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Hi everyone! My name is Amanda, and I blog over at Indisposable Mama.

First of all, I would like to thank Kelley for having me here today. I have been reading her blog for about a year now, and I can say in all honesty that she is THE friendliest blogger I have met, and so I am very pleased to be working with her.

For awhile now, I have been reading her series about blogging tips, and I just had to chime in. Before taking time off to be a stay at home mom, I was a college writing instructor for ten years, and I jump at any opportunity to talk about issues pertaining to writing. I thought I would talk to you today about writer’s block.

Let me start off by saying that writer’s block stems from fear: fear of the blank page to be exact. We know we have something we have to accomplish, we might have a general idea of the end product we want to achieve, and we see that big, glaring white screen staring at us, taunting us.

And since writer’s block is psychological in nature, it’s great to beat it with a little psychology of our own. Anything you can do to take the pressure off will help tremendously.

Here are some of my favorite go to tricks when I am having difficulty writing:

• Give yourself a time limit. If you write a lot, you might want to go with ten-fifteen minutes. If you are newer to writing, you might want to start with five minutes. Then force yourself to write for that entire time. If your mind starts to go blank, start typing the alphabet or your name. Whatever you do, do NOT stop your hands from moving, and do NOT go back and revise. My students used to always scoff at me when I would make them do this, and then when they were done, they were amazed at how helpful it was. Oftentimes by the time you are finished, you have already completed or are at least on your way to a complete blog post!

• Turn off your monitor or if you are using a laptop, cover the screen with a towel. Oftentimes, we are so tempted to go back and reread what we have written that we stop ourselves from moving forward. If we can’t see what we are writing, we are more likely to keep moving forward.

• Give up on perfection. Earnest Hemingway is quoted as saying “The first draft of anything is s$#!.” If one of our nation’s greatest writers can have choppy, incoherent rough drafts, surely we can too! Writing time is for writing. Revision can come later.

• Talk it out. Oftentimes if I am having difficulty writing, I will discuss the writing topic with my husband, and soon enough, I will have it all written in my head. Changing the medium like this can free up your thoughts.

• Work ahead. As Kelley mentioned in last week’s post, working ahead can drastically decrease writer’s block because you have taken the pressure off of yourself. Anytime you can get ahead with blog posts, you will be doing yourself a favor. If you’re like me, this might be your greatest challenge

• Have fun! If you are reading this, it is probably because you are a blogger. Remember why you started this journey — because you wanted to experience the joy of writing. If you simply cannot get a post written, put it away for another time or another day. Give yourself a break to reconnect with your voice and your passion.

Well I hope some of these tips prove helpful for you. If you have a moment, I would love for you to take some time and head over to my blog.

If not, I would like to thank you for letting me be a little bit of your day.

Happy Writing!

The post 6 Tips to Beat Writers Block appeared first on mom makes dinner.

Did yall enjoy the series on Pinterest for business?  I hope you learned some fun new tips and tricks about the social media powerhouse!  Another thing that I get a lot of questions on are blog media kits.  I don’t advertise it but I make them and I enjoy doing it!  I get to mix design work with blog data.  Fun, right?  Media kits for bloggers are easy to make and a must have for any blog conference.  They are a snapshot of your blog that you can pass out to brands and pr companies.  I’m going to share with you what information you need and how you can make your own.

First, there is no right or wrong way to build your media kit.  You can put as much or as little information on it as you like.  I tell people that the minimum things to have on there are:

• Blog logo
• Picture of you
• Blog stats
• Social media stats
• Demographic of your readers
• Brands you’ve worked with
• Small blurb about you/blog

Next, use some sort of editing program to put all your information together.  A few tips on creating your media kit –

• Use only two fonts, any more is distracting
• Use the same picture that is on your blog/social media sites.  It helps with recognition.
• Use elements of your blog on your media kit.  I like to take a blogs header and use it up top.
• Be sure to update your media kit every so often.
• Make it YOU!

That’s really all there is to it.  Here are a few examples of ones I’ve created.

Kadie from Seven Alive

Adrianne from Happy Hour Projects

Amber from My Three Bittles

And mine.

Do you have a blog media kit?

Check out these other blogger tips and tricks!

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I was sent two amazing Ouidad projects to test a few month ago. I received the Whipped conditioner and the Curl Quencher Creme.

• I firmly believe that good curls are made in the shower with a good conditioner. The Ouidad whipped conditioner was amazing! It was like frosting for my hair.
• The next important step is to brush your underside down. This creates tons of volume!
• Take your product [in my case Ouidad curl creme] and put it in your hands. Rub them together for a few seconds to fully activate the product.
• Take your product and run it through your hair. Don’t scrunch! Just put the product on like you are putting your hair up. This helps fight the frizz!
• Flip your head and style your hair as desired. I fluffed mine a bit and pulled it back in a half twist.

Sometimes I twirl my hair into chunky sections and it really helps with the frizz.  Also, a good trim every few months helps revive your curls.  Although I tend to go a few months between trims.  And if you have curly hair never let them use a razor to cut it!  Holy frizz batman! 

Make sure to document your good hair days too.  Its a must for curly haired girls.  [Or girls in general.. ha!]

Here are my favorite curly girl products:

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