If any of you remember my rambling about blogging, then you know how interesting blogging can be at times. Lately, I have been going nuts over product reviews. Product reviews can be great ways to try different products without necessarily paying for them.

BuzzAgent is one company that loves it when you give their products away and buzz all about it. Although this is a great company, I wondered how to get my blog to be one of the amazing blogs I have been reading as of lately. It was time for research. I found that there are some very important steps to follow when you want to get into doing product reviews on your blog.

You will want to start by securing a domain name. This is just the url for your website. Follow that up by setting up your blog on a hosting platform like Blogger, Wordpress, etc. I went into more detail on this in prior blogging posts so I will not repeat that information.

Next you want to start doing your own reviews. Find out what you want to review (toys, appliances, books, etc.) and begin writing your own reviews about products you already own. Follow that up by visiting HOT and popular blogs to see how they do it. Its also a great idea to leave comments so that you can get your name out there. I could go for taking my own advice in this area. I find so many blogs that I just love but one of the MAJOR rules in blogging is to leave comments.

Another area where I am dropping the ball is the social networking arena. When you are a blogger, you should join several social networking sites to help promote your blog. I have joined Myspace (which I don't use or promote from like I should), Twitter (which I use religiously), and LinkedIn (who could easily be referred to as LinkedWho? since I never use it). These are just a few sites that would help you promote your blog.

Another way to promote is by joining blog directories like BlogCatalog. Its a great way to appear on other people's blogs and gain some great attention. I am guilty of not doing enough in this area as well.

One thing I am NOT guilty of is not taking this next step. I have hosted several blog giveaways but I just do not have enough visitors to give stuff away. I host a contest and no one ever enters. Its sad but this is an AMAZING way to draw traffic to your site. Everyone loves a freebie.

If you have been successful in all of these steps, then your blog rating is probably growing tremendously. Once you have a great following, you may want to develop a press kit to give to PR Reps. Don't worry if that sounds Greek, I am going to elaborate later this week.

The work does not end there, you want to contact the PR group and beg for a product to review. No you are not really begging. You will want to send them your press kit and let them know what product you want to review and find out if there are some freebies they would like for you to offer on your blog. This could be coupons, certificates, gift cards, or even an additional product for your readers.

One blog that has truly inspired me lately is Cutie Booty Cakes. This lady has truly put the "R" in product reviews. In just the past few days, I have been blown away by the things she has reviewed. There was a range, the cutiest little potty seat, an external hard drive, air filters, clothes, etc. Looking at the things this lady has been blessed to experience is inspiration for all bloggers experienced or novice. Don't take my word for it, see for yourself. She is a testament that all things are possible.

Lately, I have been giving much thought to writing. I love to write but I do not like conforming to schedules. I do not like being tied down to this assignment or that assignment. I have found that a cornucopia of different assignments are good for not getting stressed over assignments.

One way to break the monotony when writing is to keep it interesting. You could participate in different kinds of writing assignments. You could write How To articles, About.com articles, or simple informative articles for sites like Demand Studios. You could counter balance your work by writing slogans and bylines for websites like Ephemera. You could also volunteer to write bylines and slogans for companies to help build your portfolio.

Try and spice up your portfolio with some greeting card writing. You can write for companies like Blue Mountain Arts, Palm Press, or Cardmakers. This will keep your writing fresh and interesting.

Also, look into blogging for sites like Blogitive. Blogging is relaxing and helps a writer vent. If you do not blog, give it a shot. It can be a stress reliever. You can use your blog as a way to vent about your day or a way to get the creative juices flowing.

Whatever your outlet, keep in mind that versatility in writing is always a great characteristic when looking for freelance work at home!


Useful Links
Peaceable Kingdom
PalmPress
CardMakers
Ephemera
Threadless


Work at Home Leads
Newsletter Writers
NJ Sewer
Customer Service (Utah)
Wyndham
Like Kickball?
Animator
Brainfuse
Book Reviews
Freelance German Producer
Today.com
Writing Edge

I have been recouping from the mega sales over the weekend so my apologies for not posting. I just knew I needed to gather as much stuff as I could before I showed you some of my savings photos. I am serious about being frugal. I figure the best way to teach awareness is to lead by example. I am going to show you all how to live life frugally. I will also give you chances to enjoy the fruits of my frugality. I will be giving away free prizes as our journey continues.


Before I get too into our journey, lets talk about working at home for a moment. I always tell you that there are jobs out there but now I want to tell you how to search on your own. Message boards are always a good start with any job search but a lot of the work needs to be done by you. If you find a company that you have deemed questionable, Google it. Google is your friend. It will help you find all the information on a job you can possibly find. I will give you an example:

WESTatHome is the name of our questionable company. The site looks very professional but lets keep looking. Search Google for WESTatHome. Now change the search to West at Home scam, still good? Perfect! Do not stop there, search their website for a hiring section. If they are hiring for the same job on their website then you know you have a legit company and West is a legit company.

Now try this with envelope stuffing or rebate processing. Its not pretty. It is also not legitimate work and can land you in jail with a felony on your record.

Work at Home Leads:
Editor
Customer Service/Tech Support
Tech Support
Freelance Writer
Chicago Editor
Blogger
PC System Blogger
Embarq
Selective Insurance

Deals to Watch for:

Redbox Codes
Walmart has Barbies for $3
Catch the deals at Walgreens!
Free toothpaste
Free Garnier Fructis Hair Products
Sambucoll for $1
Free Excedrin
How?

Just when I was calming down about the Wachovia sellout, Congress fumbles the ball and sends us into an unneeded overtime on the bailout. Well, hopefully it will all be settled today and we can start to grow as a country. It would be nice, I have already started doing things to make extra money here and there along with making money saving meals. I blog ( a lot), I do other work at home side jobs, and I make my own meals if at all possible.

I am all for saving money but with the recent drops in the interest rate, we are not getting a large amount of interest on the money we save. We need to start saving money in other avenues other than using banks. I mean really, who is going to pay us 19million dollars for 3 weeks, we are not the Washington Mutual CEO. The best way to do this is to cut corners where you can and make your own everyday items at home.

You can make your own detergent and save tons of money. I make my own and I add a little of my Victoria Secrets Body Wash to give it an exotic aroma. It smells absolutely delicious. As you can tell by the 5 gallon concrete bucket, it makes a lot of detergent!

2 quarts of boiling water in a pot on the stove
4 cups of graded bar soaps (add the flakes to the pot of boiling water and let it melt)
In a nice sized bucket, pour in 4 cups of Borax and 4 cups of WASHING Soda. Add the melted soap flakes and water to the bucket. Stir until it is dissolved. Add 4 gallons of hot water to the bucket and stir it together well. Close the lid and let it sit for at least 24 hours. The consistency will turn to a gel like mixture. You will only need about 1/4 cup of detergent per washing. It does not sud very much but it does clean and pre-treat stains very well!

Before I go, here are a few links to check out if you want to work from home.....
Java
Blog (music magazine)
PR
Web Designers/Scripters/SEO
District Manager
Flash Game Developer
Commercial Kitche Design Assistant
Test Proctor
EHarmony
1800Flowers

As promised yesterday, I am delivering some work at home leads. Before I do, let me suggest you do what you would do anytime you start a new venture, get support. You want to join some key work at home message boards. I am starting one if you are interested. Its pretty new so there are not a lot of members but you can truly ask me anything. If you are interested in a nice variety of work at home sites then you might want to check out:
1. Virtual Vocations - Its a very personal site and the people are very nice. The owner sells a list of work at home leads that will be delivered to your email everyday but that is not necessary for membership. This is a cool place for new people because they don't snap at simple questions like some message boards.

2. Work at Home Mom - Truth be told, the ladies here are not all that nice. This place is best for looking for jobs and moving on. Do not get caught up in message board drama. These ladies are great at finding scams and great jobs, they could just use a lesson on tact. Its free so check it everyday.

3. Work at Home Mafia - This is a pretty new message board as well but these ladies have their stuff together. They have a nice crew of ladies that find jobs for you to check out and they keep an upbeat attitude.

4. Work Place Like Home - Another good place to find leads but you will notice most leads just repeat themselves. If you can get one good message board then you are good to go. The folks here can be a bit snotty sometimes but that's because just like wahm ,they have been at it for a very long time and they have little to no patience for novice questions.

These are your top 4 heavy hitters when you are looking for work at home support. There is also always contacting me. Now I want to suggest a few things I have run into recently:

http://www.katrinasangels.org/JobView.asp?catID=153

https://websurveyor.net/wsb.dll/80911/Scoreessaysfromhomeapp1.htm

http://www.cmoftheyear.co.uk/recruitment/cmjobs.php

http://www.genuinejobs.com/members/jobdetails.php?Job_ID=11251

http://www.convergysworkathome.com/

http://www.genuinejobs.com/members/jobdetails.php?Job_ID=10081

Yes Another One

http://www.hrccjobs.com/

http://www.rentarvnow.com/jobs.html

Lionbridge

Bookmark these two sites because they are not hiring now but they do hire from home.

American Airlines

Jet Blue

The list I give will not be this long every single day but I will be pretty consistent. I found most of these jobs from experience, genuine jobs, and the message boards above. I basically check all the same hotspots over and over until I see a flame.