BlogHer - business - Comments

Give until it hurts!

thenakedelephant — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:46:23 -0500

Andrea Bahamondes http://thenakedelephant.net/ My grandma says that all the time, even though it sounds much more inspiring in Spanish, I wanted to share it with you.

Andrea.

Authenticity takes over when giving comes from the heart

tjsmith — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:50:28 -0500

It's funny, but it makes perfect sense. When we give for the sake of appearance or adherence to trend it comes out stilted. Giving to charity when you are strapped yourself and scared of a shaky financial future has to come straight from the heart. And it shows.

TJ Smith

http://downturnliving.com

Congratulations and...

gwenbell — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:02:56 -0500

And I can't wait to see what your next Year of Creativity brings, Karen. I have and love Craft, Inc and have also gotten a tremendous amount out of Michelle Goodman's Anti 9-5 Guide. You are an inspiration to all the crafty chicas out there, self included.

-- http://gwenbell.com

--http://kirtsy.com

This is an absolutely

Misty Dawn — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:58:36 -0500

This is an absolutely outstanding and very inspiring post! Congratulations to you!

I have been working three jobs, and I'm starting to realize that I'm getting completely burnt out. I mean, I work this hard so we can have a good life. However, my idea of a good life includes time for the things I love, such as nature photography, writing, webdesign, and my animals. I was just saying to one of my best friends yesterday, "I'm working my life away. I work to have a good life, but I can't find time or energy for anything I enjoy in life". I feel like all I do is work and sleep.

Your post really inspired me, and it caused me to go to your site. I am now subscribed to your blog and look forward to reading more from you.

Misty Dawn
http://www.mistysmusings.com
http://www.mistyswords.com
http://camera-critters.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mistydawns/

Congratulations!

micrimas — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:24:30 -0500

Shifting gears is empowering. I look forward to your book... what episode of Oprah were you on? I usually DVR her shows...

I wish you the best... you are right, you had 15 years of building up your career as an attorney, success is not usually attained overnight. You have to try as best you can to follow your passion. When the muse fades (as it inevitably will, at times) I find inspiration in nature and music. And my kids...

Good luck!

Half of a Duo, Raising a Duo

http://micrimas.blogspot.com

Congratulations!

Kathy333 — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 05:58:16 -0500

What a great accomplishment! And what great things have happened to you in the past year. Always nice to see a success story in business like this. Here is to continued success!

Kathy

Allbusiness:Working Mothers

Mama Marathoner

&am

Just sent this to the list serv for my neighborhood

Britt Bravo — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:00:59 -0500

Thanks for this post, Elana! I live in a neighborhood with an amazing main street full of independent businesses. Sadly, many of them have been closing. I just sent info about the campaign to a Yahoo Group that exists for the neighborhood. Our local paper is doing a similar campaign called the Indie Revolution.

Would they miss me?

Daisy — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:51:53 -0500

Flanagan's Stop 'n' Shop, the local liquor store, would miss us. My husband is a beer lover, and he likes the unique brands and microbrews that he can only find on Main Street.

The local downtown diner would miss us, as would the independent bookstore. it's actually hard to spend $50 at the diner; lunch for three rarely tops $30.

You can tell; I'm a downtowner. The mall? Forget it. I'm only there if I have to go. Give me a good downtown any day of the week!

Daisy

http://compostermom.blogspot.com

:-)

Nordette — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:46:21 -0500

That kind of information is only important to people who think more deeply than the average bear ...

You've made my case. :-)

Nordette: BlogHer CE and NOLA Lit Examiner. Blogs @ WSATA & UMBOP.

It's All About Being A Smart Media Consumer

Megan Smith — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:56:52 -0500

Hi Nordette,

Boycotts are very tricky to pull off in this age of globalization.

I'm a big believer in being a smart consumer and especially
being a smart media consumer. From an early age whenever I read
something in newspapers or magazines I wanted to know a bit about who
wrote it. Then later I wanted to know more about specific writers and
their agendas.

Knowing who owns what may not damage a viewer's
enjoyment of their favorite TV program, but it may enlighten them about
why that program rather than another one made it on the air in the
first place.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute

Nobody can beat just one, ;-)

Nordette — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:13:30 -0500

Whenever I think about boycotts, I think of the Christian teaching to "Love not the world or the things of the world" and the Apostle Paul's advice to not eat foods tainted by idol worship if the person notifies you that the food has been "tainted."

Boy that's a lot of stuff to avoid!

Sometimes, it's best not to know who owns what because so much is connected. My mind then goes to the people who make no decisions at all who would lose work when we boycott certain media outlets. Nevertheless, sometimes boycotts are fully warranted and necessary. So, no matter how much I like a certain show and feel I need to see it, if it's connected to something else that's feels unforgiveable, I may have to go Spock and say, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one."

But it's ineffective if the corporation doesn't know you're boycotting them. Effective boycotts make lots of noise.

That said, I think with the global interconnectivity of all things these days, we'll find it more and more difficult to boycott a corporation. We may have to boycott individual products or shows like no O'Reilly Factor if you're progressive and no Keith Obermann if you're not. No Wal-Mart period if you don't like its labor practices, but why boycott Sam's if Sam's Club doesn't work the same way as Wal-Mart although part of the same company? Too much to think about for most folks. (I don't know about Sam's labor practices.)

Informative post, Megan, and I'll be digging through your links. When I posted on Dickipedia, I let people know that it and Chickipedia (a site some feminists may find offensive) were owned by the same group, but I wasn't advocating any action, just making an observation. That kind of information is only important to people who think more deeply than the average bear or who are on some spiritual quest for media purity.

For most people it boils down to I like it, I don't like it. If they like it, unless the producers are eating babies for breakfast, they'll probably keep watching. But some people will watch no matter what, including shots of folks eating babies.

Nordette: BlogHer CE and NOLA Lit Examiner. Blogs @ WSATA & UMBOP.

News Coverage Is A Whole Other Story

Megan Smith — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:30:55 -0500

You're right about the news outlets.

The number of media companies that own multiple TV stations and newspapers in the same market is quite scary because a democracy depends on hearing a range of voices and not just a select few.

An excellent post from December 2007 by CE Kim Pearson covers the changes at the FCC that allowed these mega media companies to grow.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute

....and "News" Coverage

Chgkim — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:14:41 -0500

So true Megan, your links are great....we just can't forget all the "news" (ok, infotainment) outlets these biggies own as well. For me, that is the truly scarey part of the planned media domination!

Melissa, thanks for telling us re: Latino Coalition's biz summit

Lisa Stone — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:57:36 -0500

This sounds terrific! Look forward to hearing what you all cover.

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News.

Quality child care programs are as essential as quality K-12

debontherocks — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:47:30 -0600

This is a huge workforce issue and needs to be a consideration in economic stimulus plans. Smart states will beef up subsidies and continue to fund programs like TEACHand WAGES that make sure that providers have access to continuing training and compensation for their education and contributions. Too many child care and early learning teachers don't make a living wage. Child care programs are essential to the business community, and they should pony up as well.

(Just a note on language: I cringed when I saw the phrase "day care" used. Like many professions struggling for fair wages or respect, language matters to many people trying to advance the field. Child care provider or early learning teacher is MUCH more accurate to describe the professionals who work in child care centers or family child care homes. You'll notice that most of the professional organizations (www.naeyc.org) and advocates for professionalization, like Working Woman magazine, use the preferred "child care.")

Deb
www.debontherocks.com blog
www.3smartgirlz.com consulting