This is a promotional blog post. Opinions and viewpoints are still my own and I will share my opinions and thoughts honestly about this product regardless.
I was recently contacted about participating in a blog tour for Gatorade that helps promote the risks and dangers of playing sports in extreme weather. The timing couldn’t have been better because my son is actively involved in baseball and football, and lately has been enjoying practices and games in 90+ degree weather.
Being able to keep him (along with his teammates) cool and hydrated as needed has been a concern and he loves to drink Gatorade when it’s available. Gatorade provides additional benefits to him than just drinking ice-water.
If you’re in Indiana, then you know we’ve been experiencing some serious heat indexes lately and having our kids out playing sports, we need to be aware of the symptoms and challenges of heat and dehydration related illness.
Gatorade has teamed up with the NFL for the “Beat the Heat” campaign and provided a number of resources for parents and families to use to help protect themselves and their kids through their sport activities.
For every unique download of the “Beat the Heat” kit Gatorade and the NFL will donate $1 to a variety of charities that have been chosen for the campaign.
One of the things I’ve learned while reading through the information provided was the importance of being sure to hydrate yourself before, during and after the game. Many times I only seem to think about the need for extra fluids is in the middle of the physical activity.
We’re all now back into our normal work week and those of us who attended Blog Indiana 2010 may be super-motivated and gung-ho to jump into blogging and producing more content. If we’re lucky, we might even make a buck from all the effort.
The question is, are you prepared for the consequences of your blog becoming a revenue source? To all who earn, much is due. Taxes! Fees! Penalties!
Although nothing has been heard of yet from the city of Indianapolis, if you’re a Philly blogger, get ready to pony up $300 for a “business privilege license” to operate any business engaged in “activity for profit”. You can read about Marilyn Bess in Philadelphia that writes occasionally for eHow.com on The Washington Examiner and on Geekosystem.
This along with other and more government oversight seems like a great way to create a black market.
Hopefully we won’t have to worry about this anytime soon in Indianapolis. I’d hate to have Mayor Ballard getting his hands on the attendee list from Blog Indiana 2010 and setting up a “Bloggers Most Wanted” list.
I’ve already mentioned that I had the opportunity to be a speaker at the Blog Indiana 2010 Social Media 101 sessions. Myself along with Chris Theisen of Hare Chevy, Erik Deckers of Pro Blog Service and Patric Welch of Noobie all spoke on different topics to serve as introductions for people that were just getting started in social media.
- Keynote “Intro to Social Media” by Erik Deckers
- Breakout “Getting Started with Facebook” by Patric Welch
- Breakout “Twitter Tips & Tricks for Beginners” by Chris Theisen
I presented a breakout session titled “The Blogger’s Toolbox” which covered a list of the various applications that I’ve picked up over the years of my blogging experience. These were tools that have allowed me to write on a number of blogs consecutively, while maintaining a full-time job and being a husband and father of two great kids.
I divided the tools up into the different categories below:
The Fodder of Blog Ideas
Sometimes the challenge is just coming up with a new idea to write about for your blog topic.
- Digg – mainly used to see what’s being discussed and is popular, although this site is losing popularity overall with other options that provide similar resource.
- Google News Alerts – regardless of your blog topic, put in some keywords in Google Alerts and receive updates in your RSS reader or in your email inbox.
- Twitter Search – Twitter continues to be a wealth of a resource for blog ideas. You can either respond to what others are saying online or just get inspired about your own new post idea.
- Blog RSS – that’s right, we’re still reading blogs. Sometimes a great post can be an extension of a comment you left on someone else’s original post, or your own spin to a post or topic shared online. I personally use Bloglines as my RSS reader, but Google Reader is also an obvious option.
Continue reading ‘Blog Indiana 2010 Presentation: The Blogger’s Toolbox’
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