The Mommy Blog | Adventures from the Wonderbelly of Motherhood

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Other places I write, Divorce.360.com, Fun Finds, Entertainment

This oughta show them! I’m so pleased to be part of such a powerful and insightful community as Divorce360.com. I’m syndicated there, and haven’t explored half the offerings. They’re ginormous.

all around, good!

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Me, Me, Me, Other places I write, Fun Finds, Entertainment

My boss is a clever guy. His (other) company just launched a new service called Sprout, which allows you to build “living content.” I think that means you can build and publish just about anything you can imagine: slideshows, a promo for all your projects (cough), podcasts, movies. There’s no limit, really.

What does it mean for the Web? It means that the bar for flash development has just been lowered to—yes—my level.

That’s pretty amazing. And get this: it’s so easy, I created this Sprout in about twenty minutes. Give or take thirty.

yes, that is a sneak peek. New sites are under construction!

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Other people who write, Other places I write, Entertainment

I am proud to announce a partnership with a new site that will feature some of my content! Here is the press release, plus a Link to coverage on TechCrunch.

Former Bankrate, Inc. COO, today launched Divorce360.com, a resource and community site focused on divorce issues from contemplation through post divorce. Series A venture funding from Austin Ventures and private investors.

North Palm Beach, Florida. December 4, 2007: www.divorce360.com launched today with the intention of helping the approximately 1.3 million people per year who are facing divorce. Sites that assist people to navigate life events such as planning a wedding, preparing to have children or coping with issues related to growing older have become destination spots online. But there is not much online that offers comprehensive guidance on divorce. Like these other events, divorce is overwhelming and expensive. In addition to the high emotional toll, financially a divorce, on estimate, can cost $15,000 and more. Divorce360.com wants to be a welcoming resource to people who are in need of direction, answers and support.

Chief Executive Officer Cotter Cunningham, former COO at Bankrate, Inc. explains: “We review the real, day-to-day issues that impact people facing divorce like ‘What do I do now? How do I do it? What about my kids, job, family, friends, money, and my house?’ We answer these questions in a number of ways, from experts offering professional advice to reporters detailing the facts to bloggers showcasing how they have handled similar situations. You can even get helpful suggestions from our Answers area. Divorce360 offers factual information, a variety of experts and real-world solutions to help people make educated decisions about divorce.”

Divorce360.com offers:

Original editorial content, daily features, expert commentary, blogger perspectives and a social networking community.
Award-winning editors and writers who distill difficult-to-understand topics into uncomplicated and relatable articles.
Features that include videos, calculators, worksheets.
A community area that allows people to connect, share stories, ask for advice or offer real-world solutions to others.
Tools, like an Incident Report, to store information and notes, in a secure area.
An online Journal or Blog where users can post and share comments and situations with others.
Links to information and tools for every state as well as –- coming soon—a business directory of divorce-related professionals.

Our focus group had this to say
K.W. said “My divorce was five years ago. Not many resources were available then. It was tough to get answers. I was young at the time and had no friends in a similar situation. First I found an attorney. I found one through friends of [my] parents. This site would have helped.”

S.G. said: “I used the Internet, but it was hard to find information. I felt like I was spinning my wheels. I didn’t want to confide in friends, but was desperate to talk with someone in a similar situation, to learn from someone else’s experience. This site would have been helpful to me. I needed this information on how to decide whether to get a divorce and how to pick an attorney.”

Thomas Ball, a Venture Partner at Austin Ventures, said: “We are excited to be in business with this team and this site. With Cotter’s eight year’s successful experience at Bankrate, we feel this has the potential to become an incredible resource for anyone struggling with divorce and the issues that surround it.”

About divorce360.com
Provides help, advice and community for people contemplating, going through or recovering from divorce and the issues around it – custody, child support, alimony and litigation. The site is a unique blend of editorial and user-generated content. Launched in November 2007 by executives formerly with Bankrate, Procter & Gamble and Gannett, Divorce360.com is headquartered in North Palm Beach, FL.

About Austin Ventures
Austin Ventures, with $3 billion dollars under management across nine funds, has been providing startup and growth capital to emerging companies for over twenty years. We partner with exceptionally talented entrepreneurs and operating executives to build valuable businesses in a variety of technology and service industries. We invest nationally but maintain a particular focus on Texas, where we are the region’s most active investor. Our team of investment professionals works with companies at every stage of the funding lifecycle, from initial seed investments, through startup and growth capital, to management-led buyouts and recapitalizations. Austin Ventures brings a long-term investment perspective, broad experience in building high-growth companies, and access to an unparalleled network of entrepreneurs and executives. Visit austinventures.com for more information.

For more information
For more about divorce360.com, go to: www.divorce360.com/press, or email paula@smallponds.com.

For more about Austin Ventures , contact Kim Paschall, Director of Communications, at 512.485.1955, or kpaschall@austinventures.com.

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well-rounded

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Me, Me, Me, Other people who write, News, Entertainment

Exciting news today!

First, BabyCenter.com has announced a partnership with Federated Media, my advertising reps, and the authors in the Parenting Federation. It’s been my dream to be a writer on BabyCenter for ten years - ever since I first started visiting their site with my first of four pregnancies and read “Bringing up Ben” religiously. Eventually, Ben had a little sister, and the feature became “Waiting for Birdie” which may sound familiar to you, as it was recently published as a book. I’m very excited that John Battelle, founder of Federated Media and Tina Sharkey, formerly of AOL and current CEO of BabyCenter.com had the vision to bring us together.

Also! OpenRoad.tv is now showing the segment I filmed with Doug McConnell last week on what I do when not at the keyboard...

Life Outside the Box #4 - Mindy Roberts

estatic

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Me, Me, Me, Other people who write, Entertainment

Sort of a “Life” theme here, no? We’ll get over it soon. We’re just jealous of those who have one. *cymbals*

Well, later this morning I’ll be shipping Miss Scarlet Fever and Master Fever Blister off to Daddy’s so I can take off my hazmat suit, have a decontaminating shower, and head up to Sausalito to hang out with Doug McConnell of Bay Area Backroads and OpenRoad.tv to talk about what we Interwebnetizens do “outside the box.” That’s a very nice way of saying, “when off our asses.” (Manners count.)

The first to be interviewed in the series, and a tough act to follow, is David Pescovitz of BoingBoing.com. Carl Bidleman, a crew member of Life Outside the Box, introduces the series in today’s OpenRoad.tv blog post:

Doug and I are TV guys who started working in this web world over two years ago and I’m amazed at how much of my life I now spend in front of a computer. 10-11 hours a day, six days a week. It seems way out of whack and I got to wondering how others who make their living in the virtual world get reconnected to the real one. So today we’re launching a new video blog series we call Life Outside the Box. In the coming days and weeks we’ll post conversations with Rhett Butler of Mongabay.com, David Allen Ibsen of 5 Blogs Before Lunch, Mindy Roberts of The Mommy Blog, Scott Beale of Laughing Squid and Natalie Zee Drieu of craftzine.com about places where they love to spend their precious time. But we’re very pleased to inaugurate the series with a guy we’ve come to like very much, David Pescovitz. David is an editor of Boing Boing, one of the most popular blogs on the internet that bills itself as “a directory of wonderful things.” The editors report on internet esoterica, anomalies, and curiosities across an insanely wide range of topics, from innovative technology and contemporary art to culture and weird science. The only filter is “interestingness.” And interestingness is exactly what David shared with Doug at one of his favorite off-line places, the Musee Mecanique on San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, home of the legendary Laughing Sal. Have a look.

I’m sure glad they got Ole Laughing Sal over with, so I don’t have the only room-clearing laugh in the series. I really don’t know what we’ll focus on, but we’ll start with coffee and chat near the water, so I pretty much don’t care. I’ll be miles and miles away from Sick Bay. For the moment.

And of course, I'll share a copy of The Road Letters by my sweetie

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Fun Finds, Workbits, Entertainment

I was sitting here trying to think of a clever introduction to this topic and kept giggling about the exchange that went on to arrange this mention. Well, as usual, I gotta go with what brings the funny.

So. Shannon Davis wrote to say she enjoyed the blog and appreciated finding someone with a similar life to hers. She asked about sponsorships, etc., because she recently launched a new business that she think our readers might be interested in.

Beyondmotherhood.com is an online job board that connects employers with the “untapped"workforce, stay at home mothers. There are thousands of educated and experienced moms nationwide looking for flexible opportunities.... and Beyondmotherhood.com wants to connect them with employers.”

Hey, sounds excellent to me! I need some of that!

She continued, “My funds are a little low (or should I say nonexistent) at this point …but once the site gets going I can purchase some ads from you. Sorry for the scattered response…my son is busy spraying the kitchen down with water as I type…got to love it!”

I responded, “Okay, that’s twice I nearly spit cranberry juice on the keyboard. Once when I read “nonexistent” because we are the poor leading the poor… and then again about your son. Last night, I went out to water the trees in pots, and noticed that the curly hose with the sprayer wasn’t attached to the main hose, so I screwed it on. As soon as I turned on the water, the curly hose exploded into a fountain, swinging and thrashing from the pressure of the water shooting out of two very clean cuts in the hose. Hmm. No one had any idea how the hose was cut, but they all agreed that I sure did get wet.”

And the capper: “Hilarious! Sounds like my life…as I sit here covered in tomato sauce! The glamour of being a mom!”

So, considering the immediate and obvious intersection of shared business objectives and the connectedness of our visions, I encourage you to visit Beyondmotherhood.com, and hope to benefit myself from their services. See? Told you I only promote things I would use myself!

Come on, girls, we need each other, and if anyone is going to understand that you’ve got a lot to contribute even though you’re chasing after little ones, it’s other moms with a lot to contribute who are chasing after little ones. Please check it out and help flesh out both the employment offers and candidate pool!

Also? I'm a sucker for a well-designed and organized site!

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Entertainment

To all who received a spam invite to quetchup.com: I am more than sorry and more than upset.

BoingBoing covers it here.

And as a public service, I offer the Quetchup un-subscribe link.

gaaaaaaaaaah *deleting profile*

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Family, Workbits, Entertainment

Or last night. But it needed cleaning up first. You should have seen the kids.

“Guys, check it out: my toenail just came off!”

“Cool!”

“Whoa!”

“I’m so sorry, mama, want me to kiss it?”

“I have no idea what happened but it was suddenly like a clamshell over here, waving at me. So I took it off.”

‘But your toe still has a nail.”

“It looks that way, doesn’t it? But that’s blood. See, my nail had red polish. So it really didn’t change things much, did it?”

Dylan wanted to know, “Can I keep it?”

amateurs

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Fun Finds, Weblogs, Entertainment

This has been a tough decision, but it’s time to narrow my focus to just a few things I’ve got to concentrate on fully, and unfortunately one of my businesses has to go…

I purchased Boutique Community from Dreamy Web Studios at the beginning of February as a one-of-a-kind community site for especially cool and hip online shops and businesses. It’s a lounge where boutiques can hang up a shingle, encourage visitors to sign up for newsletters, and expound on the many brilliant reasons to visit their sites and leave some money behind. It’s a fully-developed site—it already was when I got it, and I’ve added TONS to it—and requires very little to tailor to a new owner. All you need is a little configuration and you’re ready to start inviting boutiques and collecting advertising revenue! (I’ll throw in two hours of professional support to help you along.)

Key features for Advertisers:

Select a Sponsorship ad space for high visibility and premium placement
Add your link to the free link exchange
Start a thread in the forums about your space and meet others with common goals and interests
Promote your book in our special Author’s Nook
Become a Boutique Community Member for $25 and get listed in the directory for the entire year, with your site description and link to your site in up to 5 subcategories. Add a logo for an additional $5 per year!

Key features for the Owner:

Big names such as Naissance on Maternity, Koo Koo Bear Friends, and DP Jewelry Designs reserved space for the first month and were keen to continue. When I first opened this site and invited advertisers in, it sold out in a few days.

At the current rates, you can earn $350 each month from the sponsor slots alone. Then there are newsletter contributions, article contributions, and publication listings, all of which are fee-based. The fees in place at the moment are really very low; you could certainly get more with time to dedicate to sales.

Super Sponsors ~ Top of Main Page: $20/month
Sponsors: Main Page $15
Newsletter Contribution: $5/per event
Article Contribution: $5/per event
Community Boards Ad (125x125): $10/month
Directory: $25/year for Basic Entry (No Logo)
Directory: $30/year for Premium Entry (Logo)

I’ve added a lot of functionality to the site in terms of add-ons and modules, all of which give tremendous flexibility in growing the site. I hired professional developers to give me a start, and was able to take it from there.
Included with the site is the domain http://www.boutiquecommunity.com, two hours of paid assistance and two referrals for excellent future support, including one that offers 90-minute emergency service, so you can operate without down time. Hosting for the site is paid through August, at which time you may take over billing or move to another host.
Through my extensive contacts, I’ve amassed a large list of potential clients, and have a database of those who have already advertised on the site. We already have their contact information, creatives, specs, and preferences.
There is a simple routine for hosting newsletters and sending newsletters of your own.
You can offer paid business directory listings, which with all the other paid advertising can be routed directly through PayPal with minimal administration. Some of the sales are self-serve! You just watch your in boxes for payment notifications!
One of the most popular features on the site is the FREE link exchange section where people can add links to their own sites. They must link back to Boutique Community in turn, and this can be checked automatically from the system. You can’t lose there—it generates tons of traffic!

You’re probably wondering why I don’t just keep it. Truth is, I’m under the gun to find full-time work, and have two other side ventures in addition to this blog and Boutique Community. It’s been so crazy that I’ve had to put BC on hiatus, even with clients asking for continued terms. It’s a shame to let it just sit there, and it’s an ideal business for a stay at home mom or dad. If you play it smart, there’s no reason why you can’t build up to $1,000 each month in revenue as your traffic increases.

Bids for this fully-developed, feature-rich work-from-home business open at $1,500.

I’ll take bids through next week, and let everyone know as soon as we have a winner!

Btw, if you are uncertain about what you might pay to have a site like this developed, ask around. It would be at the least a couple thousand, more depending on how much customization. Feel free to contact me and I’ll connect you with the original developer!

Let the bidding begin!

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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Me, Me, Me, Other people who write, Entertainment

That’s right, my crazy blogging friends and I actually made the front page of the Wall Street Journal!

I can almost hear traditionalist heads exploding everywhere because these people who just WRITE FLUFF without EDITORS and PEER REVIEW and REJECTION TRAUMA actually have their uses and charms, and I am inordinately proud of Yvonne of Joy Unexpected‘s saying she got to “pee on Stage 5 of the Warner Bros. lot where Julia Louis-Dreyfus might also pee!”

For those who may have missed the first three hundred times I mentioned it, this is Julia right after I shoved a copy of my book into her arms. The book in this picture does not necessarily represent the views of the person holding it, nor should her cradling it as she would something of value, right up next to that fabulous dress, in any way signify her endorsement of my book, which she is to all appearances joyfully holding and clutching to her breast, while smiling really big at me, the person who just gave her a funny, funny book to read. And perhaps enjoy. I do not have the official rights to this photo, but I was there, and the studio sent it to me, so just try and stop me. And buy my book.

(Thanks for the tip from an alert reader!)

The sad thing is, I'm not the first in my family to make the front page of the WSJ. I have overachieving parents.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Workbits, Entertainment

Hey there, sorry I’ve been scarce lately, but I’ve been busy at my day job! We’re very excited about the press release sent out this morning...

TrustedOpinion.com Launches with Uniquely Personal Recommendations for Movies

Consumers now have a way to get reliable, trusted recommendations from their circle of friends, thanks to the launch of TrustedOpinion.com which opened for free access to the public today.

(PRWEB) March 22, 2007—Until today, every rating and recommendation website has suffered from the same problem: The recommendations come from strangers. Consumers are often fooled by seemingly unbiased opinions when the reality is that many online reviews are commercially biased. And even with “honest” online reviews, consumers have no way of knowing how much they have in common with the reviewer. Fortunately, consumers now have a way to get reliable, trusted recommendations from their circle of friends, thanks to the launch of TrustedOpinion.com which opened for free access to the public today.

TrustedOpinion.com delivers better, trusted reviews and recommendations by weighing your circle of friends’ opinions higher than those of a stranger. As each person’s network of friends on the site expands, the recommendations become more targeted and relevant. With this public launch, TrustedOpinion.com offers recommendations on thousands of movies as well as television DVD collections. Over the coming months, TrustedOpinion.com will expand by offering trusted recommendations for restaurants, clubs, and more.

read more...

IMHO

Friday, February 16, 2007

Me, Me, Me, Workbits, Entertainment

I have been crazy busy working on the launch for Trusted Opinion (my day job, for those keeping track at home).

Until now, it’s been invitation-only, but just in time for Valentine’s Day, we’ve decided to open it up to the whole world. Well, not the whole world. That would crash our servers. But it’s very exciting! You don’t have to ask me for invitations anymore! It’s all yours!

*roar of the crowd*

For those of you new to the game, here’s a blurb and a piece of my latest newsletter (yes, it’s a dream come true: I get PAID to write!):

Building on our list of slick new features, we’re proud to offer even more that will make giving and getting recommendations easy and fun!

In the last newsletter, we introduced our Ratings Radar, new Subcategories, and great ways to give recommendations. Well, your Trusted Opinion experience is about to get even better.

New Member Home Page
Yes, you now have yet another home on the Interwebnet! Make the place your own: choose avatars, upload as many photos as you like, adjust your personal profile settings so that everyone can see your general profile, but only your first circle of friends can see the whole you, the real you, the you they want to take to the movies. You can also track all sorts of things on our Home page, including a nifty snapshot of your ratings!

Running with the Big Dogs
You can stay on the porch if you like, but the big dogs are running loose at Trusted Opinion! Now you can see who has written the most reviews, was first to review the most movies, who is most expert, and which movies are most commented. Get the scoop on the flicks before you hand over your cash for tickets. Then, use the theater map to get the location, and you’re off and running! Don’t forget that you can also click through to Fandango.com right from our site to purchase tickets before you even hit the theater. Don’t wait in line. Just ride in the car with your shiny new ticket, still warm from the printer.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Workbits, Entertainment

My company is doing some fun user testing on our latest release, and we need a few more people to come test the system, shoot the shit, have a bag of chips, and collect forty bucks. Must be local to Bay Area!

Use Yelp and/or Digg a lot? Earn money for 45 min feedback session (Palo Alto)

TrustedOpinion.com is looking for expert opinions about our site from people who are top “Yelpers” and “Diggers”. If you are an expert reviewer on Yelp or contribute daily to the buzz on Digg and want to earn some extra cash, please send a link to Yelp or Digg profile page to . People who get selected will get paid to participate in a 45 minute feedback meeting in Palo Alto where you’ll get to be one of the first people ever to use our new site. The people who provide the most valuable feedback will be chosen to be official TrustedOpinion.com advisors. Advisors will get their name mentioned on our website, get free access to the site for life, and be invited to participate in further TrustedOpinion.com advisor events! We’re looking for people immediately, so please respond asap. Must be 18 or over.

Please reply to ! I will not be doing the scheduling, though I will be there for most of the sessions.

Available slots are…
Tuesday Jan 16:
12 PM
1 PM
3 PM
4 PM

Wednesday Jan 17:
3 PM
4 PM

Thursday Jan 18:
12 PM
1 PM
2 PM
3 PM
4 PM

it's sooooo much cooler than the last release

Friday, January 12, 2007

Current Affairs, Family, Entertainment

I was having trouble selecting a charity for my new Network for Good badge until I saw Childquest’s Safety Tips for Children. I immediately copied it into an easy-to-read page I can tape up next to the children’s breakfast spot for them to read each morning. I’ve pasted the text in the extended entry, or you can click here to download the PDF.

Please consider getting a Network for Good badge of your own. Select your own charity and post it on your site. More than 325,000 donors have given $112 million to more than 25,000 charities through this organization. I think that’s pretty awesome.

TheMommyBlog