Join #SnackSmart for a Twitter party Wednesday, April 25th at 9:00 pm ET. We will have fabulous prizes, including several $50 American Express gift cards, so check out the details below and RSVP!

In the meantime, learn more about Duda Fresh Produce by visiting www.dudafresh.com and Stemilt World Famous Fruit at www.stemilt.com/StemiltHome.

THE DETAILS:

TOPIC – Fresh Produce as a Healthy Snack Option

TIME – Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 9-10 PM Eastern (8-9 PM Central, 7-8 PM Mountain, 6-7 PM Pacific)

HASHTAG – #SnackSmart

CUSTOM TWEETGRID – http://bit.ly/HSl7yr

PANELISTS – @Dandy_Fresh @Stemilt @eatingdrinknyc @MomSpark @MomSparkMedia @formulamom @somedayilllearn @BusyMommyMedia @princesstimetoy @HaleyTweetsToo (follow everyone before party!)

PRIZES:

• Five winners will receive $50 American Express Gift Cards!

*Winner must be a USA resident and MUST be present at the Twitter party to win! Not sure how Twitter parties work? Email us at momsparkmedia@gmail.com for help!

Going to the party? RSVP HERE! List your “name” as your Twitter handle (i.e. @MomSpark) and your url as your Twitter web address (i.e. http://twitter.com/momspark)!

If you are like me, you probably held off switching to a cell phone for as long as you could. Or, maybe you already had an iPhone before you started blogging. Newbie or veteran blogger…a smartphone IS a blogger’s right hand or left hand as the case may be.

Once you have that phone in your hot little hand, you want to maximize your use of it. Make the phone work for you and not the other way around. Once you’ve set up your email accounts, what’s next? Apps…and lots of ‘em.

Social Media Apps

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Hootsuite — allows you to post tweets and Facebook updates from up to 5 accounts
• Skype
• Google+
• Pinterest

Photography

• Instagram — newly purchased by Facebook, now available for Android

Apps to Keep the Little Ones Quiet

• Angry Birds

Apps to Keep You Quiet

• B&N Nook
• Amazon Kindle
• Audible — audio book app
• Draw Something for iPhone or Draw Free for Android
• GetGlue — post what you are watching on TV
• imdb.com — website listing actors, movies, and directors
• Merriam-Webster — dictionary app

Find It!

• Foursquare — location-based app
• Bar Finder
• Fandango — movie tickets, showings
• Moviefone — movie tickets, showings
• GasBuddy — cheapest prices on gas

Save It!

• Coupons
• Amazon
• Amazon Price Check
• QR Barcode Scanner

Organize It!

• Cozi — calendar, to do list app
• AboutOne — app coming soon

Work It!

• Google Docs
• Gmail Tasks
• Google Shortcuts
• Note Everything
• Mom Spark

Earn It!

• MyLikes — promote products you like for money
• WeRewards — check in at places and earn points
• CrowdTap — answer questions and participate in discussions and earn points

What apps do you need? What apps make your job and/or home life better?

Are you a blogger looking for a way to build your blog and become a better blogger? Then, check out Mom Spark Media — a media company with the interests of bloggers front and center.

s email? What about your blog…how will you configure it to be read easily on smartphones or iPads or Android tablets?

Chances are you have made these statements about your blog. We all have at one time or another. Traffic is how we, and others, measure success. A blog with heavy traffic may catch the eye of a PR professional looking for a blogger to review a new product or attend a blogging event. So, increasing your blog’s traffic may lead to plum review opportunities.

Measuring Blog Traffic

First, let’s define a few terms with help from Webopedia:

• web traffic — the number of people who visit a site.
• page view — also known as a page impression, means the loading of one blog page by one visitor.
• visitors — the number of visitors to your blog
• unique visitors — a unique visitor, measured by a unique IP address, is someone who visits a site once and then returns to that site.
• IP address — an identifier for a computer or other device on a network.
• analytics — a tool for measuring a blog’s traffic.

Second, let’s look at how to measure how many people read your blog. You’ll need to add a counter or measuring device to your blog. While a few services are paid, Google Analytics is free.

• If you have a WordPress blog, use a Google Analytics plugin. Find one under the plugins tab of the dashboard. Examples include, Google Analytics for WordPress, Google Analytics, Google Analytics Dashboard.
• Are you on Blogger? Add Google Analytics from the Blogger dashboard.
• Add StatCounter to your WP blog, via the Official StatCounter plugin for WordPress.

Building Your Traffic

While it is easy to get frustrated by your blog’s traffic, the more frustrating part is trying to do something about it. As you write on your blog, keep in mind the following:

• Think about who you are writing for. Who is your ideal reader? Write with this reader in mind.
• Participate in memes. Memes involve a centralized location where you can link your post on a topic with everyone else who has also written on the same topic. Examples are Wordless Wednesday or Music Moves Me Monday.
• Participate in a Comment Love group. Mom Spark Media offers a complete package for bloggers from access to review opportunities to a supportive exclusive community where members can post links to giveaways or ask for retweets.
• Flex your social media muscle. You have a Twitter account, now use it! Post all your blog articles, contests, and giveaways on your social media pages: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and even Pinterest.
• If your giveaways have low entries, don’t forget to post on giveaway linkys. The MomSpark blog has an extensive list of contest giveaway linkys.
• Guest post on a friend’s blog or accept guest posts on your own blog.
• Build a strong following by responding to comments from your readers.

The Daily SEO Blog recently published a list of 21 ways to build your blog traffic. Here are some highlights of the Daily SEO Blog Top 21:

• Write your posts with SEO or search engine optimization in mind. By writing posts using SEO-rich keywords your posts will be more easily found by those searching for a topic via search engines.
• Analyze your traffic through analytics to see who is reading your blog.
• Link within a post to another post on your blog. Or link to a blog with similar content. Over time you will find traffic from these links. Link love is always key.
• Join StumbleUpon or participate in a StumbleUpon group. Mom Spark Media members can discover and stumble each other’s posts.
• You send out emails by the dozen. So, don’t forget to use add your blog to your email signature, as well as Twitter, Facebook, and other links.
• Do a demographic survey to get to know your readers AND to find out what your readers want to read on your blog.

If after reading this you are anxious or feel stressed out, take a deep breath. A flood of new visitors will not happen overnight. Building traffic takes time. Tackle your content first, then move on to creating a survey of your readership, for instance.

For more information on joining Mom Spark Media, click here for more information.

Are you a business? Find out more about how Mom Spark Media has helped brands. Need to book a Twitter Party?

Need a giveaway listed? Mom Spark Media will post your giveaways to contest linkys for you!

Take our five question survey on walking and fitness and be automatically entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card! Complete the survey below.

Thank you and good luck!

The breakthrough Mitsubishi i is the most affordable 100% electric-powered mass-market production vehicle available in North America. Its starting MSRP IS $29,125 and the net MSRP* after federal tax credit is a very affordable $21,625 for the standard ES model and only $23,625 for the upgrade SE version, making the starting price for the all-new Mitsubishi i several thousand less than other mass produced electric vehicles available in the market.

Join us Tuesday, February 28rd at 8:00pm Eastern on Twitter at #MitsuEV as we discuss the Mitsubishi i, green living and more. We will also be giving away fabulous prizes that include Whole Food gift cards, reusable shopping bags and more!

RSVP and get more details below. Learn more about the Mitsubishi i by visiting www.i.mitsubishicars.com!

THE DETAILS:

TOPIC – Green Living and Electric Vehicles

TIME – Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 8-9 PM Eastern (7-8 PM Central, 6-7 PM Mountain, 5-6 PM Pacific)

HASHTAG – #MitsuEV

CUSTOM TWEETGRID – http://bit.ly/xi3Teh

PANELISTS – @MomSpark, @MomSparkMedia, @iMitsubishi, @Crissy, @sunandsipcups, @atimeout4mommy and @HaleyTweetsToo (follow everyone before the party!)

PRIZES:

• One (1) $100 Whole Foods gift card
• Two (2) $50 Whole Foods gift cards
• Two (2) prize packs that include 1 set of Baggu Reusable Shopping Bags in pink and 1 lululemon glass water bottles in “ultra violet”

*Winner must be a USA resident and MUST be present at the Twitter party to win! Not sure how Twitter parties work? Email us at momsparkmedia@gmail.com for help!

Going to the event? RSVP HERE! List your “name” as your Twitter handle (i.e. @MomSpark) and your url as your Twitter web address (i.e. http://twitter.com/momspark)!

If you answered “YES” to any of these questions, you need to watch this video!

Mom Spark Media’s Amy Bellgardt is just like you. She’s a woman who now owns a successful business — Mom Spark Media — but she started out blogging about products that her family loved on her blog — MomSpark.net.

Amy shares how she started reviewing products on her blog and more!

To find out more about Mom Spark Media:

• If you are a mom or dad blogger, apply here.
• If you are a business in need of Mom Spark Media’s services, find out more here.

Join Mom Spark Media’s Twitter Party on Fitness at Home with @GaiamTV on Thursday, February 23 from 8-9 p.m. EST.

You can see Amy’s video here.