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Colored vs. White Lights: My Tommy Nelson December Blog Post

December 28, 2012 By sami

My blog post over at Tommy Nelson this month tackles one of the most deeply debated Christmas dilemmas of all time:

Colored or White lights?

Go ahead, laugh if you want, but colored Christmas lights almost ended our marriage after 5 months.

Well maybe that’s over-dramatizing it a bit, but they certainly caused an immense amount of strife during what we thought would be an enjoyable and momentous occasion: decorating our first Christmas tree together as a married couple.

And don’t even get me started on tinsel…(you can read my full post over at TommyNelson.com)

***

You can also win a copy of One Wintry Night in my book giveaway

Filed Under: Articles, Faith, Tommy Nelson Tagged With: blog, christian, color, december, lights, tommy nelson, white

Top 3 Tips Brands Need to Know before working with Bloggers

November 1, 2012 By sami

I blogged for years before I knew there could ever be a business component to blogs.

As someone with a Masters Degree in Communication Studies and a marketing background, I’ve always dreamed of having a job that would allow me the flexibility of working on the go, yet still have the ability to partner with brands to create something greater than I could on my own.

And VOILA! The world of blogs was born

But doing what I do has its down-sides too: there is a lot of uncharted territory, you never get to turn ‘off’ your business and to be honest, most brands don’t know what the heck to do with us bloggers, much less use our platform to its fullest potential while still making us feel valued.

In fact, I can’t tell you how many emails I get each day that start off with, “Dear _____” (Yes, there is actually a line left in their intro that was obviously meant to be filled in/deleted that no one bothered to take the time to look into!).

However, there are some companies that understand the influence and ingenuity that some bloggers possess.

One of those is Blog Frog.

When I first learned about Blog Frog just over a year ago, I couldn’t believe there was a company devoted to helping brands and blogs partner together! It was a blogger’s dream come true! Not only did someone understand what we did as bloggers, but could rally on our behalf with other organizations. Genius.

But even though a company like Blog Frog exists, we are still a long way from a balanced playing field when it comes to brands partnering with bloggers.

So if you’re a company, looking to partner with a blogger, LISTEN UP! I’m about to give you the best 3 pieces of advice you’ll ever hear and that you need to pay attention to before even thinking about sending out another form letter to one of us:

1. Take a little time to actually read my blog

If you took 5 minutes to scan my homepage, menu bar and most recent posts, you’d know I’m not interested in handgun demos, soda pop or flameless cigarettes. You would however, get enough of an insight into me to know I love my family, love going on adventures with them and don’t care much for blinking advertisements on my site. That kind of information will go far in our initial conversation and will demonstrate that you care more about my voice and how your company can benefit my readers than simply caring about my reach and how it can benefit your brand.

2. Value me

Everything I talk about on my blog now, even if I get compensated to do so, are things that I spoke about long before I knew I could get paid for blogging about it. Likewise, I am much more likely to naturally share about your brand on my site if I feel like you value what I do & why I do it than if you simply tossed out money to pay for a post. Relationships still rule, people.

3. Keep in Touch with me

I can’t tell you how many brands ‘court’ us bloggers, whether through extensive conversations or trips, only to leave us high and dry as soon as they ‘get what they need’. If I’m taking the time to get to know about your product or service and actually believe in it, then I’d like to think that you’d care enough to continue that relationship for longer than just 3 months. Believe me, you’d do a lot better by making sure I’m a happy long-term customer offline than simply worrying about how you treat me for 3 months online.

So there you have it. I’ll jump off my soap box and turn it over to you now.

If you’re a brand looking to work with online influencers, learn more about BlogFrog’s Brand Solutions here.

As a part of the BlogFrog Influencer Circle, I have the chance to create meaningful, authentic content for brands I love. If you’re a blogger interested in new opportunities, join BlogFrog’s Influencer Circle and check out some of the top brands already working with BlogFrog.

Now, I’m curious. What do you love most about blogs and blogging?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of BlogFrog. The opinions and text are all mine.

Filed Under: Blogging, My Story Tagged With: blog, blog frog, brand, pr

Why I Attend the Savvy Blogging Summit (from blog to business)

October 5, 2012 By sami

20121005 153717 Why I Attend the Savvy Blogging Summit (from blog to business)

I’m in Atlanta this weekend for the Savvy Blogging Summit 2012 – a conference designed to help equip you in turning your blog into a business.

Yes, I started this blog years ago as what I thought would be an easier and much more streamlined way to let my friends know when to find a good deal and how get to Disney at the cheapest time of year.

Little did I know just how much work that ‘simple’ idea would be!

Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE what I do.

Well, maybe not the strange looks when I tell 93.7% of the world that my full-time profession is ‘blogger’…they look at me strange and act like I play on Facebook all day while watching Top Chef marathons (well, maybe the Top Chef marathon part is right).

But that aside, I realized about year two into blogging that if I was going to continue blogging, I would either have to find a way to make money to rationalize the time spent doing all the research and writing

just quit.

I’m not a quitter.

So here I am. 2012. Actually making a living from my blog. Well, maybe not so much from my blog per se, but from the opportunities I’ve created as a result of having an online voice.

You’ll notice there aren’t a lot (if any) ads on my site. I don’t think they’re pretty and can be distracting. Honestly, I probably don’t have the volume of traffic or the type of blog that would make me much money even if I did have ads pasted all over my site (no offensive if you do…some of my favorite bloggers do and it works for them…it just hasn’t for me).

So I’ve learned to simply focus on what I am good at, which over the years I’ve funneled into 3 categories:
1. Writing
2. Teaching
3. Speaking

Since I’ve realized that, I’ve been able to now have a traditional media presence, both on TV & Nationally Syndicated Radio. I’ve also been able to put my Masters in Communications to use to partner with brands I love in unique ways to both introduce them to you as well as bring you some great deals and giveaways.

That being said, I’m here at the Savvy Blogging Summit for a number of reasons:
1. To learn what it takes to further build my personal brand
2. To learn other blog ‘stuff’ I don’t know
3. To connect with bloggers I know & respect, as well as meet others and get to know more about how they do what they do
4. To connect with brands and find out the ways in which they are looking to partner with bloggers
-And perhaps most importantly-
5. To remind myself I am a businesswoman who is actively pursuing my passions while contributing to my family in a unique way

For those of you who just come here looking for a deal or are checking in on the latest with our family, this may not matter to you. But I pledged long ago to be as transparent with all of you as I possibly can through this medium I get to share on each day. That being said, I want to try to de-mystify this blogging world in whatever way I can.

Bloggers may not be the traditional way of marketing, but I guarantee we are the modern marketing machines that brands should get to know.

We have an audience, we love our audience, our audience trusts us, and we would never do anything to jeopardize that relationship.

If I like something, you’ll hear about it. If I don’t like something, you’ll hear about it.

If I’m struggling in my relationships, I want to share that with you to get feedback. If I find something that works great with our family, I want to scream it from the rooftops so it will help your family too.

In a nutshell, that’s why I’m here. Consider it continuing education, consider it a girls’ weekend, consider it a business trip – whatever you call it, it’s necessary. It challenges me, it teaches me, and more importantly, it makes me take a step back and analyze whether or not I’m on track with my mission, vision & goals.

I never take your presence here for granted. Are there any questions you have for me when it comes to blogging or how to turn blogging into a business?

Filed Under: Blogging, My Story Tagged With: atlanta, attend, blog, Blogging, business, savvy, summit

The Activity Dilemma: Tommy Nelson September Blog

September 22, 2012 By sami

Only a few short months ago I was struggling to come up with a summer schedule that would optimize fun while still continue the learning process for my kids.

Now we’re already back in school and instead of worrying about how to keep them occupied at home, I’m wondering how to keep them at home!

It’s true, not only do I have two kids in school full time now, but for the first time this year, we found activities for them both to participate in.

To be completely honest, I have mixed feelings about the activity dilemma. As a child, I was VERY involved in sports & activities…to the point where I don’t remember eating very many meals with my mom at the dinner table. She was typically shuttling me back and forth between tennis or swim practice and show choir or dance rehearsal with a tupperware container for me to eat in the backseat. On a recent road trip, we stopped at my aunt’s house and even found all my own trophies, much to the delight of my young son:

My husband, however, had a more subdued childhood when it came to extra-curricular activities, but actively remembers playing outside with cousins and friends and the like. Of course he can also recite verbatim almost every meal his mom cooked too

So where is the happy medium? I’m learning I have to stop getting ahead of myself.

Through it all, I’m learning two things:
1. It’s not about me
2. Nothing is guaranteed

While this might strike fear in the minds of some parents, for me, it reminds me of God’s sovereignty and grace in each and every moment.

That’s why I love Max Lucado’s “Grace for the Moment: 365 Devotions for Kids“. It reminds my kids that grace is God’s best idea: More than we deserve … and greater than we imagine.

More importantly, it reminds me to apply the same principles to my own life and Christian walk as I read it with them!

Do you struggle with deciding what and how many activities your kids should be participating in? How do you make those decisions in your family?

READ THE WHOLE BLOG POST AT TOMMYNELSON.COM

Filed Under: Articles, Faith, Tommy Nelson Tagged With: activity, blog, christian, dilemma, Faith, Kids, Parenting, tommy nelson

Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up

August 16, 2012 By sami

This summer, I had the opportunity to return to Club Med Sandpiper Bay for a blogger trip. While Club Med Sandpiper Bay (in Port St. Lucie, FL) is known for their famous Kids Club and being the only all-inclusive resort in the continental U.S., the focus for me this trip was unique.

You see, ever since I moved to Nashville from Florida almost four years ago, my best friend and I have been dreaming of taking a ‘girls’ weekend’ away…somewhere that we could relax and spend wonderfully conteplative moments together over great meals, but also find time to pursue our own interests and of course, relax in a beautiful setting.

So when I learned I could bring a guest on my trip, I called Carolyn and off we went!

As we neared the end of our long weekend at Club Med, I asked Carolyn what she thought about our time together there. Since I used to work for Club Med, I realize my opinion can be skewed because I already find so much pleasure and value in a Club Med vacation. But I thought her sentiments perfectly summed what you can expect at Club Med:

“It’s like summer camp, but all grown up!“

After all, just look at what we were able to do each day:

Morning yoga looking over the bay
IMG 4608 300x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up

Then on to a tennis lesson (yes, I know I used to be a tennis GO, but I took an intermediate tennis lesson and whew! I don’t know how I used to do that for 8 hours a day!)
IMG 4617 225x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up
I also humored Carolyn, who is an excellent golfer, by taking an intermediate golf lesson with her. These are perhaps my favorite photos from the entire trip:
IMG 4787 300x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up IMG 4789 300x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up Of course, one of my FAVORITE aspects of Club Med Sandpiper Bay is the circus school. I dangled myself from a hula hoop hanging from the ceiling (I’m sure there’s a more technical name for it, but I can’t remember at this time):
IMG 4850 300x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up

Not bad for someone who’s closer to 40 than 20, right?

I also convinced the circus GO’s to teach me how to do a back handspring and a back tuck on the trampoline. (I had asked my kids’ gymnastics gym for lessons, but they said I was too old to insure – OUCH!)
And of course, I had to take a swing on one of the iconic elements of Club Med Sandpiper Bay, the full size circus trapeze!
IMG 4853 300x225 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up

I even got a personal training session from one of their Club Med Academy professionals
IMG 4644 225x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up Tired yet?

Of course, we found plenty of time for the aforementioned relaxing that I was craving, including morning devotions on our patio
IMG 4941 225x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up
…a incredibly relaxing massage at the L’Occitane Spa (also the only L’Occitane spa in the US at this time)
IMG 4940 225x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up

…and we even found an incredible two-person lounge on the beach
IMG 4791 300x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up (If you want to see ALL the fabulous Club Med chairs that I fell in love with, check out my “Where will you sit at Club Med?” post)

And took a sunset cruise down the St. Lucie River. Aren’t we cute?
IMG 4866 225x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up
It goes without saying that we found time for fun too! We learned how to make watermelon and a virgin mojito recipe

IMG 4716 300x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up Danced the Crazy Signs around the pool…
IMG 4808 225x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up

And I couldn’t resist doing a little art in the Britto Art Center (they said anyone can play & create! Plus Romero Britto is my all-time favorite artist):
IMG 4782 300x225 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up Of course EVERYTHING we did couldn’t quite compare to the satisfaction of eating the infamous White Chocolate Bread at ever meal
IMG 4718 300x225 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up Even in the rain, we still had fun
IMG 4720 300x225 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up

But most importantly, we were able to spend time together at a place that let us do as much or as little as we could possibly think of:
IMG 4597 225x300 Club Med Sandpiper Bay: Summer Camp All Grown Up

So if you haven’t checked out Club Med yet, or thought Club Med may have been out of your price range, just look at the sale they have going on right now. Club Med is offering early booking rates and kids under four stay free starting in summer 2013 vacations.

To take advantage of great rates, guests must book by Oct. 29, 2012 for travel April 27 – Oct. 26, 2013. This limited time offer is available at the following Club Med properties:

Sandpiper Bay, Florida
Cancun Yucatan, Mexico
Ixtapa Pacific, Mexico
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Columbus Isle, Bahamas
Turkoise, Turks and Caicos
Caravelle, Guadeloupe
Buccaneer’s Creek, Martinique

So what are you waiting for? Whether you’re looking for a fun family getaway, a romantic weekend to re-connect, or a sports-lovers paradise, you can find any and ALL of it at Club Med! I just can’t wait for my next trip

Which Club Med activity would you most like to try?

Filed Under: Reviews, Travel Tagged With: blog, camp, club med, florida, inclusive, sale, sandpiper, summer, trip, vacation

Adding to our Family; on the Compassion blog today…

July 26, 2012 By sami

We’re celebrating Kariss’ 8th birthday today by adding to our family in a very special way!

If you want to find out the details, you can read my post over on the Compassion blog…

Filed Under: Faith, Family, Kariss Tagged With: adding, birthday, blog, compassion, Family, kariss

Returning to Club Med Sandpiper Bay: from GO to GM

June 21, 2012 By sami

I’ve been a fan of Club Med ever since my first trip at the age of six to the pink sand beaches of Eluthera with my father. Even as a child, I knew I wanted to return one day as an employee (a “GO” in Club Med lingo, French for “gentil organisateur”, which translates into “nice/kind host”).

I spent the good part of 2 years between 1999-2000 living between Sonora Bay, Mexico and Paradise Island in the Bahamas as a tennis pro/singer/dancer/Crazy Signs fanatic.

In case you haven’t caught it yet on YouTube yet, you can watch the clever montage I created of my days as a GO at Paradise Island here (disclaimer: it’s a little long and contains a lot of bad hair, 90′s hits & beach shots…don’t say I didn’t warn you

While working for the Club wasn’t all fun in the sun, I have nothing but fond memories of my experiences there.

Which is why, years later, I wanted to know more about what it was like on the ‘other side’ as an adult; yes, I longed to be a GM again! (GM = ‘gentil membre’ in French, meaning nice/kind guest). Sure, I had traveled to numerous Club Meds with my father and then as a GO, but I never got to truly participate in the full Club Med experience as an adult guest.

When I reached out to Club Med last year, my family and I were lucky enough to visit for a weekend after the first phase of their Sandpiper Bay renovation had been completed. Located only minutes from where we used to live in South Florida (Port St. Lucie, to be exact), the only North-American property had been transformed with modern features and thoughtful additions everywhere from the kids’ club to the guest rooms.

So when I was invited back recently for a blogger trip to see the completed renovation, I was ecstatic! But this time, our families were not to be included.

Really?

After all, Club Med Sandpiper Bay is known for it’s Mini-Club. So much more than babysitting, Mini-Club not only cares for children from morning til night, but they fill their days with all the fun things the adults get to do….and more! We’re talking swimming, circus, flying trapeze, tennis, skateboarding, crafts, cooking and more; plus, it’s all included as part of the Club Med experience.

Just look at my then 5 year old son swinging from the trapeze on our trip last spring:

But, as fate would have it, my husband wasn’t even able to get away from work these next two weeks, so I decided to do what I’ve heard many adults commonly do: go on vacation with other adult friends. (I know, novel concept).

Since I was allowed one guest, I immediately called my best friend in Florida and asked if she would sacrifice her weekend to drive up and meet me. After all, we’ve been trying to plan a girls’ weekend (unsuccessfully I might add) ever since I moved up to Nashville over three years ago.

For years we’ve had this dream of vacationing together, just the two of us, and our schedule would look something like this:
-Breakfast together
-Then separate to read those books we’ve been waiting to dive into, journal and genuinely ponder all the deeply meaningful thoughts that we’ve been stirring around in our head but haven’t had adequate time to develop.
-Come back together for lunch to discuss said ideas above
-Find a hammock to relax on together and spill all those deep dark secrets only best friends have
-Dip into a pool and find a cool, comfy chair to lounge on
-Eat dinner and reminisce about our day and how we could do it all again the next day…

So guess what: that’s what we’re doing!

Well, maybe not exactly that schedule. Though you can do as little or as much as you like at Club Med, with their world-renowned sports programs, I don’t believe I’ll be able to sit still for too long there I’m sure we’ll dabble in tennis, golf, sailing & yoga, and there’s rumors swirling that we’ll even get to try out their new l’Occitane spa. And of course you know I’ll be indulging in their infamous White Chocolate Bread. (Oh, the things I’ll suffer for the sake of my job!).

So if I don’t get back to you immediately over the next few days, know that I’m hard at work researching what may very well be your next vacation spot…

A bientot!

Filed Under: Reviews, Travel Tagged With: blog, club med, florida, inclusive, sandpiper, vacation

The smallest goals are sometimes the biggest

May 3, 2012 By sami

Over on the Tommy Nelson blog this month, I’m talking about how the smallest goals are sometimes the biggest…

I can hardly believe the school year is almost over.

Depending on what area of the country you live in, you could already be planning summer camps, family vacations & neighborhood cookouts.

Yet instead of focusing on the fun that lies ahead over the coming months, I find myself feeling retroactively guilty.

What do I mean by that?

The end of school serves as a reminder of all the things I didn’t accomplish over the year: the piano lessons I never taught my kids, the Bible verses we didn’t memorize, the chore charts we never completed and the play dates we never made.

I remember having such visions of organization last August. It was to be the first year I’d have two kids in school full time, so the possibilities were endless. I imagined my kids would be successful household managers – mastering self-control as they learned how to do laundry, cook at least 5 meals by themselves and organize their toys by size & color.

I also had lofty goals for myself…

Read the entire post on the Tommy Nelson blog

Filed Under: Articles, Faith Tagged With: blog, Family, Kids, may, mom, summer, tommy nelson

Top 10 Most Common Blogger Myths

April 5, 2012 By sami

You didn’t ask for it, but here it is: the top 10 most common blogger myths & misconceptions as defined by me, Sami Cone.

Don’t ask me what led me to this point, but this afternoon I needed to vent…and I chose to do so via a pretty graphic

top 10 blogger myths large Top 10 Most Common Blogger Myths

If you can empathize on any of these, I’d love to hear what other topics you’d like to hear me talk about in my new series, Real Women.

Do you have any you’d like to add to my blogger myths or misconceptions?

Filed Under: Blogging, Real Women Tagged With: blog, blogger, misconception, myths, top 10

Introducing: Real Women

March 27, 2012 By sami

Real Women Introducing: Real Women

When you hear the term real women, what do you think of?

In society today, I feel like we are constantly being bombarded by images and accounts of “real” women who are anything but. Unfortunately, I feel this happens all too often in the online world as well.

In fact, I know more people who feel threatened by bloggers simply because they feel they cannot ever achieve the sense of perfection they seem to read about on their blogs as opposed to being encouraged by these women’s everyday lives.

On the flip-side, those of us to hide behind the screen and the keyboard often feel as if we have to live up to a certain standard instead of revealing what our real lives actually look like.

While I have prided myself in being very transparent with all of you from day one, there is still a lot you don’t know about me. Some of that is because I wasn’t sure if this blog was the proper place to tell all, but another part was simply in the fact of not knowing whether or not you or my family and friends really wanted to know, or could even handle knowing, all of who I am, who I’ve been and who that’s made me to be.

Two recent events have led me to believe that now would be the time to break down that barrier:
1. Our pastor, Pete Wilson of Crosspoint Church, started 2012 preaching a series with the tagline “free people free people, hurt people hurt people”. The line that truly got to me was that “if you’re past still affects your present, it’s not truly in your past”. At the end of that message, I turned to my husband and said, “I think It’s time for me to share some things on my blog,” to which he responded, “I think you need to.”

2. The idea of “real women” has been on my heart for a couple of years now and I thought it was meant to be a conference. It wasn’t until I spoke to a friend who works in women’s events and mention this to her that she said, “why not use your online platform and social media reach to create a community and a relationship with the people who are already reading you?” It was then I realized that I didn’t have to create an event so to speak, but rather just open the dialogue and see what develops naturally.

It’s for that reason that you will now find “Real Women” as a regular part of this blog. Not only will I be sharing deep from my heart, but will be interviewing moms, wives, bloggers and other women just like you and me to get down to the heart of what their lives are like and see how we are all connected.

You are going to be meeting a lot of different women from a lot of different areas of life, some coming from areas very different from your own.

The question is not whether or not you agree or disagree with who they are and the choices they make; the question is whether or not you will choose to learn from them and where they have come from.

I look forward to beginning this dialogue with you because that’s exactly what I hope for this to be – a dialogue between us.

That being said, are there certain topics you’d like us to talk about or certain people you’d like to hear from?

Filed Under: Real Women Tagged With: blog, candid, introduction, real, women