Bloggers!

Are you looking for a way to boost your followers and fans?

Join me on $50 Fridays!

This is a weekly event and you are welcome to join once or weekly! This is the hottest new group for promotion!

Just make sure if you choose to sign up, let ‘em know Christine from ‘Saved By Grace’ sent ya!

Just head on over to Adventures of 8 and check out the details!

Come link up your giveaways! Saved By Grace will now be doing a weekend (Lazy Days!) Giveaway Link up!

Please enter in the following format:

Prize, day it ends

If you use Rafflecopter, make sure you choose the day BEFORE it ends because Rafflecopter always ends at 12:01 am.

Make sure if you link up, you support other bloggers and enter their giveaways!

This week’s featured blogger is Gena, from “Life with Captain FussyBuckets”

1) Why did you start blogging?

I started blogging because we were living with my parents, hubby was trying to get a job, we had a 2 year old and a four month old and I needed a creative outlet!

2) How did you come up with the name for your blog?

When our now three year old was a baby, he was very fussy. He had tummy/colic issues and also was just always hard to get to sleep and stay asleep, so we began calling him Captain Fussybuckets when he would have his fits. We don’t call him that often now, but it’s a funny way to remember those early days as new parents.

3) What is your blog about?

I like to blog about our life and stuff that’s on my mind. Of course I like to review and giveaway items, post recipes and crafts, and other fun ideas for families with preschoolers and toddlers to do.

4) What is one thing in your life you are most proud of?

I’m proud of our little family and what it has become. It seems like when we got married, we were so young and naive and you know, when you get married you think you have all the answers and it will all be so easy. Well, having two children and hitting some bumps along the way has really strengthened us and taught us a lot. And leaning on God for support rather than ourselves has taught us a lot, too.

5) What were you like as a teenager?

I was a homebody! I liked to be social with friends, but I also liked to stay at home and read and listen to music. not surprisingly, once we got the internet in our house, I was busy exploring it a lot!

6)Do you have any special talents?

I’m a creative cook. I can also type really fast. ha!

7) Your friends/family would describe you as….?

Quiet, caring, and hopefully a good friend!

8) If you could give one piece of advice about starting a blog, what would it be?

Be prepared for a lot of work. It looks a lot easier than it actually is. And if you have kids that need constant attention and don’t nap well, forget it!

Be sure to visit Gena on her blog’s Facebook page and follow her on twitter for updates, giveaways and more!

I have many readers ask me how to enter my giveaways. The rafflecopter form/widget is super easy to use! It is the same for all my giveaways

Please take a moment to watch this 45 second video on how to enter and I look forward to having YOU as a winner on my blog!

This week’s featured blogger is from Dawn, from Guiding Light Homeschool.

1) Why did you start blogging? To work with the TOS Homeschool Crew, actually. Although I had thoughts of starting one before that - that was the thing that actually got it started.

2) How did you come up with the name for your blog? Everything I’ve done has been “Guiding Light” - dog training, Rabbitry, raising dogs…so it was just the next step in the line of things with that at the beginning. And “Guiding Light” came from our Lord Jesus Christ being the Guiding Light of our family - and allowing us to hopefully be a light to others for Him.

3) What is your blog about? Mostly reviews and giveaways, but also just life in general with regards to being Christian Homeschoolers. I don’t really have a “niche” yet (and not sure I ever will!).

4) What is one thing in your life you are most proud of? Surviving being a single mother for 8-1/2 years!

5) What is your hometown like? Hometown. Interesting wording. Not sure what “hometown” means really. Is it where I grew up, mostly? Or where I live now? Where we live now is a small town of about 5,000. People are always out walking around - I love that.

6) Do you have any pets? If so, what? Absolutely! (Wish we had more!) We are down to two dogs and two cats. We recently sold our small rabbitry and our guinea pigs.

7) What is your favorite book or movie? Movie: The Man From Snowy River. Book: Man O’ War.

8) What is your family’s favorite meal together? Supper. But we love to eat every meal we can together!

You can follow Guiding Light on facebook, twitter, G+ and Pinterest!

This post is a little out of my niche for Saved By Grace, but recently I have been getting random pitches from companies and I think it is important that companies know how to work with bloggers. Blog posts as an avenue to get your products out there are a fairly new and exciting way to generate what I like to call ‘buzz’, but there are several ways that work better than others when approaching bloggers.

Photo via flickr by india.ca

Now, I don’t want to sound like I am an expert, this is just what I have observed in my time doing product reviews.

Please, for love love of Bob, greet me with my first name

My first name can be found on the sidebar in my “About Me” section. It is so important to me to be greeted as if I am a person, not a blob on the blogesphere. I often ignore pitches from companies that put things like “Dear Blogger”, “Greetings Saved by Grace blog” and “Blogger,”. It seems so impersonal and if you want to form a potential relationship with me to promote your products, please at least find out my name.

Seriously consider doing a giveaway for my readers

I know it is a bit more costly to consider doing an additional item for giveaway, but I can tell you it will be much more effective. My readers are more interested in reading about a product I am giving away than just what is essentially to them a sales pitch with nothing in it for them. Plus, think about it this way, if you give away a product, you might create a potential customer in the future because they already think favorably of your company. Also, please don’t tell me you will send me a small sample for review, but offer some huge prize package for my readers. Blogging is my job, I take it very seriously and I deserve to be compensated fairly for taking the time to write up a review.

If you like my work on your review, please consider telling other companies

If I do a good job, please consider telling others about my work. I would LOVE to also have an ongoing relationship with a company as well and I am totally open to more projects with your company. Don’t be afraid to keep me around.

Please, take the time to read a few posts on my blog

I would really love it if you would take a peek at my blog before deciding to pitch me. That way, you can see if my blog’s readers and myself would really be interested in finding out about and reviewing your product. I like to try to stay in my niche, so make sure I am a good fit for you. It works out to your advantage as well. Think about it. If a blog’s main readers are men for example, would it make sense for the blogger to post a review on a new line of makeup?

I really appreciate it if you treat me like a human being

I have developed some wonderful relationships with PR firms and people selling products simply because they went out of their way to add some character to their pitch. They talked to me about anything from current weather to my love of blogging. I have even spent hours on the phone getting to know the people behind the screen/email and it made me that much more excited about writing up their review post. I love to make connections with people. It is part of the reason I started blogging in the first place.

If you decide for what ever reason to not go ahead with a product review, please let me know

I have had companies that were eager in pitching me, we almost got to the post, I had sent them my address for the product to be shipped to and then silence. There is nothing more disappointing than having this happen. I totally understand if you changed your mind, or ran out of products available for review, but please just let me know. It means a lot and is highly professional to do.

If I write up a review for you, I would love it if you would promote it

I spend a great deal of time promoting my blog posts and reviews, but if you really want a ton of people to see it, lets work together. Promote my post on your social networks as well!

Bloggers, Could you weigh in on this and let others know what also makes a product review run smoothly for you?

I hope I have helped some PR firms and companies understand how to more effectively work with bloggers. We want to work with you! We really do! We just need some better communication, that’s all!

If you are a PR firm or a company reading this and you would like to have a product review on my blog, feel free to contact me at borntimestwo@hotmail.com

I promise I don’t bite!

I am going to tackle a subject today that is a tough one. It is also maybe not characteristic of my blog’s niche, but I also feel it is an important one. I am going to be talking about sexual assault.

First, let me say that I am a survivor of sexual assault. (I say survivor because that is what I am. I am NOT a victim). The subject has been under the microscope lately in my home-town of Missoula, Montana and I am pretty saddened by a particular blog post that was made on Jezebel.com

In the article, the “reporter” came to Missoula and talked to several residents, mostly college students. What was said is no less that vile in my opinion. There was a lot of misconceptions about why sexual assault occurs and TONS of victim-blaming. I could not believe what I read. I could not believe with all the education on sexual assault, people still felt this way.

I do have to say though, Missoulians are a great bunch in a lot of ways. Aaron Traylor, a local popular Dj on a local radio station posted a report on the article and posted a picture of himself with a sign that said he is against what the article on Jezebel said. In turn, I posted a similar picture and it started a ball of positivity rolling that said Missoulians would not stand to be labeled “the Rape Capitol of America” as we were dubbed in the Jezebel article and we would stand tall and supportive of those who had experienced assault.

What is so terrible about ‘victim blaming’ is it makes the victim feel further isolated and keeps the assaults further un-reported. Why would a woman (or man for that matter?) want to be put in the spotlight after a sexual assault and further looked down upon when they need to be supported?

As a society, we need to be more sensitive and educated on how this happens. We need to open our hearts and minds. I don’t see any reason not to.

Some common misconceptions and thoughts about sexual assault that really make me angry:

*”If the victim wasn’t dressed that way and didn’t ‘tease’ a man, she wouldn’t get raped or assaulted.

WRONG. There are plenty of cases where old ladies wearing completely covered clothing get assaulted. A rapist will rape/assault based on POWER and CONTROL. It is NOT about sex.

*”She’s a sl** anyways. she probably just regrets sleeping with him and so she made up this story now”

WRONG. I can tell you from my personal promiscuous past that while I regretted sleeping with some men I did when I was intoxicated, it was not assault. Assault FEELS way different than a poor choice. It is so much more than that!

WHEN will society get past these opinions?

Are there ways to prevent sexual assault in some cases? Sure there are and many are common sense:

Don’t get overly intoxicated and stay with friends (even IF you don’t you don’t deserve or ask to get assaulted!)

Party with people you know well and who will protect you (again, even if you don’t, you do not deserve or ask to get assaulted!)

Bottom line: NO ONE deserves to get assaulted!

What people need to realize is it does no one any good to blame a victim. Imagine how you would feel if you had a crime committed against you and you were too ashamed to tell anyone because you felt others would judge you! What a lonely place to be.

I can’t imagine “making up” an assault either. With the attitude many hold with victim blaming, why in the world would someone want that kind of attention enough to make up a story?

I can tell you that sexual assault can and does often devastate a life. In my case, it took years of healing and in many ways, I am still in the process.

Please think before you speak when it comes to this. Your words can be extremely damaging to the very people who need you.

In love,

Chrissie

Now that I have some readers, I wanted to share a bit about myself so you know the person behind the blog!

I am a Montana native. I grew up here and at 30 years old, I still live here. I think being a Montana native, I have caught myself forgetting how beautiful it is here. I would like to eventually move because I feel like I am stuck here, but for now, I am happy.

I am the mother of a 9 year old girl who is more of a tomboy. While she enjoys barbies and dolls, she likes to play outside and get dirty and is not too much into makeup or clothes and she actually doesn’t really enjoy shopping all that much.

My husband is Spencer. He and I have been married now 3 years and together for 5. He has lived everywhere it seems! New York, Detroit, LA, San Diego, San Fransisco, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina…I think one time he told me had had lived in about 40 of the 50 states so far.

My friends and family call me “Chrissie”, but my name is Christine I am a believer in God and a Christian (hence my blog’s name)

I am a very rule orientated person. I like things to be “just so” and I like order. I definitely don’t do well in chaos.

I am a stay at home mom, even though my daughter is school aged.

I suffer from mental illness, but I have found that blogging and the structure of it as well as the networking with other people has helped a lot with coping! I am so glad I decided to blog!

So now you know a little about me..even if I may be boring!

This week’s featured blogger is my buddy Kathy from Kangaroo Mama!

1) Why did you start blogging?

Oh, this is hard, I need to phone a friend! I think they would say I love a good party, whether it’s throwing, attending, or staying late at one. They’d say I was a night owl, borderline insomniac. I crave time with friends-my love language is quality time. Gifts are nice, saying nice things to and about me don’t hurt, serving me is appreciated but what I need more than those things is spending quality bonding time together! I am happy for and sympathize with my friends through their victories and challenges in their lives. I love a good laugh and it usually doesn’t take much to make me laugh…then the problem is making me stop because I can laugh until tears start welling up! Go ahead, make me laugh!

You can find Kathy on her facebook fanpage, follow her on twitter and check all all she is diggin’ on pinterest as well! I am sure she would love it if you did!