long after all the storage allocations were increased.

18. Vulnerable to hacking attempts

Anyone with third party widgets is open to hacking if they aren't kept up to date. Blogger only allows pre approved widgets meaning they're going through Google security first. You can add your own at your own risk if you wish.

19. HTML only sites with limited number of pages

How many pages do you need for a blog? Big website, sure, go for pages and sub categories it's important. But, um, there is no limit to the number of pages on Blogger blogs.

20. Low credibility among your users

I'd argue that any poorly maintained blog (or website) lowers credibility. I've been trying to convince Tricky's school to fix their website for two years now - their expensive, self hosted, ticks all the right boxes website. Because it stands there with "under construction" on most of the pages, and images that are twelve megapixels big creating massive load times. That looks extremely unprofessional despite it being a you beaut, self hosted website. Spelling mistakes, broken links, poor font choice, missing data and being unable to correctly number list items are things that make a site look unprofessional.

21. Limited design choices

Not really. There are so many templates within Blogger and literally thousands of combinations to choose from. If you don't like those there are a stack of free templates you can install or you can pay for a custom template if you want. I've never paid for a custom template (yes, we can tell I hear you say), I've always just tweaked bits here and there and figured out what to do with tutorials.

22. No help or customer service

There is less Blogger customer service representatives, yes, but that doesn't mean that there is no help. Because it is such a widely used platform there are thousands (yes, thousands!) of websites offering tutorials - written and video, so you can choose one based on how you learn best.

23. You can't run advertisements or make money

Um, yes you can. The article states you can't add Adsense... It's a Google product, of course you can put it on your other Google product.

24. There are no backups

Yes there is. You are responsible for your own backups. But wait, you say, I'm not responsible for my backups with my host! Well, the standard backups for most hosts are not guaranteed, you have to pay extra for a full guarantee backup. Which is great if you want that security, but there are backups in Blogger.

25. Difficult to get rid of

There's a button that says delete blog. It doesn't get much simpler than that. Or you could just hide your Blogger blog if you wanted to. Or make it accessible to only a few, invite only VIPs.

26. No statistics or decent analytics.

The article states you get free statistics about your site's visitors and can even install Google Analytics if you go self hosted. Newsflash. Blogger has always had this.

27. You will be targeted with email offers

The only targeted offers I get are for Adsense dollars, which anyone who signs up for it will get, regardless of their platform.

28. No support for mobile phones

I can update my blog from my phone or tablet if I want to. There's an official app for that. And a few third party apps, too.

29. No responsive designs

I click a button that says "enable mobile site" and by magical fairy powers it transfers my theme to a mobile one - yes, even my completely self modified template. Totes hard.

30. No branded email.

I've had a branded email from the moment I bought my own domain. It's called Google Apps. It's also free.

31. No contact forms or email forwards

There is a contact form within Blogger, you can choose to add it on your blog as a widget if you wish. With Google Apps, the emails come straight from Google to me.

32. Limited file upload features

To be honest I've not tried to upload more than six images at a time. But that is more than the one image at a time that the article states.

33. 

The original article has skipped number 33. My favourite bloody number, too. Bastards. See number 20 for details.

34. No way to setup redirects

OH LOOK! One that is actually true!

35. Investing time on a free website is unwise

It depends on what your intent is! I think it is unwise to pay a lot of money for hosting when you are just starting up and have no idea whether you're going to be blogging for more than a week. I think it is unwise to pressure people in to choosing a more technically advanced platform that they might not be comfortable with. I think it is unwise to recommend a site to a beginner because your own website needs more functionality. It's like recommending I get a 21 seat coaster bus because YOU have a big family that uses one and finds it fabulous. My little family does not need it.

36. Not even for practice

This isn't a reason. But I still disagree with it. Ha! f you've got a website and aren't 100% sure on your coding, a free platform to play on that doesn't screw up your other one is a great idea if you're unfamiliar with HTML checkers.

There is nothing wrong with using a free platform if it suits your needs.

I'm not saying that one platform is better than the other - they are DIFFERENT and will suit DIFFERENT people for their DIFFERENT needs. But if you're going to come out and say one is better, then maybe do your research, because out of the 36 reasons above (35 if you realise one is missing - 34 if you realise the last one isn't a reason), only one is really a downside to Blogger, and that's redirects. Which for me personally, is not an issue.

My Blogger blog is perfect for what I want it to do. I am not after world domination, I am not trying to have a business, and I'm not trying to use it to sell products. I just want to vent the crap in my head and maybe get some pocket money every now and then. If I change those plans at some point, which is highly unlikely, then I might find the platform doesn't suit my needs any more. But as it is, it looks like I'll hit the seventh birthday still on Blogger. Still suiting me great.

If you wish to read the original article you can find it here.

Someone from the INTERNET came to PERTH!

If you've got friends that live far away, you'll know that it is a big deal when you get to see each other face to face. Thing is, pretty much no one comes to Perth because PERTH. I actually like this little city and think it has a lot to offer. Yes, even stuff that outweighs the exorbitantly high property prices and abundance of high vis gear.

When any of my east coast friends come to Perth it is a HUGE DEAL. There are confetti cannons, official welcomes and flocks of black swans flying in formation, spelling out your name. Or, more likely, me waiting at the airport to pick you up, with a packet of Cheezels in my hand.

Kim Foale - "professional mud hardener" and she of Frog Ponds Rock and Kim Foale Ceramics fame - headed west to the Sunset State to attend an Arty Farty conference in Kalgoorlie. I've been to Kalgoorlie and it doesn't scream conference to me, but hey, what would I know?

She got up in the morning in Tassie and had to use water to get the frost off her car windscreen, then got all the way over to Perth where we were experiencing a very comfortable 25C. Comfortable is, however, a relative term. It was just a nice way to help transition her to the week of 35C+ in Kal, though. You're welcome, Kim.

Pink hair meets Purple hair

We only had a few hours together, so a quick trip to King's Park to see the Boab Tree, have some lunch and then a detour to Freo for some hipsterwank non-alcoholic drinks at hipsterwank prices and it was time to head back to the airport. But what we did actually didn't matter. Just seeing her with my own eyes. Hearing her voice. Feeling her hugs. It was awesome. I kept thinking I was in one of those super realistic dreams. How are you here, in my car? You're meant to be on the other side of the country.

We chatted about blogs, kids, arty farty stuff (I didn't keep up very well), and the knack I have of driving terribly and becoming lost whenever I have a passenger over seven years old in my car. She let Bobbin, who she'd never met before ("you've grown a whole human since we last saw each other"), delve in to her salad at lunch. There were salad leaves and grainy things (quinoa?) all over the table and it didn't matter. Bobbin thought it was the best fun ever.

Bobbin developed a greater appreciation of quinoa at lunch

I expected to leave with some awesome memories and a cuddle, but I also left with gifts, which is great because PRESENTS! Kim had made me a beautiful glossy, swirly thing (it probably has a name but I don't know it), a pendant, and best of all, some amazing fairy houses for the kids. Tricky saw them when he got home and flipped. Real fairy houses!

Fairy houses, LEGO dude, cars, dinosaurs and a half eaten cracker. Bliss.

The best thing about this blogging caper, by far, is the people I've met. Most of those I have only "met" a handful of times, and some I haven't even "met" yet. All of a sudden, I feel like singing a Michael Buble song.

Do you have "online" friends?

Where's Where's My Glow??

I have a pet hate in the blogosphere. It almost trumps undisclosed sponsored content and a lack of spell check. Almost. It's when Bloggers go away for a bit for whatever reason and then apologize for being away.

What are you apologizing for? Having a life? For having multiple interests and responsibilities? Tell me what you've been doing, I'm interested, but if you start it off with a sorry my first reaction is to roll my eyes.

So. I've been away for a while. Not sorry. Just busy.

I'm not busy doing. I'm busy being. And right now, it is exactly what I need to be doing. Err, being. Whatever. Confused yet? I am.

I'm focusing on having two kids, which, suprise, surprise, takes up more time than I imagined now that both are mobile. I had visions of doing a quick tidy up when Bobbin sleeps, or popping on a load of nappies. HA! That's Tricky time. Or me time. Or buy bread time.We've all been struggling to adjust to the different amounts of attention being received and everything else comes second to family. Everything.

My mood continues to lift. I catch myself singing and noticing a beautiful flower or gorgeous weather. It's been a long time since I've wanted to crank up the stereo and dance along, and I find myself doing it a few times a week now. Perhaps it is the reason behind Tricky saying he would prefer they sung Macklemore at kindy instead of Incy Wincy.

My anxiety is still an issue and all my OCD tendencies are coming back with some new ones thrown in for shits and giggles (hello, CLEANING AT MIDNIGHT). I've never been anxious without being low so this is new territory for me. Sometimes I scream at my head "YOU'RE HAPPY, YOUR LIFE IS PERFECT, WHY ARE YOU STILL TERRIFIED?" And it replies "Dude, you know you're talking to yourself right now, yeah?". Good point, mind, let's pretend this never happened.

A friend who noticed I hadn't been blogging asked how I expected my blog to expand if I wasn't "doing" any more. I haven't tried to expand this blog for a couple years now; I like to plod along without a specific purpose other than oversharing and recording memories I can embarrass my children with at their 21st birthday parties. It's not an unmanageable empire, it's not a full time job, it's a hobby, and a bloody fun one at that.

But, just being feels pretty damn awesome right now. And if I keep doing it, remember to actually take my meds, and keep going to therapy (oh therapy, I love you), then I think this being thing will do me good.

Are you a do-er or a be-er?

First Aid Saves Lives

This is a C2 post

For full details please see my disclosure policy

What would you do if you found your child unconscious? If they tipped boiling water over themselves? If they started choking on a grape? If they had a severe allergic reaction and their throat started to close and they couldn’t breathe? If you found them floating in the pool?

Would you panic or go in to lioness mode?

Well I’m going to tell you, Lioness mode means squat if you don’t actually know basic first aid.

About a year ago, Tricky choked on some food. I don’t even remember what it was now, but we were all sitting having dinner and he went quiet, and we all know quiet and toddlers don’t mix. It usually means they’re up to something, but in this case it meant his windpipe was blocked.

I looked over and he was trying to heave up what was in his throat but he couldn’t. His eyes were wide in panic and there was saliva dribbling out his silent mouth. I grabbed him up to flip him over and smack him on the back and whatever it was, thankfully, popped out straight away. He coughed his little lungs up and cried buckets (whether from the shock or from having his mother yank his arm and thump his back, I’m not sure). In that moment, just like the first cry of a new born babe, it was the most brilliant sound I’d ever heard. The whole thing, from start to finish, would have been 5 seconds at the most.

My mind raced with quite a few expletives and what ifs but mostly it sung a happy tune of thanks for doing a first aid course. Then I berated myself because I still hadn't done the refresher I swore I'd do when Tricky was born.

I was lucky enough to be invited to a child resuscitation course at St John Ambulance the other day and finally got my refresher, albeit four years after I started thinking about doing it. Turning up to find out that my classmates were actual celebrities, Amy Zempilas, Jessica Bratitch and Elissa Griesser, meant I almost needed CPR myself. But I had thankfully taken along the buffer. And by buffer I mean Bobbin.

Not content to just be the cutest baby in the room (erm, she was the only baby in the room) Bobbin decided to really make a name for herself and proceeded to do a poo explosion all over my leg when we were only a few minutes in to the course. Oh did I mention that we were BEING FILMED FOR TELEVISION?! I excused myself and tried to clean us both up as much as I could and seriously considered just legging it and not going back because, well, poo stains don’t look good on camera. And as much as they say “breastfed babies don’t smell”, IT’S A LIE!

But I continued on with my poopants and the others should be applauded for being gracious, helpful and above all, not gagging. When it is your own kid it is tolerable, but someone else’s? Kudos, ladies, kudos.

I’m glad I did stay because the long awaited refresher was awesome. Our instructor, Brooke, was amazing and so passionate about teaching people these basic, life saving skills. It was great to learn that the number of compressions to breaths is now easier to remember, that you can’t hurt someone with the defibrillators available at shopping centres and that a shocked person doesn’t jump a metre off the bed like they do in the movies.

Here we are practicing compressions on child mannequins. For the record, we didn't purposely dress all matchy matchy.

L - R: Amy Zempilas, Jessica Bratitch, poopypants and Elissa Griesser

You can check out the segment below. Let's all be thankful it is not smellovision.


I also learned:

• The likelihood of a person making a full recovery improves if they receive first aid in the initial moments after the accident
• The average time it takes to get an ambulance to the scene is 10 minutes
• Irreversible brain damage can occur if the person goes more than 4 minutes without oxygen
• St John Ambulance have been running first aid courses in WA since 1892!

Brooke demonstrating how to use a defibrillator on a baby

We go to so much effort to keep our kids safe; vaccinations, power point guards, securing furniture to the walls, locking away poisons, having pool gates and teaching them how to cross the road safely. But accidents do happen and you can’t control how other people set up their houses. It makes sense that you’d learn the skills to act if something horrible should occur.

It was quite confronting to practice CPR on the child mannequins and even more so on the baby mannequin. Resusibaby and Bobbin were exactly the same size and doing the compressions and puffing air in to it's little lungs actually made me quite emotional. But now I know exactly how much air fills a babies lungs, not because I've read it, or heard it, but because I've practiced it.

Behind the scenes

St John Ambulance know that you don’t have a lot of time to spare so they have the Child Resuscitation Awareness course which is only 2 hours long and costs $49 per person. As the name suggests, it focuses on babies and children and covers things like choking, drowning, asthma and anaphylaxis.

Certificates for everyone

As it happens, I’ve got a $50 voucher to give away which you can use towards any course or even a first aid kit if you wish. You just have to tell me one reason you should become a Super Mum and learn (or have a refresher) for first aid.

Branching out

Six months ago I was approached with a super secret squirrel offer. There were emails sent, notes taken and meetings attended. All of these were done under the cover of darkness and required a secret handshake and codenames. OK so maybe not, but it was under the strict instruction that I was to keep tight lipped about it all.

The urge to run around singing "I know something you don't know" was enormous. I can keep other people's secrets no problem, but something to do with myself? I feel like I'm going to burst! Luckily with the whole preggo thing there was no chance of getting a bit blabby after a few wines.

The enormous secret? That the Australian Writers' Centre was heading on over to the land of Sandgropers. The part where I come in that made it so hard to keep my over-sharing trap shut? Oh, nothing much, just ME teaching the Blogging for Beginners course. Me? ME! MEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I know, I was just as surprised as you are. Apparently relying on profanity to get your point across does not disqualify you from all things proper and writerly.

In what is no doubt a soul crushing blow to educators the world over, I am now technically a teacher and will be putting it right on top of my resume. I'm thinking of getting a teacher's desk to complete my transformation and I fully expect apples to be left on it (5S thanks).

I can also now be mentioned legitimately in the same sentence as some very fancy people I idolize such as Karen Edwards, Allison Tait, Valerie Khoo, Tim Gooding, Kim Berry, Kerri Sackville and Nicole Avery. And not just in a "Did you see that Glow was stalking Nicole again?" way but in a "They both teach classes at the Australian Writers' Centre" way.

Holy shit, I'm almost certain typing those words just caused me to have a small stroke. Mind = BLOWN!

There are some mighty big shoes to fill here, with my east coast counterparts being the divine Kim Berry and the inimitable Karen Andrews. The pressure! THE PRESSURE!!

Students of the class can rest assured that the content is not created by yours truly, merely delivered with a personal touch and an anecdote or two. And whilst I can't promise anything I will attempt to reign in my F bombs for the comfort of those pupils with delicate constitutions. It's just that I don't swear around my children so when they're out of earshot the words seize the opportunity and come tumbling out like Tourettes, not knowing when they'll get another chance.

If you've ever played with the idea of blogging then I'd definitely suggest you check out the course. Not just to ensure my future employment but because it is actually full of the things that will really help you start up a blog.

Bloggers: What did you wish you knew when you started your blog?
Non Bloggers: What is stopping you starting a blog?

The 2013 Glowgie Awards - nominees

You lot are amazing! The time I've spent huddled over a spreadsheet and hunting around the interwebs for URLs has been completely worth it because the feelgood feedback on Twitter when people were getting involved was exactly what I was hoping would happen. All around Australia I could hear people saying "You love me! You really love me!".

I was calling The Glowgies a love in. Some called it a circle jerk. Either way, I'm cool with it. People felt happy to nominate and be nominated and if being nice is considered a wank fest these days, well then, call me a wanker. In fact, the Wanker Glowgie goes to me.

I've been nominated for a few competitions and though it feels really cool to win them (well "it" actually, saying "them" implies there was more than one), the fact that someone nominated you in the first place is always such a thrill. And I absolutely loved that people nominated themselves for Glowgies too, because hell, if you can't blow your own trumpet in the blogging world, then what are you doing here?

I sadly had to skip my own red carpet ceremony for the Glowgies and instead spent the time laying in bed in a B&B over 100km from home with my foot up after being stung by a bee. But it's OK, I still wore my pre-prepared outfit of flanno jarmies with bunnies on them.

But without further ado, let's get to the good stuff. Here are the nominees... because there are no winners except for me and my Wanker Glowgie, obviously.

The Noni Hazelhurst Glowgie - for the blog/blogger that makes gardening and crafty stuff look easy and fun, who never ever kills their plants off or burns their fingerprints off 

Free Range In Suburbia

Maxabella Loves

Patchwork Cactus

Picklebums

Simple As That

Tina Gray Dot Me 

The Martha Stewart Glowgie - for the blog/blogger who rocks housekeeping/organization or home cooking (thus making us mere mortals realize how far we have to go)

B Being Cool

Dad Down Under

Domesblissity

Faux Fuchsia

Home Life Simplified

Keeping Up With The Holsbys

Magneto Bold Too

My Big Nutshell

Octavia and Vicky

Planning With Kids

Quirky Cooking

The Organised Housewife

Veggie Mama 

The Brangelina Glowgie - for the blog/blogger who makes having multiples/lots of children look dead easy and makes you think about maybe having more kids

Be A Fun Mum

Picklebums

Planning With Kids

Retro Mummy

Seven Cherubs

Sydney, Kids, Food& Travel

The Bumpiest Path

With Some Grace 

The Bono Glowgie - for the blog/blogger who is making a difference in the world (thus making me look like a black hearted mercenary) 

A Parenting Life

Beautiful You

Edenland

Free Range In Suburbia

Good Googs

Heart Mama

Mum Talks Autism

Musings of The Misguided

My Happy Endings

Random Ramblings of a Stay At Home Mum 

The Dawn French Glowgie - for the blog/blogger who is keeping Tena Lady in business because they make all their readers piss themselves laughing 

Cup Of Tea And A Blog
Emma’s Brain Blogs

Falling Face First

Five Frogs On A Blog

For The Love Of Writing

Good Golly Miss Holly

Have A Laugh On Me

Hopeful Rae Of Sunshine

Indie Berries

Keeping Up With The Holsbys

Mumabulous

Musings of The Misguided

Oculus Mundi

Parental Parody

Real Jive Turkey

Rebel Without A Pause

Reservoir Dad

Salz Dummy Spit

Slapdash Mama

The Illiterate Infant

The Very Inappropriate Blog

Two Point Five Kids

Where’s My Glow?

Woogsworld 

The Michelle Bridges Glowgie - for the blog/blogger that inspires you to get up off your arse and exercise/cook healthy food 

Bub Sweat And Tears

Dear Baby G

Fitness Food And Style

Get In The Hot Spot

Kate Says Stuff

Quirky Cooking

The Nutrition Guru And The Chef 

The Collette Dinnigan Glowgie - for the blog/blogger with so much style that it oozes out their pores (and can make even tracky dacks look alluring) 

Fox In Flats

Kimba Likes

Mama Stylista

Mr Emmasbrain

Redcliffe Style

Retrogoddess

Skin Deep

Styling You

Time After Tea 

There you are! Fingers crossed I got everyone - if by chance you were nominated and don't see yourself on the list because it was just me trawling back through twitter and I missed it, please firstly forgive me and then secondly let me know so I can pop you on.

And there was actually one winner! The winner of the $50 giftcard just for voting was Alison Dennehy from Oculus Mundi.

Hopefully it has introduced you to some new, obviously highly recommend, Glowgie nominated blogs that you can now become addicted to. Happy reading!

The 2013 Glowgie Awards

So here's the thing. I had this whole tongue-in-cheek yet elaborate blog competition worked out. There would be no prize, it would all be for shits and giggles. 

I had a nomination form. I had a voting form. I even had a badly photoshopped picture to act as my Glowgie. Because if I can put Glow in to any word, you bet your ass I will. It's a compulsion and almost as bad McEverything.

Then two weeks ago my hard drive died and took it all with it. I back up nightly so it was the only thing lost, so as far as catastrophic hard drive events go, it was nothing. But still, I'd done all this work and on thinking of redoing it all, well, a serious case of CBFitis took over. I know, I'm so professional.

Now instead of having my Glowgies as a two week competition, I'm turning it in to a this weekend only shindig to coincide with the actual Logies.

I've even re-made a picture, though this time in 2 minutes instead of the elaborate hour job I did last time. Whatevs, sometimes you just gotta roll with the punches.

You can nominate your favourite blogs/bloggers in seven categories and the "winner" will be the blog/blogger in each field with highest number of nominations...so that might be one nomination only, and it might be me because I'm the only one who bothers to do it and of course I'm going to vote for myself because nobody else will.

The seven categories are:

The Noni Hazelhurst Glowgie - for the blog/blogger that makes gardening and crafty stuff look easy and fun, who never ever kills their plants off or burns their fingerprints off

The Martha Stewart Glowgie - for the blog/blogger who rocks housekeeping/organization or home cooking (thus making us mere mortals realize how far we have to go)

The Brangelina Glowgie - for the blog/blogger who makes having multiples/lots of children look dead easy and makes you think about maybe having more kids

The Bono Glowgie - for the blog/blogger who is making a difference in the world (thus making me look like a black hearted mercenary)

The Dawn French Glowgie - for the blog/blogger who is keeping Tena Lady in business because they make all their readers piss themselves laughing 

The Michelle Bridges Glowgie - for the blog/blogger that inspires you to get up off your arse and exercise/cook healthy food

The Collette Dinnigan Glowgie - for the blog/blogger with so much style that it oozes out their pores (and can make even tracky dacks look alluring)

You can vote three ways:

1. Leave a comment below "I nominate {blog name & URL} for the xyz Glowgie"
2. Post on my Facebook page  "I nominate {tag the blog} for the xyz Glowgie from {tag Where's My Glow}"
3. Tweet "I nominate @______ for the xyz #Glowgie from @Glowless http://bit.ly/10BysQn"

You can nominate as many times as you like and nominate as many blogs as you want (including your own!). Anyone who nominates correctly will go in to the draw to win a $50 Coles/Myer giftcard.

What does the "winner" get? Absolutely nothing but some lovin' and maybe some new readers after seeing you pimp them out. The nominees will all be listed here and we can fawn over them, throwing roses petals and feeding them grapes. Or not. Because this doesn't mean anything. AT ALL. Shit and giggles, people, embrace it!

Well, what are you waiting for? Get voting in the blog competition that means nothing!

ALL TEH DISCLOSURE!!

Oh gawd not another fucking blog post about monetization and disclosure?! Yes, yes it is.

I choose to monetize this blog. Whether you choose to do it to yours or not, or read sponsored posts is as of much concern to me as which footy team you support. Each to their own, and all that shebang, unless it's the West Coast Eagles in which case EWW (aaand I just lost half my WA readers).

There has been a lot of discussion on disclosure lately and I had thought I'd always been up front about it. Turns out, not everyone thought so. I would always put right at the top of a post if it was sponsored, and for me sponsored meant money had changed hands and usually, but not always, the client had requested copy for review before publishing, normally to make sure delicate little me hadn't said fuck too many times.

I have always put a disclosure down the bottom when I'd received something for free and it always meant that there no money was paid, there was no copy sent for approval and sometimes even no obligation to blog. It might seem weird but sometimes companies will send you fabulous things or to amazing events just hoping you'll love it enough to write about it. I pinch myself when I think I've been sent interstate twice (once to Sydney and once to Radelaide) by companies who included a "no obligation to blog" in their invites.

It was "the way" to do it, recommended to me by other Bloggers and at conferences. So I did it and thought nothing more of it.

I find it annoying when I read all the way through a post only to find out at the bottom that the writer was paid cold hard cash... what I hadn't realized was that some people find it equally annoying getting to the bottom and finding out that there was a freebie involved. I've never found it an issue, but I can understand that some would so I decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to change.

So where do we draw the line? Does a packet of $3.50 bandaids require a disclosure? Is it only on posts that have to be approved by a PR consultant before pressing the giant publish button? Are the rules different for blogs with a few hundred readers a month versus a few hundred thousand readers a month? Is it OK to not disclose if you don't monetize but take on unpaid reviews? What are the rules?

Well, there are no rules. Not yet, anyway. I will sing a long and grateful tune, complete with interpretive dance and spirit fingers when disclosure laws for new media are passed and we are all on the same page. But for now, I will disclose everything up the top. EVERYTHING. Which is more than magazines do, more than TV shows do - and they're getting a shed load more cash, I don't earn enough money from this blog for it to be considered anything more than a hobby by the ATO (yep, I've had long chats with them - they kinda laughed at me for wanting to declare the pocket money I make on here).

Short of writing a freakin' novel on top of every post, I've come up with my own blog disclosure policy and after sharing it around for opinions and having a few Bloggers come back to me asking I'd mind if they do something similar (I don't mind, go for it), I think I'm on to a good thing... but it could always be improved.

What hasn't changed, and will never change, is that it is always my honest opinion. These "post codes" (geddit?) will appear on all posts where I received anything at all: a product, a launch invite, money or vouchers - even product I don't actually get to keep. There are times when I receive nothing... so looks like I need to update it already.

So tell me, whaddya think? What have I missed? 

Call me the Bag Lady

#Sponsored A
for full details see my disclosure statement

In November I put the call out for sponsorship to DPCON13, touting myself as a fabulous Madonna photoshopper, Glowdonna. Sadly, and if I'm honest, quite surprisingly, no companies saw that as a real, bankable talent and no emails offering a partnership were forthcoming.

With the proverbial cabbage moths flying from my inbox (and my bank account), I stepped things up a notch in the form of a fancy pants info-graphic sponsorship proposal. If I can't be Madonna, then at least my proposal could be, cone bra, oversized radio mic and all.

 

And whaddya know, a fabulous company, who I enjoyed working with once before, said they'd sponsor me... on the proviso that I put away my Madonna photoshopping once and for all. It was a tough call, but, sometimes you have to make sacrifices in life.

So you can call me the Bag Lady. Or to be more specific, The McCormick Marinade in a Bag Lady! Hurrah!

I tried the Marinade in a Bag when it first came out and loved it. I was excited to introduce it to my friends on the weekend at a big Australia Day pool party BBQ (at which I would of course have passed off as something I'd whipped up myself) but unfortunately feral toddler Tricky has a contagious condition and we are in isolation. Oh well, more chicken for me!! Silver lining FTW!

There are four great flavours: Honey & Soy, Red Wine & Garlic, Teriyaki and Sticky BBQ and they're available from Coles for just $2.99 each.

My favourite is the Teriyaki and Map Guy loves the Sticky BBQ. Tricky devours them all equally because MEAT, so I really have no clue if my little carnivore has a preference. I love that it's a marinade without the mess and that I don't have to dirty a separate tray to use it (hello, less dishes!), you just open it, chuck in up to 1kg of meat, seal shut and leave it to work it's marinadey magic. Even those allergic to cooking could do it.

McCormick aren't only sharing the lovin' with me, they want you to be involved too, so keep an eye out in the coming months because I'm going to have a fabulous giveaway of lots of yummies!

So a major thank you to McCormick, and I promise from here on out, Glowdonna is no more.

Have you tried Marinade in a Bag? Did you pass it off as your own, too?

Desperately Seeking Sponsorship

Desperately Seeking Susan did big things for Madonna's career so I'm going to take a page out of her book, or classifieds column as the case may be, and do a little desperate seeking myself.

Introducing the new movie (poster) sensation for this summer, Desperately Seeking Sponsorship:

Starring yours truly as the chick who needs to get to Sydney in March for DPCON13. You can call me Glowdonna. And Glowsanna Arquette. That's right, I'm my own side kick. I've cloned myself so that you'll get twice the value for your sponsorship. Or something.

Just imagine, all that talent that went in to photoshopping my face in there could be directed to promoting your brand. If that's not winning, I don't know what is.

I'll be speaking at the conference on how to deal with trolls because apparently getting your name in CLEO will do that. I knew having a troll and getting hate mail would have to have a silver lining! Yay me! So I could be wearing your company logo on stage when I bang on about how someone disagreeing with you does NOT make them a troll. SHEESH! Most overused word ever.

So if you happen to be a company that has a few spare bucks to invest in a social media campaign then I'm your gal. Or gals if you count Glowsanna. Whatever.

This here blog is juuuust about to hit the half a million view mark since I went .com last year. I know it's not much compared to some others, but hey, for a blog with no long term goals or plans and a haphazard posting schedule (what schedule?), I think it's just fine and dandy.

I have a whole fancy pants prospectus that I'm just itching to send out, so if you'd like a copy to see if you and I are a good fit, then hit me up at glowless@wheresmyglow.com. Alternatively cash donations in non sequential unmarked bills can be sent to PO Box 2517 Warwick WA 6024. Just kidding. Maybe.

Wanna sponsor me?

You've been Perthed

Forget six degrees of separation (and the truly shit house movie of the same name), and disregard Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. In Perth, you can connect yourself to most people by three degrees. Which of course is a fact that I just made up but might as well be true.

Around here, it's called being Perthed.

It extends also to bumping in to people you know wherever you go and is the sole reason that I put on makeup when I leave the house and avoid certain shopping centres. I'm pretty much guaranteed to see someone I know and the likelihood of me seeing them is based on a sliding scale:

In my three shifts at my new job I've seen seven people I know, which by my own scale must mean I look like a bit of a dog when I'm there.

On top of those seven people (not literally, we're not playing Twister), I had the honour of introducing the 'Perthed' concept to a reader of this here ol' blog, who is in town visiting from Brisbane and happened to be at my work:

"You're 'Where's My Glow? aren't you?"

*shifty eyes* "Um. Yes?" *mild panic*

Amy, who was an invaluable help to me when Tricky first had issues with anaphylaxis and asthma, recognized my media-whore face and said hello meaning I was simultaneously having a nice little OMG-I-was-recognized ego boost and an OMG-I-was-recognized freak out.

Being recognized by a reader has to be the strangest thing ever to come from Blogging. It has happened a few times now and is testament again to just how small Perth is (one time it happened at teeny tiny Kalgoorlie airport which was a complete spin out), and each time I think a) How is it possible for anyone to recognize me without an Instagram filter and b) Being a celebrity and having this every minute of every day would be fucking weird!!

Do you only see people you know when you look like shit?

Don't forget you can win $100 this week

click the moolah to enter

Just fucking do it

I think some of us need a reminder sometimes. I know I do.

Kim from Frog Ponds Rock said those words to me recently and I thought "Ima put that shit on a poster and put it as my wallpaper". I can always count on her to say something that makes me wanna fist pump.

It goes for everything. Whether it's your decision to monetize your blog, to have an elective c-section, to be vegan, to breastfeed your kid until it's seven, to embrace the latest fashion trend, to sing the praises of 50 Shades as a literary masterpiece or to support the world domination of One Direction. 

Say what you mean.

Mean what you say.

Someone is bound to disagree with you and be as emphatically passionate about their beliefs as you are yours.

Speak your truth, hold your head up high and all will be well.

If we all agreed? Fuck, it would be so boring.

SEO tips for lazy bloggers

I've never been one for SEO. I mean, what can I promote to search engines? My whinging about nappies? That I'm one of a gajillion women who blog in Australia? I have no real niche so unless I can work in to a post "stuff SAHMs should read for shits and giggles while their kids sleep", I'll just keep plodding along as usual.

The only thing I do that is in any way SEO friendly is the titles of my permalinks, and that function has only been available for a relatively short time now so half the time I forget to do it.

But because I can see my highest ranking posts and the search terms that found them, I've decided to just include the keywords used in them in as many posts from now on as possible, and I highly recommend you should too. It's an SEO goldmine I'm tellin' ya!

These are some of my top posts of all time and the keywords they are found by:

Cold Power Competition - washing smarter. I shit you not. How on earth people find this blog when searching washing advice I have no idea. They'll be very disappointed, that's for sure.

Mappy Birthday - assless chaps. Yes. Think about what type of reader are you trying to attract. If it's one who likes bums, use assless chaps in a sentence today. Don't delay!

10 Reasons I Don't Read Your Blog - why don't people read my blog. Sadly people are reading this and possibly taking it as gospel when in fact it's just me ranting. 

This One Time I Pissed Myself Laughing - jump run leak wee. So I'm kinda proud of this one, it was my first attempt at SEO and it's actually working. It meant 2000 entries (OMG!) and lots of traffic even after it closed.

50 Shades of Torturous Writing - should I read 50 Shades of Grey. Yeah, the whole world is obsessed with it, no surprises there.

5 Reasons Shark Culls Are Bullshit - shark attack shark culls WA. Every time there is another shark attack, the government bangs on about killing sharks. The last person to be killed was actually a friend of a friend, and I still stand by this.

How To Use Chalk To Colour Your Hair - hair chalking. Yep, the coloured hair craze is still going strong.

So there you go. By my very scientific calculations if you write a post called 50 Shades of hair chalk and shark attacks on men in assless chaps who do the washing, leak wee and don't read my blog you will be hitting the SEO JACKPOT! Prepare for the servers to melt.

Do you optimize your posts with keywords? Or think SEO stands for Sugar Eating Opportunity like me?

I met Liz Davenport and all I got was this signed copy of her book to giveaway

Georgia from Parental Parody called me the other day: "Yo, so what are you doing tomorrow night? Wanna come to Liz Davenport's book launch? She emailed me an invite. SHE emailed ME!"

I think she may have fainted at that point because the line went quiet.

There was just one problem with being Georgia's plus size plus one: WHAT THE FUCK DO I WEAR TO A DESIGNER'S BOOK LAUNCH DURING THE PERTH FASHION FESTIVAL!?!?"

A little hyperventilating was in order. And some wine.

I decided on the whole black is slimming thing knowing I'd be surrounded by models, then slapped myself upside the head because who the hell wears all black to the launch of a book called "Liz: A life of colour"? The woman is known for her colourful creations and I'm sure doing my Morticia Addams impersonation would have been met with pitiful stares from the fashion-elite in the room.

I ended up wearing a purple dress and my sister-in-law's rockin' blingy purple heels. And gigantic Bridget Jones iron underwear too, but that goes without saying.

I had no idea what to expect. I've never been to anything fashion related before as I'm more likely to be found going through the bargain rack at Tarrrrzjay. I imagined the canapes going uneaten, the champagne flowing and a whole stack of models that upon turning sideways would fall through a crack in the floor. But I couldn't have been more wrong. Except for the champers bit, thankfully.

Nevertheless, I didn't let Georgia leave my side. Doesn't she look so happy about that?

I still felt terribly out of place though... until Liz started talking and I realized she was an amazing, talented, funny and down to earth Perth chick with a passion for the environment and Indigenous culture.

The woman is awesome. She's won so many awards, including Australia's top designer, has had international success, has an Order of Australia, has run for parliament, raised three gorgeous kids and advocates for REAL sizes.

“The ‘average’ woman may spend her earlier years as a proportional size 10 or 12, but may well put on weight at the hips and waist but not at the shoulders as she matures. Too often the jacket fits, but not the skirt or pants

Despite what most designers appear to do, once you hit size 14 you simply cannot just add a few more centimetres here and there and expect the look to work. It won’t. There are an awful lot of women who have been short changed in the design department.”

A selection of her designs from the last three decades were on show, including the Australian flag cape worn by Miss Australia at the Miss World parade in 1979. I had to use every ounce of willpower not to tackle the model to the ground and steal it off her. And OMG the colour!

I made Georgia introduce me afterwards by refusing to stop poking her in the ribs until she submitted. It may have been my liquid bravery, but when she seemed pleased that we were blogging it I said:

"You know what would make it a better blog post, Liz?" (could I be any ruder?)

"A photo?"

"A PHOTO!"

So we cuddled together and took a couple of selfies and I went all fan-girl knowing I'd just snuggled an Australian icon.

And then her lovely marketing manager sent me a signed copy of her book to giveaway! 

If you'd like to win it, all you have to do is ENTER HERE through the Facebook app. You can enter daily if you're keen!

You can buy "Liz: A life of colour" here for $55.00

What do you think of Liz's re-proportioned and realistic sizing of designer fashion? Do you think more designers should follow suit?

Help! I don't want to lose my Feedburner subscribers!

Can you hear that? It's the collective sound of bloggers all around the world pulling their hair out trying to figure out what the hell is going on with Feedburner.

If you've logged in to yours in the last few days you'll see your subscribers are at 0. Or BIG FAT ZERO NO FRIENDS as I've dubbed it.

I have no idea what is happening because for every article I read about it there is another one with opposite information. It's doing my head in. Is it going to be shut down completely? Will it just not be updated? Is it just the API being discontinued? What does API even meeeeaaaaaaan?

Mostly what I can hear are the mournful screams "WHERE HAVE ALL MY SUBSCRIBERS GONE?"

Relax. Despite the BIG FAT ZERO NO FRIENDS thing, the details of the people who subscribed by email are still there. But I have no idea how long they'll be there for so I'd suggest you go backup your email subscribers now.

How to backup your Feedburner email subscription 

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Save that CSV file somewhere safe! When you open it (with excel or similar) you'll see it's the email addresses of your lovely subscribers that you can now port over to whichever service you choose to use. Or email them to tell them you've stopped hyperventilating.

Even if this whole thing settles down, your numbers come back and the collective trichotillomania ceases, having a backup isn't a bad thing.

Are you freaking out?

I came, I saw, I got a swag box

Oh look another Blog event that I got drunk at! Well knock me down with a feather!

Apparently, I'm a small brown marsupial. Not following? Well, it's WOMBAT. Some people will have you believe it stands for Website and Online Media, Bloggers And Tweeps, but after meeting up I'm of the firm belief it actually stands for We Only Meet when Booze is On Tab. Because, well, it's true.

LOVED meeting Yvette and Karen

The Jive and I don't pass up an opportunity to go out, particularly when someone else is paying. For him it's  because he's a poor student and a night of not eating two minute noodles is quite glamourous. For me, it's because I'm a poor excuse for a once-was-party-er and a night of not changing nappies is as good as it gets these days.

Fabulous ladies: Georgia, Lani, Sarah, Catherine and Taryn

He headed to mine for the time honoured tradition of "getting ready together" which is really code for "I don't want to show up alone for fear of looking like a loser". It consisted of him standing in my bathroom drinking shoddy wine whilst watching me dry my hair and put on makeup.

Swag bags are sooo 2011, swag boxes are the next big thing

I applied a little extra oomph to the ensemble with false eyelashes in the hope that having sparkles around my eyes would leave people so entranced that they wouldn't notice my drunken shenanigans. Though as I've found out many a time, no matter how much effort you put in, after six glasses of champagne it's highly likely you'll turn in to a pumpkin with smudged makeup by midnight at a bar in Leederville trying really hard to figure out what the guy with the incredibly thick Irish accent is actually trying to say. Or *ahem* so I've heard.

It was awesome to catch up with old mates and I loved meeting the people I've been cyber-stalking following, and putting faces to names and Twitter handles. We ate, drank, got some freebies, met an incredibly drunk Ricky Gervais wannabe with an intense stare, drank a bit more, posed for shocking photos and left after being asked to go to Leederville with some lovely, random people that had become entranced by our swag boxes.

Artichoke love

I have two new Bloggy crushes in the form of Chantel from Bossy Mummy and Cie from Pathetic to Pin up (who rocks a cowgirl hat like nobody's business, let me tell you). I had fabulous conversations with them both, though they may think differently since they were of the cringe-worthy drunken confessional variety.

1. Screaming in Georgia's ear  2. Intense "Ricky" before he tried to steal a swag box
3. Gorgeous Cie  4. RJT, Chantel and I laughing it up

It was a fabulous night thanks to some fab organizing peeps and awesome sponsors Bubbler, DP and Nuffnang.

What did you get up to? Photos or it didn't happen.

Not just a Mummy Blogger

This morning my MummyAlarm went off, I stretched and got out of my MummyBed while cursing the single digit temperature and wondering if I could somehow will the heater to turn on.

I made some MummyToast, sat on my MummyCouch and turned on my MummyTV.

After watching some MummyPrograms, I brushed my MummyTeeth and styled my MummyHair before getting in my MummyCar to go out to and do MummyThings.

You see, since reproducing, it would appear that all my stuff is now MummyStuff, all my thoughts are now MummyThoughts and all my work is now MummyWork, particularly since I went and got myself a MummyBlog.

But I've never actually had a problem with the term MummyBlogger and readily identify myself as one despite loathing the word mummy. This blog started when I was up the duff and I wrote almost soley about this new direction my life was about to take. I wrote about birth choices, delayed cord clamping, preparing the nursery - you know, all the boring shit that no one gives a fuck about.

As I moved on from the intense first months of parenthood where I spent most of my time figuring out how this tiny human worked to a stage where my boobs got to spend at least some of the day inside my top, I started talking about other things. Random things that had little to do with whether I had a mini-Map Guy running around or not.

Even though every single post wasn't about nappies and breastfeeding, I still identified as a MummyBlogger because I was a mum who blogged. I blog about life and a large part of my life right now is my kid. Though I draw the line at discussing his bowel motions. This blog is a poo free zone. Lots of boobs though.

Whether it's because I've grown a thicker skin with a few years of blogging under my belt or the fact that I've embraced the word from the get go, calling me a MummyBlogger is as much of an insult as calling me white, chubby or asthmatic. You can't offend me with a fact. 

Some really cool things have happened because of this little MummyBlog. I've watched this Glowing community grow and some amazing opportunities opened up to me because of it. I became a writer for The Daily Buzz, was the expo coordinator for DPCON12, spoke at the Media140 conference about the power of blogs, contributed to the Things They Didn't Tell You ebook to raise money for Foundation 18, will soon be speaking to PR students about working with blogs and just recently I've been taken on as a writer for another site (more on that soon).

But that pales in comparison to the successes of my fellow MummyBloggers. Some have turned their blogs in to businesses, some have gone on to write for major publications, become published authors, others have become professional speakers. The list goes on and on and on because they're a pretty amazing bunch. Where they find the time I have no freaking clue, but I'd hazard a guess they spend less time faffing about on Twitter than I do.

So my point, because after all the waffling I do actually have one, is that my issue is not when you call me (or the friends I've made from this gig) a MummyBlogger. My issue, is when you put the word 'just' in front of it.

Do you love or loathe the term?

EDIT: Turns out I used some similar phrases in this post as the amazing Bianca from Big Words did in her post about why she isn't a Mummy Blogger! Great mind think alike... and came to opposite conclusions on the term Mummy Blogger! And yes, I totally freaked out when this was pointed out to me and went "She'll think I copied her! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"