Monday Mingle Blog Hop #140

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle. It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. It is so exciting to link up with you guys week after week!     I'm happy to report that this weekend and Easter Sunday was a big success!  We took the kids to LegoLand today and they had a ball.  It's amazing how nourishing for the soul some quality time with the family can be.     I'm exhausted from running around with my boys all day but it was totally worth it and it's a good kind of exhaustion.  I hope you had a wonderful Easter/Passover weekend with your own family and that you are ready to mingle with us this Monday!     There are always exciting things going on here at Tough Cookie Mommy. We discuss important topics, try out new products, attend great events, travel with the family and conduct exciting giveaways. Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember … [Read more...]

How Can You Keep Readers Coming Back To Your Blog?

    When I first started blogging in 2009, I wasn't prepared for the amount of work that would go into running a successful blog.  Perhaps part of my naiveté had to do with the fallacy that "If you build it, they will come."  In my mind, as long as I poured myself into my writing and posted regularly, it would guarantee that my readers would keep coming back for more and more.  Boy, this couldn't have been further from the truth!     This August will make 5 years since I started blogging for the first time and I have learned a lot about how to keep readers coming back to Tough Cookie Mommy.  Although great content still trumps when it comes to making people want to return and read, there are other things that bloggers do to keep the spice in the relationship with their readers.  I'm hoping that some of my experiences will prove to be useful and valuable to other up and coming bloggers so that they too may have a successful blogging career. The following are the top 5 ways that I … [Read more...]

Monday Mingle Blog Hop #139

        The time has come for another Monday Mingle. It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. It is so exciting to link up with you guys week after week!     It is finally starting to look a little more like Spring here in New York City.  The days are getting warmer and it is starting to rain quite a bit.  Although I'm not a big fan of rain, I will definitely take it over the snow we had this past Winter any day.  I hope you are all enjoying some warmer weather too and that you are ready to mingle with us this Monday!     There are always exciting things going on here at Tough Cookie Mommy.  We discuss important topics, try out new products, attend great events, travel with the family and conduct exciting giveaways.  Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email.     This blog hop continues to be for everyone with NO RULES. … [Read more...]

Monday Mingle Blog Hop #138

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle. It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. It is so exciting to link up with you guys week after week!     It is certainly proving to be a cold and difficult winter this year.  I was just watching the weather report for the week and it looks like we will be getting more snow here in New York City.  I'm really looking forward to the warm weather seasons and will be glad to put my boots and gloves away for a while.  I hope you are all keeping warm and staying happy during this dreary weather.     There are always exciting things going on here at Tough Cookie Mommy.  We discuss important topics, try out new products, attend great events, travel with the family and conduct exciting giveaways.  Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email.     This blog hop continues to be for everyone … [Read more...]

Monday Mingle Blog Hop #137

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle. It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. It is so exciting to link up with you guys week after week!     I'm sure you all had a wonderful weekend with the Super Bowl this Sunday and the excitement over waiting to see if the groundhog saw his shadow.  Unfortunately, he did see his shadow so they are predicting 6 more weeks of winter.  We are scheduled to see some more snow here in New York City tomorrow so I believe that winter is still sticking around for a while.     There are always exciting things going on here at Tough Cookie Mommy.  We discuss important topics, try out new products, attend great events, travel with the family and conduct exciting giveaways.  Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email.     This blog hop continues to be for everyone with NO RULES. Personally, I … [Read more...]

Monday Mingle Blog Hop #136

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle. It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. It is so exciting to link up with you guys week after week!     Many of you have been emailing me and asking me to continue to post the Monday Mingle every week.  I love networking with you all and will make sure I post it every Sunday evening from now on.     There are always exciting things going on here at Tough Cookie Mommy.  We discuss important topics, try out new products, attend great events, travel with the family and conduct exciting giveaways.  Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email. This blog hop continues to be for everyone with NO RULES. Personally, I hate having to follow a bunch of rules just to connect with all of you so this hop will continue to be RULE FREE! I hope you are all ready for a great week of networking. So … [Read more...]

Monday Mingle Blog Hop #135

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle. It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. It is so exciting to link up with you guys week after week!  It has been a while since I hosted the Mingle here at Tough Cookie Mommy due to the busy holiday season.  No worries, the Mingle will be up every Monday henceforth, I promise. ;)     There are always exciting things going on here at Tough Cookie Mommy.  We discuss important topics, try out new products, attend great events, travel with the family and conduct exciting giveaways.  Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email.     This blog hop continues to be for everyone with NO RULES. Personally, I hate having to follow a bunch of rules just to connect with all of you so this hop will continue to be RULE FREE!     I hope you are all ready for a great week of networking. So please … [Read more...]

Bloggers Don’t Just Get Stuff For Free!

    This past week, I read a colleague's Facebook thread where someone commented that bloggers are really lucky and that they just get stuff for free.  They went on to say that all of the reviews that we write are doctored up just to get free items and that they are not honest and authentic.  Short of having my head blow up and confetti come out of it when I read this, it's safe to say that it really struck a nerve.     Let me begin by saying that yes, bloggers are in a unique situation where brands seek them out to try out their products.  However, this arrangement is not without its strings attached.  If only we could be so lucky that companies just jump at the chance to throw rose petals at our feet... There is a reason why they want us to review their products, because we have an audience.  So, when brands send products for review, the hope is that bloggers will share their experiences around the products with their readers.  You see, there is an exchange of services.     As far … [Read more...]

Monday Mingle #134

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle. It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. It is so exciting to link up with you guys week after week!  Tomorrow is the last day of September and I cannot believe how quickly this month has flown by! There are always exciting things going on here at Tough Cookie Mommy.  We discuss important topics, try out new products, attend great events, travel with the family and conduct exciting giveaways.  Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email.     This blog hop continues to be for everyone with NO RULES. Personally, I hate having to follow a bunch of rules just to connect with all of you so this hop will continue to be RULE FREE!     I hope you are all ready for a great week of networking. So please link up and follow each other on Google Friend Connect, Facebook, or Twitter. Monday … [Read more...]

Monday Mingle #133

    The time has come for another Monday Mingle. It is always a pleasure to meet those of you who are linking up for the first time and to see those of you back who have been linking up for a long time. It is so exciting to link up with you guys week after week!  Tomorrow is the first day for students back to school here in New York City.  It will certainly be a busy week full of responsibilities and lots of excitement.     There are always exciting things going on here at Tough Cookie Mommy.  We discuss important topics, try out new products, attend great events, travel with the family and conduct exciting giveaways.  Please make sure you don’t miss any Monday Mingles and remember to subscribe via email.     This blog hop continues to be for everyone with NO RULES. Personally, I hate having to follow a bunch of rules just to connect with all of you so this hop will continue to be RULE FREE!     I hope you are all ready for a great week of networking. So please link up and follow … [Read more...]