Blogging

Plagiarism, or How to Never Work on These Internets Again

by Angel Amy on March 16, 2012

Plagiarism. It happened again, in a high-profile way, in the mom blog space. A well-known blogger, Amalah (and we apologize if we pronounced your blog’s name wrong, repeatedly), detailed in a post how her words were stolen. The woman who stole them seems to be at the center of several dramas, but this is the latest and, we think, it may just be the end of brands wanting to work with her.

This week’s links

“The Plagiarist’s Tale” in The New Yorker.

The plagiarized article in question was published this week on Babble’s Being Pregnant blog.

According to one blogger, Kristin Ruiz had a history of questionable behavior regarding other people’s content.

Cecily K  and Lisa Belkin both use other people’s words in ways that don’t break any ethical rules, and start interesting discussions.

Carol Cain once had her blog posts stolen and passed off as someone else’s.

Jayson Blair is famous for posting articles from places he’d never been to.

Liz Gumbinner published a great post a while back, The Blogger’s Ten Commandments of Don’t Steal Our Shit

Angel Amy wrote about the Chrysler Contest Fail, which coincidentally also involved Kristina Ruiz.

BlogHer is a good example of a site that runs popularity contests the right way – you have to register, and you can vote only once.

Nancy gave a rare (but deserved) self-halo to a picture that her mother-in-law sent her recently.

Amy gave her halo to Stephanie Schwab for her post on Social Media Explorer, The Decline of Blogs (and How PR can help avoid it)

Last, Angel Amy said that Kristin Ruiz had originally published the post in question on her own blog, but it was actually posted on AlphaMom.com. Amy regrets the error, and the other Angels managed to talk her back down from the ledge of Nancy’s apartment.

You can listen to the podcast below, or subscribe on iTunes. Don’t forget to give us a great rating!

To download this episode to your computer directly: right click here, then click “save link as”

We’d love for you to weigh in! Leave a comment, we’ll talk back.

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Our Best and Worst of 2011

by Angel Amy on December 30, 2011

Looking back on 2011 a lot happened. So much it’s hard to believe that it all happened in just one year! But it did, and we’re giving you an entire Halos and Horns episode – what we loved and hated last year working with brands and navigating the mom blogging universe.

And yes, the Blogging Angels’ furry mascot, Bentley, was quite vocal during the first part of this episode. We think he’s upset that he doesn’t have his own mic.

This week’s links

Rebecca attended the Mom Congress conference in Washington D.C. as the representative from New York State.

Nancy loved an Intel event at held Olives (we all love Intel – even Amy is happy to get off of her couch for them).

Heidi loved the Skylanders launch event, which included pjs for the kids!

Ford gave bloggers time with Bill Ford Jr., which Heidi thought was special.

Jen Wagner’s event for Popcap Games, at EN Japanese Brasserie, was a favorite for Rebecca.

Corrine Ingrassia got a shout-out from Nancy for the KidzVuz event at BlogHer.

Gay NYC Dad got a shoutout from Rebecca for…coupons? :-)

Nicole Feliciano is an example of a blogger whose kids are no longer in diapers who still writes about baby products, as opposed to us Angels. Target your pitches well!

Ford, Playstation and Microsoft got special mentions from Heidi.

Jennifer Perillo is a good example of how the “online” and “in real life” friendships have blurred this year, and we think that’s a move in the right direction.

We hope you had a great year! You’ll be hearing from us next from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where we’ll be talking about the hottest, weirdest, and most interesting new tech products that may be coming to stores and websites near you.

You can listen to the podcast below, or subscribe on iTunes. Don’t forget to give us a great rating!

To download this episode to your computer directly: right click here, then click “save link as”

We’d love for you to weigh in! Leave a comment, we’ll talk back.

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Traveling Mom Kim Orlando

by Angel Amy on December 20, 2011

If you have a blog you know how difficult it can be to coordinate everything – what will run when, which events you’ll go to, and how you’ll get everything done in a way that looks polished and together. Multiply that by dozens of writers, and you’ve got a site like TravelingMom.com.

Traveling Mom founder Kim Orlando sat down with us to talk about managing a large website, weekly twitter parties (Mondays at 9pm., #TMOM), twitter vs. Facebook, why travel writing is the best job she can imagine for herself, and much more.

This week’s links

Kim uses Hashtracking.com to gauge the effectiveness of her twitter parties. Heidi also mentioned TweetReach.

You never know who will find your URL if you get it out there on a t-shirt, like perhaps a VP from Spa Finder.

Amy’s been losing weight on Slim-Fast, despite baking more than ever (because she enjoys torturing herself).

Kim gave two golden Halos. The first went to SouthWest Airlines and Windows for their free airport holiday photos. The second went to City Buzz, for including Traveling Mom in their segment that runs continuously on hotel room TVs.

Heidi gave a Halo to Angel Amy for organizing a campaign with One.org called 12 Days of Change. She also gave a halo to Penelope Trunk’s post on TechCrunch titled “Stop telling women to do startups.”

Amy gave her Halo to Gail Dosik, of One Tough Cookie, who has a fantastic site about cookies and cakes and who makes the most beautiful edible creations. And is just a nice, generous person to boot.

Rebecca gave hers to GothamGal Joanne Wilson for her post about why she supports women-owned start-ups.

Nancy gave a Horn to an article in Slate, titled “Don’t support your local book seller.” She also gave a Halo to Jeff Bullas, for his post “20 Stunning Social Media Statistics.”

You can listen to the podcast below, or subscribe on iTunes. Don’t forget to give us a great rating!

To download this episode to your computer directly: right click here, then click “save link as”

We’d love for you to weigh in! Leave a comment, we’ll talk back.

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Eating and grieving with Jennifer Perillo

by Angel Amy on October 8, 2011

The Blogging Angels have been trying for a while to coordinate schedules with Jennifer Perillo, a very in-demand food writer and blogger, and the stars finally aligned. Unfortunately, they aligned less than two months after Jennifer lost her husband, Michael Perillo, very suddenly.

Jennifer’s posts about food have always been very personal. She never just puts up a recipe. There’s always a story that goes along with it, often related to family, especially her daughters or her beloved Mikey. Her blog has taken an even more personal turn lately: food writing has taken a little bit of a back seat as she writes about her late husband and her new normal in a way that is both raw and beautiful. But she’s been getting back into writing about food slowly, and her posts have been more eloquent than ever.

We sat down with Jennifer over some banana bread that Nancy made for us. Please join us as we talk about writing, grieving, friendship, and – of course – food.

This week’s links:

Amy uses Duncan Hines Premium Brownie Mix to make her brownies, and Jennifer loves them. There, the dirty secret is out.

Jennifer’s banana bread recipe sounds absolutely scrumptious!

Jennifer’s favorite butter is Kerrygold, but recommends Land O Lakes for us regular people who don’t have access.

Want to churn your own butter? Both Lefferts Historic House and Queens County Farm will let you.

Jennifer wouldn’t have met Gluten Free Girl, the White on Rice Couple, or Bowl Licker if not for the food blogging community.

Jennie’s “A Pie for Mikey” tribute to her late husband went viral, and thousands of people made this pie shortly after her husband’s death.

Life is short. Use the damn butter.

Nancy gave her Golden Halo to The Duchess of Fork, who posted a recipe from Jenny of Picky Palate for Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies. And no, you can’t substitute Trader Joe’s Jo-Jos or Newman-O’s. They have to be Oreos, because Oreos are the best.

Amy gave her halo to Danielle Wiley and her post on Babble’s MomCrunch about how to figure out rates for sponsored posts.

Jennifer gave her Golden Halo to Erica from Ivory Hut, Maggie from Three Many Cooks and Aimee from Simple Bites and under the high chair, who started Bloggers without Borders. Their first campaign was a college fund for Jennifer’s daughters.

And Rebecca gave her halo to Savvy Blogging for a post about high level planning and low level planning for your blog.

You can listen to the podcast below, or subscribe on iTunes. Don’t forget to give us a great rating!

To download this episode to your computer directly: right click here, then click “save link as”

We’d love for you to weigh in! Leave a comment, we’ll talk back.

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Chatting with Lisa Belkin of the Motherlode blog

by Angel Amy on September 11, 2011

The Blogging Angels had the pleasure of sitting down recently with the wonderful Lisa Belkin. Well, three of the Angels anyway – Angel Heidi was off doing something fabulous and couldn’t make it back in time. She was sorely missed!

If you’re not familiar with Lisa Belkin, she writes the Motherlode blog for the New York Times. Insightful, curious, and always on top of trends and hot topics in the parenting community, her column deals with the specifics of parenthood. From gender issues to sick children to kids leaving for college, her column has seemingly covered everything, and yet she finds fascinating new topics to post about multiple times each week, and is still going strong after two-and-a-half years.

Listen in as we talk with Lisa about writing in the digital age, work-life balance, men doing housework, why mom bloggers are not always taken seriously as business people, and much more.

This week’s links

Lisa gave Angel Amy’s career an early boost, linking to her columns about paying her children to be good, and lying.

Don’t know who or what Walternate is? You must not be a Fringe fan!

When the New York Times writes about women bloggers making money, the articles are published in the magazine or the Fashion & Style section.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ time use survey.

The New Male Mystique,  by Ellen Galinsky of the Families and Work Institute

Susannah Breslin and Why Women Shouldn’t Go To Tech Conferences

Huge shoutout from Rebecca to Corine Ingrassia

Nancy gave her Golden Halo to Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan

Lisa gave her Golden Halo to her latest Motherlode Book Club selection, No Biking in the House Without a Helmet by Melissa Fay Greene

And Amy loves the new hair products coming soon from her hairstylist, Sarah Potempa

You can listen to the podcast below, or subscribe on iTunes. Don’t forget to give us a great rating!

To download this episode to your computer directly: right click, then click “save link as”

We’d love for you to weigh in! Leave a comment, we’ll talk back.

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The Blogging Angels are in a mood

by Angel Amy on July 13, 2011

So some days we want to be helpful, and some days we just want to sit around and bitch. Which is why Amy will be bringing Crazy Bitch Tea to the next recording session – thanks so much to the ladies who make it for recognizing us as their bitchy target demographic and sending us some!.

So what are we harping on this time? From handwriting to people who think technology is the devil’s work to intrusive ads, we getting it off our chests.

We love Mabel’s Labels! Wait, that wasn’t a complaint. But we’re complaining about all the stuff kids have to bring to sleepaway camp.

Heidi mentioned a new site called Altly, which is supposed to be like facebook, but with privacy settings you will actually understand!

Common Sense Media is developing a Digital Driver’s License – we love this idea, and so does Bill Clinton!

Amy doesn’t know what to do with comments. Do you answer every one? Do you end each post asking for them? Do you beg for comments on twitter and facebook? What do you do when comments get nasty? We want to hear how you handle comments on your blog.

And oh, the no-follow attribute! Back in the day (2005) google decided that it was going to get rid of comment spam by making sure that spammers got absolutely no SEO benefit in the google search engine by getting their spammy comments posted on sites and blogs. (Read here for a much better definition of no-follow than Amy was trying to give on the podcast.) However, lots of people think the whole idea sucks.

Heidi, who is pretty much incapable of complaining and being mean (and we love her for it!), gave a golden halo to Little Passports.

And Nancy must have used up all of her bitchiness earlier because she gushed about the ease of starting a blog with Weebly.

You can listen to the podcast below, or subscribe on iTunes. Don’t forget to give us a great rating!

To download this episode to your computer directly: right click, then click “save link as”

We’d love for you to weigh in! Leave a comment, we’ll talk back.

And to all of you who complained about only being able to leave a comment on facebook and not on our website…we listened. You can now leave a comment anywhere, we’re just glad you’re commenting!

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Questions, money and badmouthing

by Angel Amy on June 6, 2011

Burning bridges. Résumés. Newsletter. Money. Twitter parties. Invoicing. It’s a potpourri. We’re answering listener questions and talking about how to keep your name out there.

This week’s links

Nikki, @MommyFactor on twitter, started us off with a couple of great questions about what to do when PR people don’t follow through, and what to do when you’ve shared info with a company that ends up not working with you.

LinkedIn. Are you in?

Angel Heidi had to run early, but gave her golden halo to Sparked.

Mail Chimp and Constant Contact are two companies that can help you with newsletters.

The Angels LOVE Fresh Direct (the three of us who live in NYC are loyal customers). But we did not have a good experience trying to work with them.

Amy Lupold Bair, @ResourcefulMom on twitter: the queen of the twitter parties.

Angel Amy discovered Intuit’s Billing Manager at Blissdom in 2010. [NOTE: Listener Lisa (@NewYorkChica on twitter) let the Angels know that Billing Manager is no longer accepting new sign-ups. Angel Amy checked it out and discovered that the Billing Manager service is being discontinued as of September 2011. After getting up from the fetal position Amy started looking into other free invoicing programs, and settled on testing out the following: Zoho, Billing Boss, Invoice Expert, and Volutive. She will be trying them out and reporting on them in a future podcast.]

Angel Rebecca uses Mint to keep track of her finances.

And a tip from Rebecca: do NOT invoice through PayPal.

Amy is in love with her Cuisinart stand mixer, recommended to her by Jennifer Perillo @JenniferPerillo on twitter).

Wendi Aaron’s post about product placement.

The Kitchen Couple designed Rebecca’s IKEA kitchen, which she loves. And now she’s discovered IKEA Hackers.

Amy posted a couple of amazing videos about people who have transformed teeny tiny apartments into amazing living spaces, and Nancy introduced us to the crocheted apartment (ick).

You can listen to the podcast below, or subscribe on iTunes. Don’t forget to give us a great rating!

To download this episode to your computer directly: right click, then click “save link as”

We’d love for you to weigh in on all of the stuff we talked about today! Join the discussion on Facebook.

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Blog Ambassadors do not have diplomatic immunity

by Angel Amy on May 11, 2011

Ambassador. It’s an important sounding word, and companies want you to think that it’s an honor to be their ambassador. But what exactly does that mean? Do you get special access? Should you be paid? Will your status keep Danny Glover from shooting you at the end of Lethal Weapon 2? (Um, no.)

Getting asked to be an ambassador can be flattering, lucrative, and full of insider experiences that are priceless. Or it can be a big waste of time where the company is basically using you. Go in with your eyes open.

We also talk about how (and when) to ask for money, and what not to do if an ambassadorship goes sour (do as Angel Amy says, not as she does!).

This week’s links

Kids Club Thirteen

Nicole Feliciano’s tweets and blog

Liz Gumbinner’s tweets and blog

Jessica Smith’s post about letting people pick your brain

Kim Moldofsky’s post about working for free

A post on Problogger about why the writer’s mom didn’t make it as a blogger

Via Consumerist, Cloud Girlfriend (which has changed it’s purpose a bit since this podcast was recorded – oh well)

The best Mother’s Day gift ever in the history of the world

Blog World

You can listen to the podcast below, or subscribe on iTunes. Don’t forget to give us a great rating!

To download this episode to your computer directly: right click, then click “save link as”

We’d love for you to weigh in on ambassadorships! Join the discussion on Facebook.

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Reader questions and giveaway issues

by Angel Amy on March 10, 2011

If you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. And if you do giveaways on your site, you’ve got to listen to this podcast.

We love answering listener questions, since it gives us a chance to act like know-it-alls. So please, keep those questions coming! You can tweet us, @BloggingAngels, or email us, BloggingAngels@gmail.com.

Nancy Horn, of TheProductMama.com, asked a question about what happens when a pr contact leaves a company.

Our second question comes from – we think – @MoreThanMommy: What do you do when a brand switches agencies?

Then, we moved on to a topic that affects a lot of bloggers, and we’re guessing that most bloggers don’t do enough to protect themselves: giveaways. Nancy and Rebecca attended a seminar run by a law firm dealing with giveaways, and shared their knowledge.

Remember the Hannah Montana contest kerfuffle?

And that RIAA thing that I mentioned? It’s this. And it was ridiculous.

Be careful not to act like you’re representing a company if you have nothing to do with that company. We talked about this last week!

And now for this week’s Golden Halos:

@Marinka sent this Amy‘s way a couple weeks ago: Lost in the Chaos wrote about her fifth anniversary of finding out she had cancer. It’s gut-wrenchingly moving.

Heidi gave hers to Stephanie Smirnoff, of deVries PR, for a post on her site PR Mama discussing advertorial vs. edvertorial.

Rebecca gave hers to Unexperienced Mom‘s Blog Conference Newbie site, which has a ton of valuable info about conferences.

And Nancy gave her Golden Halo to Rebecca’s Twelve Week Blog Shape-Up Plan on Mom Blogger’s Club. Go Rebecca!

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Toy Fair: big business

by Blogging Angels on March 4, 2011

The Blogging Angels hit the Toy Fair at the Javitz Center in New York, and came away with some good info about business in general – because as much as we like to think of toys as happy products having to do with happy kids, it’s actually a 22 billion dollar a year business. Toy fair is a trade show, similar to CES but with more women (who are wearing more clothing), and happy primary colors.

So what did we talk about this week?

For the second year in a row Amy spoke on a panel at the Engage Expo, about how to engage moms online.

Nancy and Rebecca went to hear Moshi Monsters creator and CEO Michael Acton Smith speak about entering the online kids’ world space, and both proclaimed his speech phenomenal.

We all love Melissa & Doug, although most of our kids are sadly out of that stage.

Rebecca really loved Activision’s Skylanders, Spyro’s Adventure.

Amy was careful to preserve the correct memory of Big Pussy Bonpensiero, making this (hopefully) the first and only blog post about Toy Fair to include the word Pussy.

And of course we had to talk about the whole Toyota debacle. Heidi gave an early Golden Halo to Shelly Kramer’s crack investigative reporting regarding Toyota and how they were included – without their knowledge – in a PR disaster. Some other notable mentions were Liz Gumbinner’s take on the whole thing, and Dear Crissy’s post which got the ball rolling in the first place.

This week’s Golden Halos:

Heidi gave her Golden Halo to the Shelly Kramer piece about the Toyota mess.

Amy gave hers to a Gizmodo post about a prototype doll from Mattel. Creepy squared.

Nancy gave her Golden Halo to Blog Hop, which helps you get traction when you write about certain topics, and share the love for others writing about the same topic.

And Rebecca gave hers to a Kissmetrics post (shared by the good folks at Alltop) about the demographic break down of social media.

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