Do Not Use Register.com

I've had my share of issues since I bought my domain from them, and I've had my fair share of domains and hosts in my many years on the web, but they are starting to take the cake on annoying their customers.

First, it was an absolute pain to change my DNS. Then adding CNAMEs and such was no walk in the park. Now, I'm getting a host and transferring my domain... Something they certainly don't enjoy by the look of it.

There are five screens (including one promo code for a cheaper domain renewal) before I get this:

Authorization Code 

Your request for an Auth Code has been received and your information will be validated for security reasons. 

If your request is approved, you will receive your Auth Code by email in 4-5 days. 

To cancel this request, please call one of our Customer Service Representatives at 1.877.318.7563. 

Thank you. 

The fuck? I pay you and now you expect me to wait for a business week because you obviously want to piss off your customers that much more... This is not what an online company should do if they expect return business or referrals.

Asking someone online to wait for more than 24 hours is insane. The internet is all about NOW and not later. Making people wait in this generation of impatient people will drive them away in herds.

No wonder I only hear bad things about Register.com.

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Am I Doing Too Much?

Been thinking lately about this one. I have a number of things I have to do in a day, week, month, etc. Currently on my plate:

• Reviews over here. (& posting. {& promoting})
• Crafts and shopping for cool vintage-ness anywhere I go for our shop.
• Raising four kittens. (& willing to foster if needed!)
• Being a weather spotter, though right now that's only heat related.
• Going to a Wiknic this weekend.
• Finding an awesome RV so we can start full-timing ASAP.
• Taking care of kids, but I don't think that counts in this list since it's a "have-to" sort of thing.

..I'm suddenly super glad I don't cook!

I think this has a lot to do with why I'm not moderating on websites any longer. I completely let people down over on Chicken Smoothie and I hate that I did that. (The admin made me cry more than once for failing to be around when I simply couldn't due to family {like having a child} or 'net going down.) I guess being away four times in four years because I've had children is just too much. I don't know, I really didn't get much respect over there anyway and it was highly stressful.

It never fails though, my daily life is always a long list of things I have to do day in and day out. Maybe I like it being hectic? Probably. It's all I've ever known and watched my grandmother do it her entire life.

Doesn't really seem like you're living if you're just sitting there, does it? I feel like I have to do something or I'm failing and not doing enough. Maybe that does set me up to fail and have high stress levels, but what doesn't?

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Picket Fence Blogs Reset!

Just wanted to remind everyone that Picket Fence Blogs reset on June 28th, so every vote you give to any blog can make a huge difference right now! Remember to vote for everyone that you enjoy visiting, even if it isn't us!

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Trying to Build a Fanbase? Check This Out.

I've been working lately to get more people over here on the site, so I figured I would post my tips for doing so for other up-and-coming bloggers. (Though I've been blogging for fourteen years... Lol, I'm not old!)

Use Facebook as a Page

Seems simple, right? All you have to do is create a page (via pull down in top right hand corner on your name on Facebook) and it's all done... Wrong. Besides making the page, adding a profile image and background, you then need content. Either you can post every blog post on your site to your Facebook manually or you can have another program do that part for you--more on that later--but you then have to keep your fanbase engaged or you'll lose them. No, they probably aren't going to unlike your page, but they will probably be missing your page posts because of Facebook's new-fangled thing-a-ma-bob for crappy news feeds.

Use Twitter!

Whether you use your personal Twitter account or make one specifically for your blog--which I would suggest anyway so no one makes it to pick at your brand--you need one. It's pretty easy to talk on there because the character limit, but you have to be witty either with your non-post tweets or in your titles. You can do the manual way of adding each link or you can have a program do it for you.

Get a Good Program to Post Your Feed to Facebook & Twitter

What happens if you're away? Do you have automatic posts set up on your blog? Does your internet suck? Your computer die? What happens when you can't manually add those scheduled posts because you've slept in? That's where sites like TwitterFeed come in handy. I can't possibly add every post manually--I've tried!--with everything I have to get done everyday. I'm bound to forget something, but this site takes everything from my RSS feed and posts it to my personal & blog Twitter accounts, then the Facebook page, and even my LinkedIn account. I'd never post anything to LinkedIn if it weren't for this, but I get people visiting from those posts! It really does help when you're in a bind.

Participate!

Know other bloggers? Don't know any other bloggers? Either one is okay. If you know others, let them know that you've got your own site and would like to try and do things with them. If they're a bigger site, it's going to help you with getting your name out and it's going to help them by free advertising on your site. It's a win-win situation. Even if you don't know any other bloggers, there are plenty of us out there! Most of them are really cool people and more than willing to help if they have the time. Just don't get discouraged if one person blows you off because they may be having a bad day. There are plenty of other fish in the sea!

Talk to Companies You Really Enjoy, Not Just Ones that Pay

Yeah, it's not as awesome getting a rejection email from a company you actually like or, sometimes even worse, not getting a response. You can sign up for a billion and one promo things and not enjoy them for any other reason than they are giving you something for free and/or paying you. But what you really need is to target products that you enjoy using and think you or your family may actually use. I try to steer clear of products that are targeting everyone and I don't like anyway... So what if I'm making money if I have to lie to my readers?

Can you think of anything else? Sort of ran out of stuff to say at this point. I know I had planned to write more, but maybe I'll do a "part 2" in the future. ;)

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Walmart Shopping ProTip

When I was getting milk today at Walmart, the checkout lady stopped and told me that if I ever brought in an ad from Save-A-Lot that has their store brand marked lower than Walmart's store brand, they'd match the price.

So, a gallon of $1.99 whole milk... Because as long as the ad says the milk is on sale but isn't specific, Walmart has to match the lowest price.

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