As bloggers, we spend a lot of time talking and worrying about self-promotion – where to find the time, how to best promote, where to get the most mileage out of social media. It’s often un-ending. If I’ve learned anything over the past year and a half of being a virtual assistant, it’s that continuous, all encompassing self-promotion is nearly impossible. Sorry, that’s the truth. It’s just not feasible to be on every social media platform every hour of every day. At least not by yourself. So, how do bloggers much bigger than I handle this? They have friends and they promote each other. This is not an industry where you can exist on a island by yourself. You need friends. You need people who are willing to share your projects and ideas. Frankly, there are just too many social media outlets these days. You can’t rely on just one -…
My Minted.com Art is Here!
You guys! Remember a couple of weeks ago I had you help me pick out some artwork from Minted.com? Well it’s here! And it’s in a frame and hung up! (I’m not always the best at getting things done right away so I’m counting that as a big win.) Seriously, I couldn’t wait to get it on the wall and show you. It is so awesome. (They aren’t asking me to do this, I just really liked it in person and couldn’t wait to share. I love it that much. No lie.) First though, let’s talk about what you chose. In my very non-scientific accounting of your votes, it was a three way tie for C, D, and E! Even you guys had trouble choosing. And while I loved all of the options…well, I went rogue and chose a different one than all of you. So here goes. I chose… …
On Neglecting Fringe
Sometimes #fringehours means a snack and Netflix A photo posted by Christina L (@christinaplainandsimple) on Mar 24, 2015 at 12:11pm PDT Truth time. I’m going to admit that as much as I LOVED Jessica’s book The Fringe Hours (you can see my review here), old habits are hard to break. I’ve been really busy with the VA thing and the blogging thing and the taking care of puppies and spring cleaning things and I’ve just been kind of overwhelmed with it all but…I’m still not taking time for myself. I know that I need to, but I don’t. Tell me I’m not alone in that. Sometimes life just happens and I think we just neglect ourselves in exchange for a To Do List. Kinda depressing if you think too long about it. So, this week I’ve tried to make a concerted effort to at least get some downtime at lunch. It…
Top Secret Blogging Tip #3 – Staff
Of the bloggers that I work for, many have staff. I can hear you already, “Well that’s nice for them, but I can’t afford a staff!” I get it. I can’t really afford staff either. But I think we have to look at this from a different perspective. Maybe you can’t hire someone like me, but I’m betting you have people in your life who can help you run your blog, schedule social media or gather links for a round up. Maybe you have a teenager at home who could help with Facebook. Maybe you’re in a group of bloggers who could all use some help? Is one of you great at social media management? Is another awesome at using PicMonkey to create graphics for posts? What about someone who might be a CoSchedule expert? Could you pool your resources or trade services? Staff doesn’t have to mean a virtual assistant (or two)…
Getting Rid of Hair Product and Oils from Pillow Cases
I’m a self-confessed hairspray-aholic. No lie. I totally blame my mother, who I can vividly remember standing in the bathroom with her cigarette in one hand and a can of Aquanet in the other. She was completely encasing her brown football helmet of hair in a cloud of hairspray. I guess it stuck. (No pun intended.) How she didn’t manage to blow up our house is a mystery to me even to this day. Thankfully, I only picked up the hairspray and not the cigarettes. Anyway, for all my love of hair product, I’m also kinda lazy and don’t always feel like washing my hair before I go to bed, which means I end up getting a yucky build up on my pillow cases. I do wash them regularly, but the oil and product doesn’t always come all the way out even with the expensive HE detergent and oxygen cleaners. So, of…
Finding Coupons When I Need Them – WITHOUT Clipping Everything
So lately, I’ve shared with you how I’ve managed to simplify the couponing process for myself. You can find those posts by clicking the photos below: My Simple Coupon System Making the Binder Work for Me But if I’m not clipping everything, and lugging that binder to the store with me, how do I find the coupons I need quickly? Let me show you. When I first started couponing, there was no real way to find a specific coupon in a specific insert, but that is no longer the case! We now have really nice coupon database systems that you can search to find both printable and newspaper insert coupons. Here’s how I use them. First, I make my shopping list. Say I need Olay Body Wash and I want to make sure I have a coupon for it. I go to Hot Coupon World and type in Olay.…
My Simple Coupon System
When Adam and I agreed that I would stay home (I’m a lucky girl) I realized that I while I wasn’t bringing in any income (this was pre-virtual assisting), I would need to make it my job to save our money and I dived into extreme couponing with a whole heart. Now, don’t get the wrong idea – I’m not clearing shelves or adding rooms to my house to stockpile four thousand boxes of ramen – far from it. Still, I try and stock up on things at their rock bottom price and I love, love, love saving money. I used to spend hours clipping and filing coupons into my (ridiculously large) coupon binder and then hauling that bad boy to the store. Yeeeeeeah, carrying that thing around grew old pretty fast and so did giving up my Sunday afternoons to clip, clip, clip coupons. It was just too much. You guys know…
Simple Southern Sides for the Holidays – Pear Salad
OK I’m going really old school on you today friends. The other day I shared my mom’s recipe for deviled eggs and today I’m sharing another of our family’s traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas sides – pear salad. Now, I’m not going to lie here. This is an old school recipe, and to a lot of people it sounds really weird or unappetizing, but I promise, it’s actually quite tasty. It’s also the first recipe that my mother turned over entirely to me. I remember feeling so special and like it was such a huge responsibility, when in fact, it’s really simple to make and even your kids could put it together. Pear Salad – Ingredients: Canned pear halves Miracle Whip Maraschino cherries Shredded cheddar cheese To put the “salad” together, drain the pears and lay the halves flat side up on a serving dish. Place a small dollop of Miracle Whip in the hole…
Puppies!
We are tired. Very, very tired. Here’s why: As I write this, we are desperately trying to entertain two very energetic puppies. Yes, two. (We are clearly insane.) Just a second ago, I had one in my arms while Adam entertained the second one. Hold on, wiggly puppy in my lap… OK, I’m back. So. If you were wondering what we’ve been up to, that’s it in a nutshell. My house is a hot mess. I’m struggling with crate training. (Please note that the puppies are NOT struggling with crate training. I am. I just hate puppies cries when I put them in the crate…) My OCD and anxiety have been on edge mainly because I’m not getting enough sleep and I rolled over in bed a couple of days ago and managed to pinch a nerve in my neck which is causing some exquisite pain. (Leave it to me to…
I quit.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin This is a pretty big post for me. And not one that’s easy to write, because I honestly fear some backlash from the blogging community once I hit publish. But I just can’t sit by anymore and accept things as they come. I quit. No, I’m not quitting blogging. Not by a long shot, but I have to quit the blogging “thing”. If you’re not a blogger, indulge me for a moment while I explain what I mean. Bloggers are very focused on “numbers”. Everything is a number. Pageviews. Unique visitors. Followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, blah blah blah. Why are they so important? Basically, if you ain’t got ’em. YOU DON’T MATTER. Harsh reality to say the least. Without precious “numbers” you don’t get sponsors, you don’t get ads, you don’t get attention. Nothing. And that means you don’t get paid. No numbers? No money. I…