{Originally published on Brand Autopsy}

While reading Bill Moggridge’s DESIGNING INTERACTIONS, I became aware of the “Ten Things Google has Found to be True.” It’s Google’s corporate manifesto from the early 2000s and it’s a very worthwhile read. [Maybe you've already read it and I'm just late to the party. If so ... then my laggardness is showing--sorry.]

Google’s ten things it has found to be true are:

1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.
2. It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
3. Fast is better than slow.
4. Democracy on the web works.
5. You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
6. You can make money without doing evil.
7. There’s always more information out there.
8. The need for information crosses all borders.
9. You can be serious without a suit.
10. Great just isn’t good enough.

You can (and should) read all the support prose in the manifesto as I’m just gonna share snippets from a few of the more universally meaningful tenants.

1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.
“From its inception, Google has focused on providing the best user experience possible. While many companies claim to put their customers first, few are able to resist the temptation to make small sacrifices to increase shareholder value. Google has steadfastly refused to make any change that does not offer a benefit to the users who come to the site: The interface is clear and simple; Pages load instantly; Placement in search results is never sold to anyone; Advertising on the site must offer relevant content and not be a distraction. By always placing the interests of the user first, Google has built the most loyal audience on the web. And that growth has come not through TV ad campaigns, but through word of mouth from one satisfied user to another.“

Sometimes I am simply madly in love with this magazine. Blog Nosh Magazine has changed the way I read blogs, as I now approach the internet as one massive This American Life story. On my better days, I so fancy myself as Ira Glass. (tongue firmly planted in cheek, thank you.) So many different perspectives, so much to find, opening my eyes to stories I may never have heard before if it were not for blogs. If it were not for your willingness to open your lives to us.

Our goal for Blog Nosh Magazine is to deliver as many diverse perspectives as possible, across numerous topics and genres, many of which you may never have been exposed to in your daily reading, let alone daily real life. This is made possibly by the work of our Channel Editors, of which we have close to 40. But even with a team that size, it is still not enough.

We need more. We need more eyes. More minds. More guts. More hearts.

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Less than two months in and Blog Nosh Magazine is growing by leaps and bounds, all thanks to you! In the pipeline, we have a very exciting site redesign with ease-of-navigation in mind, new channels (including Race & Ethnicity, Travel & Expats, and Personal Finance), dynamic new editors with even more diverse perspectives, and much more.

Today may be one of the biggest turning points for us, though, as we proudly announce that we are opening to private advertising! And for a very good reason:

Blog Nosh Magazine will soon introduce a quarterly print publication to complement our daily online magazine!

What serious blogger doesn’t dream of seeing their name in hard copy? Now is your chance.

Grab your piece of the pie!

One of the key elements of Blog Nosh Magazine is timeless content. As such, we plan to offer a quarterly literary magazine perfect for casual browsing-over-coffee-n-scones or in-depth reading during your daily (ahem) personal time. The ideal coffee table magazine that you can keep for years, so to speak.

Blog Nosh Magazine begs to have crumbs scattered across its pages, don’t you think? We do and we welcome you to be part of making this happen as an advertiser on www.blognosh.com!

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Originally published at Blogging Basics 101

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could post
our little hearts out, sit back, and watch the dollars roll in? The
truth is that there are very few people getting wealthy from blogging.
If you’re doing it solely for the bucks, you’re probably going to be
disappointed.

There are, however, a few ways to generate a bit of bloggy income.

The most obvious way to earn income is by having ads in your
sidebar, or elsewhere on your page. You can try selling these
yourself–a lot of work, but it works for some people. Many bloggers
have had success using an ad service that sells the ads for you, giving
you a percentage of the income. (They give you the code to insert on
your blog, and your ads will appear in that spot. Any ad service worth
its salt will offer you pleny of editorial freedom to block certain
types of ads from your blog.)

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Blog Nosh Magazine has been live for exactly one month today. One month! Look at all that we’ve accomplished in one month. All the blogs we’ve introduced to new readers, all the new genres we’ve explored. It has been a spectacularly satisfying launch and I have no one to thank but you.

Thank you to our readers.
Thank you to our bloggers.
Thank you to our editors.

The way Blog Nosh Magazine works is that our channel editors scour the blogs in their genre and choose the most moving or entertaining or enlightening posts in the archives of those blogs. The hardest part is learning to click beyond the front page of a blog. That is, perhaps, the hardest part of reading blogs for all of us. Taking the great leap into the archives.

Then again, as a blogger, one of the hardest things is to convince our readers that we are more than our front page. That perhaps those posts we wrote in the first week of our blog’s existence are just as valuable as the posts we write today. More interestingly, perhaps those old posts are also the most true. You never know.

We change as writers with every post we publish. It is, at the very least, interesting to shed light on our archives from time to time. Whether we do it through the “favorite posts” sections of our sidebars, the self-backlinks within the context of our posts, or by allowing publications such as Blog Nosh Magazine to focus the spotlight for you.

Thank you to the 44 bloggers that have allowed us to shine the spotlight on their work in this, our first month of Blog Nosh Magazine.

Although we only published her yesterday, allow me to share with you the story behind the process of spotlighting just one of those 44 bloggers…

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Originally published on emilie inc. photography.

I could hardly sleep last night because I was so excited for today! I
popped out of bed early for one final cleaning of the studio and a few
last minute additions to the walls before the art walk.
At 10a, the balloons and signs went up outside my door, and I started
distributing stickers on each visitor’s map- those who received a
sticker from each studio was entered to win a raffle.

I would
say, in the 6 hour span of the walk, I easily had 100 visitors. I was
very humbled by the kind people, many of whom gasped when they rounded
the corner at the top of the stairs and peeked in the studio (a few
asked if they could move in!). Everyone offered their congratulations
and “welcome to the neighborhood,” as well as tips for great brunch
spots and neighborhood organizations to join. Mothers with
not-yet-engaged daughters tucked my business cards into their purses
with a wink. People marveled at the artwork, the beautiful light in the
space, and the yummy cupcakes (yes, the mini version of my birthday
party treats- I’m hooked!). It was a long day, but boy, what a great
way to introduce emilie inc. to the East End and kick off the official
wedding season.

Once the tour wrapped up, J and I headed to
dinner at Flatbread with the emilie inc. associates and their families.
What a treat to spend an evening with Geneve, Steve & Sage, and
Wyndee, Pete, Olivia & Chloe. Really looking forward to working
with you!

Here are a few pictures of today’s set-up with the
studio’s finished look! Some of you may recognize photos of yourself on
my walls!

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Originally published on Julie Pippert: Using My Words.

It
was a pretty innocuous mother’s club meeting, and we were talking about
babysitters. I don’t even recall why it came up, the talk about
babysitters. Conversation unrolls so organically in these meetings,
these times we get together, without children, and get to just talk.

But
sitters came up in conversation and the turn of that conversation
surprised me. Greatly. Apparently around here it’s bad manners to quote
an hourly rate for one’s babysitting services.

“You know what
gets me?” a mom said, “You know what sitters I prefer? Who I pay the
most to? The ones who say ‘oh just pay me whatever.’” She went on to
explain that (and this is my paraphrase not her exact statement) to
her, it came across as very forward, rude even, when these sitters said
they charged X dollars per hour.

My mind rolled that concept
around for a minute: it’s cheeky and rude to state upfront how much you
charge if you’re a babysitter.

I looked around the room, seeking
the people who ducked their heads to avoid disagreeing or the people
shaking a no with their heads, and waited for someone to say, “Well for
heaven’s sake, it’s a business. Of course they need to—and
should!—tell you in advance how much they charge! How else will they
learn to value their own worth and services? How else will they learn
to deal with people and money? How else will you be able to figure out
how much to budget and how much cash to have on hand for the time?”

But not one person did. Not one ducked head. Not one shaking head. Not one verbal alternate perspective.

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Originally published on Mamapreneurs, Inc.

-I have insomnia and I’m tired.


-I work 7 days a week but Mondays and Fridays are my FT kid days during the summer.


-E-mail is the best way to communicate for me; if you leave me a voice
mail, you honestly might not get a call back. If you leave me an
e-mail, you will definitely get a response.

I tell you all this not because you are my friends, my family, my
colleagues or my clients (although you may be one or all of these
things): I tell you this because being transparent about who I am as
the owner of three companies and as mama to two kids is essential to
the success of my businesses and peace in my personal life.

Being a
mamapreneur means that my businesses don’t just rely on the products or
the services, they rely on the entire brand package—and that includes me as the owner. As mamapreneurs, like it or not, we ARE the brand.

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