Hasta La Gadget!

I’ve previously mentioned how the summertime is usually a slow time for my business. I also mentioned how I use this time to work on big projects that move my brand forward. This year, one of those projects looked like learning, understanding and setting up Pinterest to increase traffic to my blog.

Why You Need More Blog Traffic

I’m beating a dead horse here, but you need a blog for your freelance business. It allows you to show people what you do, established you as an expert in your field, allows you to monetize in different ways and allows you to capture leads by having them sign up for an email list. Sorry, but you can’t do all of that on Twitter or Facebook. You need your own space on the internet.

Now, in order for all of those awesome things to occur, you need to actually get eyeballs to your website. Using Pinterest to increase traffic is a super low-cost way to get those eyeballs.

Why Pinterest

Pinterest is like Google but with images. People go to Pinterest to search for helpful articles just like they would on Google. However, unlike Google, people on Pinterest can repin and share what they find on their own Pinterest pages.

Pinterest is also the third largest social media network after Facebook and LinkedIn with more people joining daily. This means there are lots of opportunities to find new readers for your blog.

Best Practices for Using Pinterest to Increase Blog Traffic

I’ve been experimenting with Pinterest the last few weeks. In two weeks alone I’ve been able to increase my repins (how many times my content is shared) to less than 10 repins to almost 300 repins. My pageviwes on my website also increased by 1,000 within a week with a big chunk of new traffic coming from Pinterest. I also know this will continue to increase as I add more content to my Pinterest page.

This means my ad revenue has increased, my email list is getting bigger and I have new potential clients, customers and social media followers.

• Pin content to group boards. Group boards are Pinterest pages where several different people pin content to a board with a particular interest. Additionally, they also repin the content found on the group board. Some boards have thousands of potential readers so it’s a great way to put your content in front of a new audience.
• Have high quality images. I spent a lot of time creating high-quality images – sometimes even multiple images per blog post – for Pinterest. I happen to enjoy creating images, but if you’re not very good at it or don’t have the time, you can always outsource it.
• Have an organized and well- branded Pinterest page. If you go to my Pinterest page, you’ll see I spent time creating different boards for multiple areas of finance. You’ll also see that I made cover photos for the board with my brand colors. This organizes the content so people can easily find what they are looking for.
• Automate as much as you can. I use Boardbooster to automate the images I pin to group boards. I also use Tailwin to schedule out pin postings to different boards. Combined they both cost me about $20 a month which is well worth it for the results I’ve been seeing.

Pinterest is an awesome low-cost tool that can help you increase blog traffic and possible revenue in a very short amount of time. While it takes some time to set up, using Pinterest to increase blog traffic is single handedly expanding my reach.

How to Use Pinterest to Increase Traffic to Your Blog was originally published on the Invoice Blog by Amanda Abella.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Sometimes a singer just comes out of nowhere and makes you question everything you ever listened to before. When you finally hear it, you know. It is like falling in love. It is what Cloud 9 feels like. Hearing South African singer Tuelo belt out her shining vocals in various venues around The Big Apple this year has been both a pleasure and a gift.

The singer may have been born on another side of the world but she is New York’s to claim. It is time for everyone else to understand the gift we have been given. To celebrate her new single “On-Air” and forthcoming EP, Zero, I spoke to Tuelo about her roots, music and playing with her backing band — The Cousins.

When did you decide to make the move from South Africa to New York?

I moved to Connecticut in 2004 not originally for music, but for life. I didn’t even think I could sing. Then I moved to New York City in 2010.

Why did you choose NYC over London, LA, Paris or any other city for that matter?

The truth is New York chose me and I am so glad it did. It’s strange but I feel as though South Africa was enough Europe for me. LA might not be bad at all…

Your music reflects on your roots both personally and politically — songs are about your mother, family, Apartheid. You have given a voice to those in South Africa whose stories are not heard. Performing these songs, is it a cathartic experience for you?

It is the ultimate cathartic experience for me. I have always really loved people, my surroundings, the interactions and relationships we hold, and how we conduct ourselves within them. I feel it is the joy of life. Growing up at the end of apartheid makes me highly attuned and sensitive to the society we live in, the issues, the stories of struggle and disenfranchised people makes me want to contribute positively in whichever way I can. There is so much story to tell and issues to highlight, even in subtle ways through a song. My wish is that I give a voice to many more people, that I become a vessel, and that this is only the beginning.

What has NYC taught you? Has it changed you?

New York teaches me constantly how my ingrained sense of humbleness might be a short coming. New York teaches me to fight for myself constantly. I grew up Motswana in S.A. and in my culture and my families culture no one necessarily celebrates victories – you are expected to do well and even better. Enjoying and flaunting(promoting) yourself and being flamboyant or celebrating opulently in public is frivolous, obnoxious, insipid and can be looked down upon. Years of refined humbleness, confidence and hardwork are revered and considered classy. I am learning to say Thank You when given a compliment ha! New York is the license to be myself and as bold and daring as I feel inside.

This city has allowed me to create my own path in life. To eat, dress, live, surround myself with whomever makes me blossom and inspires me. Ultimately, to make the music the best way I know how embracing all of my influences, just like the city does.

How did you link up with The Cousins?

Divine intervention I guess. You will excuse my very existential and spiritual talk but it was really a higher power. I have always said that if I ever made music I would want good people around me. I didn’t meet them all at the same time. Once I had made my intentions clear to myself it became easier to make connections, and over the course of my taking music more seriously I met other good people who introduced me to my cousins, individually and over time. I suppose I am the seed -the core is Kevin (keys) and Daniel (bass), and the other relatives are fruit, ha!

The essence of your voice sounds so natural. It doesn’t sound as if you had a vocal coach or training — is this true and where you always singing?

I was never a “singer” until I came to the US. In South Africa everyone sings really well. Even the not very good singers still hold a note and harmony pretty well. Singing is a part of culture, of spirituality, of politics, and I felt average because in normal life I was essentially one of those people in the background, not even trying, and simply contributing to the harmony in a song, but never to stand out. I am also shy in many ways. Finding my voice was really amazing. I discovered, taught myself and practiced the way in which my voice sounds and resounds and then I came to terms with the fact that it’s best when I allow it to be wild. Of course, the story is longer and I had many people who exposed me to the unseen to get to my voice. For the first time in life I had confidence, I had carved my own weapon to protect myself with. That being said, I am still terrified of my voice sometimes and I have to remind myself that the only way I can sing is to let it go to wherever it wants to. It knows.

Have you had the opportunity to go back to South Africa and perform?

No. We really want to enjoy our base in New York and hit the American market first, since it’s essentially New York music! Soon we’ll get to S.A. I can’t say much about it but I’m both terrified and excited.

What does your family think of your ambition?

They are supportive. I was never a singer at home so it’s also a bit strange to them. My mum often asks me how I write songs – where I get them from. She is shocked, really. My sister has seen me perform and she went back and told them that I am doing something new. My parents are supportive but are still waiting for a doctorate degree someday, and a published book because African parents are relentless and unforgiving in that manner. They want us to be perfect. I can’t blame them really.

You are currently working on your new album. What can fans expect?

The full album is next year but the E.P album will be released in August, and it has four songs that sound amazing. You can expect a very New York group of songs: a love song called ON AIR, a song about a love in a new world on Mars called ZERO, a song about facing fear called RUN, and my introduction to songwriting with a letter to my mother called SAINT MARGARET. Warm-Dark songs but a bright and pretty sound.

What has been your favorite moment of this journey?

Actually ‘musicing’ – playing shows is by far the full experience. The opportunity helps us carve out a place for our music in the world. On stage I really appreciate moments where I can chat a little about songs and not just move on to another. The feeling and chemistry of singing is healing to me, it is an experience like no other. Singing to me has broken down many of my defenses and I am grateful that others let me detoxify in their presence. By far the best part is finding out after a show that a person standing at the back heard every lyric, the music, the short stories, the rhythms and connected at a deep, healing and affirming level. Then I feel like I did my job – I go home and sleep like a baby.

What can you share about your experience to someone around the world who wants to do exactly what you did but may not have the courage nor support to do so?

I really shouldn’t be giving out advice, but I would say trust your instinct, and don’t worry about where you will get support from. It will come. You will learn along the way. Don’t take those lessons for granted they will serve to propel you and save you from trouble. And be grateful whenever you aren’t crying and sometimes when you are crying and lost – be grateful. I didn’t have support. I am from the countryside of South Africa and I am a black South African girl who felt the effects of apartheid, who has found family and music with mostly white people, so far away from home. If you can only let go of your fear, miracles will happen each moment of your journey.

A Longer Version of This Interview Appears On Officially A Yuppie

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Summer is upon us, and many people are making vacation plans to enjoy the weather and soak-in the sun. Airlines for America estimates that U.S. Airlines will carry a record 231 million passengers this vacation season. Whether you plan to fly to the end of the world, or to the next town over, it’s a well-known fact that credit card points can help offset the cost of your trip. Ideally, you would have been saving up miles or points throughout the year. That way you can easily pay for a vacation, and save hundreds of dollars.

Haven’t been saving points at all? There’s still a way you can save big. How? Credit card bonuses. If you sign up for a credit card and quickly qualify for its welcome offer, you can significantly reduce the cost of your summer travels.

The Biggest Savings: Airline Card Bonuses

If your vacation involves a plane ride, take a look at airline credit cards. Generally, these have the best bonuses around. It’s not uncommon to save anywhere between $500 and $700 with the right welcome offer. First, identify the carrier you expect to fly with, and then look at their offers. You’ll need to pay close attention to the requirements for the bonus. Some will require you to spend upwards of $3,000 within 3 months to qualify. If you know you can’t reach that, don’t bother signing up.

You should specifically look for credit cards that offer companion tickets as a welcome offer. Companion tickets are the holy grail of credit card bonuses. They act as a “buy one get one free” deal on airline fares. Companion tickets can potentially lead to savings of over a thousand dollars, depending on the type of ticket you buy. Note that some aren’t exactly free, and require you to put down $99 for the extra ticket. Even in those instances, however, you will end up saving big.

When Cash Back Bonuses Make Sense

Cash back credit cards, even the best ones, have relatively low bonuses. While airline-branded cards can get you bonuses as high as $700, cash back offers rarely push $150.

Despite this, they shouldn’t be discounted. Cash back credit cards can still help you save on upcoming travel plans – especially in two scenarios.

1. If you don’t spend enough money to qualify for the big bonuses. As we mentioned above, while airline sign-up offers are lucrative, they often require you to spend a lot of money to qualify. Cash back bonuses, on the other hand, will typically not require you to spend more than $500/$1,000. This comes in especially handy for those with limited time. For most people, it will be easier to quickly spend $500 than $3,000 – especially if you’re hoping to earn the bonus within a month.
2. Cash back bonuses can be applied retroactively. In order for them to be effective, airline bonuses need to be earned before you paid for your vacation. This is because you can’t use your miles to pay for tickets you already bought. When you earn a cash back bonus, it’s like getting money put in your hand. You can do with it what you please. Many, for example, will allow you to use the bonus as statement credit. This way you can use the card to pay for things on your vacation, and then erase them from your bill with the statement credit.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

The Labyrinth sequel may never materialize
, and a reboot’s future is uncertain
after the untimely death of the one and only Jareth (all hail the Goblin King). But as you pick out the right crotch-hugging pants to celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary this summer, the Jim Henson Company is releasing a board game to keep the dance magic dance alive.

Read more…

With Father’s Day approaching, I’m thinking about the world that my kids, and their kids, will inherit — and I can’t help but worry about the dramatic changes in the climate they will experience.

Already, Michaela and Rory are growing up in a world that’s made less safe because of global warming. Rising heat is increasing the risk of bad-air days, and for both of my children, who suffer from asthma but love sports and the outdoors, high smog levels are a double whammy.

At the same time, here in New England, flooding and storms are starting to become the new normal. Our research shows that since I was about my kids’ age, extreme rain and snow storms have increased by more than 30 percent. In fact, everyone in Massachusetts lives in a county recently hit by at least one federally-declared weather disaster – like the snow storms from last year that dumped more than 100 inches, shattering previous records.

We were relatively lucky during last year’s storms. We made it through with a few leaks from ice dams and some sore backs from shoveling. But not everyone was so fortunate, with lives lost, tens of thousands without power, and more than $1 billion in lost profits and wages in one month alone.

I know that without action to stop the build-up of climate-altering pollution, even worse is in store. So, as a father, I worry. I worry that my kids will live in a very different world. I worry how another storm like Hurricane Sandy on our East Coast could flood homes, uproot families, cripple our infrastructure, and set communities back years. I worry about how the threat of insect-borne illnesses like the Zika virus could impact my kids’ decision to have children of their own. If they do, I worry heat waves and the resulting air pollution will make summer outdoor fun challenging for our grandchildren.

Three years ago, in honor of Father’s Day, Environment America put together a little video of dads asking President Obama, dad-to-dad, to do all he could to act on climate for the sake of our children. The project was part of broad, sustained effort across environmental and justice communities to urge bold action on climate.

On a hot June day that same year at Georgetown University, President Obama announced his Climate Action Plan to a packed crowd of youth, saying, “Someday our children and our children’s children will look at us in the eye and they’ll ask us did we do all that we could when we had the chance to deal with this problem and leave them a cleaner, safer, more stable world. I want to be able to say, ‘Yes, we did.’ “

Time and again the president has repeated this vow. And time and again, backed by fathers just like me across the country, the president has delivered on it. And so this Father’s Day, father-to-father, we’ve put together a new video to give the president thanks.

The list of the president’s accomplishments in the fight against climate change is long. He doubled the fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks. He set the first-ever national limits on carbon pollution from both heavy-duty vehicles and power plants. His leadership was crucial to the Paris climate agreement, in which nearly 200 nations set a goal of keeping global warming beneath dangerous levels.

The progress we’ve seen since the president took office is real. We have 30 times more solar power and three times more wind. In 2008, there was one model of electric car available; now there are 20. All the while, the costs of climate-friendly technologies keep falling.

Of course while these steps are huge, they won’t, in and of themselves, solve the problem. It will be up to the nation’s and the world’s future fathers – and others — to follow through on the progress President Obama has begun. For now, I’m wishing President Obama a happy Father’s Day, and thanking him for all he’s done to make the world safer for all our children.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.