Monday's Product Review

As we removed the plastic from our playroom, we found that the majority of it was located in the play kitchen area. I was relieved to find the #2 plastic symbol on our great EBay find, the beloved play kitchen which meant it was safe. Unfortunately, the play food was a different story; all the plastic, some hard and some soft, had to go. Our options were wooden playfood and soft felt playfood. We started out with a mix but opted for the felt food since our daughter has a 'pitcher's arm' and wooden food became a weapon of mass destruction. There is a plethora of play food out there, and you can find great items for any price range. I have found that size does matter when it comes to felt food. When a felt cookie is made bigger than an average play plate, it does not have the same play quality as something made to proportionate the plates.

For really great playfood check out http://www.mandolyn.etsy.com/ . Not only is the felt food proportionate to the size of the play pots/pans, but the quality is great. She has a wonderful variety of fun and healthy foods. She is also very open to custom orders. You can see mine here: http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=16854639

My son Markus, just loves making soup and pretending to cut up the items needed for it.

Her playfood also comes in great recycled packaging.

We give her a [5 STARS]on our HAPPYMOMMY/HAPPYKID meter.

*All reviews are done on items I purchase. This seller has not asked or solicited this review in any way. This is our unbiased review.

Twitter - Don't Go it Alone

Using Twitter as a promoting tool is like having to toot your own horn; many people are not comfortable doing this. I had to learn a lot about self promoting back when I was a Nanny, it was not just about how much you liked kids or your training, but about how you sold yourself as a professional. Learning this was worth it since the difference in salary could be as much as $700 per week in pay, and that was back in the 90's. I use to teach seminars for different Nanny Support Groups and was a board member of NAN (National Association of Nannies). Now I "nanny" for free, well, for hugs and kisses, lol!

Many people feel that Twitter is like entering a whole new world, and the first step for them is to go get friends to follow you. They sit and stare at the screen and try to read what goes by. This is good if you are going to use this as a social network, but if you have a business, you are missing out on a golden oppertunity.

Here are a few basics about twitter:

Only those who follow you will see what you type.

You only see what is typed by the people you follow.

If you want to use twitter a promotional tool check out these links for ideas of how to get started:

Check out this Fourm:

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6127828

From 1000 Markets:

http://www.1000markets.com/blog_posts/8440

My twitter tip:

Think of it like a field trip into cyberspace!! Buddy Up!

Clarifying what a tweet buddy is:

On twitter you will get more views from a post about you that you did not post yourself, because some people don't like to see others engaged in self promotion. So with a tweet buddy, you provide each other things to tweet, and you commit to tweet so many times a day or week for each other.

Here are some examples of tweets that I have made for others:

Check out the blog entry by Mamaroots

http://natural-kids.blogspot.com/2009/05/fun-for-mama-good-for-mama.html

Check out this Dreamy Treasury by oritdotandolls

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=66373

Check out this Treasury of toys by huesofnature

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=65995

You would send an email list of items to your buddy weekly and then all they have to do is copy and paste them into the tweet window whenever they want. If you find a few buddies (5-6) that you share info with, you will see an increase in traffic to your shops and blogs!

With a tweet buddy you promote me, and I promote you! And these are not the “hi, I had blueberry pancakes for breakfast" kind of posts. These are promotional tweets you want done for your shop! It does not matter how many tweet buddies you have, since you just copy and paste from the list they send you for the agreed number of times for that week!

I tweet a lot and have a auto tweeter for my sleeping hours (when I remember to set it up, which I am getting better at). I make a tweets email to myself each week and then add and take away from it to change it up! Your commitment to your tweet buddy should be a certain number of tweets per day, or per week. Then you would send each other your list of potential tweets which could include; reviews done about you, your blog entries, and the title and link to your shop!

Tweetlater.com will help you post tweets when you are not at home and will help get your followers up by following anyone that follows you and send out a auto message to new followers.

Happy tweeting!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday : Happy Birthday Max