pointing out rainbows
This post has been a long time coming. And I don't really know how to write it.
So here goes...
I have come to a realization over the past few months. (You Mamas out there with little babies, listen up!)
What I have realized is this. We have all been duped.
We have been duped into believing that our babies need us the most when they are brand new. And while, yes, it is true that they do need us to clothe, feed, soothe, love and protect them while they are so tiny and vulnerable, once you get into a routine and you find your mama-baby rhythm, things can get relatively easy at this point. Yes, I know, I am making some big generalizations here, but stick with me on this.
Last year I went to visit a friend in Toronto who had just had her third daughter. Her two older girls were 4 and 6 at the time. When I asked her if she was going to go back to work again after her maternity leave, I was very surprised to hear her say no, that now she needed to stay home with the girls. I assumed she meant because of the baby, but she told me that it was more for the older two. At that point I really did not understand what she meant.
Now I do.
My kids are 22 months apart. And while this was a challenge when they were say teeny babies and then at 6 and 28 months old and then again at 1 and 3, it is NOTHING compared to right this very minute when they are 3 and 5 years old.
They NEED me!
A LOT.
The questions they have need answers. They need to DO more. With their growing bodies and with their expanding minds. They are both in play school now and are starting to navigate the world of friends who are not always of my choosing. And all this means we have activities to attend, playdates to go to, new skills to hone and way more emotions to deal with on a daily, if not hourly basis.
So I need to be here for them, while they are still little. I know, that to some degree they will always need me, I just can't let them down right now. These years are important ones, the degree to which they are learning and growing and becoming little individuals with their own opinions and feelings is astounding and I need to be giving them my full attention. It's my job to help them navigate through this time in their lives and it is the most precious and MOST IMPORTANT job that I have.
In the past year I have spent way too much time saying the following phrases over and over to my kids,
"Just one more email and then Mommy will come and play with you."
"I just need to pack up these orders and then we can go to the park."
" Please wait...."
"Just five more minutes..."
The list goes on.
And it is not only that. As a family, Natural Urban Dad and I made the decision that I would be the stay-at-home parent. We did not want to have both of us working, have our kids in daycare and have our money go to someone else to spend most of the day with our kids. We are very fortunate that we can make that choice and it is one that I never, ever want to take for granted or lose sight of why we made it in the first place.
In the past six months I have been increasing our babysitter's hours on a regular basis to the point that I might as well just call her our nanny and be done with it. Now, don't get me wrong. I LOVE my babysitter, like, REALLY love her. And so do my kids. But for the months before Christmas, every time I would have to go to a meeting or an event or just lock myself in the office to get some work done, I would come home to kids who missed me the whole time I was gone, who became super clingy for the rest of the day and night and who kept saying over and over how much they wish I didn't have to go away so much. The guilt that I was feeling and the mounting childcare bill where getting to the point that I was starting to feel ridiculously overwhelmed. And I started questioning whether 'having it all' or 'trying to do it all' was really worth it anymore.
Turns out it is not.
And the time has come for me to make a few changes in my life.
The first of which is that...
Natural Urban Mamas, THE STORE, will be closing its virtual doors.
This was a very long and hard decision to make, but one that I know is right for me and for my family at this time. I want to thank each and every one of you who has supported me on this journey. I have learned so much about life, about business, about myself and about the strength and determination that lives in so many of you through this adventure called entrepreneurship. I have made some life long friends and probably a few frenemies along the way too. I thank you all for lifting me up and making me want to be a better person, a better mother and a better business woman.
I want you to know that I am not going away. I have spent a lot of time and effort in educating myself about and being an advocate for babywearing and breastfeeding and all kinds of aspects of natural parenting. This part of Natural Urban Mamas will remain. I will still be doing workshops and speaking engagements and you will be able to find me here on the Natural Urban Mama blog or on Twitter or Facebook whenever you need to. Just know that I may not respond as quickly as I have in the past, because I will likely be watching someone learn to float on their back all by themselves or I'll be hanging out at the museum with a certain bug-crazy small individual.
“The work will wait while you show your child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you do the work.”
Patricia Clafford
I want my kids to remember these years and our time spent together and I want to know that I did all that I could to make it memorable for all of us.
Thank you all!
Much Love,
Natasha~
And lucky YOU! Starting on January 30th and while supplies last,
Our "UNTIL IT IS ALL GONE" Blow-out Sale will be happening at Natural Urban Mamas.com!
Cyber Monday at Natural Urban Mamas!
Well, Natural Urban Mamas is an ONLINE store, so we had to have a big Cyber Monday SALE!!
Head on over to the site and take advantage of our "ABC" SALE!! All discounts will be automatically applied at checkout.
Happy Shopping Everyone,
Natasha~
It's decision time....
As you may know, the past few months have been a struggle for me.
Personally, I have been dealing with my yearly seasonal blues demons and just barely keeping them at bay. It is getting better though and I have my fabulous little family and some really great friends (new and old) to thank for that. And a healthy dose of Vitamin D every day seems to be helping too!
Professionally, it has been a struggle as well. Working as a solo entrepreneur is hard work. Actually, it is VERY hard work. And doing so while also being the stay-at-home parent to two preschool-aged children makes it even harder. Somehow they NEED me more now then they ever have before (more on this later) and finding the time to focus on ALL of my babies is getting harder and harder.
Please understand that I love what I do.
I love being able to introduce parents to the incredible world of babywearing. I love helping anyone who asks about breastfeeding, natural birth, and the many aspects of 'green' parenting that I have garnered some knowledge of over the years. It makes my heart happy when I see the look of sheer relief and the physical relaxation of a mama's shoulders when she puts her baby in a proper, safe and beautiful baby carrier. And I seriously almost want to do a happy dance of joy when said baby is asleep in under 5 minutes of being in a new carrier.
I also love being able to find great products from both local and not-so-local mama-made and baby-inspired small businesses. It has always been part of my mission at Natural Urban Mamas to support local Canadian manufacturers and mainly mama-owned or family run smaller companies in North America and Europe. I have stayed true to this throughout the life of my business and I am so honoured to now call quite a few of these manufacturers and mamas some of my dearest friends.
I love the community of mamas that I have on the Natural Urban Mamas Facebook and Twitter pages. All 3800+ of you!! This is simply amazing to me! I appreciate your comments, feedback, funny posts, beautiful pictures and all the questions that you feel comfortable asking me. I love sharing wonderful and informative posts with you and introducing you to some of my favourite blogger friends, cool sites and general internet happy places! I also love how you all share so freely with me and with each other when questions are asked. This to me is a true community. We may not always see things the same way, but sharing ideas and learning from each other makes us all better! Thank YOU!
So why the struggle?
Running a retail company on your own (and on the internet) is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week kind of job. You are the CEO, COO, CFO, Marketing department, Sales force, Purchaser, Accounting/Book-keeping department, Shipper/Receiver, often the IT department and the SEO/Social Media/Communications department as well. There is always something that needs doing to keep the business running smoothly and often this involves an investment of time or money. It is exhausting and to be completely honest, most of the time I am running low of both time AND money!
Here's the thing. When my business partner and I went our separate ways in late 2009, for the sake of simplicity and to avoid the addition of more legal fees (and to keep things from getting ugly), I had to pay her out. I don't really want to get into all the ridiculous details of this transaction (because I will just get angry again), but essentially Natural Urban Mamas has not yet been able to climb out of the hole that this 'pay-out' created. And I don't see it doing so anytime soon. You know that old saying, "you need to spend money to make money", well, at this point, there is just not enough money to spend!
So at this point I am NOT loving the day-to-day running of Natural Urban Mamas, the business. And not just because of the financial factor. It is the time factor too.
Like I mentioned above, my children need me more now than they have before. Little C will be 5 years old in two weeks and he is more inquisitive than ever. He has questions that need well thought out answers! LOTS of questions. Princess L is in the weird and wonderful transition phase from toddler to preschooler and is figuring out that she is not a baby anymore. There is a lot of independence and then very strong attachment going on at our house these days. I need to be there for my littles. It is not just my physical presence that they need, it is more of my mental and emotional presence too and I don't want to deny them any of this. Unfortunately, because I squeeze in work hours when and where I can throughout the day, I feel like I am doing just that.
And it is not just the kids, my husband needs me too.
We both knew that this year was going to be a tough one for us. Financing and building a new house can be rough on any relationship. And although yes, this is our third time doing it, I fully admit that it seems way harder this time around. I think we are both feeling a lot of pressure to really GET IT RIGHT with this house and have a lot of our heart and soul and hopes and dreams wrapped up in this little construction project. And a lot of the decisions about the house come down to me. I am the one visiting the site almost every day to ensure that our dream is taking shape as we planned. I am the one talking to the trades people (I am there so often, that the guys have all started calling me Nat, it's my site nickname). I am the one trying to keep us all on budget. So you see, I have yet another job to add to the list -- unofficial Construction Site Supervisor!
You can imagine that with all of this going on - the store, the kids, and the house - Natural Urban Dad and I don't get a whole heck of a lot of alone time together. And we NEED it! All marriages need this. For us we especially need our time together because of all that is going on! Even if it is just an hour a week at Starbucks or a walk through the mall holding hands, we need that time to reconnect and know that WE matter as a team, a couple and yes, as lovers too! (oh, he is so going to love that!) We are the foundation that all else is built on and we have to keep that foundation strong.
Over the past few weeks, it has become glaringly apparent to me that certain things in my life need to change. I need to change. I am no longer completely happy with the path I am on and I need to find a new way, a better way to keep living my purpose and my passion without losing my mind! This week I sought the advice of a fellow entrepreneur I recently met IRL and for whom I have always had mad respect for... and then she posted THIS! I swear to God, it was like she jumped into my head and then wrote her post. And I can't thank her enough. (Big Super Hugs for Alex from @Clippo!!)
And so here is what is going to happen now. I am taking a page from Alex's book.
Natural Urban Mamas, the store, will be closed from December 12, 2011 until January 31, 2012.
During this time I will be figuring out what is best for me and my family and also for Natural Urban Mamas. I will continue to write on the blog (I have a couple of carrier reviews coming up and some step-by-step carrier instructional posts too) and also keep the Facebook page current. I will be available for babywearing or baby carrier advice via Facebook or Twitter, but will not be running any babywearing workshops during December or January.
I appreciate your patience and understanding and your continued support while I work through this challenge and transition in my life and my business.
Thank you,
Natasha~
feeding the soul
We shopped for the food. 5 Kg of ground turkey.
3000 grams of pasta.
300 ounces of Marinara sauce.
LOTS of fruit and veggies.
Too much oregano (I am SO not good at conversions).
And garlic, lots and lots of garlic.
We gathered at The House in the big red kitchen and unloaded all our bags.
And for a few minutes we looked at everything piled on the big centre island and then at each other and almost panicked!
Feeding 30 families for the Home for Dinner program at the Ronald McDonald House™ of Northern Alberta is no small task! And yet, this is what three of the businesses from the Local4Local4Local program did this past Tuesday.
We may not have seemed a likely team, but we all had our roles and we worked well together. Kristi Larson from Bellies Maternity was in charge of the fruits and veggie trays. Maurice Tellier from The Koch Ford Lincoln group was our 'muscle' and also our amazing onion chopper and meatball roller. And I was in charge of the general timing of all the ingredients and dishes and the sauce and yes, I was the bossy one.
We arrived at the house just before 3 PM. I had also managed to convince my nanny, the fabulous Maria Sellis from Cupcake Addiction, to come as well and that meant she had double duty keeping an eye on my kids and helping out in the kitchen. If I have not mentioned this before..SHE IS AMAZING!! (And NO, you can not have her!)
If you have never been to the Ronald McDonald House in Edmonton (or your own city), then I encourage you to call and book a tour. They really are amazing establishments and provide what sick kids need the most - their families. The Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton is a leader in heart surgery for kids and three of the families we met Tuesday night had a child recovering from heart surgery or one who was waiting for their surgery date. Being able to stay in the house gives these families a home away from home, a chance to stay close to their kids and to keep their families together during these hard times.
As you walk through the huge common dining room, complete with a train-themed table for the kids and two big play areas, you hear conversations about g-tubes and pic lines. You see four-year olds, in cute red and purple slippers, walking around with their IV poles getting 'fed' through the aforementioned tube. You see whole families of siblings gathering around a table for a snack while Mom holds their 4 month old sleeping baby brother, the one who just had open-heart surgery.
I wanted to sit and talk to more of the families and hear their stories, but we had a job to do. We were there to feed these moms and dads and brothers and sisters. And so we worked. Kristi chopped and arranged. Maurice and Maria chopped and rolled. I stirred and mixed and cooked. And somehow, we managed to get into a good kitchen groove. We had the sauce simmering on one stove top, the pasta cooking on the other and rotating trays of turkey meatballs baking in both ovens.
And amidst all of this, my amazing children played. They played with each other and with the kids of the house. They played like there was nothing 'wrong' with anyone. Little C found himself an adorable little guy to play with and they were inseparable all night long. Princess L found a doll stroller and another little girl and they played house for a bit. She is still getting used to playing with other kids besides her brother and would come and hang out in the kitchen with us for a while and then head back to the play area for more fun with Little C and his buddy.
By 5:40 PM, our meal was almost ready. We made Spicy Turkey Meatballs in Marinara Sauce over linguine (thanks to Allium Foodworks for this yummy recipe), veggies with tzatziki dip and fruit and yogurt for dessert. The front office made an All-Call to the residents of the house and they started to come down for dinner. One of my biggest fears going into this night was that we would not have enough food for everyone. We had PLENTY of food! The families that were home enjoyed the meal and thanked us for coming and cooking for them. Seeing everyone gathered at the tables in the common dining room and eating our dinner was great. Natural Urban Dad arrived about then and we all sat down and had dinner as a family with the house families. And when everyone was done we packed up all the leftovers and put them in the fridge for all the families that were still at the hospital to enjoy later when they made it back to the house.
The whole experience at the house was amazing for me, and I suspect for Kristi, Maurice and Maria as well. It may be just one meal, but it was one meal that these parents didn't have to worry about. One meal that nourished their bodies, so that they can keep going and stay strong for their babies. It was one night out of our lives to go and do good for others. One night to show my kids what it means to give freely of ourselves and to serve those in need.
I have to thank Kristi Hammond for creating the Local4Local4Local group and providing this opportunity for local businesses to come together to do such a good thing for the residents of our local Ronald McDonald House™. I also would like to give a shout out to our local food suppliers, Serben Free Range, The Italian Centre and Kuhlmann's Market Gardens.
I am looking forward to my next Home for Dinner night at the House and I encourage anyone interested to check out the program, grab a bunch of friends, your favourite recipe and head on over for a great night of cooking, camaraderie and good karma!
Natasha~
Not 'giving it up' for just anyone.....
Well, I did it everyone. I HAD too!
ALL the cool kids are doing it, so it was just a matter of time.
Yes, that's right...
I popped my blogging conference cherry this week!
I had the privilege of being one of 200 women from across Canada invited to this year's ShesConnected Conference. So I packed my laptop, iPhone and suitcase, hopped a {very} early morning flight and headed to Toronto. This two-day conference is all about connecting digital women and brands. BIG brands, brands that want and yes, even need our collective voices to compete in this digital, social media age of consumerism.
Why do they need us gals you ask? Well, as I learned from Elisa Camahort Page, co-founder of Blogher and one totally cool chickita, 78% of the online population use social media, and blogs are now a close second to internet searches when it comes to being influential about purchasing decisions.
Not only that, but 60% of the female population make buying decisions based on blogs. That is power people! And brands are starting to recognize this power and they want to harness it!
But....
With great power also comes great responsibility.
And this may be the biggest lesson that I learned this past week. Everyone wants to make more money. Brands are out to make money and increase their bottom line. Bloggers want to get paid for their time and efforts and are looking for more than a box of cereal as payment for a post. Or as Ann-Marie from Momstown.ca so succinctly put it to one of the panels, "I like chicken, but I can't pay my phone bills with chicken."
But the bigger question that emerged {even more} for me at the conference was, what do I WANT? As a blogger, a writer, and a business woman. How do I marry the concept of writing with integrity and authenticity with the reality that is blogging as a business model? How do I maintain my responsibilities to you, my readers and use any power that I do have for good and not fall into the very transparent, "I am writing a review post and it is so blatant it is bad" scenario?
My biggest fear in the whole "monetizing' of the blog, is that I will lose my voice. My true voice, the voice and words and stories that I share with all of you. As you may know, I have pretty high standards and a firm belief system. I believe in and advocate for doing things a certain way and I want to make sure that any and all advertisers or sponsors that I deal with are in line with what it means to be a Natural Urban Mama.
I did connect well with at least one of the sponsors and brands at the conference and it was Ford Canada and their head of Social Media Marketing Ammar Khan. If you take a look at Ford over the past few years, they really are doing things right. They weathered the recession far better than the other domestic car-makers and this year Ford Canada was named the No. 1 auto maker in Canada. They also hire people like Sheryl Connelly. Sheryl is the Manager of Global Trends and Futuring for Ford Motor Company and she is one smart lady. She gave the opening keynote speech for the conference and taught us all about the way key trends are changing the face of consumerism globally. Things like an aging population, ethical consumption, careful consumption and safety & security are key drivers that impact how and why people make purchases these days. And companies like Ford are paying attention. And they are paying attention to the blogging and social media communities too and using this medium in their marketing strategies. I will not give away too much just yet, but let's just say that I am looking forward to working with Ford Canada in the near future! (And a little background for you, the very first car I owned was a Ford Taurus and that baby saved my life-for reals!)
I met some amazing women at the conference. I got some ridiculously awesome words of advice from a few of them. I got to go to a party at a shoe store (and I have the sweet new boots to prove it!) and because I am who I am and I do what I do, I even managed to get myself a brand new baby carrier {the much coveted Girasol Amitola woven wrap} and the chance to break it in with some babywearing with the sweetest little baby girl (and give her mama a little break)!! Oh, and did I mention the swag? Yes, there was a lot of that too!
So all in all, it was a good 'first time'. I have no regrets. There are definitely things that I would like to do better next time, more people I would like to hang out with and get to know and most certainly there is so much more to learn and bring home and share with all of you.
Good thing I have Blissdom Canada coming up in T-minus 10 Days!!
Cheers all,
Natasha~
My {much needed} hormone fix... a room full of Incredible Women and one Baby.
I am not going to lie folks. It has been a rough couple of days for me.
I have been "capital G" grouchy!
Just ask my kids. (Poor babies!)
And not just grouchy. I have been irrationally irritable, I have had absolutely NO patience for anything or anyone and I am grinding my teeth almost to the point of lock-jaw.
And I am bloated.
It was this last thing that tipped me off as to what the heck is wrong with me....
I am totally PMS'ing!
Now you maybe wondering why this is making the cut as a blog topic, but to be honest, this realization kind of shocked me. You see, I am not, nor have I ever been a very pre-menstrual kind of gal. No cramps, no crazy moods, no nothing (don't hate me)! And with my current form of birth control (Mirena) I rarely even get a visit from dear Aunt Flo.
So what is a girl to do to get out of this PMS funk??
Why drink some red raspberry tea and then get out of the house and into a room full of amazing women of course!
Which is exactly what I did.
Tonight I attended the first Social Circlet event in Edmonton. This local networking event was arranged by the lovely ladies of Bibagogo and was a great opportunity to meet with a lot of great businesses and business women (and a few men) that I have up until now only "met" online. The setting was perfect, the food and wine was great (props to my girl Amanda from D'lish Wine Bar for the amazing Truffle Mac & Cheese and Leah from The Art of Macaroons for the spectacularly sweet, melt in your mouth macaroons) and the company I was in was simply fantastic.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQRtjt9OqcE&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
A room full of women making it on their own terms, doing what they love and living their passions is a powerful drug and it was just what I needed tonight.
Well, that and some smooshy cuddles from Maureen from Tangible Moments almost two week old daughter!! I love me some new baby pheromones and a sweet little oxytocin fix!!
Thank you so much everyone!
Natasha~
~~~~~~~~~~
Summer Blog Challenge posts for August 25, 2011
- Peter presents, from his newly tuned camera, Iron Man: Crazy Wookie Cookies
- Shaun knows a wooden nickel when he sees it: Expedition of Truths
- Earl defends and explains his taste in movies: My Name is Earl (J. Woods)
- Zita’s night on the town: Ignite Strategic Solutions
- Brad is Steamed: Kick Me Out Soon
- Natasha’s night on the town: Natural Urban Mamas
- Kim’s night on the town: Nature Baby Bloggings
- Cliff saves some money in feeding his addiction: Peer Pressure Works
- Tammy develops an addiction of her own: Tam I Am
- Vlad : Analog Coast
- Chad reflects on the challenge: The Daily Grind
- Liam on the glory and the shame of writing software: In The Now
Walk the walk and talk the talk...PLEASE!
I am woman, hear me roarIn numbers too big to ignore And I know too much to go back an' pretend 'cause I've heard it all before And I've been down there on the floor No one's ever gonna keep me down again
~ Helen Reddy
I have had this overwhelming feeling in my belly for the last few days. It is part rage, part frustration, and ALL WOMAN!
It stems from the ongoing discussion of the term 'mompreneur' and 'mommy blogger'. And the subsequent conversations that start with I am 'just' a mom, I 'just' run a small business, I 'just' DO everything.
STOP IT!
If there is one thing that makes me feel all stabby and leaves me with an intense need to slap people upside the head, it is this. Women undervaluing themselves in ALL that they do!
Here is the thing. We fight for gender equality, we have been for decades if not centuries, and still it does not exist. Why is that? What is it that keeps us in the role of the 'weaker' sex, the one that does not deserve equal pay for the same job, the ones that are seen as less than their male counter parts in practically every aspect of life?
Now I don't want to get into a big sociological or anthropological debate about feminism and gender roles and all that. What I do want to say is this...
I think WE are the problem.
Yup, I said it.
We are the ones who are putting ourselves down. And if we are constantly doing this to ourselves, how on earth can we expect the rest of the world to see us for what we truly are! And by the way WE ARE AWESOME!
It truly does confuse me as to why we are seen as the weaker sex??!! Especially as mothers. We birth children, we feed them with our bodies, we work out of the home, we work from the home, we raise our children, sometimes alone, sometimes with a partner. We are working 24 hours a day, all day every day! Can someone please tell me how the heck a 'weak' person could do that? And why is it that we do not SEE just how crazy amazing we really are?
I am not saying that women are better than men (well, OK, yes in some things we are, but that is a different post altogether), but what I am saying is that if anyone is holding us back and continuing to perpetuate the perception of women as weaker or less than, it may be that we are doing it to ourselves and to each other.
We use language and words to describe ourselves that don't leave us a whole lot of room for greatness. I recently read a great post by Aly Pain that she wrote for MOMeo Magazine. In it she states that
"...Just is one of the most pervasive and diminishing words that implies a hierarchical value, one that places moms at the bottom."
And I couldn't agree more! And she goes on to echo my thoughts that,
"...we can no longer blame society when we feel made second best or lower than others if our own language confirms it."
I am the first to admit that I have been guilty of using this kind of language and descriptors of myself and what I do. But this is changing. And yet even as I write this, the thoughts in my head are, "Oh, geez, don't write this, people are going to think you are full of yourself and that you think you are so great!" And you know what? I AM doing some really great things that I am extremely proud of in my life and I am not ashamed to admit it! My dear friend, Jennifer Banks introduced me to the concept of the Awesome Train and it is one that I am hopping on board whole-heartily.
As women we need to OWN our awesome more. WE need to be the ones who think and KNOW that we are strong, smart, and savvy in all aspects of our lives and that we are not going to be seen as less than anyone or anything EVER again!
Will some people's feathers get ruffled by this kind of attitude? Likely. Whatever! It is high time that we stop our self-deprecating language and thought habits and let the chips fall where they may! And as hard as this may be to swallow, not everyone has to or will like you or what you say and do and you do not have to like everyone around you too. Radical I know, but trust me ladies, a weight off your shoulders when you realize this.
Another good friend tweeted last night that "It's not always easy doing it all". And she is right! It is not easy being a mom, a business owner, a wife and all the other hats we wear on a daily basis. No one ever said it would be. Yet we all willingly signed up for this gig.
Be what you are Mamas. Be strong, be smart, be AMAZING....and while you are out there walking the walk, talk the talk too and....
...Let me hear you ROAR!!
Natasha~
Straightforward. Enigmatic. Outstanding.
Are three words that I would use to describe my good friend Jennifer Banks. Search Engine Optimization also happens to be what Jen does for a living at Epiar, THE search engine marketing experts in Edmonton. And she is really, really good at it!
Last week I had the pleasure of hearing her present to a group of Bossy Mama entrepreneurs and teach us as much as she could about SEO in just under two hours. Not an easy task and yet, many of us left that room with so much information and tasks to do that I am sure there were a lot of late nights for some this past week.
Now I am no expert in this at all, and in reality, I am actually a very recent (6 months) convert to the powers of SEO. And this is all because I had the pleasure of meeting, and having drinks with Jen at another Bossy Mama Networking event. Yes, I actually told her that I thought that SEO was just a bunch of bull!!
Little did I know that the lack of SEO on my own website was hurting me. Jen schooled me very quickly in this with the help of some very cool and FREE tools that anyone can use to figure out some simple things about keywords, and how people really use search engines.
And here is the REALLY BIG LESSON that I learned from Jen about SEO and what I think everyone with a website/blog/Facebook page/twitter account needs to know.
Do not assume that you know what people are using to search for whatever it is that you are selling/peddling/writing about. Because chances are YOU ARE WRONG!!
The best tool to use to figure this out is the Google Keyword Tool. This is a free tool that anyone can use. You simply enter your search term or phrase and your country/location and poof! up pops all kinds of useful info for you. Including if what you think people are "Googling" and looking for is actually what they are looking for! (And in my case, I was very wrong, and yes, I have since fixed this!!)
Another really cool free tool that Jen told us about is UberSuggest. This keyword suggestion tool is really neat. It takes your base term and extracts Google suggestions for it. And if you hit 'expand' it will list all suggestions associated with your base term and list them alphabetically. Ubersuggest is an awesome tool, especially for bloggers looking for new post topics and questions that people are actually searching for.
The other sweet tool that we learned about is the SEOMOZ's Open Site Explorer Link Popularity & Backlink Analysis Tool. In geek speak this tool tells you all about your "link juice". It shows you who is linking to you and you can also use it to scope out your competition too and see where they are getting their link juice from! Go here to learn more about what you can do with all this spiffy new information.
There was so much that Jen taught us that night and it really is hard to put it all in one post. My advice is this, A) follow her on Twitter, B) read her Techmommy blog and C) call up Epiar, book a consultation and ask about their SEO for Small Businesses pack.
And then settle in with a glass (or two) of wine and your laptop and get to work optimizing the shit out of your site (and know that this may take a while, but will be so worth it)!!
Cheers all,
Natasha~