Video from Non-Profit Summit 2008: Three co-workers and I presented at the Blog, Blog, Blog session

A few weeks ago, I spoke on a panel called Blog, Blog, Blog at the Nonprofit Summit 2008, sponsored in part by CDS Creative, the company ran by my new friend Catherine Shafer. The CEO of my company, Scott, an SEO expert from my company, Jeff (and fellow blogger), Catherine and I talked about all the advantages of blogging for nonprofits-- not to mention how easy it was. I had a great time! After the session, I was interviewed for the video presentation-- check it out. You must wait until the very end to see me, but there's a lot of good stuff there pertaining to managing nonprofits-- if you wish though, you can move the dial up to around 5:00 to see my interview and B-roll footage of Catherine and the Solid Cactus gang. Click on the video for the '08 summit.

http://www.cdscreative.com/cdscreativevideos.htm

Another Round of Funny Keywords That Brought People to My Blog

A few months back, I posted some funny keywords that showed up in my Google Analytics account. To those unfamiliar with the e-commerce tool, Google Analytics pretty much tells you everything about your site- where people are coming from, etc. I have it on my site just for shits and giggles to see how much traffic I get and how far visitors are from- but what I find most entertaining is HOW people find the blog.

There are some expected keywords, like my name (people search for me for some reason)- various spellings of my name and blog name, too. I also must have blogged about a few well-searched topics like Office Space, Green M&Ms being an aphrodisiac (about 40 different versions of a search for that appeared), expired driver's license and bars (almost 100 searches for versions of that), fecal matter in ice (about 30 different keywords phrases on that), lots of Pocono and Wilkes-Barre businesses since I blog a lot about what I do and where I go... But here's some strange ones-- somehow my content must have looked good to the search engines when people searched for:

are you supposed to rotate in a tanning salon
beer internet publicity tattoo (My comment: WTF?)
cats for cakes
cool laundromat names
dive bar dancer blog
donna l. white naked (My comment: Thank goodness is wasn't my name with naked!!)
elmo drink trucks
hoochies guitar
health issue, i smell a mold smell everywhere, my house, my car, my office (My Comment- that's a long search term!)
how to use a pooper scooper (My comment- freaking hysterical)
my cat is eating too much
my boyfriend caught me smoking
nightmare cat eating body
screw the banks
status orgasmus
where did okie dokie come from

Maybe I'm a complete dork- but I love this stuff!

New Blog

I just created a new blog for "Kids, Have You Seen My Backpack." I know, like you need another blog from me to read! If you want to though, stop by for a visit.

The Birthday Party Made the Company Blog

Thanks to John Dawe, everyone can now relive a moment from mine and Matt's birthday celebration, when another co-worker took the stage. Listen to the cheers at the end-- there were a ton of us there. It was awesome. Check it out.

http://blog.solidcactus.com/ - main blog page.

Oh, and while you are on the blog-- you can learn a lot about my awesome company.

A Forgotten Blog- I Dug Up More Online History

So it's true. And I even forgot about it. I had a blog before Daily Dose o Donna.

I was being a dork and Googling myself and I found that I once took a stab at blogging before-- and I can't even log in-- not sure what address I had- it must have been before my gmail account. At any rate, it was called "Rants in Her Pants: Donna Talarico's Blog." And I made a whopping two posts in 2005:

--Directory Assistance vs. Pennsylvania Geography: Constant battle for hungry drivers and newspaper stringers

And

All Bladders not Equal and Other Ramblings from recent weeks...

It's funny to stumble across these things. Hehe. I remember those two incidents happening like it was yesterday.

What Keywords People Used and Found My Blog

I write my blog for fun, pretty much. I don't write it with SEO (search enging optimization) in mind. I don't pay attention to keyword density-- I just type away with whatever story or rant I wanted to share. But, also for fun, I have Google Analytics on my blog. For the most part, people who know me will just click on the link to my blog from my MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, e-mail signature or other social networking.

I also know that strangers from 44 different states and 26 different countries have stumbled upon my blog looking for things on Google, Yahoo and MSN. I thought it would be cool (and in some cases, funny) to blog about the keywords and keyphrases people used to find DailyDoseoDonna.com. I find this kind of like Big Brother because what we search for should be secret.... I am sure my blog was not the research they were looking for, but hey, at least I had some readers-- no matter what circumstances they used to stumble upon my blog.

The #1 Keyword used: "Woodfield Manor" and variations
How many times my blog was clicked on for this keyword: 100+
Why I blogged about it: I wrote about one of our clients new restaurants/hotels. This is very cool that my blog is coming up in the search because I gave it a rave review. I think this is very cool as well because it means people are searching for this restaurant.

Other Keywords:

My blog about Two Girls One Cup got hits from these searches:
2 girls one cup, barf in cup, Two Girls One Cup, dose girls one cup, naked girls barf, naked girl barf, scat two girls one cup video, two girls + one cup scat video, two girls one cup web link, video of two girls and one cup

My blog about Green M&Ms got tons of hits from these searches-- probably the most cursiosity of any topic I wrote about actually:
Aphrodisiac Colors, Wearing Green on Thursday, green M&M thursday, donna green, green M&Ms + horny, aphrodisiac CVS, are green m&ms aphrodisiac, color m&m's aphrodisiac, green m&ms pr, green m&m character, green m&m band, green m&m thursday, how did the green m&m thing start, looking for green m&ms, meanings of the green m&ms, pictures of the sexy greem m&m lady, sexy green m&m, seperate out the green m&ms, wearing green is said to be an aphrodisiac, wearing green on thursday makes you horny, what does wearing green on thursday mean, why does green mean horny celtic traditions,

My Blog About Office Space and my old job got hits from these searches:
--Office Space movie + marx, Office Space movie + management theories, office space marx, sociology of the movie Office Space, movie the office space peter paper sociology

My Blog About the Wendy's Snack Attack garnered a few hundred hits through various keyword searches like: snack attack double cheeseburger, snack attack Wendy's price, wendy's snack attack, etc.

Other various keywords that I think are hilarious- in my blog, they seemed normal to write as they pertained to a story, but when they are just typed into a search engine, it just makes me laugh:

- her asscrack showing
- bar with expired license
- knew I needed gas
- bar catfight
- broke half driver's license
- can I get served if my license is expired?
- cave with train pennsylvania
- crash on Route 118
- donna best buy - I did work at Best Buy! Do you think they were looking for me?
- g club 10
- gmc yukon out of gas
- harmonica recommendations - this is one of my favorites
- is wilkes university the real deal
- hillbilly
- liking new things
- norman mailer agnostic
- racing eating too much
- self-depricating humor
- skippy+beer+lemonade mix+ how to make
- my cat is eating too much
- oh donna

And, a few people that I know who I wrote about have been searched for as well. They will remain nameless, but my blog obvioulsy comes up now when people google their names. I had a bunch of hits on my blog by searching for a particular person. Either they google themselves (like I do) or have adoring fans! I hope for the latter.

I think I have way too much time on my hands to look into all this stuff, but it's fun. I like data.

Do you use Protection? I have some to offer incase you don't!

I think this started as a doodle on my to-go box at Big Ugly's on Friday. A co-worker of mine began to doodle on my styrofoam box. Before I know it, three of my colleagues are drawing all over my box. I will cherish it forever. So, John Dawe created a little logo for by blog. Don't know why I never thought of this, but I thought I would share his clever masterpiece. I LOVE it. Thank you, Dawe-- so much! This is awesome. I mean, Dawesome. What a nice surprise on a SuperBowl Monday!

I love the Grammar Girl! Why didn't I listen sooner?!

I have heard of the Grammar Girl podcast, but I never listened. While on Digg.com tonight, I stumbled upon it and listened to a few podcasts. Now I am actually fighting the melatonin I took.... This is such a cool, cool show that will really help me with grammar issues. There is a comma podcast I want to listen to. I've been writing for papers for so long and the rule there seems to be less commas; however, in my creative writing class some of my peers add commas everywhere when editing my work. I think those are comma splices though... I'll listen and she what gets ironed out.

The Grammar Girl episode I listened to first included a few questions from listeners that wouldn't make a full podcast. One thing I am EXTREMELY happy that she covered was nauseous v. nauseated. People say, "I feel so nauseous." And that's not correct. I've tried to win arguments on that in the past. Nauseous thing make us feel nauseated!

Another question was about the plural of octopus, hippopotamus and cactus. The proper American way is to end with an -es. How about that?! I guess we are not Cacti where I work, but Cactuses. (<--- and that was picked up as wrong by blogger's spell check program. This is why we cannot trust spell check.) Each podcast (which is audio only, no video) has room for comments. Also, the Grammar Girl invites you to submit questions and ideas for podcasts. I think I am going to write her about people in NEPA adding an "s" to everything and also saying "no more" instead of anymore, as in this example: "I don't like her no more." Ack!!!

She also has a FaceBook game.... Cool. Grammar Girl is produced by Quick & Dirty Podcasts, who also hosts Money Girl and several other quick tip type podcasts. And Grammar Girl, if you stumble upon this blog- don't be too hard on me for unnecessary uses of elipses and dashes and whatever gramar goofs I made.

I like new things. (and a call for comments)

Since this blog is named Daily Dose o Donna, I figured I needed to get more daily.

B&N Gets a Make Over
This morning I noticed that Barnes and Noble's website has a brand new look. Oh boy does it look good. Looks a lot more clean and slick, and is more user friendly. Of course, I am on Amazon nearly every day spending my bill money on books, but I really do like the new Barnes & Noble site.

Donna Launches Bookstores
Speaking of bookstores- I created four new stores-- if you are looking for gifts for people, help a sister out:

The Dream Drawer- sells sleep aids, dream books and lots of cool stuff
The Reporter's Store- for the reporter and freelance writer- DVRs, style guides, pens
MA in Creative Writing Store- books for all genres of creative writing
80s Music & Movies Store

Leave Your Mark!
I have Google Analytics on this blog. I know I have visitors. In fact, I can drill down to where you are from. Ha! Big Brother is watching! But my point is- and my pal Andee will agree- it's nice to have comments. So, leave me comment. Let me know what you think!

XS Blast Energy
I admit-- I have an energy drink addiction. I try every last one I can get my hands on. I really want to try 5-Hour Energy. But, a client of ours sent a few cases of XS Energy - there are some cool flavors. They are a selection of colas and teas in the same size can as the smaller Red Bull. My favorite flavor so far is the Root Beer. Yummy!

So- that's my post for the day!! Back to work. Lunch is over.

Andee of Wilkes Beacon Writes About Blogging, Interviews Yours Truly

I love Andee Scarantino. Watch out media- she graduates soon. Actually, watch out WORLD!

At any rate, the editor-in-chief of my favorite college newspaper, the Wilkes University Beacon wrote about blogging this week. Check out the story. She interviewed me for it, so you get to see my thoughts and reasons for writing things like, this post for instance!

Tomorrow is the day I've been waiting for. I just forgot about it.

So.

What does a gal do when she has a semester's worth of Computer Science 115 work to cram into one evening? Simple. This is what she does:

1) She spends a few hours working on her creative writing class.
2) She adds applications and friends and photos to her ressurected FaceBook page.
3) She does a 50 question MySpace quiz.
4) She e-mails some pictures to friends.

Procrastination is evil. In fact, procrastination is what got me where I am tonight.

Oopps.

5) She blogs.

Okay, let me continue. So, as some of you know-- I was supposed to graduate last May, but during my senior audit, there were a few things that didn't add up. This was partially because there was a lapse in when I began my undergrad and when I decided to return as an adult learner. The graduation requirements changed duing this, um... decade. So, I was all set to take a challenge exam for Computer Science 115. I have worked with computers from as long as I could remember, so all parties are confident that I will pass. It was just a procrastination thing. I should have done this a year ago. I am doing it now.

I think part of it is psychological. I think that part of me just feels a certain amount of comfort at Wilkes and within the community. However, when I decided I wanted to pursue my MA in Creative Writing, I really kicked my ass in gear. Luckily for me there is a certificate version of the program-- I was accepted to the program, but since I did not officially hold the BA, I am enrolled as a certificate student. However, all that will change tomorrow.

Pending passing the test- which I am condifent I will- I will finally- after TEN YEARS- earn my BA in Communication Studies with my minor (almost double major) in sociology. I will FINALLY walk across the stage in September.

So- I need to not be TOO confident. I need to read the text book Dr. Lew let me borrow. I did read through it over the past few months, but since I scheduled the exam, I forgot. Today when I came home from work I realized that it was tomorrow.

So. Here I cram. It's okay. Cramming's all I know how to do. With the exception of one or two 2.5 and 3.0's- I've been successful in academia waiting until the last minute. Why stop that pattern now?

I found an online practice area for-- don't laught-- junior high computer classes. I took several practice tests and scored well-- face it- technology is being taught younger and younger these days so these practice exams are helping. If only I wouldn't blog, or MySpace or FaceBook or work of the MA coursework between.....

You can now subscribe to this blog!

Some folks have asked how to subscribe to my blog. I wasn't sure either, so I found this service BotoBlog. Click above on that button and you can subscribe to me, as well as any other blog that you like!