Like your lunch to stay nice and cold without the pain of your ice pack ruining that perfectly crafted sandwich? We sent some of our bloggers the Packit to resolve their soggy sandwich woes and they were a hit! Packit Plank for the win!

The holidays are here, so you know what that means…food, food, drinks, food, eggnog and food.  Basically, those extra couple pounds are inevitable – I mean, who can say no to the candy canes, gingerbread cookies and fruit cake (ok, maybe we can pass on the fruit cake.)  Slim-fast decided to help some of our bloggers start their New Year’s Resolutions of getting healthy a little early this year!  They sent our bloggers their best tasting shake ever, coupons off their next purchase and a talking button (which, by the way, we keep at our desks to hear how good we look – yup, it talks!) A healthy creamy milk chocolate shake? Don’t mind if we do.

Cook much? Some bloggers received Carapelli Olive Oil to enhance their cuisines’ character and make their taste buds’ day. It’s great on the go!

We know you have the gift of gab, you are a blogger after all. We paired some select influencers with the LG Doubleplay phone from T-Mobile - the phone was equipped with service so those publishers could see everything it has to offer. Social Media, undeniably everyone’s favorite gift from the web, was at their fingertips so they didn’t miss a tweet. They occasionally used it for –brace yourself–making phone calls. We caught someone taking a tweet break using their Doubleplay…Busted!

We want as many bloggers as possible to be eligible for these awesome campaigns. Haven’t received an offer for a product sampling campaign yet? Be sure you have your preferences set up properly within your account so you are eligible for these super fun campaigns.  It’s as easy as going to the “account” tab in your SocialSpark Publisher dashboard, clicking on “overview” and reviewing Step 5 on that page.  If you have “Product Sampling” checked, you are telling Advertisers you would love to test out their samples and create a post about it

What would be your dream Product Sampling campaign?  Do you want to test drive a race car?  Try out the newest hang-gliders on the market?  Maybe try cooking with the world’s spiciest hot sauce?  Let us know!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

1. What originally attracted you to the IZEA community, and how did you find out about it? I first found out about the IZEA community through my blog buddy’s site. I was intrigued with the idea of SocialSpark. I thought being a part of this community could allow me to work with companies and products that I would like to share with my readers as well as make money at the same time.  Win win.

2. Why Lil’ Luna? I chose Lil’ Luna because my mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty ”Lil’ Lunas” in the fam {plus, I liked the way it sounded.}

3. What’s been your favorite SocialSpark Campaign? I’ve had several SocialSpark campaigns I have enjoyed, but I’d have to say the one about the movie, Monte Carlo was my fav. I planned a night out with my niece, and we had such a great time watching the movie. I loved promoting it on the blog because it was so adorable.

4. What inspires you to blog? So many things inspire me to blog but the biggest one would be the fact that I love sharing with people {my readers} all the amazing things out there in the world. From crafts to deals and recipes to tips, it is so fun for me to share these things with my readers and inspire them. I have also “met” so many amazing people and have loved getting to know so many bloggers that inspire me on a daily basis.

5. What’s one word of advice you’d give to bloggers who are looking to increase the quality of their content? If I had to offer someone advice about quality blogging, I would say to CHALLENGE yourself. Challenge yourself to do things no one ever has. Be original. Be fun. Be YOU!

6. Complete this thought: If I could I would____. If I could I would…. Like to meet all my “virtual friends”. We are scattered all over the world, but I would LOVE to meet every one of them and be friends with them IN REAL LIFE!

Kristyn’s blog can be found here

1. What originally attracted you to Sponsored Tweets? I have been a publisher with IZEA for about three years, and got in on Sponsored Tweets pretty much the day it started. I was already an active Twitter user and I wanted the opportunity to promote and connect with products and businesses. The extra cash doesn’t hurt, either!

2. What has been one of your favorite campaigns to participate in? Boudreaux’s Butt Paste! There’s a personal story behind it; when I was starting out as a writer in New Orleans about ten years ago, I interviewed and wrote a profile on the inventor of Boudreaux’s Butt Paste, George Boudreaux, when a one of the country’s largest retailers decided to pick up his locally-sold product and distribute it in stores. A few years after our interview, his product started selling like crazy, and he sold his formula to Blairex Laboratories. He’s one of the most genuine people I’ve ever interviewed, he makes a great product I use and recommend, and his story really is a great one about what small entrepreneurs can become. I’ve participated in quite a few Sponsored Tweets and IZEA campaigns about Butt Paste on Twitter and other social media outlets, and I love to share Mr. Boudreaux’s story and my memories of talking with him “way back when.”

3. What do you love most about Twitter? It has almost eliminated my need for text messaging! Sometimes your friends don’t want to hear about everything you’re up to, but chances are, someone on Twitter wants to know what you had for lunch, what’s good on TV or the funny thing that happened to you while you were at the grocery store. And they share it with other people. Who share it with other people! It’s a great way to connect with like minds, as well as the organizations and brands you love.

4. Finish this: Without Twitter I would______. Probably lose friends over their their text overage charges! (see above.)

5. What do you do to market yourself, and get new followers? I do so much to market myself! I have business cards that I send with just about every piece of mail that ever leaves my home – from items I’ve sold on auction sites, to care packages I send to friends, to anything else I can think of. The cards have my Twitter page and a link to my blog – http://bellesouth.blogspot.com – which also links back to my Twitter page. I have links on all my social networking sites. But the most important thing I do is be myself! I respond to people, I retweet things I find interesting, I don’t hide who I am. I’ve built up a decent following in the past few years without compromising myself.

6. Any advice to other Tweeters on how to get more Sponsored Tweets Opportunities? First of all, I don’t think it’s important to get more Sponsored Tweets Opportunities, but rather quality opportunities. You can log in to find tons of opportunities that don’t necessarily fit you or your followers, and consequently, your followers won’t click with the product or on the links. Play around with your topics and see what suits you and your followers the best; what would they want to look at? There are opportunities available on just about every topic.

• Do NOT be a robot! Be a real person! Nobody wants someone who just tweets ads all day on their feed, and you might be unfollowed or worse yet, reported for spam. Spend most of your time tweeting about other things – yourself, your hobbies and interests – and engage with your followers. You will be amazed at what relationships you can develop just through 140-character messages.

• Keep your integrity. This is paramount! If you absolutely cannot stand a certain brand, product or business practice, don’t promote it! You will lose the respect of your followers if you are not genuine. Promote products and services you really believe in. You will get a lot more appreciation in return and a lot more followers if people come to trust you and want to know what your thoughts are.

• Participate in the IZEA and Sponsored Tweets help forum on GetSatisfaction. I’ve found that IZEA has a great staff that really does listen to my concerns and wants me to succeed. If I have an issue, I’ll head over to the forum, post my thoughts and usually hear back from someone within 48 hours.

• Do NOT get discouraged. IZEA is the real deal, but like anything, it takes time, patience and work. If you want to make money, meet good people and build a real following, IZEA is a top-notch and trustworthy company to work with. You may not be swimming in piles of gold after two weeks, but you can make some extra income to help you pay the bills.

Follow Eleanor’s Tweets at @bellesouth

1. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear WeReward?15 minutes. Haha every second counts when I’m waiting to take a picture at my current location. Always being on the move, that allots for a ton of cash.

2. What device do you claim rewards from? An iPhone 4 with IOS 4.3.5.

3. Where have you checked-in the most? Truthfully, it’s hard to say–I’ve exceeded the limit for multiple businesses. Even so, I continually check into said locations to up my total reward count. Those “Izea Love” bonuses really add up

4. What’s been your favorite WeReward reward claim so far? I’m a big dog lover, so I’d say the Milk-Bone products reward. I mean, you win on multiple levels by making your dog happy, having a cute photo, and earning some money.

5. What company would you love to see using WeReward? While I’d love to see more Products/Tasks available in WeReward, I think it’s more important for businesses to officially hop on board with the service. While their rewards would increase for us users (10 cents to 50 cents!), their potential monetary gains would as well. With more people turning away from television and turning towards the internet, social media/social advertising is the way to go.

6. Most importantly, what’s your favorite way to eat bacon? A couple of weeks ago, a friend turned me onto Bacon Salt. With a seasoning like that, bacon can be included on everything!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

1. What originally attracted you to the IZEA community, and how did you find out about it? I found out about IZEA when I was first contacted about doing something for a Pier One campaign.  I didn’t do that one, but kept hearing about Social Spark from some of my blog friends.  I decided to officially sign up and I’ve been a part of IZEA for about 4 months now.  I have enjoyed the program a lot and the fact that there are such varied topics that are offered.

2. Why Southern Hospitably? If you mean, why did I name my blog Southern Hospitality?  Well, it’s because I’m a Southern girl, born and raised in the South and enjoy all that my Southern heritage brings me.  I enjoy sharing about the South on my blog, along with my family, food, shopping, thrifty decorating, and anytime I travel, I share all of those trips too.  I’m proud to be Southern

3. What’s been your favorite SocialSpark Campaign? The Hill’s Science Diet dog campaign was a lot of fun.  I featured my sister’s 2 doggies in the video and they got to benefit from the toys and action shots.  We had fun doing that one and putting it all together.  I loved getting the Sony video camera too, that was a nice bonus!

4. What inspires you to blog? I love sharing ideas and inspiration with others out there who enjoy the same things I do.  I’ve been online for over 10 years in many arenas of decorating forums, so blogging was a natural outreach with that.  When blogs began, I jumped on board in 2007 and haven’t slowed down since. It has now turned into my full-time business and I still love it so much. The community and friendships have been so rewarding too.

5. What’s one word of advice you’d give to bloggers who are looking to increase the quality of their content? Write from your passion.  If you write about things that you love and are passionate about, then readers will appreciate that and come back for more.  I think that is the key to successful blogging.  Writing about things that you love and enjoy, sharing with the blog community will come natural.

6. Complete this thought: If I could I would____. travel around to all the blog conferences all the time, blogging and meeting new friends.  Blogging has been so much fun for me!

Rhoda’s blog can be found here

1. What originally attracted you to Sponsored Tweets? I believe in honest and transparent sponsored posts. Sponsored Tweets attracted me with its full disclosure with each tweet.

2. What has been one of your favorite campaigns to participate in? InColdStorage Vintage campaign donated 20% of its sales to saving shelter pets. I enjoy campaigns that donate portions of proceeds to good causes.

3. What do you love most about Twitter? I love Twitter’s ability to connect with so many individuals and receiving the latest news within seconds of something happening in the world.

4. Finish this: Without Twitter I would______. have less entertainment online.

5. What do you do to market yourself, and get new followers? I participate in several freelance writer communities. We are very good at supporting each other, re-tweeting each other’s links and helping promote our work. Joining Twitter-based communities, posting frequently on Twitter and taking the time to socialize are the best ways to make your account noticed on Twitter. Also, check each sponsored opportunity link before you post it to your account. Twitter followers appreciate honest links with quality information.

6. Any advice to other Tweeters on how to get more Sponsored Tweets Opportunities? Turn in your sponsored opportunities in a timely manner. Respect the advertiser’s time. Advertisers will in turn favorite your account and offer you more paid opportunities.

Follow Nina’s Tweets at @writingdivas

1. What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear WeReward? Cold, hard cash (well, the electronic kind, which works even better for me)

2. What device do you claim rewards from? iPhone 4

3. Where have you checked-in the most? I’m guessing Dancing Goats Coffee Bar or Stone Soup Kitchen, since the app no longer wants me to take photos at either place.

4. What’s been your favorite WeReward reward claim so far? Nielsen Mobile Rewards, since joining was worth 1000 points (and I keep earning rewards each month)

5. What company would you love to see using WeReward? There’s already a great selection of national retailers, but Lowe’s would be a good addition to that roster.

6. Most importantly, what’s your favorite way to eat bacon? That would be the tempeh bacon (known as BC) from local vegan meatery Gutenfleischers

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

The Facts : Analytics users are preferred by Advertisers

• 92.85% of the offers are made to blogs with Google Analytics turned on
• Blogs with GA turned on get an average of 13x more offers
• Blogs with GA turned on earn an average of 8.5x more

So, today we thought we’d go over what Google Analytics is, why it’s important to you, how you can enable this and how it can help you make more money from what you are already doing well.

What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a free service provided by Google that analyzes traffic data it gathers about your website.

Why should I have Google Analytics?

With Google Analytics, you can track pageviews and visitors to your site over time, drill down into which pages are getting the most traffic, and discover which areas of your site have the highest bounce rates. Finally, there’s an easy way to get insight into the search keywords you rank on and discover how effective that email newsletter really is.

Why does IZEA need this information?

It’s important to our advertisers to know how many visits a site gets on average before they can justify purchasing a post on your site. In addition, traffic is one of the main segmentation criteria when Opps are created. So, although you blog may be a wonderful fit for a campaign, if we are not showing any traffic for it, it will not be seen by the advertisers and you will not get Offers.

I already have a Analytics account, what now?

If you already have an account set up with Google Analytics, then all you need to do is sign in to your Analytics account, log in to SocialSpark and click the ‘Not Verified’ link next to ‘Google Analytics’ on your ‘Your Properties’ page

and then on the button to claim it.

How do I set up an Analytics account?

If you do not already have an account with Google, create one!

Once your account has been created, you will need to find your tracking code to install to your blog.

Once you get your code, copy it to your clipboard and paste the code into your blog’s template, preferably immediately before the closing body tag. If you’re not sure where the closing body tag is in your site’s templates, try installing it in the footer. Then follow the steps above to authorize this in your SocialSpark account.

Will Analytics *really* help my blog to make more money?

Yes! Not only will providing your traffic stats allow you to be matched with more campaigns, but the better your traffic is, the higher those Offers will be. In addition, SocialSpark keeps a close watch on traffic to automatically mark your blog as notable or premium which will bounce you into a higher income bracket and bring those high dollar Opps your way.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

You guys rock!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

The Winner!

“My husband and I couldn’t have planned a better vacation for us. We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary this June, and are now able to return to the same island where we vacationed for our honeymoon!”

How awesome is that?! (TIP: You can get to know Stephanie at her website. Be sure to check out her “Fun Facts” page – there are some listed there that made me laugh out loud!)

The Prize!

Stephanie has won two (2) round-trip tickets from her nearest airport, and hotel accommodations to Maui’s The Ritz Carlton Kapalua. And me? I’m pretty jealous – this place looks amazing! I may just have to convince Stephanie to hid me in her luggage….

Stephanie’s blog can be found at SomewhatSimple.com, and she can be Followed on Twitter at @SimpleStephD.

Congratulations, again, Stephanie! Have a fantastic trip!

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Nutrish Premium Dog Food is looking for some very specific types of bloggers to participate in an upcoming SocialSpark campaign for their all natural dog food. Here’s your mission should you choose to accept it: Have your dog try out the supplied free sample of Nutrish dog food, afterwards write a review about it on your post! Share the experience via word and photo (photo is optional, only if ya feel like it!)

Full details about the Opportunity will be available should you be selected. So if you’re a dog owner please fill-out the form below. We’ll be sure to contact you if you’re a fit!

Thank you for your interest, this Casting Call is closed.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

1. How did you discover IZEA, and how did you know sponsored content would be right for you? I received an email asking if I’d like to sign up with Social Spark. So many PR emails and requests flood my email inbox daily, but I was intrigued with the nature of this one. I love to work with brands… the right brands- brands that are a natural fit with my cooking and my website, as well as brands that I know my readers are interested in. Letting the brands approach me with requests via an outside source saves some of the headache of having to weed through those emails that come directly to me. With Social Spark, I can easily pick and choose who I want to work with.

2. What led you to leave teaching to become a full-time food blogger? I loved being in the classroom, but I loved being a Mom more. Initially I stayed home and became actively involved in my young son’s life. But I’m a high-energy kind of girl and I needed more. My passion for cooking led me to start RecipeGirl.com and it allowed me to work from home too. Mommy + Cooking + Blogger = One Happy Girl.

3. It seems recipes would provide an endless supply of content. Do you ever get stumped for what to write about? No, not really. There are so many different things to cook and bake, and I have piles among piles of recipes and ideas that I’ll never get through in this lifetime. Having family around provides for endless stories and humor to work into my writing too.

4. Do you have a favorite genre of dish or meal to write about (e.g., desserts, beef, etc)? Dessert! Unfortunately, I have quite the affinity for sweets… which leads to many hours a week on the treadmill.

5. You recently participated in our campaign for Tabasco, and because of the great post were featured in our “Blogs We <3” series. What was your favorite part of being involved in that campaign? When I work with a brand, I really try and go all out for that client. That being said, coming up with a creative idea that I know will fetch a lot of page views for that client is my ultimate goal. Tabasco can be used in just about everything, so it was fairly easy to come up with a recipe for that one. My favorite part: lots of website traffic and my readers loved the recipe for Bacon-Wrapped Tater Tots with Tabasco.

6. We all know maintaining a quality blog can be quite time consuming. How do you balance keeping up your blog and being a wife and mother? Uh, still working on that one! If you asked my husband, he’d say that I haven’t found the key to balancing yet. If you asked my son, he’d probably tell you that I love my computer more than him (but he’s a little dramatic that way!) I’m so passionate about what I do that I simply want to do it all the time. The good news is that when we are together as a family or when we are off on vacation, I can plan ahead and let the website take care of itself for a while with minimal attention.

7. You have fairly decent followings on both Twitter and Facebook. Do you find one platform has a more engaging audience over the other? Or is there really a difference? I’ve had a RecipeGirl presence on Twitter longer than I have on Facebook. With Twitter, I’m an active user… talking all day to my followers and friends and clicking around to links that people provide so that I can actively participate in the food blog community. I’ve met lifelong friends on Twitter and I absolutely love that aspect of it. Sharing recipes and food finds happens on both social networks for me, and I find value in both.

8. Complete this thought: If I could I would ____. If I could, I would travel all year long. Stay a month here and a month there, and experience foods from different parts of the world.

9. My favorite word right now is ____. My favorite word right now is drizzle. The word “drizzle” probably appears on my blog more than any other word. I guess I like to drizzle things on top of my food! The best part is capturing a photo of the drizzle in action… which is kind of sexy.

10. Food blogging is a fairly popular niche. What tips can you give other food bloggers than can help set them apart and stand out? Don’t do the same old, same old. I visit blogs that have vibrant, beautiful photos, easy navigation and delicious-looking recipes. And I won’t visit a blog at all if there are misspellings and/or grammar mistakes- huge turn-off. Find a designer who will make your blog stand out, grab a DSLR and learn how to take some great photos, and choose recipes that you think will be more of a “draw” to the general public. Don’t just make chocolate chip cookies… make Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!

11. What’s one word of advice you’d give to bloggers who are looking to increase the quality of their content? Don’t publish blurry, unappetizing photos! If you didn’t capture at least one good photo of the recipe you want to feature… either make it again or move on. No one will linger on your site very long if what they’re viewing does not appeal to them.

You can find Lori blogging at RecipeGirl.com.

1. What originally attracted you to Sponsored Tweets? I saw that a few of my friends were participating; people whom I knew were smart and trustworthy. If they were doing it, it must be the real deal. I used one of them as a referral and BOOM, here I am.

2. What has been one of your favorite campaigns to participate in? Boudreaux’s Butt Paste. It’s nice to participate in a campaign that A) I know my followers are interested in and B) I totally endorse in real life. My stream is mostly parents so it’s a great fit.

3. What do you love most about Twitter? I’ve made some awesome friendships. It’s amazing how much one @ can bring people together. I talk to these people every day and really cherish them.

4. Finish this: Without Twitter I would____. “have nothing to do in the bathroom.”

5. How do you get creative with your Tweets? Hashtags. Hashtags are the key to all that is twitter humor. Even the driest tweet can shine with an off-key hashtag. #LikeYourMomsFace

6. What do you do to market yourself, and get new Followers? I get most of my followers through my parenting blog. I also meet people through friends, great conversations, and #FollowFriday.

7. Any advice to other Tweeters on how to get more Sponsored Tweets Opportunities? Be choosy. Select opportunities that your followers will care about. It may mean you take fewer opportunities but you’ll get better results if the product is a good fit for your audience. It’s better for you and for the advertiser.

8. A Tweet a Day___. “is good for the soul. But only if your soul cares about twitter.”

9. What’s your favorite bird (tweet, tweet!)? Artic puffin. Follow Jamie’s Tweets at @thegrumbles.

1. Why do you WeReward? To earn money for my every day activity.

2. What device do you claim rewards from? Started with an iPhone 3G, Now on a HTC Evo 4G.

3. Do you remember what your first Reward claim was? A 5 point check-in at a Mexican restaurant in my area.

4. What the first thing that comes to mind when you hear WeReward? Being Rewarded!

5. You were our 1,000th check-in winner. Congrats! How does that make you feel? Awesome! When I first signed up I was determined to win.

6. What other mobile social applications do you actively use? Shopkick, Twitter, and Foursquare.

7. Sky’s the limit – what company would you love to see using WeReward? AMC Theaters, I love going to the movies.

8. Tell one thing about yourself nobody knows. Some people know, but not many, I’m only 6 years old! (born on leap year).

9. If Chops were to have a girlfriend, what would you name her? Franny.

10. Most importantly, what’s your favorite way to eat bacon? Wrapped around a hotdog.

11. Have you purchased anything interesting with the money you’ve earned from WeReward? Used it as a down payment on a new truck!!!

12. Finish this: WeReward makes me ____. Want to go out and shop. You can stay connected with Benjamin here.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Tweetups

You might remember just before the holidays reading about a Tweetup we hosted out in Utah, to line-up with our Advertiser Pier 1 and their holiday campaign. The event was such a success we’re partnering up with Pier 1 again for a series of Tweetups in several select US cities. Take a close look – there might be one located in your city!

If you’re in the Orlando, Atlanta, Dallas, or New York City areas and will be around on the dates mentioned, we’d love to see you! Make plans to come visit, and meet some of your area’s bloggers & Tweeters.

RSVPing

For those in the Central Florida area you can RSVP for one or both of the following locations (we’d love to have you come to both!):

• Millenia Location
• Kissimmee Location

For Dallas:

• Medallion Center Location
• Dallas Parkway Location

Additional details on other locations to come…stay tuned.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing

Yup, that’s the one! And they’re gearing up for swimsuit season (it’s just around the corner). We’re about to kick off a blog marketing campaign for Express, and are in need of bloggers in the fashion, beauty, and “young moms” (18-34) categories. This means your blog is dedicated to featuring fashion (clothes, shopping, etc.), beauty (products, tips, tricks, etc.), or talking about the life of being a young mom. Please only respond if this describes your blog. If this is you then please fill out the Casting Call form below. We’ll contact you if you’re a fit.

Full details of the Opp will be included in the requirements if an offer is extended to you, but the basic requirements will be the following:

• Talk about the NEW Spring swimwear at Express and what you love about the line! Which one is your favorite? Where would you wear it?
• Include in your post a screen shot of swimsuit you love from www.express.com.
• Drive your readers to sign up for Express e-mail for a chance to win one of ten $200 Express gift cards!

Thank you for your interest, this Casting Call is closed.

This is a post from: IZEA : Social Media Marketing