Have you ever considered hosting a giveaway on your blog?
Every once in a while, I come across some opportunities for bloggers. I thought I might start sharing them.
This opportunity is for bloggers who would like to participate in hosting a giveaway on their blog. The prize package for this giveaway is pretty fantastic, and includes a Kindle Fire HD and $100 Target gift card among other things.
The term disclosure statement sounds boring, dry, like legalese.
It is.
It sounds like something complicated, that would be better put off till you have 6 or 8 hours of free-time to dedicate to the project. Or a week.
It’s not.
It’s really not that complicated. It wont take all that much time.
And it’s really important.
This may not be the fun stuff of blogging, but it’s important stuff if you are making a living (or even just trying to cover your expenses) while working on the web. It’s important even if you’re not making money from your blog. Just clear the air so everybody knows where you stand.
The Federal Trade Commission has ruled that bloggers must disclose all compensation received for their work on their blog. This not only for sponsored posts, but all kinds of compensation received for running your blog. This decision is not surprising as the influence of bloggers has increased, along with the opportunities for bloggers to make money using their blog as an advertising medium.
What is a disclosure statement?
A disclosure statement is information provided to readers of your blog that you are receiving, or may receive, compensation for the words you write, for hosing advertising or affiliate links, or for free products or services received in order to write a review.
Having a disclosure policy simply means that you are being straightforward and honest about the information you are presenting on your blog. It is a mark of integrity.
A disclosure statement acknowledges that the words you write on your blog are benefiting you financially, or at least in terms of product and services.
Why do I need a disclosure statement?
If you receive any compensation for your blogging, or even receive free products or services about which you write reviews, then you need a disclosure statements. There are a number of reasons for this:
It’s the law.
You really don’t want to have to pay the fines.
It’s just the decent thing to do, and it makes you look like a professional. Bloggers are influencers. If you are influencing other people, you should reveal what is influencing you. Yes, material gain can be an influence. One of the things we do as bloggers is build trust with our audience. That’s why readers return. This kind of transparency is integral to building trust.
Other posts with great explanations of the disclosure requirement
I wrote my disclosure statement by examining those listed above. I pored over each one, and created a document that covered the requirements, and still reflected a bit of who I am.
If creating your own disclosure statement feels a little daunting, head over to DisclosurePolicy.org. They have a disclosure policy generator. Simply answer a few questions, and they will generate a disclosure policy for you.
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, although I did once set foot in a law school. If you need legal advice, please contact an actual lawyer who actually attended law school.
Disclosure: I didn’t so much as get a free cup of coffee for writing this post. However, there are a few ads along the sidebar, and if enough of you click on them, I might get a few pennies.
Every once in a while I get the opportunity to do my work at a coffee shop, my favorite place to settle in and get some writing done.
My wallet on the table? That is strategically placed. It’s holding the cord into the computer. That one spot seems to be the first thing to fail on laptop computers. Raise your hand if you’ve ever had to MacGuyver a powercord fix on your laptop.
Coffee shops aren’t just for getting work done; they are wonderful places to do some people watching. The diversity on Capitol Hill makes it one of my favorite places for people watching. I just watched two girls who, from such different outward appearances, looked like they might never otherwise interact come together to rescue a baby bird that fell from it’s nest.
And don’t forget the coffee. That’s really why I’m here.
I’ve been struggling with writers’ block lately, and it’s maddening. It’s time to do something about it, so I did a round up of some of my favorite sources for blog prompts.
Kristen Kalp’s blog Brand Camp is full of brilliant and uplifting advice for bloggers and other social media professionals. Her post how to get out of a blogging rut was just what I needed to read. It includes 10 post ideas as well as other steps to recharging the blog, and reclaiming that spark.
That’s more than 1048 prompts right there, although I imagine there might be a few repeats among those lists. If that wasn’t enough, Melissa Culbertson from Blog Clarity (you might remember that as momcomm) serves up the secret to a gazillion blog post ideas. It’s hard to argue with a gazillion.
And last but not least, one of my favorite stops for blogging inspiration is the writing prompts database at Mama’s Losin’ It.
The app serves up the prompts one at a time. If you don’t like the one displayed, click the inspiration button and it will serve up another. You could sit and click that button all day and not run out of inspiration.
Kathy takes the challenge up a notch by hosting a weekly writing workshop at Mama’s Losin It. She provides 5 prompts for the week. Pick one, write up a post on your blog, and on Thursday, link it up to share and read what others wrote.
No more excuses. It’s time to get writing.
Feel free to share your favorite writing prompts in the comments below.
My Cancer Story is a collection of my blog posts and articles about my cancer experience over the years. I decided to pull them all together into one place to make them easy to find.
This turned out to be a much bigger projected than I expected. I’ve cataloged more than thirty here so far, and there are many more to add.
This is a work in progress. I will continue adding the posts already completed as well as the new posts to come, so check back from time to time. Tags are coming soon to allow for searching by topic.
It has been an eye opening exercise to go back through these posts and see how my attitude, perspective, writing style, and my life in general have all evolved over time.
My hope is that these pieces will provide someone with cancer some measure of hope, comfort, and useful information to help them along this difficult road. Even if you don’t have cancer, you just might find this story interesting.
We hold on to each other, we revel in memories, and we pop a bottle of champagne to toast your memory while flipping cancer the bird. We embrace those who are still with us, and carry forward the memories of those who have gone before us.
I look forward to the Ultimate Blog Party every year. I love making new connections, and I make a few new friends each time around.
I started my first blog in 2001, and this one has been going since 2004. That’s a decade. It’s hard, at times, not to compare myself to the celebrity bloggers, and wonder why I haven’t hit the big time. But their stories are not mine, and my story is not theirs.
So, what is my story?
The answer to that question is continuously evolving. Right now, I am the mother of a 5 year old, wife of a 38 year old, former cancer patient in the midst of reconstruction, and a full-time college student who will, if everything goes right and I actually pass these classes, graduate in 6 weeks with a Bachelors degree in social sciences.
Blogging hasn’t been my top priority lately.
But I love blogging. I cherish the friendships I made through this medium. I cherish the product, this collection of stories, that resulted from these years at this blog. I didn’t start out with this intent, but when the reality of my own mortality was shoved in my face, I was comforted with the knowledge that I had at least something of myself to leave behind for my then infant daughter. I don’t plan on dying any time soon, but that idea stays with me as I write. So in the 4 years since my cancer diagnosis, this blog has become something more. It is a love letter, to my daughter, to my husband, my friends, the world, to life itself.
Want to know more?
Here are a few posts to get you started:
Cancerversary – thoughts on the anniversary of my cancer diagnosis, and my life right now.
Living in the Gap – “We don’t get practice time, and then go out and live our lives after we’ve perfected ourselves. We go out and try things, see if they work, we fall down, we get up, we embarrass ourselves, we don’t die of embarrassment – but we don’t get to practice life without an audience.”
Just Breathe – “As long as you have breath, you have this moment.”
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