Bargain Babe» blogging

Lightening 1-day swag giveaway!

bargainbabe — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:30:10 +0000

One-day swag giveaway!!!

I just returned from the inaugural Financial Blogger Conference in Chicago this past weekend with a bag of swag that I’m giving away today on BargainBabe.com! The prize includes:

White FNBO Direct T-shirt, size L
Book of New Yorker cartoons all relating to money, from CreditCards.com (suuuuuper funny)
Two orange reusable bags from ING Direct
Personal Finance Calculator for Dummies, with buttons to calculate savings for college, retirement, and more
Mousepad from Kapital
Green slap wrist toy from Go Banking Rates
A copy of “The Millionaire Fastlane,” by MJ DeMarco
Metal beer opener from CreditCards.com

The conference was a blast of networking, eye-opening talks, and I’m so glad I attended. (Even though I came home with a cold). Got lots to do on my to-do list.

To win my conference swag, join our daily or weekly deals email and comment with why you want to win. One winner will be selected randomly and announced tomorrow, Oct. 6, 2011.

Lessons about blogging from Breckenridge, CO

bargainbabe — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:31:13 +0000

Me and a scruffy stuffed bear at a restaurant in Breckenridge, CO.

I recently returned from an intense two-day Savvy Blogging Summit in Breckenridge, CO where I met dozens of other bloggers and learned how to be a better blogger. My to do list has 56 items on it so I’ll just share a few changes I want to make.

tell more stories, including reader successes and failures (email me yours!)
make technical changes to improve site speed and usability
share more of my own financial challenges, changes, and decisions (hence my post on nontraditional banks)
create new tabs for popular topics like groceries and freebies
expand my presence on Facebook and on Twitter (see poll below)

What changes would you like to see on BargainBabe.com?

[poll id="63"]

Dispatch from boot camp: work smarter

bargainbabe — Mon, 18 May 2009 10:31:25 +0000

I was worried my week-long training program at USC, called News Entrepreneur Boot Camp, would bomb after I set such lofty goals (at one point I referred to it as a one-week MBA). But so far the program has exceeded my expectations in every way.

The schedule is very well organized and the speakers are amazing. My fellow participants have a tremendous variety of experience and expertise. The hotel is quite swanky and in addition to meals the drinks are included. Score!

A few things I have learned so far:

Online journalists need to keep the principles of print but toss (many of) the rules.
An entrepreneur is not a risk taker but a risk manager.
Upbeat folks like myself need to be a loudspeaker for successful journalism paths.
I must meet 250 strangers and talk to them about my business.
On the Web no one knows you’re a newspaper (a take off on a cartoon of a dog sitting at a computer with the caption “On the Web no one knows you’re a dog.”)
Before I sell an ad I need to know how the advertiser measures success.
Decide how I want people to interact with my site and take steps to reach those goals.
Do more marketing to broaden my exposure (which means more gift card giveaways are coming!)
Be willing to change course.
Dream big but take small steps.

All this in just the first two days! Everything I am learning is working toward the culminating event at boot camp: Thursday morning we each have five minutes to pitch our businesses to four big wigs (one venture capitalist, two bankers, and one “angel”). Holy $*&#^@!

Aside from THAT surprise, the biggest thing that has happened to me at boot camp is that I walked in identifying myself as a blogger, but now I know I am an entrepreneur. And I am at the beginning of something very exciting. Doh! I hope I didn’t just jinx myself.

Off to news entrepreneur boot camp

Which 30-second pitch for BargainBabe.com is the best?

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