social media Archives — Thrifty Mommas Tips

Is Every Step of the Way the Hardest Stage?

Paula — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 13:46:03 +0000

Is every step of the way the hardest stage when parenting? Lately, I ask myself a lot of questions related to parenting teenagers. Like how is this stage even harder than when they were infants? How am I losing more sleep than ever over my kids? Why did I think parenting would be a good idea? How is it possible this is the hardest stage yet? Are you a parent of teenagers? Do you know what I mean? Do you ever ask yourself why did I have kids? Be honest. Of course we love our kids, who are now teenagers. I am not calling that in to question. Many of you, like me, can easily find your inner mama bear when they are targeted or treated unfairly. My inner mama bear is still here, without a shred of doubt. However lately it’s not the world treating them unfairly it’s them venturing out into it making mis-steps, mistakes, while growing up as digital and social media natives, in completely new territory. These days there are a trillion apps, kids live streaming everything and Snapchat is stupid fast, not to mention that it’s how they do everything. Every day is a streak or a filter, or a live stream about nonsense sometimes, if I am being honest. Forget Facebook, it doesn’t provide quick enough validation. And you, as a parent, can preach that everything is permanent on the Internet and socials. Your child’s future college admissions panels and job recruiters will scan every social channel out there, but teens are often too trapped in that Whatever stage to care. It’s slightly ironic to me sometimes that I make a living managing social media for brands and businesses, who listen to my advice and follow it. Yet, my own kids think they know better than me. My warnings to them fall on ears that fail to hear it. Far too often this year I’ve said: – “Don’t post that on Instagram or Snapchat. It’s totally inappropriate. Think before you share!” Here’s the thing. I write about parenting, health, technology, travel and lifestyle issues all the time. But you ought to know I don’t have all the answers. Some days I wish I did. November was one of those months when I questioned all of the parenting knowledge I had and honest to GOD asked myself why did I sign up for this? It was that bad. So bad, one child was grounded until January and lost all electronics privileges. This was November. You should know I never ground because it is punishment for parents. Grounding is the worst possible punishment and it is lame. I do not do grounding. My Mom did grounding. It is a ridiculous outdated punishment. Levelling Up Their Teen Game Two weeks ago I lost about three work days due to teens breaking rules and getting into more trouble here at home than ever before at any stage. Worse than the days when my youngest had zero impulse control and I used to joke that I couldn’t sleep for fear she’d wake up at 4 years old in the middle of the night and I’d find her frying bacon or tap dancing on the stove. Teens possess independent will and they are hormonal and also striving to drive you a bit bonkers on occasion because that is part of their job. Oh, I know they need to create space and distance and all of that. Some days I can easily remind myself they are doing their job right now. Their job is to be abrasive. Prickly. Sort of…but my job is not yet done and their brains are not yet fully developed. I can tolerate teenage rebelliousness. But I can’t handle the thought of raising someone who lies to people, or stomps on their feelings. Right now all of it comes down to: will they grow into good people? Or people who lack empathy and feelings? So much is at stake right now at the parenting teens stage. At least it feels that way as a parent. Surely, I think this teen stage is the hardest stage because mistakes are bigger and have such serious potential to impact futures. It is so very hard to see someone who has been given all of the tools – consistently told to value themselves and respect themselves, from childhood, then turn around and do something dramatically opposite of what you are instilling. Right now, at this stage, more than ever before in my life, I find that I am being tested as a parent. In fact, I have also found myself angrier than ever before at any stage of this parenting journey. More tired, and irritated too. Lately, I open my mouth and my Mother spills out. Me opening my mouth and blurting My Mom: “But, as long as you are living in this house, under this roof you will follow my rules!!” “I am the parent and you are grounded.” “I cannot wait until you have children of your own.” (truly not at all what I am thinking so why did it come out of my mouth.) “If you continue to behave like this I am not paying anything towards your tuition.” Remember These Days… I think I am like most parents out there. Doing my best on any given day and trying not to have a coronary in the process. In my 20s, before I had my kids I thought I had all the answers. And then we adopted our two girls. And life got busier and happier and crazier all at once. Hard as it was when they were little and money was extremely tight, we made it. Mostly I was able to sleep at night because they were happy and healthy except for the earaches and the usual childhood illnesses. A broken elbow here, bronchitis there…a broken wrist…head lice. Oh don’t get me wrong at all. I was awake many nights several times checking their breathing when they were infants and I rarely slept when the youngest had croup, or that time she barely slept for 18 months solid when we were hunting for diagnosis. YEAH, that sucked. To this day I recall that bone wearying exhaustion of her never sleeping. Still sometimes, the promise of life getting easier was enough to get through disrupted sleep, ear infections and money worries. Parenting Teens Comes with a Lot of UGH Moments And it was sometimes easier, occasionally for a time. Then they sprouted into teenagers. Both. Sometimes, we had the best conversations. Me, the Mom, and them as almost adults with developing brains growing into opinionated young adults. Those were enjoyable times and conversations and trips too. We skied and travelled and went to movies together. They made good choices. People said: “Oh what a great kid” and “she has a good heart” and positive things. And Pride won the day and carried me through to the next week or month or year. Maybe you had a similar experience and chuffed or patted yourself on the back for raising great kids. You must be doing something right. Then Snapchat and Instagram and secretive apps ate someone’s brain. Both my girls were excellent at sharing and I used to often hear “OH, MY GOD, MOM do you believe this? Josie (classmate) posted this on her Snapchat!!” Picture Josie vaping, or making out with someone and sharing it on Snapchat. Getting drunk underage, hooking up, posting provocative pictures or hostile captions directed at teachers they did not like. Those moments provided catalysts for conversations on appropriate on line and off line behaviour. We talked about respect and the fact that things on line are never ever private. They seemed to listen and they said all the right things. And then they went and posted something almost as bad as fictional friend Josie did and I found it and blew my top. Red in the face steam coming out my ears. Why? Mostly because I believe both of my kids when they tell me they are following the rules and I do keep tabs on their on line activity. But I let my guard down for a second and that’s how fast it happens. Plus they disregarded the trust I placed in them. Scrolling through her history and messages one day when I discovered her phone left at home, I found a series of lies to different people and some whoppers told to *friends* on line. Hence lost phone and electronics privileges. Yes parenting teens is one of the final stages of the parenting a dependent journey. Obviously young adults still need support too in their twenties often. But the frontal context of the brain is not fully formed until the age of 25, so kids as teens are prone to shortsighted decisions and rash choices at times. Oh I remember well being that age and I was a complete arse until I turned 22 or so. I get it. Grounded This past month has been largely about me watching my teenagers even closer than ever and not believing much of what they tell me because trust is earned and easily tested with lies and half truths. Of all the characteristics and qualities I hold dear as a human, one of the biggest is honesty. From the time my kids were small I went out of my way to be honest. I apologize when I am wrong to let them know I am human and nobody is perfect. Honesty matters. Parenting teens is no picnic. It’s completely awful at times. Lately though I just keep thinking: isn’t it absurd how we tell ourselves at every stage – this is the hardest age ever. This is the hardest stage – infancy, toddlerhood, preschool years, elementary school, tween years and then teenage years. When we are in it we think oh that will be so much easier over there on the other side of one, or three, or seven, or eleven. What a weird parenting coping mechanism. What if every step of the way is the hardest stage? As parents you tell yourself all along the way this is surely the hardest stage of parenting. But then come the teenage years and this is the hardest stage too. So what if it’s all the hardest stage of parenting? What if there is nothing easy ever about the job? If I get them to college or university I’ll be able to breathe again and sleep again, right? What stage are your kids at? Are they grown and flown? Does it get better?

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Spectacular Email Fails – Seven Reasons I Ignored You Today

Paula — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 15:28:03 +0000

Spectacular Email Fails are my new specialty. Why? Because so many people send them to me. There are many reasons people and businesses fail at this basic task, and one of them right now is automation. Automation can be great when things work and you actually invest in a product that does this well. But sadly, I have not seen a single automated email or outreach product this year that has worked properly. SO STOP buying. Email marketing and blogger outreach is actually social. It is also a skill. My Blog and Social Media Consulting business relies on authentic social interaction, so I get super annoyed when I see people trusting a tool to shoot out preFAB outreach emails that FAIL on a spectacular level. So I felt like sharing a few of the reasons this approach is really not working for a lot of businesses. Here’s what’s happening on this end as the recipient of your automated email outreach service. Email Fails Add Up to Wasted MONEY Checking email shouldn’t feel like a battle and I should never feel harassed. And yet this year it does feel as if I am being harassed at least once almost every day. Lately I have noticed three disturbing trends in email outreach. Trends that Fail: Belligerence is a huge trend. Didn’t get the response you wanted? So you emailed again and again and again. Guess what? That’s belligerent, aggressive and obnoxious. Belligerence is not a successful or positive marketing or outreach tactic. Repeat e-mails with gigantic errors in them. Errors in who you are addressing followed by giant spelling and grammar errors too. What’s worse than that? Automated pitches that then repeat both one and two on this list as many as 3-4 times. Do not waste your time on services that can’t even get spelling right, or products that get someone’s name wrong. So I wanted to put this right out there immediately for all to see. Seven REASONS I IGNORED YOU TODAY Inaccurate Name. You addressed the email to someone who actually is not me. Danielle, Lisa, Sheri….NOT MY NAME. Ba Bye. Cited the wrong web site or blog. Mom Spot is not my blog. Mom Life, MOM deals, MOM ____ insert any word here. NOT my blog or web site. Your email is Nonsense. Haven’t even got the words for this one. Here’s an example: you emailed me and reached out claiming to have read my post about a feminine health issue and you think it ties in with your product that is a subscription meat delivery product. So we should work together, but only if I want to refer to your meat delivery service in the feminine health product post? What are you thinking? That makes no sense. On what planet are the two topics ever mentioned together? SEO doesn’t work that way. No means NO. This is HUGE for me right now. When I say NO I mean NO. In business, in my personal life and via email. Also here’s your notice: I will block you. I will ban you. I will report you or take whatever action I need to remove you from my in box. Just because I have an email address and a blog doesn’t ever give you the right to harass me. Make no mistake emailing me 3, 4, even 6 times with the same offer every single time and escalating language: “Hi, why have you not responded to my email yet?” makes me feel harassed and I can assure you that is not the way to work with someone or to curry favour. I owe you Nothing. Just because I have posted an email address to contact me doesn’t mean I actually owe you a response at all. My email. My business. I do not owe you a response. Ten times out of ten I will respond to emails that are polite and addressed to the right person. That is good email etiquette, but I do not owe you a response or reply. You are not entitled to anything from me. You are Trying to Game Google. You just asked for something that is against Google’s Terms of Service. You emailed asking me for a do follow link in a post in exchange for money. That is not the way to win at SEO or content marketing. It is also against Google’s Terms of Service so PASS. This is a big one of the email fails I see daily. You used this phrase – Mutually Beneficial. This phrase is often used as code for we won’t pay you but want to patronize and use your service in a manner that is exploitative and not beneficial to you as a business. The email fails I see here sometimes do this too – the thing where they assume it is mutually beneficial for me to post something for you in exchange for you sharing the post. NO. You asked me to work and leverage my on line platforms and voice and you will share it with your audience. AKIN to saying – Hey come to work until Noon today. No Pay, but I will actually tell all my friends you are a good person. Doesn’t pay the mortgage or buy groceries so no can do. Bad Behaviour, Belligerence and Email Fails These kinds of spectacular email fails have become almost like the belligerent telemarketers of old. You know the ones who argued with you when you said Not interested or Not Today. Email is a necessity of life in a digital world. You can’t possibly do business without ever touching email. Respect and a personal touch matter. Always.

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How to Delete Facebook Accounts

Paula — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 15:00:46 +0000

Delete Facebook? Are you ready to get rid of Facebook? I’m not deleting any of my accounts, and I am not advocating this approach for clients. BUT, many people are considering dropping Facebook after the Cambridge Analytics scandal. You can always deactivate your account if you just need a break. Then no one will see your account and it will be as if you deleted it, but your data won’t go anywhere and you can still come back when you want to. But what if you’re ready to cut all the ties for good? What if security and privacy concerns are leading you to move away from Facebook permanently? There are options for you if you want to delete Facebook for good. It’s now easier than ever before to do. This is a permanent deletion not just the deactivation that allows you to log back into the account whenever you want in order to reactivate it. You will not be able to hit the “forgot password” option and get back into the account that way. There will be no option available, the account will be gone forever. So before you delete Facebook be certain that’s an action you can live with in future. How to Delete Your Facebook Account for Good How? All you need to do is push a few buttons and the entire account will be deleted for you. It is a good idea to download your data if there are things in the account you are certain you can’t live without or you’re like most of us and the only copy is on Facebook. To permanently delete your Facebook account: Head to Facebook’s Delete Account page Select Delete My Account That’s it! Easy Peasy. But give this some thought before resorting to drastic action. Many people no longer backup and save their data like images and posts the way they would have before Facebook. Why would you when it’s all right there in one neat place for you? However, if you’re going to delete Facebook, you’re probably going to want to save those things first – at least the important things. Depending on how much you have uploaded to your account, this could be a big project. While it can take up to three months for Facebook to remove everything such as photos, shared updates and whatever else the system backed up in their servers, no one will be able to see the account. It no longer exists to anyone on your friends list, not even as a deactivated account. Delete Facebook? See it’s easy not to be a prisoner to social media. Once you make the decision to delete Facebook you can easily have your account gone from Facebook forever. The messages that you sent are another story. Your friends could still have the messages that you sent each other. Posts other people made and tagged you in will still exist. The same thing goes for the pictures other people posted of you. People can always screenshot things. So what is posted online can live forever, but your account doesn’t have to. More Social Media Content and Advice Here: If you need social media content, social media strategy or management then you should connect with me over at Thrifty Mom Media. Parents will want to check out this Snapchat post and this Instagram post about bullying on Instagram. Need social media marketing help? Email – inkscrblr@rogers.com

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Snapchat for Dummies – A Parent’s Guide to Snapchat

Paula — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 12:00:02 +0000

Snapchat for dummies. If you have kids, chances are they’re on Snapchat. If you’re like a lot of parents, chances are you have no idea what Snapchat is all about. Snapchat can be a fun app for the kids, but it can also be full of pitfalls and dangers, so you need to beware of those. As parents, it’s important for us to understand the apps that our kids use, especially the ones that open them up to making potentially bad decisions. With that in mind, I decided to put together a little Snapchat primer for parents – Snapchat for Dummies. Snapchat for Dummies – A Parent’s Primer So let’s talk about Snapchat. If you don’t already know, Snapchat is a messaging app that focuses heavily on pictures and video. While there is a chat option, the majority of users focus on the photo and video aspect of the app. The app features filters that allow users to add visual overlays to their photos and videos, change their voices, and generally have a lot of fun being goofy. So far so good, right? Just good, clean fun. It can be, but… Snaps Disappear One big thing you need to know about Snapchat is that Snaps (the messages people send via Snapchat) disappear. Users can watch a Snap, and then replay it once. After that, it’s gone. Again, it doesn’t sound so bad. But think about the implications of this. Kids can now share images of almost anything with relatively little worry of being found out. This in and of itself isn’t dangerous, but children are biologically incapable of making good decisions. When you couple that with an easy to use app that make it easy to send almost anything and have it disappear, you have a recipe for bad decisions. And here’s another important thing to note. While snaps disappear, it’s possible to screen shot them for future reference. So just like any other digital platform out there, nothing sent ever really disappears. That’s where the danger comes in often. Kids think their snaps vanish, but others can save them via screenshots and share them or keep them for future use. The List of Bad Decisions is Long My generation didn’t have apps like Snapchat. Heck, we didn’t even have Facebook or smartphones. So all of our discretions were relatively unknown and quite tame compared to today’s world. With the advent of technology and children’s inability to really understand the consequences of their actions, the ability to make really bad decisions is vastly increased. That’s why it’s so important that we have a Snapchat for Dummies guide that can help us navigate what our kids are doing. Some of the bad decisions that our kids can make from the ease of using Snapchat and its disappearing photos include photos and videos featuring: Drugs Alcohol Tobacco Vaping Physically dangerous activities (daredevil stunts) Nude photos or videos Secret meetup plans Think it isn’t your child? Think again. I’ve seen many of my child’s classmates vaping, and drinking and doing things nobody should advertise. The Biggest Snapchat for Dummies Tip As with anything our kids are doing, the biggest thing to remember is to be vigilant. Know your child’s Snap habits and spot check their messages. They won’t love this, but it’s the only way to ensure that they make good decisions. If your child’s friends know that you are routinely checking Snaps, they will be less likely to send inappropriate content. The same goes for your child and the content that they send to others. If you child is on Snapchat, be sure you bookmark this Snapchat for dummies post for future reference, so you can adequately protect your child against inappropriate Snaps and bad decisions. Snapchat can be a wonderful app, but it DOES require parental supervision.

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Spring Cleaning for Your Blog – Dust off the Cobwebs

Paula — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 10:07:06 +0000

Spring cleaning isn’t just for your home. If you’re a blogger, it’s also for your blog and your posts. Much like our homes, blogs need a yearly “deep clean” to be sure the dust is gone and any small cracks in the facade are fixed. These tips on spring cleaning your blog can help you breathe new life into your blog and get you on track for the rest of the year. Spring Cleaning – A Deep Clean Your Blog Needs The following tips serve double duty and are invaluable tools to help you keep your blog rolling along. Not only do these tips help your blog work better, but they also help you get more traffic and generally make you look like a Blogging Superstar. Check Your Links Although we always try to link to high quality sites, and thus sites that will be around for the long haul, it’s still a good idea to check the links in your posts once a year. A post with broken links makes you look amateurish and turns off readers. There are multiple tools you can use for this, but if you have WordPress, you can actually use a plugin called Broken Link Checker. However you do it, it’s important that you DO it . I just did this two weeks ago and noted 2 0r 3 blogs that were no longer in existence. Broken links are not good. They are off-putting to readers. Fix them or remove them. Content is King, but SEO is Queen Never forget that. You can have absolutely inspired content, but if your SEO is lacking, chances are no one will see it. Go back through all of your post for the year and double check to be sure that the SEO is up to snuff. This should be fairly simple if you already have a plug in like Yoast. But do it anyways. I spend about an hour a week consistently all year checking old posts. I have been blogging since 2009 so there are thousands of posts to revisit. Pins Drive Traffic A good image on Pinterest can do wonders for your traffic. So be sure each and every post has a high quality, Pinnable image to attract people to your site. Remember, that longer is better. Small, square, or worse, small and square images are not your friend. Although we are seeing a few changes that way, even so…the goal is pinnable images for longevity and traffic. Give Those Older Posts Some Love After you’ve done your spring cleaning on your posts, it’s important to get them back out there again. Use a scheduler – there are a few – to get your posts back out onto Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other channels too. Hopefully, the shine you put on your posts will deliver! I know I have a few posts that performed even better the second year than they did the first, especially where Printables are concerned. Check Your Plugins If you have WordPress, you already know the importance of this. WordPress is incredibly user friendly, but sometimes the plugins designed for it can go a little bit haywire. It’s important to check to ensure that all plugins are working properly, well maintained, and without conflicts during your spring cleaning. Check the date the plugin was last updated and maintained before downloading any new ones. Get Those Categories and Tags in Order Sometimes, we get a little impatient or lazy, and we don’t categorize and tag our posts properly. That is no bueno. Without those categories and tags, it makes it monumentally difficult for our readers to find our content within our blog. So go back and ensure that your posts for the year are all categorized and tagged. Too many categories is not good and tags should be specific too. Read this post on lessons at Mom 2.0 for some more about tags. Spring Cleaning Gets Your Blog Fresh, Clean, and Buzzing Of course the buzzing part can’t be guaranteed, but if you do a good, deep spring cleaning on your blog, the chances that your traffic improves increase by quite a bit. So get those Pinnable images in there, SEO your posts to the hilt, and get them back out there on social media. It’s a great way to help keep your blog fresh and ready for action.

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Online Safety and Snapchat

Paula — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 09:23:12 +0000

Online safety is a big deal, and Snapchat has become one of the more concerning apps for parents of tweens and teens. Because users of SnapChat can specify a time frame that a picture will stay on the server, online safety is a concern with this app. What is SnapChat ? For those of you who don’t know, SnapChat is a video messaging app which allows users to take photos, videos, and add text or drawings and then send them to other users. This media – known as “Snaps” can be set up with a time limit on how long it can be viewed by the recipient. After that time, the media is deleted from the server. This app has become extremely popular with tweens and teens, and that makes it an online safety concern for parents. Obviously, the format of the app is concerning, because kids can take send any sort of media to one another and in theory leave no trace behind. Not only can kids do it, so can sexual predators. It wouldn’t take much for a predator to set up an account and begin fishing for vulnerable youth here. I want to add that this was never SnapChat’s intent, and that they have a story mode for stringing together “Snaps” in chronological order to make a story. With appropriate use, SnapChat can be a fun social networking too. It can also be useful for brands. But, there just happen to be many ways that it can be abused. Snapchat filters are a tonne of fun. Kids everywhere enjoy them and so do adults. Snapchat is also attracting more brands and traditional news outlet accounts daily. However, as mentioned the media is limited and disappears after awhile. That premise gives users a false sense of this tool being private and not permanent. There are many ways for snaps to be permanent though. ANYONE can screenshot anything you share on any channel. There’s no such thing as privacy when it comes to social media and on line sharing. Parents need to teach their children and teens that anything they share on social media can be found, or used against them potentially in the future. My litmus test is always what do you want your future employer or the university you apply to attend to know or see about you? Do you want them to see snaps or posts of you out drinking with friends? Do you want your future employer to see you naked? Then don’t share that even on a channel you think is safe and temporary. PIN for Later – > At one of my daughter’s schools, Snapchat has become a space where girls and guys share nude pictures. I don’t have to tell you how inappropriate that is. Every year in September I hear about some female student getting in trouble for sending a nude snap to someone else’s boyfriend. That’s poor judgement on a teen’s part. Even sharing that type of material socially can leave your child or youth open to getting bullied, and potentially even charges of distributing child pornography. [tweetthis]As a parent you need to know what’s happening on this popular social media channel.[/tweetthis] As a parent I have a Snapchat account, but I don’t use it much. Basically I use it to monitor what is happening and what people are sharing who are connected to my kids. As I mentioned to another parent the other day, it’s not that I don’t trust my kids – it’s the other users on Snapchat hat you need to be wary of. A friend who is a blogger this week warned – “Even I get penis pictures sent to me daily. No way is my child allowed to use Snapchat.” [tweetthis]You might think Snaps disappear but there’s no such thing as temporary when it comes to on line media.[/tweetthis] Practicing Online Safety with SnapChat First and foremost, online safety with any app begins with talking and determining if your kids are mature enough to have an app like SnapChat. You’ll definitely want an online safety contract with your kids which specifies usage, what is and isn’t allowed. Because of the nature of SnapChat, it’s a good idea to use some sort of monitoring system. In the past, SnapChat was most concerning to parents because it was completely out of their control. Now, however, there are a few different apps that allow parents to monitor their child’s SnapChat activity. Although these apps are essentially intruding on a child’s account, the distaste a parent might feel for doing it is far outweighed by the safety concerns of using SnapChat on an honor system. mSpy: Android, iOS, Mac OS, Windows mSpy is the best choice for parents who want maximum tracking for online safety with SnapChat. It tracks and saves all SnapChat data between the monitored device and other accounts. Flexispy: Symbian, Android, iPhone, Blackberry Flexispy is also a good choice for SnapChat monitoring, although it isn’t as feature-rich as mSpy. Spyera: Android, iOS Spyera tracks SnapChat in the same way as mSpy and Flexispy, although it doesn’t always capture every single interaction, making it less attractive for SnapChat online safety. WebWatcher: Android, iOS This is a simple, cheap option. The downside is that its tracking is basic and rough. This is one of those apps that you say, “At least it’s a start.” Online Safety Online safety is a necessity. On line safety is even more important when it comes to SnapChat. Although with proper usage, it can be an entertaining way of connecting with people, with improper usage, it can be dangerous. So talk with your kids about SnapChat, discuss online safety, and consider a SnapChat monitoring app.

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Social Media Issues – How Ontario Teachers Navigate the Waters

Paula — Sun, 04 Sep 2016 07:07:20 +0000

Social media issues can be challenging. It’s a field that is in a constant state of flux. Facebook changes its algorithm. Twitter offers a new feed. One network wanes while another jets off into the stratosphere. And just when you think you have it all figured out, suddenly your high schooler comes home talking about some new chat service that nobody over the age of 20 has EVER heard of before. Social media issues can be a real danger to both children and the teachers responsible for their education. Teachers are the people who spend 5 to 6 hours a day with your child. They need to know how to navigate the social media waters, just like the rest of us. When social media issues like bullying happen it spills over into the school environment. Last September we dealt with a serious social media incident here when someone set up a fake Instagram account using my daughter’s name (spelled incorrectly.) It was an upsetting time for everyone. In the hallway, one day during school another teen showed by daughter a fake Instagram account in her name. The fake account called many classmates Fat, Ugly and worse. Thankfully my teary-eyed grade nine daughter knew enough to go that day to a trusted adult in the school. She called me as well. Police were then also called to investigate. Although my daughter’s school did not yet have an Instagram policy one year ago, they handled the whole experience beautifully. The other child eventually confessed and we went through a restorative justice process with the teen. School staff supported us throughout. Social media issues like bullying should not happen, but they do. Fortunately, Ontario teachers are fully equipped with the knowledge of how to deal with social media issues and how to keep them from occurring. Ontario College of Teachers Advises Teachers The Ontario College of Teachers has developed an advisory board to help teachers understand the impact that their own social media accounts can have on their students and their students’ parents. Although the College believes that e-communication and social media can and should play a large part in the relationship between teacher, student, and parent, the College also recognizes that there are inherent pitfalls that should be avoided. The aim of the advisory is to educate teachers, reminding them that as professionals in a highly public field, they are always “on”. Just like doctors, nurses, lawyers, and other public professionals, teachers must adhere to a strict standard, whether it be at school or on their social media accounts. In fact, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that teachers “do not necessarily check their teaching hats at the school yard gate”. The main takeaway from the advisory on social media issues is this: Teachers should conduct themselves on social media as they would conduct themselves in person. Which is something we should all do, really. Ontario College of Teachers – A Complete Resource In addition to providing teachers with an advisory board to help them navigate the waters of social media and social media issues, the Ontario College of Teachers is also an excellent resource for parents, as well. Find a Teacher Page The Ontario College of Teachers Find a Teacher page is a public register providing parents with information on every certified teacher in the Ontario public school system. Each teacher’s record includes: Qualifications Date of initial certification Current status with the Ontario College of Teachers Any applicable disciplinary history The Standard The Ontario College of Teachers The Standard e-newsletter is all about helping parents learn more about teachers. It’s another way that both teachers and parents can be connected on social media issues. The Standard e-newsletter includes: Information on College services to help you learn more about teacher qualifications Information on how the College ensures high standards in education College reports on trends in education Information on changes in education legislation Social Media Issues – Not an Issue for Ontario Teachers Social media issues aren’t an issue for Ontario teachers, or for you, thanks to the Ontario College of Teachers. The College works diligently to ensure teachers are aware of potential social media issues and prepared when a situation crops up. In addition, the College is also committed to keeping parents connected to Ontario’s school system and its teachers. For more information you can also follow the Ontario College of Teachers on their social media accounts. Twitter – @OCT_OEEO Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/OntarioTeachers Youtube – https://www.youtube.com/user/OCTvideoOEEO Sign up for their newsletter and stay informed – English: Newsletter for Parents French: Public Newsletter for Parents and Others – in French Thrifty Momma’s Tips worked with The Ontario College of Teachers and Main Street Creative to bring this post to you. It is a sponsored post, and as such I received compensation. My opinion is always truthful.

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When Feel Free To Share and Free Content Means No Budget

Paula — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 14:35:40 +0000

(A few weeks ago I posted this on my Facebook page. Sadly, I have had a big reason to post it again today. I can’t believe some people find it okay to repeatedly ask writers and influencers, editors and others, for constant freebies. This is my letter that I have actually cut and pasted a couple of times and sent to absurd requests ever since June 16. Feel Free to share this free content. In fact feel free to send a link to this post next time someone asks you to do a free twitter party, or a free post, or a free batch of tweets.) I’m putting this to bed once and for all never to be spoken of again. Dear Communications Person: You are the tenth person today who has sent me promotional information advising that I am “FREE to share it or use on my web site and extensive social network.” You seem to think that I need content and work for free. I do not. In fact, I have so much content I can’t write fast enough to get it all on my website. I stay up most nights until midnight or later. I miss time with my family writing content, building a business, invoicing, tracking down payments, networking, promoting content and consulting in this area of marketing. I am a business. I run a business. I wonder if you send that press release to an advertising department and then advise: “feel free to run this ad. You should be so happy with the ad copy that you will want to run it for free.” Where should I find the time to run, edit, promote and illustrate your free content? Should I take it from my family? Should I lose sleep over it? Should I work all weekend? Oh, wait I already do that. Should I drop an amazing client I have a great business relationship with to run your free content? Should I skip buying groceries or paying my mortgage? Should I quit paying my team of contractors? Don’t. Stop and think. Signed, a digital marketing professional who is tired of this.

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That’s So Random Feature – Odd Blog Comments – January 2016 Second Edition

Paula — Mon, 25 Jan 2016 08:39:14 +0000

Alrighty then! I started this feature very recently and it has been amusing to me, and readers have responded well to it too. But mostly it makes me laugh, so why not? I have decided to make it a monthly feature here at Thrifty Momma’s Tips. That’s right. That’s so random is my new feature sharing the strangest spam comments from readers and bots each month. To read ODD Blog Comments from 2015, you can visit my That’s So Random first edition post here. People who blog, write, or run a web site, are putting themselves out there every day. Sometimes that is a good thing and sometimes that is scary thing. Around here it is my job, my passion and my profession. Happily I love what I do and have built a business I adore. I work hard but I love what I do so that makes working and getting out of bed each day so much easier. Without further setup or introduction here is the January edition of That’s So Random. ODD Blog Comments of January 2016: Or Odd Spam Comments. “You should take part in a tournament for one of the finest sites on the internet. I’ll recommend this site!” (Blushing, oh thanks so much…pretty sure that was a spam bot but thanks anyways. Happy comments are nicer than mean gibberish…..for more on gibberish see comment number 2) “The more you attempt to mix up without being successful at one thing first, the more significant the possibilities of error at multiple things. Come to be good at one thing … and then proceed.” (O—-Kay? What are you trying to say? I think I am now dubbing you Philosopher Bot ) Odd blog comment. “I have read a few excellent stuff here. Definitely worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much attempt you put to make any such great informative website.” (I put a lot of attempt actually. Thank you for bookmarking my ‘Excellent Stuff.’ ) “I wish to apprentice to you even for a bit as web admin.” (Um…perhaps you have confused me with a wizard. I am not yet sure I need an Apprentice at this stage of my magic career, but who knows anything is possible in the future.) “Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was an amusement account it. Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! By the way, how could we communicate?” (NOT SURE, as I do not speak ROBOT.) “I don’t care about this topic. I am now making $5,000 a month on the Internet.” OH well then last month it was only $4,000 so I guess I better pay attention IMMEDIATELY. WHAT. The? “We are a group of volunteers and opening a new scheme in our community. Your web site offered us with valuable info to work on. You have done a formidable job and our entire community will be grateful to you.” I try to do a formidable job. Thanks a bunch. However, I am not sure that a group of volunteers should dub their work – A SCHEME. That rattles my brains and makes me think RUN AWAY FAST. “Yes! Finally someone writes about memory requires good.” I will just assume that they dropped the word food off the end of this comment. Otherwise, my head hurts. “It’s difficult to get experienced people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you’re discussing! Thanks!” Well I do aim to sound like I know what I am talking about even when it’s completely just an illusion. LOL. “Wow! This could be one particular of the most helpful blogs We’ve ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Wonderful. I am also an expert in this topic so I can understand your hard work.” AW. Blushing. Really. Well, there you have it. Odd blog comments of January 2016. Don’t cry because it is over. Smile because it happened. Come to think of it I think that would be a brilliant spam comment on someone’s blog. Just not mine. Do you blog? Do you write? What kind of odd blog comments have you had this month?

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Build a Better Blogger Outreach Program in 2016 – Influencer Marketing and the Changing Landscape

Paula — Sat, 09 Jan 2016 07:09:04 +0000

You cannot stand still in the world of social media, or influencer marketing. Smart blogger outreach coordinators and businesses are at once, business people, marketers, and cool hunters too. They are always on the lookout for new trends, ideas, people, events, tools, and content that resonates. This is one of the things I love the most about the field I work in. It is ever evolving and dynamic. This is not a post about me gazing into a crystal ball and telling you what’s the hottest trend for 2016. I’m not interested in that right now and in fact I have seen a few too many of those social media prediction posts this December and January. Rather than speculate, I wanted to reflect on what has changed this past year. What are we missing out on and what should we be doing together as a best practice for influencer marketing? As I start 2016, I have a vision at Thrifty Mom Media, that builds out a bigger, bolder, partnership in 2016 and beyond. That’s what this post is about – best practice for influencer marketing in the year to come. The job starts when you engage someone like me and evolves IF and when you hire the right influencers. In 2015 this social media marketing field has grown and come a fairly long way. Many social and digital media marketing organizations are understanding and building influencer marketing right into their daily marketing outreach. Some are building budget into that too, which is crucial to the success of current marketing plans in 2016. But we still have a way to go. I know this. I see both sides of this equation because I blog here and connect with brands multiple times a day. I also build strategy and hire the right influencers for brands, non profits and businesses. I find the right influencers at the right time for the right brands and I build their programs on the right channels for them. Traditional advertising is no longer the smartest way to advertise, nor is it the wisest spend. Print circulation consistently keeps declining. Digital ad revenue climbs, while print ad revenue falls. It’s as simple as that. Read the Pew Report for more on that. Traditional media has seen a dramatic decrease in revenue drive by audience fleeing traditional media. TV is even not doing what it once was. It’s as simple as this – fewer people read the papers and watch TV and connect with magazines so ad money spent there is sometimes misplaced. Consider content and influencer marketing like art. Traditional media is a Jackson Pollock painting. Stand back and shoot the paint at the canvas and hope that it connects and that the right eye balls land on it. It buys a broad canvas. Content marketing, influencer marketing, is like standing right in front of the painting and drawing a specific picture intended to be given to a very focused audience. So imagine a picture of a mother with child reading together, that is created for a library. That resonates emotionally with almost everyone entering the building. It reminds people of all the happy feelings they have when they read to younger children, and all the warm fuzzies they had as a child when they were read to. Now imagine that you can click on the child with book picture and buy the book they are reading, and buy a poster of the picture, and maybe even the same shirt the mom is wearing, and have it delivered stat right to your home, tablet or e-reader. Your traditional Jackson Pollock is cool and sometimes really interesting to look at. But more than half the people you display that in front of are going to think UGH and walk right by. It’s a missed opportunity. The painting of the child is memorable and resonates, plus it’s in the right place. Influencer marketing is about the right message resonating at the right time in front of the right audience. So now that you all understand that…what’s missing? Well, some brands are doing influencer marketing or content marketing or blogger outreach now when in fact they were not doing it before. That’s progress. Some public relations companies are even doing bits of this so much better than they were in 2013 and 2014. But they are often still stuck playing catchup. When you spend too much time playing catchup you miss the next softball being lobbed at you. Where am I going with this? We are sometimes now connecting the right reader with the right influencer at the right time. But we are still not focused enough. This field still needs improvement. Here’s what you are not doing well enough yet. Dedicating budget to influencer and social media marketing. I’m not sure why this is still such a hurdle for some companies. Carve out a budget for social media marketing and influencers. It’s simple and necessary. This is your new media marketing budget. You might need to fight for it and pull from traditional media but it NEEDS to be a dedicated fund. Ads and sponsored posts are not free. Influencers have a very unique market and they are well worth the investment. Influencers are people who blog, VLOG, or have an on line magazine with an established audience and social channels. Some generate millions of impressions weekly. They drive traffic to your site or your business. They bring people in the door. They create happy feelings about your brand. They amplify emotions and messages. HIRE The BEST INFLUENCERS for the job. What does that look like? This is not always the influencer, or influencers, with the highest number of readers or impressions. This might like a 40 year old Mom of two school aged kids, who specifically has one child with autism, being contracted to tell her story about why she chooses X brand of cotton clothing for her son. It is the product that is the softest with no abrasive tags or seams. She is he right person for this influential partnership. AUTHENTICITY: Hire the best influencers for the job AND also don’t forget about authenticity. You can’t find the most authentic people on a list that you bought from someone. The authentic influencers are to be found by reading blogs and watching social media channels and being there involved paying attention to conversations. I know 8-10 adoptive parents in Ontario with blogs. Every year Wendy’s fast food restaurant runs a few different seasonal campaigns to raise money for Wendy’s Wonderful Kids and for foster care and adoption. Have I ever seen any of the contacts I know who are adoptive parent bloggers, or adoptees who blog, involved on those campaigns telling real adoption stories that connect with an emotion? NO. Never. I always shake my head every year at that one. Don’t google 20 Ontario bloggers and send a press release, then ask for rates, and wait for someone to rewrite a press release and post it. As an adoptive parent I can tell you this approach has the opposite effect intended. It actually makes me want to disengage because the happy charitable giving back feeling is lost when I start to think that was wasted money. Hire the best influencer for the job and then maintain them as an asset and a partner. Once you have the perfect fit, what comes next? You’ve found, connected and are happy with the start of the relationship with this particular influencer Mom with son as in example above. The clothing brand loves her. She has a very specific community and she writes about special needs and parenting and she extends that into real life talking to other moms naturally throughout the course of each month. She does that naturally all the time without being told to insert message here in each conversation that comes up…Now you work at getting her to take this job on longer. How will you do that? The brand should work with this influencer to ask her what it would take to make this into a one year relationship. Communicate regularly with her. Nurture the relationship and contract her for a certain time. Don’t lose sight of the individual touch. THINK Longterm. COMMIT. My buzzword that I, as a blogger, started hearing a lot about in the final quarter of 2015, was exclusivity. I was asked many times at end of 2015 to quote what I might charge to be involved in an exclusive relationship with Brand X or Brand Y. If anything, I think this might be a trend to watch in 2016. I know I said this was not that post – but I am tossing in one trend to watch. Exclusivity. ( for the record if you want to read about digital marketing trends in 2016 I recommend this read from Cision.) I would love to see this trend play out over the next two years digitally. I think authenticity is important and once you find the right authentic blogger that fits and is willing to have a longterm relationship and also is professional then you should potentially look at building a contract that asks for her to be an exclusive blog ambassador for 4-5 months for your brand and ask that she specifically doesn’t write or discuss any other soft kid’s clothing brands for that timeframe. In example above with the blogger mom who has a child with unique needs and fits the soft clothing brand image perfectly – you should provide her with constant fresh product for her child or children. Ask her if she also wants to feature a guest post from your expert on sensory processing and the effect of clothing on a child with autism. Maybe she’d like to also offer her readers a giveaway of some of the products she likes best from the line. Ask her if she might also run an interview with the person who created the brand. Give her concrete specifics for during that timeframe and then also add budget to the contract. Be prepared to negotiate and double or triple what you would allot for a post. If you want exclusivity in an influencer relationship you should understand that it costs more. For instance this same blogger might write a post about your clothing and then be asked next month to write something similar about soft hats for a competitor. She loses the opportunity to draw income from that other post so you need to make this contract and relationship worth it to her. This is still authentic and real and a relationship. It’s clearly not a one night stand. This is a business, so treat it as one. If you hire the best influencers, then you should be able to maintain and build these relationships. Don’t get hung up on allotting more money to one blogger for exclusivity because it can be very worthwhile. [tweetthis]If you don’t have time to do it then you contract social media out. Luckily Thrifty Mom Media does that. https://ca.linkedin.com/in/inkscrblr[/tweetthis] And one last thought. YOU NEED to LOVE social media marketing and influencer marketing in order to do this well and hire the best influencers. If you don’t believe in what you are selling then the campaign is never going to work. If you also use social media and read blogs and enjoy spending time reading and connecting and gathering news from Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram bloggers and influencers can tell. It’s all part of building the best relationships and delivering results for your clients. Start with the idea that you need to hire the best influencers for the job and then build on that with some of the points above and your new media marketing efforts should begin to improve and resonate in 2016. By the way this is also what I do at Thrifty Mom Media. Contact me at inkscrblr@rogers.com for information or a quote. Connect with me Paula Schuck on LinkedIn. Hire the best influencers for the job.

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