Author: Debbie

Amanda Fiveash: Pumpkin Crumble Muffins

By Amanda Fiveash 

pumpkin-muffin-recipe-title

As soon as the first hint of pumpkins emerges from the farms, my son is going down the list asking for his favorite pumpkin recipes.  He can’t quite seem to get enough pumpkin anything in the fall.  His first request this year was for pumpkin crumble muffins!  They are his all-time favorite fall treat.  In his words, they are scrum-dittili–umptious.  I would have to say I agree. 

There is nothing like having an entire house filled with the amazing aroma of fall.  The spice combination that fills the muffins are warm, tickling your taste buds. 

As I pulled these from the oven, the children waited rather impatiently.  Once they were placed on the cooling rack, their patience was tried even more.  “How many pictures are you going to take?” echoed from their lips.  I snapped several photos, and caved.  They just smelled too good to not savor them warm. 

pumpkin-muffin-recipe-toppings

 

The best thing about this recipe, other than eating them, is the fact that they are so simple.  You don’t even need a mixer, just a bowl and spoon! 

Looking for a muffin that just says “fall?” Here’s one for you.

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Pumpkin Crumble Muffins
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For the muffins
  1. 1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
  2. 1 cup of sugar
  3. 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  4. 1/2 teaspoon of salt
  5. 1 1/2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice
  6. 1 cup pumpkin puree
  7. 1/4 cup of almond milk (or milk)
  8. 1/3 cup of melted coconut oil (or butter)
  9. 2 large eggs
  10. 1 teaspoon of vanilla
  11. 1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips (optional)
For the topping
  1. 1/3 cup of flour
  2. 1/2 cup brown sugar
  3. pinch of salt
  4. 3 tablespoons of coconut oil
  5. 1/3 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheatthe oven to 350
For the muffin batter
  1. Line a muffin pan with liners or lightly oil the inside of each cupcake indention and set aside.
  2. Combine all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir and set aside.
  3. Combine all wet ingredients together.
  4. Stir in the dry ingredients until the mixture in just combined; fold in the chocolate chips.
  5. Spoon the batter evenly into each tin.
For the crumb topping
  1. Combinethe dry ingredients for your crumb topping
  2. Add in the coconut oil and stir with a fork until it starts to form crumbs.
  3. Divide the mixture over the muffins.
  4. Loosely cover the tops of the muffins with foil and bake for 10 minutes; remove foil and continue to bake for 17-20 minutes.
Notes
  1. As tempting as it is, allow them to cool slightly before diving in!
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
 

What is your favorite pumpkin recipe? 

headshot

Amanda was born in Arkansas and although lived in several other states, returned home to put down roots before starting her own family in Northern Arkansas.  Her blog, Our Homemade Life is a creative outlet to share her adventures in motherhood from making messes with crafts and in the kitchen to homeschooling and their love of family travel.  You can connect with Amanda on Google+, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest & Facebook.

#AWBU Recap Still Life Photography, Styling, and Basic Photo Editing

By Mel Lockcuff

Great photos allow the memories of life to live on. Remember sifting through your grandma’s photo albums when you were a kid? Photos of family (both near and far), family pets, farm animals, babies, kids, vacations or trips to distant places, trees, flowers, school days, the family car, trips to town…

Great photos allow the memories of life to live on. #photographytips #AWBU #Recap @mamabuzz

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Photos are a window into the past. Photos allow us to visually share our story with the next generation. It’s important to think about the moments you want to capture, the message you want to convey.

Photos are a window into the past. #AWBU #Recap #photographytips @mamabuzz

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Photos make your content even more visual for your readers. They bring an added measure of beauty to your writing. Good photos draw the eyes in and make readers want to click on that Pin or want to read more. They allow you to more visually promote a brand, but in a relevant way that also connects with your readers.

Photos bring an added measure of beauty to your writing.@mamabuzz #photographytips #stilllife #AWBU

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We had a great time in this session, covering the following points:

– Photography in Everyday Life, Travel, Blogging, and Working with Brands
– Positioning and Lighting
– Handy Tools
– Photo Styling and Props
– Mobile Apps
– Basic Photoshop and PicMonkey Skills

You can read all of the presentation and learn more by visiting the SlideShare for the presentation.

Mel Lockcuff

Mel Lockcuff is a wife and homeschool mom to 2 boys and a cat named Harold. She and her family are transfers to Arkansas and are loving life in Northwest Arkansas. They have 10 chickens and a lovely little garden in their budding back yard homestead.

Mel is a lifestyle and travel blogger at MamaBuzz, where her goal is to inspire life every day with creative inspiration related to food and recipes, travel and local places of interest, home and garden, crafts, DIY projects, back yard homesteading, awareness, and more. Mel is also a freelance writer, the founder of MamaBuzz Media, and has extensive experience as a community manager. Her work has been published on VisitRogersArkansas.com, OnlyinArk.com, and 66TheMotherRoad Magazine. She’s also the author of the eBook, Blog Design Elements of Success: How to Make Your Blog Stand Out.You can find Mel on Twitter @MamaBuzz, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.  

In Between Seasons Basil Cucumber Lemonade

pic1By Jodi Coffee

It’s Fall, y’all! Well, at least that’s what the calendar is telling us. The temperatures here in Southwest Arkansas have yet to fully give way to the cool days of Fall. We have been teased with a few drops into the 50’s and 60’s and then back up again in the high 80’s and low 90’s. It does wonders for one’s sinuses and can make a mama go mad when trying to pack for a weekend with three littles. Packing enough clothes to cover a range of temperatures TIMES THREE has likened our crew to that of the Beverly Hillbillies…and I have an oversized vehicle!

 As I was saying…

 My garden is in an in-between phase as well. My summer veggies are tuckering out and my newly planted cold crops are taking their sweet little time. It’s hard to go from eating from the garden every day to “watching the kettle boil”… a mistake I hope to avoid next season.jodi fall garden

  One reliable source is my herb garden. I LOVE herbs. I love them for many different reasons, but one that tops the list is the fact that they are fairly low maintenance. I keep most of my herbs in pots. It helps to keep them contained (to an extent) and they each hang out in their own space. 

jodi herbs

 In a time when it’s officially one season and feels like another, I tend to stick with food and drink that pair with the temperature. The fashion world doesn’t seem to be this tolerant). I can’t eat chili or drink hot chocolate when it’s 85 degrees out. Just. Not. Right. SO, fortunately, there are ways to eat fresh and roll with Mother Nature.

I am constantly trying to come up with ways to use the fruits of my labor. Literally. As in, the stuff from my garden. During this ‘tween phase, a nice cucumber-basil lemonade is the perfect way to celebrate the phasing out of summer and the welcoming of Fall. It’s simplistic yet divine. It’s refreshing and fabulous all in one. And speaking of ONE, this recipe is for ONE. My kiddos turn their noses up at my herbal concoctions (in actuality they pinch their little noses…they’re not fond of the smell), SO this is something I enjoy solo. Being SOLO and having the time to sip on some lemonade is a rare occasion. When I am able, I treat this mama right!

I go out and grab a few stems of basil from my herb garden.  I suggest placing them immediately in a mason jar or vase of water as the leaves will brown quickly.  Take one or two lemons (depending on size) and juice the fire out of ‘em. I mean juice the JUICE out of them!  Add your basil and cucumber and get to muddling. 

jodi lemonade collage500

 Since I don’t own a muddler, I used the end of one of my nifty handmade spoons made by my Dad.  This can be rather therapeutic. (Especially if the dogs just tracked in grass on a freshly mopped floor…hypothetically speaking and all.)  Add the sweetener (I used Stevia) and water.  Stir and let the flavors hang out for 10-15 minutes.

This may be a good time to go and start some laundry or move the clothes over to the dryer. Or, you could flip through your favorite magazine. But, you may want to save that until you have your drink in hand.  When the time is right, transfer ingredients to a mason jar filled with ice. And YES, I do recommend a mason jar. It makes it that much better.

 Garnish with cucumber slices and basil.  Walk around, enjoy the weather.  Take it poolside.  Oh no! No glass poolside! (Rules are made to be broken, and besides – you’re home alone. The kids will never know.)   Check out the garden. It will help you cope with those oh-so-slow sprouts.

  And there you have it.  Simplicity at it’s best!

lemonade 500

 But, just in case,  here  is the printable recipe just for YOU.

Is your garden tuckered out? Try this In Between Season Basil cucumber Lemonade from…

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In Between Seasons Basil Cucumber Lemonade
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Ingredients
  1. 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  2. 1/4 cup chopped cucumber
  3. 4-5 fresh basil leaves
  4. 3/4 teaspoon stevia (2 packets) OR 1 1/2 tablespoon extra fine sugar
  5. 3/4 cup cold filtered water
Instructions
  1. Combine lemon juice, chopped cucumber, and basil leaves in measuring cup
  2. Mix and muddle ingredients for 1-2 minutes
  3. Add stevia OR sugar
  4. Add water
  5. Stir to combine
  6. Let flavors meld for 10-15 minutes
  7. Enjoy!
Notes
  1. *Tip: this recipe may be doubled to amount needed if you feel inclined to invite someone to join you.
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/

jodi coffee

Jodi Coffee, who blogs at The Coffee House Life, is the mom of three beautiful and energetic little girls that ALWAYS give her something to blog about. She loves to try new things — food, travel and adventure. In her spare time…wait a minute. What is that? She enjoys training for triathlons, and has her sights set on an IRONMAN in the near future. She is a backyard farmer, a farmers’ market manager and enjoys helping bring healthy opportunities to her community.

 

 

#AWBU Recap Take Better Pictures

IMG_4023 copy (1)By Sarabeth Jones and Whitney Lobber

   First of all, think about:

  • why are you taking pictures?
  • why are you sharing what you share?
  • why do you like to look at pictures?

 

 instagram-logoNow. Pull up your instagram profile. Look at the grid of pictures under your name. What do you see? What story are you telling?   Here is a random list of some of our favorites – they are telling a clear story with beautiful images, and they run the gamut from professional photographers to regular people who have simply learned some tricks to help out their photos. Take a look at:

  • @abeautifulmessofficial
  • @alisonchino
  • @destinationeu
  • @kjp
  • @smileandwave
  • @garethpon
  • @taza
  • @bobdavidson
  • @ryanbyrd
  • @christenbyrd
  • @mooshinindy

 Now that you’ve seen these, we hope you’re inspired to take better pictures. Here are some things you can do!   While you’re shooting:   What are you shooting with?  

  • iPhone camera (Whitney) I shoot 99% of my phone photos with my iPhone camera. No fuss, No frills.
  1. Touch the screen to control the focus and exposure (brightness).
  2. Lock the focus (helpful when your subject is close or hard to focus on) by holding down on the spot you want to focus until the yellow box pops up.
  3. Help yourself with the rule of thirds (more on this later) by turning on your grid, I think the default is off, but you can turn it on under settings.  
  • VSCOcam (Sarabeth) I also shoot mostly with my iPhone camera but I also like the camera in this app for a few reasons:
  1. Tap the screen with 2 fingers to separate your focus from exposure which gives you a little added control over brightness.
  2. Shoot in a square mode to help you see what you’re getting for Instagram – the full rectangular frame is still captured in case you want more to work with later.
  3. The whole bottom of the screen turns into the camera button – it’s just bigger and easier.

 Don’t shoot in an app that’s not made to be a camera – like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter. You just have more tools to work with and will get better pics using a camera app.

  Things to keep in mind while you’re shooting:  

  • Why: take a minute to think about the purpose of the content. You wouldn’t share on the fly on your blog; remember that this is part of a bigger story. Pictures of your kids, pets, dinner, place you visit…all fine, but does it fit the story you are telling
  • Where: look at your surroundings, how does your location play into the photograph,
  • Light: Where is it coming from, and what kind? filtered sunlight, direct sun, interior light, backlighting, side light. Turn off your flash. Don’t be afraid to play with light, moving around to see how it plays in your photo.
  • What (check background, etc): be aware of the entire frame, even the background tells a story. With food you want the water on the fresh produce to give the photo a feeling, same can be true of the surrounding/background. For example…if I’m (Whitney) taking a picture of my son on my couch I might get up and open my blinds to add better light or shadows and move laundry off my couch to give a clean look. It’s still true to a natural moment, but just a cleaner version. I am a photographer and I will set people up for a natural photo; it’s very rare for it to happen completely naturally.
  • Angles: start by taking lots of photos. Don’t be afraid to move around and see what works. Shoot from above, get lower (on the level of your subject), straight on, from the side. Then, in editing, decide what you like best. Resist your urge to post multiples and only post one! Save the progression and full story for your blog.
  • Color: pay attention to it in each photo as well as your total feed/story. Use it, don’t let it overwhelm. A note about black and white – make it black and white, lots of contrast, not just a bunch of gray.
  • Rule of thirds, leading lines: imagine you take your frame and cut it in 9 equal parts, like a tic tac toe board. This is the rule of thirds. Use the intersections of those lines as points of interest, something the eye will naturally be drawn to. By placing a subject in the middle of the frame your eye is immediately drawn to it and then has no place to go. By placing your subject on one of these points of interest, near a side, your eyes follow the photo and linger longer. Another tool to lead a viewer into a photo is the use of leading lines. Often a road, bridge, straight line, path, but can also be a softer line that leads you deeper into the photo.
  • Try the opposite: Always important to remember that sometimes we have to throw out all of these rules. Some of our favorite photos are real life, messy and all, or a photo off the grid. We can really love a photo in full center focus. or something with so much negative space.
  • Take a LOT of pictures: It’s worth repeating. Take several, look at what you got, adjust. Try the opposite! Lather, rinse, repeat. J

  While you’re editing (you ARE editing, right?):  

  • Cropping can make your picture stronger – make it look better, give it a stronger point of view. You can adjust to use leading lines or the rule of thirds, or can fix things you didn’t get quite right when you shot.
  • Contrast & saturation: if I (Sarabeth) don’t do anything else, I always adjust – increase – these. Especially for these pictures that are viewed on small screens.
  • Don’t over adjust – remember to keep a natural look, especially if you are going to share these at a larger size, like on your blog.
  • Color: Would your picture be stronger if it were black & white?
  • You can do all of this in Instagram, or you can try our favorite apps –

 

  1. Snapseed – we love the sliders for adjustments, mostly use crop, tune image & sharpening screens. You can vignette with the center focus screen.
  2. VSCOcam – also has same tools – I like the separate shadows/highlight tools here – but VSCO sliders have stops, so they’re not quite as flexible as snapseed. Easier to vignette because there’s a specific tool for it. Some really nice filters too.  

This is a lot of information, and it’s a little hard to convey without visuals, but there are so many great tutorials on pretty much every aspect of photography – so if there’s a term you don’t understand, start Googling (or ask us)! Here’s to taking better pictures: Slideshare.

freeclipartcamera

Whitney Loibner and Sarabeth Jones are framily. They love to take trips together, especially cruises. They love to have drinks on the patio together, especially margaritas. And they love living in Dogtown and taking pictures of it all. Whitney is quite adept at putting funny things in Sarabeth’s purse for her to find later, and Sarabeth is practically a professional at borrowing Whitney’s clothes.  [whitneyloibner.com | sarabethjones.com, @whitneyloibner & @sarabethjones on twitter & instagram]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#AWBU Recap Pinterest Rockstar with Taylor Bradford

By Taylor Bradford

Hi y’all! Taylor here. In case you weren’t able to catch my Pinterest Rockstar session at #AWBU, you are in luck today!! I’m giving you access to my presentation and some notes to help you become a rockstar on Pinterest.First up….the link to my Pinterest Rockstar presentation.  Okay, now let’s chat about Pinterest for a bit. The questions I was receiving during my presentation were great ones. The overwhelming theme, however, was this question…”How do I use Pinterest?” And when I say that, I mean that you are asking yourself that question.
 
 
This is a super important question to ask yourself because it will tell you how you need to proceed to becoming a Pinterest Rockstar. I use Pinterest to curate content. And by curate content, I mean curate ALL the content. Specifically, content that can fit into my pre-existing Pinterest boards. My method might not be your method. Let’s say you are building a brand based on a service. You might structure your pins towards that service. You might not curate all the content out on Pinterest. So figure out how to use Pinterest to best suit your brand. What I taught works for me and my brand. But gives you a great idea on how you can become a Rockstar for your own brand.
So what am I doing to gain followers? I am pinning every 10 minutes. And I use a service called Viral Tag to do this (something I pay for). I’m not going to get into the specifics of my Viral Tag account (that would be an entire post in and of itself! LOL) but it’s what I use to be able to pin that often. I also pin when I have free time. I work on pinning content to my own group boards to build them up!!
 
Group Boards…find them and get on them. Super important in order to get in front of new audiences. Most of the boards have the instructions on how to get on them (and the rules for the board…make sure you follow them!). If you don’t see instructions on how to be added, comment on one of the owners most recent pins requesting access. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t.
Want more Pinterest tips? Check out my original Pinterest Rockstar post here.
 
 
Taylor Headshot 600x800
Taylor Bradford is the owner/editor of PinkHeelsPinkTruck.com, a lifestyle blog with an emphasis on fashion, beauty, fitness, food, blogging tips/tricks, crafts/DIY and books. She is the Community Director of the Texas Women Bloggers,  the founder and co-host of an online book club called the #LiteraryJunkies, and a co-founder/creator of the #NOEXCUSES Fitness Challenge Series. She is a shoe lover, fitness-guru, book hoarder, and wanna-be fashionista. She calls Texas home, Chai Tea Latte’s her go-to drink and time spent with her hubby and friends music to her soul. Her motto in the blogging world is to roll out your own red carpet and keep your big girl panties pulled up high. She’s an open book with blogging and has a passion for sharing everything she learns!!

Flirting With Figs {Foodie Friday}

By Wendy Finn of I Touch People

My mom loves figs. If I‘m at a Trader Joe’s I always pick up some Calmyrna figs for her. Back in the day I remember her loving fig newtons. I never really dug it, until I watched her gleefully planting a fig tree in her yard, not sure if it would make it through the cold Arkansas winters. But when winter comes, my mom goes outside with sheets and blankets and covers up her fig tree. When it was small this was okay. As it got larger it was kind of ridiculous, but not really, if you are serious about your figs.

My mom is serious about her figs, ridiculously serious about her figs.

figs 2a

Raw Fig Jam
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Ingredients
  1. 6 fresh figs
  2. 2 to 4 tablespoons of honey (agave if you're going for vegan)
  3. one vanilla bean (or one teaspoon vanilla)
  4. 2 tablespoons chia seeds
Instructions
  1. Whiz it up in your blender, move it to the jar you want to store it in (if you don't eat it all right when you make it), and let it sit for a few minutes while the chia seeds expand and give it texture.
  2. We eat this spread on Amie Sue's Raw Honey Oat Cinnamon Bread that I make regularly in our house.
Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/
Here’s a Raw Fig Jam for your enjoyment. #ARWB #FoodieFriday @imspa

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I would never have given a fig about them, if she didn’t love them so much.  It’s not something that I see around me on a day to day basis and they are not super visible in the grocery store.  Now I’m addicted and I want my own fig tree.  I’ll be the crazy lady on my street covering up my ginormous fig tree with sheets in the winter time.

IMG_0149figs 3a

As a fresh fruit they are amazing.  As a dried fruit, with the natural sugar coating on the outside, they are even more amazing.  They make a great raw jelly, and my absolute favorite thing to do with figs is turn them into raw food power bars.  The texture with the seeds is addictive.  And the recipes are sooo easy.  You can’t help but incorporate them into daily life.  Good mojo all around.

figs 1a

 This post turns out to be a kind of tribute to Amie Sue, because this next recipe I have adapted over time to suit my kitchen needs, but I first got the recipe off her site Nouveau Raw.  I think she is my favorite raw food chef on the web.  Her web site is beautifully done, her recipes are innovative, do-able, and often have complex flavors.  I have seen it done other places, but I love her use of cardamom in these power bars.  Other aspects of this recipe I have changed, but I still love to use the cardamom.  I especially love to smell my herb grinder after I have whizzed up the seed pods.

 I am a full time nursing student, I own a small business with 8 employees, and I have a husband and four sons ranging in age from 19 to 9.  I have a tendency to streamline recipes to make them faster and bigger.  Functional is the name of the game.  Also, I have to work with what is my kitchen.  I don’t have time to run to the store.  If I have it on the shelf and it seems like a safe bet, it’s going in.  Especially with power bars.  You just can’t go wrong.

Sharing Raw Fig Power Bars on #ARWB #FoodieFriday by @imspa

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Wendy finn headshotWendy Finn is the mother of 4 boys, owner of I.M. Spa, a Raw Food Enthusiast and educator, a world traveler in pursuit of superior massage education, a Master Massage Therapist of 20 plus years, a gardener, and a nursing student.  She’s passionate about touching people and sharing health.

Business www.imspa.net
Twitter @imspa
Instagram @itouchpeople

#AWBU Recap Post: Becoming An Evernote Ninja, or Why You Need To Join My Cult

evernote 1By Bethany Stephens

Earlier this year, Evernote announced that it had reached an astounding 100 million users worldwide.  As a point of reference, Twitter has 271 million monthly active users.  These numbers are interesting because despite its widespread popularity, Evernote still feels widely unknown and underused.  The vast majority of savvy people I interact with are not familiar with Evernote, or they’ve heard about it and don’t really understand the big deal – it’s just another cloud-based note-taking app, right??
 
 
Image source: Evernote
 
The fun upside to Evernote remaining relatively foreign is that discovering another user in a crowd makes it feel like we both know where the fountain of youth is located, and we plan to meet up there later to frolic.
 
I discovered Evernote in 2009 and became an avid user in 2010, and I still find it ironic that the oldest note I have on file is a Far Side cartoon in which a student asks to be excused from class due to his brain being full.  In April 2010, I got tired of looking for that particular cartoon online (apparently I reference it so frequently that this was a huge inconvenience in my life) and filed it in Evernote for easy access:
 
2 evernote
Credit: The Far Side
 
It actually couldn’t be more appropriate, because that Gary Larson snippet perfectly captures how I feel about Evernote: I use it because my brain feels full, and I simply don’t have the capacity or the desire to try to remember everything.  I’d rather save my limited mental space for remembering which book my daughter is currently reading so that I can ask her about it after school, or for brainstorming big ideas and innovative solutions with colleagues and clients.
 evernote logo 2
 
 
 
 
3 evernote a
Image source: Evernote
 
So, I’m on a mission to spread the Evernote love.  Rather than finding that other user in a crowd and feeling smug together about what we’ve discovered, I want everyone to understand why I am so darn passionate about Evernote.  Trust me, those around me hear about it ad nauseum, so I’ve had to resort to being an evangelist for unsuspecting crowds and people who aren’t tired of hearing about it.  
 
 evernote collage2
Photo credits: Dining With Debbie, nwaFoodie (and apparently Jody Dilday and I swapped sweaters)
 
From training sessions for CPG companies based in Northwest Arkansas to serve Walmart – the world’s largest retailer and their top customer – to classes for small groups and teams to a recent session during the Arkansas Women Bloggers conference, I’ll talk about Evernote to anyone who will listen.  Earlier this year I agreed to join the team at Kendal King Group in order to launch a new breed of retail marketing agency called Velocity, and we’ll be making Evernote and Evernote Business training and consultation available to many of our clients.
  • Shameless plug: We’d love to have you follow the Velocity blog and our social accounts (Instagram, Pinterest & Twitter), and we have many upcoming projects where we will collaborate with bloggers, social media users and freelance writers and designers! We’ll work directly through partners like Stephanie Buckley and The Women Bloggers, so stay tuned to the Arkansas Women Bloggers (and other state sites) for details.
After the recent session at the Arkansas Women Bloggers conference, I agreed to put together a recap post for those who weren’t able to participate in the Evernote session or just wanted a handy reference guide.  
 
However, the thing about Evernote is that it certainly can be a game-changer, but there is a lot of ground to cover!  So, following this “Convince You That Evernote Is Amazing” post will be a series of three additional posts to help you a) understand what the heck Evernote is b) cover the basics of using it and c) turbo-charge your Evernote use with pro tips and best practices.
 
So go ahead, jump on in – the water’s fine.  Here’s one more nudge:
 
 
I’m accustomed to the look on someone’s face during an Evernote session at the exact moment where they realize what it is capable of and how it is applicable in their lives.  At the Arkansas Women Bloggers conference, however, I mistook the perplexed looks on the faces of attendees as an indication that I was missing the mark or doing a poor job of representing the complete fabulousness of Evernote.  It turns out all those furrowed brows and the silence in the room were actually indicative of their brains simultaneously exploding.
 
And hey, what can I say?  That’s exactly what I’m looking for when I introduce someone to Evernote.  
 
I want brains to explode.amy2
 
 
mistie2
 
 
 
 ramona1
ramona 2a
yavonda2
The rest of this series is on the Magpie Marketing blog.  Enjoy! 
Evernote helps you remember everything and get organized effortlessly. Download Evernote.

#AWBU Recap Freelancing 101: Writing All the Words and Making all the Money

 

Sometimes the hardest part of taking a new path is figuring out whether or not you can make it work. In this session, Laurie, Jamie, and Rhonda helped participants with information they needed to take the leap into the awesome, and sometimes scary, world of freelancing as a writer/blogger/social media professional. Finances, resources, good work habits, and continuing education were all part of this presentation. 
 
 
Are you ready to take the leap?
General qualifications, expectations, and questions to ask yourself before going freelance.
Legal, Schmegal 
Taxes and LLCs and expenses, oh, my!
Building a Portfolio
Portfolio options and building up your writing credits
Finding clients
Doing your research for online and print publications, taking advantage of networking opportunities
What am I worth?
Determining what to charge, increasing rates with experience and skills.
Resources
Bloggers, brand connectors, and continuing education
 
 
lauriemarshall
 
Laurie Marshall is a freelance writer and blogger from northwest Arkansas. In addition to her love for a perfectly turned phrase, she has a passion for reusing and repurposing, and may get a little too excited about power tools and the wall of paint chips at her local home improvement store. Laurie graduated from the BA program in Creative Writing at the University of Arkansas in 2007 at the ripe old age of 39, and after spending six years working at a desk job (that she loved!), she took the leap and began her freelancing career. Her work has been published on VisitRogersArkansas.com, TasteArkansas.com, NWAMedia.com, and in AY Magazine and Do South, among others. @LaurieMMarshall 

jamiesmith

 

Jamie Smith has been a blogger since 2005 and it has opened up many doors to her, including being the way she met her husband. A journalist by training, Jamie started her own freelance writing business after being laid off four years ago. Jamie’s Notebook is now her full time (sometimes more than full time!) job and her services include corporate blog writing, website, copywriting, and feature writing. Jamie is also active in offering workshops about the need for and process of corporate blogging.

 A “work-at-home fur mom,” Jamie loves spending time with her husband and their four pets. She is also active in several nonprofit organizations, including Dress for Success Northwest Arkansas, Polina’s Promise, and Captivating Heart Women’s Retreat ministries. @JamiesThots

rhondafranz

 

Rhonda Franz is a freelance writer, licensed teacher, home operations specialist, and domestic chef. She combines her professional background and mommyhood experiences to write on family, parenting, cooking, and education. Her articles emphasize the opportunities parents have in everyday experiences to teach children, and offer strategies and solutions for managing a household with an on-call, traveling husband. Rhonda’s work has been featured on the MSNBC Today Show mom blog and NWAMotherlode, and in Chicken Soup for the Soul. She is a contributor to Arkansas Gardener magazine, Peekaboo magazine, and parenting publications around the country. A city girl at heart, she is raising three lively boys in the woods of northwest Arkansas. You can read more about her at rhondafranz.com, and (soon) at captainmom.net, and find her chirping on Twitter as @rhondafranz.