So tomorrow is May 1st.  I’m not sure how you work it in the U.S., but in Canada the May long (May 20) is the start of camping season. 

We go out, and bring our heavy coats.  Especially if you are going to the mountains, it can still get pretty dern cold at night.

It’s the weekend to make sure you don’t forget anything when loading up the R.V.  I like to go in groups, that way if I have forgot something really important (like coffee, or the crib board…or vodka ) one of my friends has likely remembered it.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not planning on setting up the tent.  I firmly believe in camping with microwaves and satellites. And this year my lap top if I can swing it…

If you are planning on camping with your little angels, here are some sanity survival tips in regards to what to pack…

Tips For Camping With Kids

Camping is great family fun, but with children there are a lot of extra considerations.  To keep your sanity and really enjoy yourself, try some of these tips for a more relaxed, hassle free vacation.

1. Backpacks for everyone:  Except for the very youngest, backpacks are the ideal way to carry clothes and necessities for each individual. They take up less room than suitcases or equipment bags, which you often don’t have room for in a tent anyway.  Make each person responsible for carrying their own stuff.

2. Minimal packing:  Take only what you need, and not a dozen changes of clothing according to the time of day, for fussier children.  Take the number of days you’ll be gone, and factor in emergency changes of clothes.  Lay out each child’s items, or fill their backpack yourself. Give older children a list of what they must have, and check before leaving to see if it’s all there.

3. Wash and wear: Make sure everyone has clothes that can be tossed in the nearest Laundromat, and not worry about the wrinkles from being carried in a backpack.  You’re not likely to need much in the way of dress up items.

4. Make sure you have the necessities, including bathroom tissue, small package of laundry soap, extra toothbrushes, first aid kit, bug repellent and bite treatments, sunscreen, and a radio with spare batteries.

To receive your free family travel tips, sign-up here.

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I’m a Canadian.  The very first word in my tag line is, in fact, “Canadian”.

What do I find so strangely amusing….

My Blog Statistics!

Let me just say this, you American readers rock! 

This month in my stats is not different than other months according to percentages.  The numbers are climbing every month and so for that I’m ecstatic. 

Page views from the U.S. are way higher than that of Canada.  How much higher…37 times higher!!  Canada isn’t even number two or number 3.  The Netherlands beats my own country.

These are the percentage of total page views for the top 10 countries.

United States                    76.3

Unknown                          14.2

Netherlands                       2.8

Canada                              2.1

Sweden                             1.2

Germany                            1.1

Spain                                  .5

European Union                   .5

France                                 .3

Great Britain                        .3

I really have some work to do here.  I need to make a point of finding some Canadian blogger and Canadian WAHM friends. 

If you’re out there and you are from Canada, stop in and say hello.  I’d love to meet you.

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Do you know what it is?

It’s the first anniversary of Blogtipping! What is blogtipping you ask?

Well the actual definition put out one year ago on the very first blogtipping day is this:

It’s Blogtipping Day!  The first calendar day of each month will be a special day for sneaking up behind three other bloggers and giving them each three good compliments and a gentle “tip.”  If they happen to fall over, that’s just part of the fun!  And hopefully a good habit of reaching out to encourage someone else will prevail.

Blogtipping was started by businessblogwire.com.

How do you go blogtipping?

It’s very simple, pick three bloggers you know.  Publish a post linking to them, and give them three compliments and one gentle tip.

I’m sure you could change it up a bit if you want.  The whole idea of going tipping is to put a little bright spot in someones day.  Nope, you don’t do blogtipping for the same reason as cowtipping, although this should be fun too! ;)

Are you going blogtipping this Tuesday May 1st?  Who will you sneak up behind and tip?

I’m gonna give it a shot!  Check it out on May 1st

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I was reading Jack Humphrey’s Friday Traffic Report today and he had a post about the Technorati Favorite Blog Exchange that’s been going around.  I’ve heard it a mentioned on a few different blogs now. 

When Jack says suggests something, I’m learning to listen.  So here I am going to give this a try.

Basically, what the goal of this exchange is to get your blog into the top 100 favorited blogs list in Technorati.  In doing so you will gain a lot more visibility to your site and *cross fingers* a lot more traffic.

Jack says that you only need to get favorited 161 times to get on the top 100. 

Right now I’m at 4.  I’ve not put much into Technorati Favorites up until this point.

This is what you do:

1. Favorite Home with Heather by going to my Technorati Page and adding me to your favorites.
2. Come back here and post a comment with your blog address and Technorati user-name on it.
3. I will favorite your blog.
4. Keep checking back and adding others as they will be adding you.

Let’s all work together here.  Even if we don’t make it into the Technorati Top 100 List, we will certainly gain more exposure for our blogs.  I will do the same as Jack is and post and trackbacks giving you an additional link to your site.

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With traditional savings accounts it’s almost as easy to keep your saving under your mattress.  Many banks are still only paying 1% for a saving account. 

I just tried a basic calculation - say you have $10 000 in a saving account.  How much money would you make in 6 months (compounded annually) at:

• 1% = 49.88
• 6% = 295.63

So just checking out how much money you are making on the saving that you already have will make you more.  Just in this example the difference in 6 months of interest is $245.75. 

For doing nothing more than being aware where you are saving your money at.  It’s worth the time to check it out if you ask me…

Online banking interest rate comparisons at SavingsAccounts.com will help you find the best high yield online savings account or checking account. 

This is a sponsored post

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As an affiliate marketer, I’m always looking for ways to increase my knowledge of this industry.  This is kind of a self taught profession.  So what are the ways you can accomplish this? 

• You can get much information through reading.  Ebooks and articles are available all over.
• Taking courses online.
• Find a mentor and do what they do.
• Learn by doing.  You have to gain experience through trial and error.  Many people have read the books but are really afraid to get their feet wet.  Once you have the knowledge, you have to put it into practice.
• Another method is through networking (there’s that word again) with other affiliate marketers.  This is what I want to talk about today.

Networking is a great way to increase your knowledge base on any subject these days.  Talking with other marketers, asking question, sharing your own experiences. 

When you’re first getting into affiliate marketing, this is one of the best ways to gain knowledge.  It doesn’t cost you anything to network, and you get to ask questions and get answers.

There is a forum that is just for affiliates.  Experienced affiliates hang out there as well as newbies.  When you’re just starting out, you can go to the forum and talk to experienced affiliate marketers. 

• Hangout and just chat in the affiliate lounge and newbie lounge areas.
• All the big Affiliate Networks like Clickbank, CJ and Linkshare.
• Talk about SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC (Pay Per Click), Marketing with Google, Yahoo and MSN.
• It has an affiliate resource section for things like traffic generation and email marketing.
• It even has a section to become a merchant and start your own affiliate program.

You are missing out if you are an affiliate and not a member of this forum.  Tap into the knowledge base of industry experts and learn.  Then, after you have a few successful campaigns under your belt, you too will be able to start sharing what you’ve learned with other newbies, and so it goes.

Once you’ve registered, they even have an area (for registered members only) where they have interviewed the experts and picked their brains on the subject. 

Click on the link below to go register.  It’s free! Then we’ll see you on the forum!

 

   

   

   

   

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In this series “Ideas to Start Earning”, I’ve been sharing with you ways that you can start earning an income from home today. 

Many people don’t want or need to make $10 000/month and become and Internet Marketing Guru.  They just want an extra $400 or $500 a month to make the car payment, or save for retirement.

Not every mom is going to be comfortable with designing a website and starting an affiliate promotion.  That’s OK.  That doesn’t mean you can’t start a business and work+at+home” rel=”tag”>work at home

You can make extra money from home not even using your computer.

Today’s idea isn’t coming from me actually.  A new friend and fellow blogger Rick Church over at WahMedia Blog Network has started a series today that I think some of my readers may be interested in.

Rick had always known he wanted to be in business.  The first business he started was a residential cleaning business.  It wasn’t glamorous, but it was a business.  Read along in his blog, how he got started and then how he proceeded.

Once you start in business, you find ways to expand and grow.  When you have a desire to do something, it can and will be done. 

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