The Wax Blog
August 26, 2010 by Sara · 5 Comments
Bonnie Harris, writer of The Wax Blog, is a media strategist, writer and blogger dedicated to creating a new model for the marketing and public relations industry. After realizing she was not cut out for life in the “bored” room, she made a major career transition from an executive in the technology industry to founding Wax Marketing in 2002. Bonnie’s written work has appeared in national magazines including HerSports and YourHealth, and even Hooters Magazine (she was the contributing editor for non-traditional sports). Bonnie has been featured in several publications including USA Today, Selling Power, PRWeek and BusinessVision Magazine. She holds an Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications from the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism at West Virginia University and a B.S. in Economics from the University of Minnesota.
Lots of people start blogs for different reasons. What was the inspiration > behind starting The Wax Blog?
PR and marketing services are often too expensive for start-ups, authors and people with side businesses. I thought it would provide a free resource where they could find answers to most of their common questions such as how to pitch media, how to write a marketing or social media plan, how to start and run a blog, etc. I’ll pretty much answer any question there, from a specific producer to pitch at a national TV show, to showing samples of pitches that worked well.
What are your favorite methods of social media networking to bring traffic to your blog?
I’m addicted to Twitter ( I’m @waxgirl333) but one of the more surprised things I learned this year was the amount of traffic I could generate from LinkedIn, especially participating in LinkedIn groups. I think it’s a secret weapon. I’m also a DoFollow blog, which has attracted quite a few of my regular visitors who came to get the links, but stayed for the info.
Who or what are your top resources for social media and online marketing information?
I regularly read the TopRank blog, Mediaite.com, all the feeds on Mediabistro.com, the media blogs on the HuffPo, MarketingProfs Daily, Problogger and Copyblogger. I’ll take a look at Convinceandconvert.com, Nieman Journalism Lab, and grow frequently as well. I read David Carr at the NYT too.
How has blogging changed your life?
I used to freelance quite a bit on the side for magazines , and we all know how the print business is doing these days. It’s given me a new outlet for writing and a way for me to express myself through my business. I also just started my first blog business venture, www.bartthedumpsterdog.com so I’m hoping that it will also provide a steady stream of new income as well.
What is one important thing that you have learned about blogging that you could share with our readers?
I learned that when I write from the heart, rather than trying to impress, I get a much better reaction. To be myself and just say what I think not only draws more readers, it’s a much more rewarding experience for me.
What other blogs do you enjoy reading and why? Who are your favorite local Twin Cities bloggers?
Of course Lee Odden at www.toprankblog.com is great (and a nice guy too). I like reading www.secretsofthecity.com and Jason DeRusha’s blog at WCCO. Paul at www.twincitiesblogs.com does a nice job of aggregating all our local blogs. And I love Bob Stanke at www.bobstanke.com – it’s a smaller blog but he’s really knows his stuff and throws in a bit of psychology every now and again.
What do you love the most about the Twin Cities / Minnesota and why?
Well of course the people are the best! And I love the weather for inline skating in the summer and skate skiing in the winter, two sports I just picked up in the past year.
Beauty Bets
Writer, editor, and Beauty Bets blogger Elizabeth Dehn was born with a beauty junkie gene. She grew up in Minneapolis, making face masks for friends and spending babysitting money on Mood lipstick and lavender eyeshadow. Now she funnels all of the information she has gathered into the Beauty Bets blog. At Beauty Bets, readers can expect an honest, personal, and witty guide to the beauty products, treatments, and trends that make life infinitely better (plus a few that are completely not worth it). Elizabeth has previously had writing gigs with Fashion Weekly, Everyday with Rachael Ray, and was the lifestyle editor for Minnesota Monthly. Now she is a regular contributor to the magazine, in addition to the Star Tribune, Sotheby’s Artful Living magazine, Twin Cities Live, and MyTalk FM107.1.
What was the inspiration behind starting the Beauty Bets blog?
I needed a creative outlet and decided it was high time I learn how to blog. I’m a writer/editor by trade and beauty is one of my favorite topics, so the blog was a natural extension of both. Also: I saw a need for a smart, professional, and pretty beauty blog—something I’d want to read.
Who or what are your top resources for beauty-related news and information?
I’m fortunate to have a number of fantastic publicists and industry experts keeping me in the loop, but I also read a ton of magazines—Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Lucky, Allure, Glamour—and follow their beauty bloggers, who are closer to the action than I can get in Mpls!
What are five fantastic skin care, hair care or other beauty products you could not live without and why do you love them?
Now you’re talking!
- Bobbi Brown Color Corrector completely obliterated my undereye circles
- Arcona Vitamin A serum is the best at keeping my skin smooth and glowing
- Morrocanoil tames frizzies, fly-aways, and split ends like nothing else
- Smashbox Bronze Lights is only bronzer that looks natural, not orangey, on my fair skin
- Triluma is the first skin lightener that really, truly faded my sun damage from all of those years of baking
If you had $100 extra dollars right now, what beauty items that you don’t own would you purchase?
I tend to splurge on treatments more than products, so I’d probably get my summer freckles zapped with an Intense Pulsed Light laser at Uptown Dermatology!
How has blogging changed your life?
I sleep a LOT less. Seriously—blogging daily is far more time consuming than I ever anticipated. But I love connecting with a community of readers from all over the country—you don’t get that dialogue in print journalism. It’s exciting and energizing as a writer.
What other blogs do you enjoy reading? Who are your favorite local Twin Cities bloggers?
Oh man, it’s a long list. Beauty Counter is fabulous for trendspotting, NY Mag’s the Cut is hysterically witty and fashion-forward, and Cup of Jo is just plain gorgeous. Locally, I love Yes and Yes, Minnesota Monthly food critic Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, and Ali Shops.
What do you love the most about the Twin Cities / Minnesota and why?
Accessibility — to nature, culture, a killer food scene, and the people I love. You don’t find that combination in most cosmopolitan cities. And then there’s the other six months of the year when I want to move to Hawaii.
Nick’s Twins Blog
August 10, 2010 by Sara · 3 Comments
Nick’s Twins Blog is an unofficial journal featuring updates and analysis of the Minnesota Twins by 24-year-old Minneapolis resident Nick Nelson. A lifelong baseball fan, the site began in March of 2005 as Nick & Nick’s Twins Blog, a joint venture with fellow Twins fan, Nick Mosvick. When Mosvick moved to Virginia to pursue a law degree, the blog changed to its current incarnation. Through the blog, Nick discusses player performance, game strategy, team moves, prospect analysis and a wide range of other topics relating to the Twins as well as the rest of Major League Baseball. Nelson graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2008 with a Journalism degree. In addition to Nick’s Twins Blog, his writing can be found at Rotoworld.com, BaseballDigest.com, Heater Magazine, GameDay Magazine, and other publications.
What was the inspiration behind starting Nick & Nick’s Twins Blog, which would eventually become Nick’s Twins Blog?
While going to school at the University of Minnesota, I sat next to a guy named Nick Mosvick in one of my freshman political science courses. It was a night class during the 2004 playoffs, and eventually we came to notice one another incessantly scanning the internet on our laptops for updates on the Twins/Yankees ALDS game that was taking place. Realizing a shared passion, we started talking Twins each week in class (often to the chagrin of our professor and surrounding classmates). At the time, I was just starting to get into early Twins blogs like Twins Geek and Aaron Gleeman, and being that I’ve always loved to write it was something I’d considered picking up. I pitched the idea to Nick, figuring we could co-author the blog and keep the workload reasonable by posting on alternating days. Thus, the blog was born.
Who or what are your top resources for Twins and general baseball news and information?
My top resource when it comes to Twins news and analysis is the vast and diverse blogosphere dedicated to the team. There are a lot of wonderful writers from all different genders, age groups and backgrounds giving their own takes on the team, and I find that by frequenting a large number of these blogs I’m able to get a very comprehensive look at the events unfolding over the course of the season. Of course, the beat writers from the local newspapers do a great job and provide us bloggers with all kinds of fodder; I can’t say I envy their jobs (the difficulty of having to objectively analyze the subject that you’re covering — not only covering, but immersed in — all year long is widely underrated, in my opinion), but I really appreciate what they do. Statistical resources like Baseball-Reference.com and Fangraphs.com are also invaluable.
You try to “provide a balanced look at the team without being overly positive or negative,” but no one blogs about a team for five straight years without being a serious fan. What is one of your best/favorite memories regarding the Twins that you have?
I can’t deny that I’m emotionally attached to the team. Like any hardcore sports fan, I get ticked off when the guys play poorly or when the manager makes a boneheaded decision. Some folks find it therapeutic to mash those emotions out on their keyboard, and that’s fine (it can be very entertaining to read, in fact), but I find it more prudent to take a deep breath and look at things from a broader perspective. With that being said, I don’t think I’ve ever in my life been through such an emotional roller coaster as last year’s AL Central tiebreaker between the Tigers and Twins at the Metrodome. I lucked myself into some good seats and was on pins and needles for four and a half hours as the two teams seesawed back and forth in the most thrilling sporting event I’ve ever taken in live. It was a game full of blemishes, blunders and missed opportunities, yet all it did was serve to remind me why the game is so beautiful.
What do you like/dislike about the sports blogosphere, and what would you say its role is in the sports world?
If I had to pick one thing I dislike about sports blogs, and specifically those of the stats-driven baseball analysis variety, it’s the air of conceit surrounding people’s online personalities. Too many people think it’s “cool” to be cynical of everything, and I’m often shocked with the disrespectful manner in which writers I admire address people in their comments sections. In the end, this is discourse about a game and blogs can certainly help advance that discourse, but people ought to be more respectful toward one another.
How has blogging changed your life?
In a lot of ways, really. I’ve always loved to write and now I’m being paid to do it through several side jobs. I’ve come across all of them by networking through my blog. Gleeman, who has already lived out the dream by turning his own blogging passion into a full-time profession, became a friend after he took notice of my blog several years ago and helped lead me to some great writing opportunities. Through him, I got a writing gig at Rotoworld.com (which I’m now doing for a third season), and he also referred ESPN.com’s Rob Neyer to my site, ultimately leading to an affiliation between my blog and Neyer’s SweetSpot Network. In addition, I teamed with three fellow Twins bloggers a year ago to create the TwinsCentric brand, and together we’ve produced several profitable publications while also being given the opportunity to blog on StarTribune.com. If you’d told me back in the spring of 2005, when I started this little experiment, that it would eventually lead to my work being featured on ESPN.com and StarTribune.com, I don’t think I’d have believed it. More significant than the modest money I’ve made and the prominence my writing has gained, though, are the friendships I’ve forged through this little community.
What other blogs do you enjoy reading? Who are your favorite local Twin Cities bloggers?
Naturally, I read Gleeman , as well as my fellow TwinsCentric authors John Bonnes, Seth Stohs and Parker Hageman. I also make sure to regularly check in on my friends over at Twinkie Town, Phil Mackey/Tom Pelissero on the 1500ESPN SportsWire, Josh Johnson and countless others. I think my favorite blog of all, though, has to be that of Joe Posnanski, who is for my money the finest sportswriter alive.
What do you love the most about the Twin Cities / Minnesota and why?
I just think Minneapolis is a great city. It’s modern, progressive, clean and full of friendly people. The summers in Minnesota are unbeatable and the majority of my family and friends call this place home. Plus. I kind of like the baseball team that plays here.
