The Best of The Year...

Since the end of the year is approaching, I thought that maybe it would be nice to end it with a sort of “best of” of blog posts. This post will be a trip down memory lane as I go over some of my best posts of the year. I hope you enjoy and that you stick around to see what I have in store for 2011!

For the writers out there, I wrote a post back in April about eHow switching to Demand Studios and hubpages being the new eHow. I’m still writing for them and am enjoying it. They have made it easy to add amazon products and links to your articles. http://crazedmama.blogspot.com/2010/04/goodbye-ehow-hello-hubpages.html

Suite 101. This is a post about writing for Suite 101. So far, I am having some good luck with them and have made payout for the past few months. I’m sure with every article I add, I will also add to my earnings. http://crazedmama.blogspot.com/2010/05/suite101-for-writers.html

This is a post I wrote back in June on various ways to promote your articles, blogs, and websites. Lots of great marketing information here. http://crazedmama.blogspot.com/2010/06/promoting-your-articles-or-blog.html

For those of you who use Twitter, this post has information on ways that you can make money via your twitter account. These are legit ways that won’t just waste your time. http://crazedmama.blogspot.com/2010/10/making-money-with-twitter-is-it.html

This post from back in August gives information on how you can offer various services online to earn money. These are tried and true websites that you can really earn from.  http://crazedmama.blogspot.com/2010/08/offer-your-services-for-few-bux.html

For those of you looking to network with other freelancers, offer your services, or find new clients, this post gives you the lowdown on doing this. http://crazedmama.blogspot.com/2010/08/networking-with-potential.html

Lots of Free Stuff!

Who doesn’t like free stuff? I happen to love getting free items because they are, well, free! Some of the freebies I receive come in very handy and every little bit helps especially when you are working from home or trying to save as much $$ as possible for the holidays.

I get free stuff in the mail all the time. I’ve received free shampoo, conditioner, tampons, a keychain, a mop, snack food, dog food, cat food, post it notes, calendars, scrapbooking supplies, coloring books and the list could go on and on. Don’t believe that anything is free? Believe it!

How do I get all of this free stuff? Well, for one, I sign up for samples. Companies love to give out samples of new products. I guess they figure it’s a great way to introduce potential customers to their new products. Most likely, if the person likes the product, they will buy more when the sample is gone. It really works, too, because there have been quite a few things that I’ve purchased after receiving a sample in the mail. 

Walmart.com has various samples on their website. All you have to do is sign up and you will receive the product in a few weeks.

Another website that I absolutely love is freebiesgalaxy.com. You can sign up for their newsletter and they will send you a list of freebies straight to your email. All you have to do is choose which ones you want to sign up for.

I’ve received a few free products to review in this blog. Companies are willing to send a free product out to bloggers of their choice for the blogger to review the product on their blog and hopefully send more customers their way. I use tomoson.com and sheblogs.org. Bzzagent is another review website where you can get free products and “buzz” about them on various places like facebook, twitter, and in blogs. As long as you follow through with your reviews and buzzes, you will continue to get free items.

When signing up for freebies, you should always make sure to use an email that you don’t use much, otherwise you will receive a lot of junk mail. Remember you can always go in and unsubscribe yourself from these websites so that you won’t receive their spam. Some places will send you a confirmation email so make sure to check your email once in awhile so that you don’t miss out on any cool freebies!!

Week Long Blog Hop!!!

I'm hosting my very first week long blog hop! This hop will be up for one entire week! If this week long hop is successful, I will do it once a month.

RULES: I have no rules. I hate having to follow rules just to join someone else's hop. I don't have time to go here and go there and do all of this time consuming crap just to join your hop, so this hop has no rules. I only *ask* that you follow this blog out of appreciation. You can also grab the button and put it on your page if you wish.

This hop will start at 12 noon est today.

<a href="http://crazedmama.blogspot.com/”" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y221/TatteredSoul/bloghop.jpg"/></a>

And you're off....

Do You Love To Scrapbook or Get a Little Crafty??

Being a mother, I love to scrapbook and make greeting cards. My biggest problem is finding the time to do these hobbies, as they are just that; hobbies -- not a must do on my list. I was lucky enough to receive these wonderful items to try out. I was sooo happy when I received this package in the mail, and it gave me a good reason to spend a day scrapbooking and trying them all out!

The decorative scissors I absolutely loved. I have purchased cheaper versions in the past and they ended up being a big nuisance because they would sometimes bend the paper instead of cutting all of the way through. These x-acto scissors were a little longer than the ones I’ve had in the past and they actually cut all the way through the paper the entire length of the scissors.

The craft bond glue spots were almost a little TWO sticky. I think the adhesive could come down a notch just a little bit. They were a little difficult to use. For best results, if you need to cut them down to size, do it with the backing still intact.

The corner punch works great. I’ve been wanting to get a rounded corner punch for awhile, but hadn’t dont it yet. I’ve tried some before where they would cut a little crooked. This corner punch from x-acto made perfectly rounded corners on paper or photographs and it is light weight unlike some punches that always seemed a bit heavy, plus it was super easy to use.

The liquid glue pen is a great idea, but my problem with it is that the plastic on the “pen” seems to be a little too thick making it a bit difficult to squeeze. It is still usable, but kind of a pain to use, however I do like the two different sized tips on each end of the pen.

The tape runner was a real problem. I think it had the same problem as the glue spots -- the adhesive was too strong. I couldn't use it. The tape part of it wouldn't roll and the wheel wouldn't even turn. It was as if the adhesive was so sticky it was all sticking together! Maybe I just got a defective one? I played around with it for quite awhile until I finally got mad and gave up.

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I received free samples of the above elmer’s products through my membership with bzzagent.