Finding Time to Blog as a Working Mom: The Real Truth No One Talks About

As a full-time working mom, I often get asked, “How do you juggle it all?” This question often makes me cringe and makes me feel as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs because honestly, I don’t juggle it all. Not even close, and most people don’t want to hear that. They want you to tell them that you have the perfect secret formula to being a super mom when really, I’m just a hot freaking mess. Just this morning I was 10 minutes late for work, smeared lipstick across the side of my face and almost ran out of gas during my morning commute. To add insult to injury, yesterday, I busted a hole in my pants during a presentation in front of 20 people. It was glorious.

Zero time. Hot mess. Walking disaster. So when do I find time to blog? Well, let me back up for a second. I figured a few things out quickly when I started this blog:

//I would never get more hours in the day for simply deciding to take on another project.
//Blogging takes work. It’s not going to do it on its own.
//Albeit work, I want it to be enjoyable and fun.

Having said this, I think the main way I find time to blog is by remembering my priorities. I don’t blog at the expense of my child and my own well-being comes first meaning, if after I’ve put Maddy to bed and I’m exhausted, I’m not blogging. I love you guys but chances are I’m going to bed to relax and will not be up just so I can finish a blog post.

I also don’t put a lot of pressure on myself to constantly post every day. I know most bloggers will disagree with this tactic but it’s what works for me. I don’t feel the need to have to post something all the time just for the sake of posting so it really frees up my time to give me more wiggle room on being able to focus on more important things when I need to or to simply just set the blog aside for a bit. Remember the fun aspect I mentioned above? Not putting the extra stress and pressure on myself to constantly have something to say helps with keeping the fun in my dysfunctional. This space will always be here. There’s no need in rushing things.

I’m also notorious for having several blog post drafts going at once. I constantly have ideas floating around in this head of mine so I may log into my account and briefly get out those ideas and then leave it alone for a while. It also allows me time to think, research, or decide how much effort I really want to put into a particular topic or issue.

So when do I find time during the day to get it all done?

Lunch breaks at work. Quiet mornings like today before anyone gets up. Evenings after Chickie is asleep. Nap time on the weekends. I keep a running list of blog post ideas on my Wunderlist app and update it when a thought or idea pops up. I also keep a calendar with important dates noted for the days I definitely want to post or for reminders of link-ups but I still give myself leeway to not participate if I’m just not feeling it. I wish I could tell you that I have the magic formula for making it all happen but I don’t. The good news? No one else really does either. We all have full, busy lives and have to find our own unique ways of making it work. It’s a juggling act for everyone. Don’t let any other blogger tell you otherwise.

For me, this blog is a hobby. My life as a mom, partner, and employee isn’t. Those things must, and will always come first, so really it’s all in your mind-set. The truth is that we will always make time for the things we really want to do regardless. Just remember what your priorities are.

I’m curious to know other blogger's tactics, thoughts, and ideas. How do you make it all happen as a blogger and working mom?

Working Mom, Interrupted. 4 Tips to Help You Keep Your Work Game on Point When You're Not Working (But Want to Be)

Up until the end of June this year, I’ve been a working mom since Madeline was born four years ago and that’s the way I love my life; unapologetically, confidentially, an enthusiastic working professional. However, with our move to Pittsburgh, my work mojo has been put on pause as I get used to a new city and look for a job. For now, I’m a SAHM until the right offer comes calling.

If I’m being honest, not being employed full time has been a hard transition. To be fair, I have enjoyed being home with my daughter. I’ve been able to experience all the wonderful and amazing things she learns, does, and discovers on a daily basis that I would have missed out on if I’d been in the workplace but still in the back of my mind, I long for the days of the 9 to 5, fast-paced work environment and outlets to use my creativity that I just don’t get being home all day with my child.

When you’re unemployed, whether it’s because of a move, unforeseen circumstances or the decision to make life changes, it can be challenging to break into a new work scene, especially when you’re new in a big city. I’ve been fortunate to be gainfully employed for the majority of my professional career but I’ve also been met with times of uncertainty and unemployment.

During these difficult times, it’s easy to become discouraged and lose hope but DON’T. Truly, every cycle of employment and unemployment is a season so today, I’m sharing four of my best kept secrets to help you keep your work game on point when you’re not working but want to be.

LinkedIn Should Be Your Best Friend.

This one should go without saying but it never ceases to amaze me how many professionals don’t have a LinkedIn profile. I know that not everyone is into the social media scene; if you don’t want to keep up with a Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook account, fine, I get it but if you are a working professional, especially one who is job hunting, you should have a LinkedIn account and here’s why…

LinkedIn is a robust social media tool that offers you free marketing and exposure of your resume, skills, background and experience. You have the opportunity to upload samples of the work you’ve done, accomplishments and most importantly, gives you the chance to receive written recommendations from peers and supervisors regarding your work prowess. This can be a huge plus when you’re job hunting and interviewing because you can direct any potential employers to your page for these recommendations and samples. The important thing to remember here is if you’re going to have a LinkedIn profile, you need to make sure it’s a complete profile. This is not something you can do halfway as it’s a reflection of your business acumen. As a hiring manager, there is nothing worse than finding your profile on LinkedIn only to see that’s it’s incomplete or missing information. To get an idea of how your LinkedIn profile should look, I invite you to take a look at mine here.

LinkedIn also offers the following programs for job hunters:

A.      LinkedIn Answers & Group Conversations. This is the perfect way to keep up with what’s going on in your industry while getting the 411 on who’s hiring, which companies are the best to work for and for purposes of networking.

B.      Recruiters. A large majority of LinkedIn’s membership is comprised of head hunters and job recruiters who do nothing but look for their next perfect addition to the workplace. I’ve been contacted several times from recruiters and while the positions haven’t worked out, I know that I’m being found.

C.     Job Search Function. Gone are the days of companies spending thousands to advertise their open positions in newspapers. Where are they posting? You guessed it – on LinkedIn. The job search function is amazing and for Premium members, you can refine your search to salary range, specific job titles, cities and even specific companies.

D.     LinkedIn InMail. For Premium members, you have the opportunity to contact the hiring manager directly regarding jobs you’ve applied for and to find out additional information on a specific position you’re interested in. I’ve done this numerous times and have even received a job interview from contacting the hiring manager directly. It does make a difference!

Wake Up, Get Up and Show Up.

Being unemployed does not mean you’re on vacation. I know it’s tempting to sleep in and enjoy a little leisurely time in bed but don’t. Set your alarm to wake up around the same time you would if you were waking up to go to work. This helps to keep your body in its routine but more importantly, helps you to stay focused for the day ahead.

Get up and get ready. Shower, dress, make your bed and coffee and do all the same things you would normally do in the morning if you were employed. Since I’ve been home with my daughter, I’ve found that if I get up and get going like I normally would if I were employed, I have a greater sense of accomplishment and drive for the day ahead.

Show up. Set a daily goal for yourself on how many jobs you’re going to apply for and follow through. For me, I make it a point to apply for 3 jobs per day. You may want to do more but try not to overload yourself. By the time you research a company, write cover letters and actually apply for each position, it can all be very time consuming and draining so make sure to set a daily goal that you can accomplish.

Clean Up Your Social Media Presence.

When you have a job and a steady paycheck it’s easy to become complacent with how you conduct yourself online but this can be to your detriment when you’re unemployed. It’s a 99.9% guarantee that any potential employer, boss or HR manager will be doing a Google search to find out who you are online. What will they find? You shouldn’t be posting these types of things anyway, but no potential employer wants to find pictures, tweets or status updates from you talking about how drunk you were at a party last weekend nor do they want to see your private domestic squabbles being played out in a public forum.

Clean up your act.

Choose profile pictures and cover photos for all of your accounts that are professional and friendly, and while you can never 100% delete anything from the Internet, go through the feeds of each account to see what things you may want to consider removing from your pages and profiles. These things may be found anyway through other sources but trying to minimize the risk is worth the work. Don’t be naïve in thinking that potential employers will not look you up online. This is a foolish and stupid mistake. As someone who has been a hiring manager, I can tell you that when I receive a resume, the very first thing I do is Google you to see what I find.

Think of it this way…

If you’re applying to be the social media manager for my company’s social media accounts, do you really think I’m going to hire you to be in charge of my company’s online presence and manage its online reputation if I see that you’re a hot mess online yourself?

Bottom line, grow up and clean up your act.

Network! Network! Network!

When I worked for the Chamber of Commerce, the one most important thing I learned about business was the power and influence of networking. This couldn’t be a more important tactic to utilize on a daily basis then when you’re unemployed and looking for your next opportunity.

Pull your contacts and resources to find out who you’re connected to and who may know someone in your industry that can help you get introduced to the decision makers for each position for which you’re interested. Again, this is where having a LinkedIn account becomes very beneficial. For each position listed on LinkedIn, there is a graph to the right side that shows how you may be connected to the company with either the hiring manager or other employees from the company through connections you already have. If you see that there is a potential connection, email the contact you already know to see if they will introduce you online. If I receive a message from someone I know and respect highly in my industry who wants to recommend someone they know for a position open within my company, I’m ten times more likely to listen and take notice. Never underestimate the power of your connections.

If you’re new to a city, visit your local Chamber website to find out what business networking events are going on in town that you are able to attend. Simply showing up to events, meeting new people, introducing yourself and making connections in person is a great way to get your foot in the door while cultivating business relationships. You never know who is looking to hire or if a company is in the middle of a reorganization and looking for new talent, you may be just what they’re looking for. Chance favors the prepared mind. Often times, many companies hire in this way before a job is even posted so stay connected and get out there!

Being unemployed and having your work game interrupted is never easy but with a few basic skills and resources as the ones mentioned above, you can be on your way to securing that next great gig. What tips and advice would you share for other working moms who are unemployed but looking for work?

Why I Don't Pin Your Content (And How You Can Change That)

For bloggers and business owners, Pinterest is a potential plethora of traffic, growth in readership, potential customers and endless exposure. It’s easy to become mesmerized by the shiny, pretty packages it contains and become complacent about the things you pin and how you use Pinterest in correlation with your blog or business…

But you really shouldn’t.

As a marketing professional, I see four common {but huge} no-no’s that happen all too frequently, especially with bloggers so today, I’m going to share my industry expertise to help you avoid these common pitfalls of Pinterest.

Problem One :: Your Pin Graphics and Pictures Suck.

You may have the best advice for getting your baby to sleep through the night. You may have the best idea for how to refinish grandma’s old bookshelf and you may very well have all the answers on how to get through potty training without pulling your hair out but no one on Pinterest will ever get to your site to read your material or re-pin your content. 

Why?

Because the Pinterest graphic for your material sucks or in a lot of cases, is completely non-existent.

The fix: The reality in using Pinterest is that it’s a visual medium. The sheer existence of Pinterest relies on pictures and graphics. Your potential users are drawn to pretty, well-designed pins for content and in most cases like myself as a blog/business owner, I will absolutely not share or re-pin content that doesn’t look clean or professional.

Why?

Because what I pin is a reflection on my brand and business. Everything I do with regards to Shiraz In My Sippy Cup sends a message to my followers, but more importantly, potential customers and business partners. So while you may have kick ass content, most people on Pinterest won’t ever have the chance to read it because they won’t click through your crappy graphics to get to your site.

Any blog or business should have a monthly budget allotted for post graphics and here’s the good news – you don’t have to invest a ton of money into software products to get pin-worthy posts. What’s my secret? For about 99.9% of my Pinterest graphics, I use Canva.com. The best part? The majority of my use is FREE. Canva is a robust graphics program that allows anyone with any level of graphics knowledge, the ability to easily and effectively create professional, pin-worthy posts. The program has pre-made Pinterest templates that you can customize to your liking and if there is a charge, the fee is usually only $1. In a month, I may spend $5 or less for all of my posts and in my opinion, $5 is worth it. I would drop that on something useless in a month so why wouldn’t I invest it into my business?

Problem Two :: You Don’t Make It Easy to Share Your Content

So there I am, reading your post, and I LOVE it. You’ve got me hook, line and sinker. The only problem? 

Nowhere on your site do you give me the ability to pin your post. I hover over your pictures hoping the “Pin Me” graphic pops up but alas, no dice. I look on your sidebar and at the bottom of your post for your social media sharing icons but, nope. You don’t have those installed either. What’s the deal?

The fix: The inability for me to easily and conveniently share content is a huge pet peeve of mine in the blogging world. I’m completely dumbfounded that so many bloggers still don’t understand this one simple concept in sharing content: Your readers want simplicity. 

We don’t want to have to copy and paste and pull up links and basically sign a mortgage through the Pinterest website to simply share your content. You can fix this very easily by visiting Shareaholic.com and installing your own social media sharing icons for your site. The whole process from installation to completion took me around five minutes and the gains to my blog have been invaluable as the app also includes stats and analytics. My readers can easily select the Pinterest icon to share my posts and of course, I always have a pin-worthy picture to accompany my post.

Boom. Done.

Problem Three :: You Love To Go on Pinning-Sprees

I have literally seen certain users pin 50 – 100 images in a five minute period; everything from food, to sports, to silly pictures, to well…crap. Nothing will tune me out more than spam and yes, when you’re pinning like your life depends on it, I call that pin spamming. It’s overwhelming but more, it’s downright annoying.

The fix: Set aside a few specific times per day to pin and during those times, be focused on what you want your content to be. Remember, what you choose to pin is a direct reflection of your brand. Try to be specific in your goals and what you’re trying to accomplish. If you know that you and the hubs are getting ready to do a huge kitchen overhaul, consider setting up a private board.

Pinterest came up with this nifty little idea a couple of years ago and it really doesn’t get used to its full potential. These private boards are an excellent way of pinning a ton of stuff without clogging up your fellow pinners’ stream.

Problem Four :: Your Pins Don’t Go to Permalinks or Are Broken Links

So I’ve found your incredibly well-designed Pinterest graphic and you’ve pulled me in with an interesting title. I take the bait excited to read what you’ve got and click on your pin to only find that you’ve either deleted the page on your site that it’s associated with or the link doesn’t work. Annoying!!

The fix: It’s a good idea to do some maintenance on your Pinterest boards from time to time. If you delete a blog post, make sure you take down the pin on Pinterest so that it doesn’t keep getting re-pinned. Before you pin content to your own boards, click through the pin to make sure it works and that the information is correct or better, something you would want your business or blog associated with. Many times I’ve found that links don’t work or that I don’t really agree with the author’s viewpoint in their post.

Bottom line, if you’ve got the time to cruise Pinterest, take the extra couple of minutes to check and make sure the pin works because if all I’m getting from you are constant issues, I’m out.

So there you have it. My professional advice on how to avoid the top four common user mistakes I find most on Pinterest. What issues do you run into that drive you crazy?