Angie Marion A Simple Kinda Life Blogger Interview

Angie has come from nothing close to a simple kind of life, but she turned it around and is now a top blogger and product reviewer who works hard to share information about products that will help us make our lives easier, posts about her own and other giveaways and is always willing to lend a hand to other bloggers.

Tell me about your Blog–

My blog, A Simple Kinda Life, is my baby. I’ve watched it grow from a place where I shared my papercrafting hobby, to a place that I have used to share my thoughts and issues and made some great friends in the process. You can find me writing about anything – a stressful day with my children, socially-conscious issues, freebies, great deals I find or are shared with me, as well as some great reviews and giveaways.

What was your first blog?

My first blog is the only blog I’ve ever had.

What is the biggest tip you would give to product reviewers?

Not only take, take, take, but you must give back. All of the reviewers form a community and become friends. YOUR way of giving back doesn’t have to be like everyone else’s. It can be providing advice to another blogger, to small things like sharing blog posts. I’ve always tried to be helpful in any avenue, and I will continue to do so. Oh, and be professional. I realize there’s a time and a place for anything, but one thing I was always taught is that a woman must always remain classy.

Are you contacted by advertisers or do you contact them or both?

I get contacted but I also contact companies, especially for events that I’m planning or am involved in. It’s not like I can send a subliminal message to a company and say “I’m having an event from November 21 through December 10th, please contact me!” I have a general email that I send out and I always include my media kit, which is updated regularly.

What is your favorite product that you have reviewed?

So far the best thing I have reviewed is E-cloth. It’s a great product that only takes water to clean!

What do advertisers do that you wish they wouldn’t/ do that you like?

I don’t like it when I’m not addressed properly. I hear it happens a lot though so I’m hoping it’s just overlooked.

What do bloggers do that you wish they wouldn’t/do that you like?

I can’t stand the cattiness. It’s just unnecessary drama.

What advertiser would you like to work with given a chance?

I’d love to work with Hewlett-Packard. They’re products are just GREAT!

Where do you see growth in the blogging field?

I’m pretty new at this blogging thing so I’m not much of an expert, but I will say this: In 2007, there were 120,000 blogs started every day. I couldn’t find a more recent figure, but it’s gotta be HUGE. So it remains to be unseen what exactly the future of blogging is. I think there are tons of opportunities out there for anyone, no matter what type of blogger they are. We’ll just have to see where it leads.

What is one thing about you that not many people know?

I lived in a homeless and battered women’s shelter about 10 years ago, and I was a high school dropout. I had been in a couple of abusive relationships and had 3 kids by the time I was 22. In less than a year’s time, I got my GED, a driver’s license, and started college. Now I have a great job and I have a security clearance with the United States Government. It just goes to show you that with perseverance, anything can be accomplished.

What’s your favorite book?

Oh my! How can you ask me that question right now?! I love all kinds of books – from VC Andrews to Tim LaHaye to paranormal. Reading is my fave past time!

What is on your iPod?

I don’t even own an iPod! (Hey, I’m a single mom!) That’s a funny story though – I won an iPod not too long ago and I gave it to my son. Oh the things we sacrifice for our children!

What are your contact details?

pricousins@(nospam)gmail.com/pricousins@(nospam)aol.com
A Simple Kinda Life
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/angiemarion
You can find me at the Mom Bloggers Club, The Classy Closet, and many more ning sites. Just look me up by “pricousins” or “[email protected]”
http://twitter.com/pricousins

What events do you attend?

As of right now, I haven’t attended any blogging events, but I’m hoping to attend BlogHer 2010!

How do you prefer to communicate?

Email – it comes to my Blackberry so if I’m not at the computer and it’s important, I can still respond relatively quickly.

Who would you recommend, and why?

Deal Seeking Mom– Tara highlights great deals and has some awesome giveaways!
Mommy Snacks – Andrea also shares tons of great deals, freebies, and giveaways!
Organizing Your Way – Mandi has great posts – from organizing your household with printables that she created, to tips on running your household more smoothly. She’s great!
Pensieve – I love the way she writes and the things she does for her fellow man! Robin is a beautiful individual!

Sweeties Sweeps – I love to enter sweepstakes and Sweetie’s got em

Erica Says – Erica shares great blogging tips and useful tools for blogs and more

A Cowboys Wife – I just love Lori’s photography and she also shares great deals and has awesome giveaways!
Mommy Goggles – Tanya is funny, helpful, and I love her blog!
Feels Like Home – I love Tara’s family stories she shares as well as her recipes! that woman can cook!
Robyns Online World – Robyn’s blog is a mixture of tech-stuff (my absolute fave!), family life, and giveaways and I love it!
Moody Mama Says – Andrea is sweet, kind, and helpful, and I’m proud to call her one of my best friends.
To Think Is To Create – Arianne also takes great photographs, blogs about her children with Autism, and she has some great family posts in there. I really look up to her!

The Daily Blonde – Cheryl’s fun to visit when you need just that little bit of humor. She’s also very sweet and helpful!
Capture The Moment – Nichole Heady is my favorite papercrafter EVER and she runs Papertrey Ink, which has the CUTEST polymer stamp sets!

What are some of your favorite forums?

I find that I don’t have alot of time for forums (hey, I’m a working single blogging mom!) but I really enjoy the momlogic community – I’ve met loads of “friends” over there! I also like the Mom Bloggers Club because not only is there a TON of information on the site, there are documents like Media Kits that you can modify and use for your own site as well as Blogging Tips.

What is one thing people can do for you?

For me? I’m not really a taker – I like to give. If anyone needs any help with anything, especially tech-related, contact me. I aspire to have an MCSE one day soon!

How did you get started with blogging?

I started blogging when I started papercrafting (making handmade cards) back in 2007. I shared photos of my cards there as well as blog candy, which in the papercrafting world, is usually paper or stamps or something that you can win from a fellow papercrafter. 2 years later, my blog has grown and my readership has grown. I love it!

How did you learn about doing product reviews?

I discovered Twitter last year, and I can’t remember exactly how, but I started blog-hopping and using Twitter ALOT – I participated in #GNO parties at first (from a cell phone too – my pc had died!). I saw all of these reviews and giveaways being done and I wanted in! I started asking around, and I got my first review via Twitter. Then I got another from a company I approached, and then I was told to join a few mom review networks like One 2 One Network, Team Mom, etc., and here it is about 8 months later and I’m doing all kinds of reviews.

This is not anything against blogspot, but I keep hearing that you need to have a self-hosted blog in order to be a top blogger and to get opportunities to do reviews. I see that isn’t true with you. Are you happy with blogspot? Have you considered moving to a self-hosted site? Why or why not?

I had never heard that so it’s news to me! I see many of women who aren’t self hosted get reviews (and TONS of them!) I used to be happy with Blogspot but lately (as my blog grows in data size I guess), I am becoming more and more unhappy with them. A lot of people email me and say that the page won’t load or it takes a long time. For this reason, I do not recommend using Internet Explorer for any blog hopping at all. I personally use Firefox and Google Chrome and switch between the two. I do plan on becoming self-hosted and moving to WordPress after the New Year, so be on the lookout for an updated “A Simple Kinda Life”! I definitely love the look of the WordPress blogs as well as the plugins! I am going to have tons of fun with my new blog once I switch over!

Connie Roberts

ConnieFoggles