Wordless Wednesday: Weep For The Babies

©Not Mine

Ironic. Also hilarious. Nabbed probably from Pinterest.

Wordless Wednesday: Work Those Dreams!

CopyrightNotMine

Nabbed here from Pinterest.

Wordless Wednesday: So Stubborn

©theminiorityreport.co

Found on here on The Minority Report. 

A Hot Chocolate Substitute: Hello Carob!

Every few months I look for another coffee substitute. While plenty of people have hyped up green tea as a coffee substitute, it's more an alternative. Green tea, white tea, and black tea all have caffeine. There hasn't been enough studies for me to try cacao powder. Half say it has caffeine; the other half says it doesn't or the amount is so minuscule, it's practically nonexistent.

I digress. In my search for coffee substitutes, I read that carob powder would work. I also read carob powder is better as a hot chocolate substitute, well cocoa powder substitute. Chocolate has caffeine so that was off my list.

©Chatfield's

I quickly went to a health food store and purchased a can. On the can was a recipe for a carob latte. It basically stated add two teaspoons to a cup of hot milk.

I microwaved the milk. Then I added two heaping teaspoons of carob powder. Many people say that the carob bean is naturally sweet. They say it's not bitter like chocolate. They were wrong. I added sugar.

Once I did that, the drink was enjoyable. Well, until I had drunk two-thirds of the drink. Then it became bitter and chalky and grainy.

I thought maybe it wasn't mixed well so I added a few more ounces of milk and microwaved it again. This brought me to a half-cup. After drinking a third, the chalky and grainy taste was back. I gave up.

The instructions did not mention heaping teaspoons so that is where I failed. But they did not mention that it would be better to use a pot not a microwave. You should also use a whisk and not a spoon.

I need something a tad easier. For me, milk is expensive. We buy the lactose-free kind. While hot chocolate made with milk is great, the steps to get that are for a special occasion. The same with a carob latte.

I will try it again with less carob powder. I've seen several recipes that use water and milk. I might try those, too. Carob powder does work as a hot chocolate substitute. I believe it can also work as a coffee substitute. I had more energy, but it wasn't like chicory or coffee, and isn't that what we're after?

Do you have any great carob powder recipes to share with me?

Free Samples

©StuartMills_freedigitalphotos.net

Last week's one post covered a lot, even though it was mostly wordless. One of my projects has ended so I have time. I have been writing up a storm, but not on this blog or my other one. I've been writing like crazy for another website, latestfreestuff.com, and I have much to say about free samples.

Don't get me wrong. I've been collecting freebies for a couple of years. But since it's now my job, I get a lot more. I've gotten 55 free samples in the last two months. It's to the point that all packages are given to me first, and then sorted to the others I live with.

But of course, there are certain situations that are irksome. I don't think I will ever get a Starbucks sample. That's okay. I am not a fan of Starbucks. The problem? Too many hoops. And that is what is so discouraging about obtaining certain samples. The amount of hoops needed to get the sample.

Hoop One: Phone Numbers Needed

Dear companies, we know why you want our phone numbers. I know that your bread and butter is made through upselling. And yes, it does work on impulse buyers. But I believe 35% of those seeking free samples are very savvy so we know you are going to call. For those of us that just want the free sample and don't want to talk to you, yes, we give you a fake number. Some of us want your sample so bad we have fake voicemail. Yes, there are so many tricks to getting a free sample. I'm not there yet. It's not that serious. Look, let your product do the talking. If it's aces, we'll buy more.

Hoop Two: Sharing On Our Facebook Wall

If I see another ad on Facebook telling me my friend, Mary Johnson, likes Buca di Beppo*, it'll be too soon, and I have no desire to sign in to my Facebook account until mid-May. If I feel that way, of course, a few of my friends feel the same way. Requiring us to share on our wall or accept the app to share on our wall without any input from us is very annoying. But those of us who really want the sample use certain tricks to get that free sample. If you have a website, just use that, please.

Hoop Three: Making It A Contest

Seriously?! Really?! It's not that this just gets my knickers in a bunch. This is just ridiculous. I have to enter to win a free sample. I like competitions. I do, but for full products. Trips to somewhere warm. Not for 1.5 ounces of some lotion. And I'm being generous about that amount of lotion. For real, if it's going to be a contest, please give me the whole product. Otherwise, just offer the samples, and when a certain number has been reached, shut it down. That's not hard.

Not A Hoop Yet, But If More Companies Do This It Will Be

Okay, I feel the need to address a special set of companies. I know it is annoying when these websites advertise that you are offering a free sample. I know you cannot handle that amount of requests. Not enough staff, postage would be through the roof, so many fake phone numbers, etc., etc. But if you understood how freebie sites worked instead of just denying those who use their links a free sample, you would re-think your stance. The people that click the link actually want your sample. One company said they had been bombarded with 16,000 requests in one day. I would wager that 13,000 of those requests wanted the sample. The other 3,000 just wanted a free sample. When you take that hard stance, you are actually losing potential customers. We don't have to click the link if we don't want it, you know.

I could go on, but those are the top three hoops and one that needed to be mentioned. It's annoying, and all it does is frustrate people enough to write articles about it. Or they may share their bad experiences on Facebook. They may even send a tweet or two. Companies, listen to Jeff Bezos of Amazon. He said (I'm paraphrasing) back in the day, people would tell 2-6 friends about their bad experiences with a company. Now they can tell 6,000 people. If you thought the postage for free samples was outrageous, just imagine if you lost 6,000 customers.

What annoys you about companies that make you jump through hoops to get a free sample?

*I have nothing against Buca di Beppo. I don't even have a friend name Mary Johnson.
Photo Credit: Stuart Mills at freedigitalphotos.net

Wordless Wednesday: Free!

©StuartMills@Freedigitalphotos.net

When you accomplish something, it's a great feeling, isn't it? That's what I'm feeling, today!

How To Mess Up Your Blog

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Welcome to the New Year. I thought I would start things off about what happened to this blog during the last year. I am working. When I started this blog, I was not. But since January of 2012, I have not been fully vested in my blog. And I’d like to share with you the ways you can mess up your blog when life happens.

No Game Plan

I believe the reason my blog got very little love from me is because when I started I had no game plan. I treated my blog as a journal, despite the great info I shared. If I had sat down and figured out even the most peculiar of details, I would probably have more entries or a better quality of entries. Whether it is because of work or just laziness, a game plan will go a very long way to helping maintain a blog.

Not Prioritizing

Even with no game plan, you can still blog. But blogging was not a top priority. A lot of things came before blogging. If you want a successful or even moderately successful blog, you need to post regularly. If it’s once a month, then choose the date and stick to it.

Poor Networking

Imagine my surprise that I gained one follower despite not doing much to gain any. I am also guilty of networking on the wrong places. The top three places get me nothing, and the places that do, I have not visited in weeks. Instead of keeping a presence, I disappeared. And of course, when that happens, my blog did not grow.

If I (or you) am to be serious about blogging, then I need to create a game plan, and then give my blogs some priority. If growth is part of the game plan, then I need to network.

What are some of the things you’ve done to make your blog more successful? Or what are some of the things you didn’t do?