After reading Chris Brogan’s post My Site – Now an iPhone App I thought it would be a fun little project and at the cost of FREE… why not? So, I now present to you the Eco-Office Gals App for iPhone. The app gives readers access to all of Eco-Office Gals posts and Twitter feed at the touch of a button. Cool, huh?

The folks at MotherApp were great and my contribution was minimal.  I just had to provide them with a few images for the icons and the loading screen and my blog description. That’s it, they did the rest!

So, love Eco-Office Gals? There’s an App for that! Want your own free app? Grab one up at MotherApp! Let Eco-Office Gals know what you think!

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Eco-Office Gals On Your iPhone!

As I wish all of you a Happy Healthy & Safe New Year I will leave you with a little Green link love to those green sites I have learned so much from in the year past!

• The Good Human – “encourages people to be better humans through working to clean up the environment, being active in political issues and being more aware of one’s life and surroundings”
• MNN – “your one-stop resource and an everyman’s eco-guide offering original programs, articles, blogs, videos, and how-to guides along with breaking news stories.”
• Green & Clean Mom – “a mother of two young children, wife, educator, green entrepreneur, humanitarian, enthusiastic social media fanatic, internet marketer, social media and marketing consultant and blogger.
• Natural Papa – “Natural Papa focuses on natural parenting and fatherhood, home remedies for common children’s ailments, homeschooling, green and simple living for families, and natural foods.”
• The Green Mom Review – “we’re not experts on the environment but we are experts on loving our families and wanting the best for them and we’re on a mission to find products and services that are kinder to the earth and better for our children and families.”
• Best Green Blogs – “The web’s largest directory of green and sustainable themed weblogs.”
• Green Biz – “Business Voice of the Green Economy, is the leading source for news, opinion, best practices, and other resources on the greening of mainstream business.”
• Recycle This – “over 600 items and had over 8500 suggestions of ways to reuse, re-purpose or recycle things that would otherwise go in the bin.”
• Sustainablog -  “Since July 2003, sustainablog has been providing information on environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics.”
• Big Green Purse – “women must act – intentionally, collectively, and with the full force of our purse power behind us – if we hope to leave our children and grandchildren a better world.”

That’s my 10 for 2010. There are many, many more for sure. What are your faves? Let us know in the comments so we can check them out! Looking for a few new green sites to add to your reading list, besides the ones mentioned above? Scroll through Green Alltop or MyAllTop for WAY more then a handful!

All the best in 2010!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Top 10 Green Sites of 2009

So, I’m waiting for shipment on some really cool Flaunt It Monday products and we will be having some awesome green fun very soon! Meanwhile, I thought I would share with you some of the posts I’m reading. Some green, some biz, some fun! Enjoy!

• The Green Mom Picks Her Battles on chemicals in the classroom.
• I love the Good Human’s Greenwash of the Week series so just check them all out!
• The Huffington Post wants to know if your Ass Is Worth a Million Trees A Year?
• Check out this neat Uni-tool featured on Treehugger, I like this puppy!
• Wanted: Green Job from Green Gigs!

Need More? Check out the Alltop – Green feed. Share your favorite green blog below, tell us why.

Oh an when you’re done greening up your act go check out The Bloggess: She’s crazy, pure crazy. I can’t pick just one.  I can read this all day if I didn’t have to work! Giggles! Have a great day friends!

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Monday Morning Green Blogoshpere Love!

At Eco-Office Gals one of our services is designing WordPress Sites. Not just a website, but a blog site, as it’s been coined.  Many clients and potential clients have asked me if we can just make a simple HTML site for them. I suppose we could have that as part of Eco-Office Gals services, but we choose not to.  The post “Is Your Website Boring?“  discussed why a blog site is better then a static site.  Today, we approach why we use WordPress.

Ultimately, it comes down to the end user.. You.. the client.  WordPress is extremely user-friendly and anyone that has no idea how to deal with HTML and CSS can take off running with WordPress.  No need to continue to go back to your webmaster for every single change.  This can quickly become very expensive!

WordPress is also very search engine friendly, your site will be ranked quickly due to the ever changing content. Plugins make adding titles, descriptions and keywords so simple. Again, no HTML means ease of use. Speaking of Plugins, there is a plugin for just about anything you could possibly imagine! Want your blog to brew your coffee in the morning? Ok well maybe not, but you get the point.

WordPress is about interaction, I guess for this we should say “blogs” in general, but we’re talking about WordPress. Since a blog site invites readers to comment, you are engaging them in your content. This interaction gives your readers a reason to come back or subscribe to your feed.  A static HTML site does not do this.

So, why does Eco-Office Gals choose WP over other Blogging Platforms like Blogger or TypePad. Ultimately, it comes to the flexibility of the WordPress platform to customize it for our clients needs.  Blogger provides very few options including the inability to host your own domain.  Typepad, although provides more options then Blogger still falls short for your business needs. As Wendy Piersall, of Spark Plug CEO points out in A WordPress QuickStart Guide – Compare WordPress to TypePad

The only time I think TypePad is the right choice is under the following circumstances:

• You are sure that your blog will not play a major role in your online business marketing strategy, both now and in the future
• You are so new to blogging that you are willing to sacrifice the long-term flexibility for the short-term ease of starting TypePad
• You have no desire to go through the learning curve of WordPress, and are unable to hire any help AND you are certain you don’t need the scalability
• You are scared to death to manage any of the setup or maintenance of a self-hosted blog and can live with the limitations of TypePad

I could go on, but I think our point is made. At Eco-Office Gals we do not believe in wasting our time or our client’s time. Static sites will get you no where and by starting off your online presence on another blogging platform you’re selling yourself short.  Do you already use WordPress? Share why you love it.  Interested in making the switch? Contact us!

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Why Use WordPress?

All I want to say today is THANK YOU! I had such an awesome theme installed, but the images just weren’t working and I thought I may have to scrap the whole thing. Then with a quick plea for help on Twitter my new twitterbud Bill Nickerson came to my rescue!  After a few nights of what Bill considers “fun”, working out the kinks in my .PHP files The Eco-Office Gals theme shines in all of it’s glory!

Bill can be found on Twitter and he maintains the following blogs:

http://blogs.wolfpawroad.com: golf blog site for average golfers like me.
http://blogs.efortunecookie.ca:  humor blog and relates to the …
http://www.efortunecookie.ca: random fortune cookie site
http://blogs.wcnickerson.ca:  “catch all” blog where everything else goes for now.

If you love the great WORKING layout on Eco-Office Gals please let him know what a great job he did!

Thank you again, Bill!

Jen

Image credit: Sundesigns

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All I Can Say Is THANK YOU!

This Weekend Only! Mama Goes Green has offered one of my readers a chance to win this great trio from Better Life!  Better Life is featured in the Feb 09′ edition of Rachel Ray Magazine as one of their everyday Home Faves.  The giveaway includes:

• Even The Kitchen Sink Scrubbing Non-Toxic Cleaner 16oz -The gentle scrubber that cleans with ease while saving elbows and knees.
• What Ever – green all-purpose cleaner -The all-purpose cleaner that’s awesome on everything. Totally.
• I Can See Clearly, WOW! – green window and glass cleaner -The window and glass cleaner that takes a lighter view of the world.

Get your entry in for this great trio by doing any of the following.  Leave a separate comment for each one you do, each comment is an entry! You can do as many as you want.

• Visit Mama Goes Green, come back here and comment on your favorite item
• Visit Mama Goes Green Blog – Leave a comment on one of her posts and leave a link here to the post you commented on.
• Subscribe to Mama Goes Green or Eco-Office Gals
• Follow Mama Goes Green or Eco-Office Gals & Tweet this Giveaway
• Email this giveaway using the Eco-Safe options in the post and copy me jsmith at eco-officegals dot com (leave comment, too)
• Use any of the social bookmarks in the button below to “share this” and comment for each one.
• Purchase ANYTHING from the Mama Goes Green site and leave 5 comments letting me know you did (I will be verifying purchase w/ Mama Goes Green)

A winner will be randomly picked on Sunday January 18th.  US Residents Only Please.  Good luck!

Jen

Here are your random numbers:

30

Timestamp: 2009-01-19 02:22:04 UTC

Congrats Jennifer!

I like the TWIST Clean it up Green Set and I would love to try Whatever!

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Better Life Giveaway!

Guest Post by Lori Stewart – Green Gigs

As an Eco-Office Gals reader you are by default, some shade of green. Maybe you are a neon green person that can be spotted coming a mile away in your hybrid car, wearing an organic cotton sweater, and drinking naturally pure water from your stainless steel container. Or maybe you are a pale green person, one who finally switched to natural laundry detergent and realized your clothes still get clean. Or maybe you are like me, moss green – a nice shade of green, but not quite a pure green.
The web is overflowing with advice on how to green your business, food, car, vacation, pet, job, kids, ad nauseam; so much so that I feel guilty for all that I don’t do to help the environment. My shade of green has improved vastly over the last few years, but I still have work to do. So today, I am going to relinquish some of my guilt and share my not-so-green confessions with you:

• Gift Cards – Okay, the holiday season is over. In my wallet I have seven plastic “gift cards” of varying value. Now, some of these “gift cards” are not really gifts, rather, they are the remains of a return – for example, my son’s duplicate birthday present exchanged at a toy retailer netted us $2.74 on a “gift card”. And what happens to these gift cards when and if they are finally used – they get tossed in the trash at the check-out counter! Think of all of those little plastic cards gingerly being electronically filled and depleted then tossed away. What is wrong with paper gift certificates? Somehow I manage to keep paper money in my wallet without losing it; I think I can be responsible for a paper gift certificate. Given the number of times my credit/debit cards have been voluntarily replaced by my bank(s) because of a breach of security, I can’t image these little plastic menaces filling our landfills are much safer than old-fashioned paper gift certificates anyhow.

• Incandescent Lighting – I hate fluorescent lighting – there, I said it. Begrudgingly I have slowly let my husband change one light bulb after another in our house. We are down to the last two – the ones over the bathroom vanity. I can’t let go of those glorious last incandescent bulbs. Frankly, looking in the bathroom mirror at the crack of dawn each morning is scary enough – I certainly don’t need to witness it under fluorescent lighting.

• Reusable Bags – I have yet to catch on to the reusable bag revolution. Each time I go to the grocery store, I see more and more eco-conscious shoppers pulling out their collections of eco-friendly, recyclable, made from recycled products, free of chemicals, fair trade bags. Then I look at my cart full of white plastic bags filled by my barely-of-working-age bagger. I have true guilt here. Skewer me if you must, but frankly, money is tight these days and if I am going to pay anywhere between $1 and $8 a bag for a reusable bag, I want to know it works. Can I wash it when the tomatoes get squished in it after my bagger tosses the bag of cans on top of the bag of vegetables? How many uses can I get out of it before I need to replace it? Are they compact enough I can easily bring them all in to the grocery store? Besides, if I switch to reusable bags, what will I put the dirty disposable diapers in?

Of course, I have more green shortcomings (see diaper comment above), but what shade of green are you? Ease your conscious and share your not-so-green confessions!

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Not-So-Green Confessions

What does Eco-Office Gals recommend for your paperless/green office in 2009?  Here’s a little list to help you grow your business green and more efficient in the New Year!

Echosign – a paperless contract program, you’ll love it and so will your clients!
HostGator -  wind powered hosting with GREAT customer service!
BlogSites – get your Word Press blogsite up and running in 2009.  Leave your static site in the dust!
Twitter – meet new clients on this great social media platform!
The Green Office – shop green for your business!
Google Docs – I will be trying out Google Docs in the New Year as a free alternative to MS Office.  It’s great for file sharing!
FireFox – everyone NEEDS to make this switch! Microsoft does not own you!

These are a few on my list, what’s on yours?  Share with us by leaving a comment below! All the Best in 2009!

Jen

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Your Paperless & Green Office for 2009

Wait! Isn’t it Flaunt It! Monday??  Yes, but since people will be in and out for the holidays I don’t want any giveaways to flop on the sponsors due to lack of participation.  So, Flaunt It! Monday will be back in 2009.

I am going to spend the week focusing on other topics to gear you up for 2009!  Some on growing green in your home and business others on strengthening your online (and paperless) presence on the internet.

Today I bring you 40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content by Chris Brogan.  I found this list very inspirational for my business in the new year and hope I step up to the plate and use some, if not all, of his points!  I’ve referred to Chris before on my Tweetin’ Twitter post. I’ve learned a lot about Social Media from him, I hope you can take something from him, too!

The Basics

1. Brevity rules. Can you say it briefly?
2. Start at the main point, then work the story up. (Make the main point in the first paragraph.)
3. Use small words. You don’t have to impress people. You have to be clear.
4. Analogies help people understand things better.
5. So do stories.
6. You don’t have to write complete sentences, even though your teacher taught you to do that. But treat it sparingly. Like this. Like a condiment.
7. Keep paragraphs small, if possible. We balk at large blocks of text.
8. Make your point from the reader’s side of the fence. Who is your audience?
9. Depending on how you write, go back and see if you can cut out more. Reduce. Reduce. Reduce.
10. Use the word you’re thinking about, not a fancier, or more polite word.

Concepts and the Bigger Picture

1. Set up series of posts, even if you don’t call them a series. Make a post that brings up follow-on points from a previous post, and link back to that post to reinforce the original content.
2. Get your inspiration from reading. #1 source for my ideas comes from other blogs not in my space. Not sure what to read that’s NOT in your space? Alltop, my friend. ( see also).
3. Think strategically, if this is for business or a cause. Ask yourself what you want your reader to do next. Try to write from that point of view.
4. Theme-wise, writing very helpful things that people can use is way better than writing thoughtful things that make people think and just walk away. You can have thoughtful but not helpful, but you’re striving for helpful and thoughtful in the same piece.
5. Never write the me-too blog. Look to be ahead of the wave and feeding backwards, not behind the wave and eating someone’s wake.
6. Look for ways to think forward, but that tie to your business interests. When I write about the future, I’m also inviting someone to make that future with me.
7. Mix it up. Keep an editorial calendar and note what kinds of posts you’ve written lately. Thought posts? Lists? Interviews? Make sure you’re mixing up the type of post you’ve written lately.
8. Consider the occasional dip into Google Trends to write a story that might draw new audience to your conversation. Don’t do this all the time, because the gimmick can wear off quick. Again, think condiments, not meals.
9. If you don’t have anything interesting to blog, skip a day. Don’t skip many days.
10. And never never never (raise your hand and repeat this with me) “I” (state your name) “solemnly swear never never never never ever to post another ‘I’m sorry I haven’t blogged lately’ posts ever again. Ever.”

Overdrive

1. Consider your audience but write from your passion.
2. Don’t mince words. If it’s a “pissing match,” it’s not a disagreement.
3. Ask questions. Blogs are conversations starting and flowing. Ask. Questions.
4. Link to people. If you write about Steve Garfield, link to Steve Garfield.
5. It’s not all about your blog. Get out and comment on other people’s blogs. Often.
6. Leave a few ideas unfinished. Ask for input. It always improves a piece. Blogs are great for that.
7. Use tags. Lots of tags. Make sure you claim your blog with Technorati, and submit it with Alltop.
8. Make sure your blog’s URL is everywhere: in your email signature, in Facebook, in Flickr, in Twitter, in every outpost you can think about.
9. Don’t email, DM, and otherwise push every blog post you write to other people. Share the best ones. Let the others be found on their own merits.
10. Always know why you’re doing what you’re doing. Question yourself often. Look for ways to improve the game.

Encore

1. Comment back to the people who have left comments.
2. Follow those people’s links sometimes and go explore their blog.
3. Look for ways to empower the community you inspire.
4. If you haven’t found your community yet, keep looking, searching, and connecting.
5. Learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). It’s no longer okay not to know even the most basic things.
6. Find great Creative Commons photos and use them for your post (with attribution).
7. Deconstruct what your favorite writers do, and try it your own way.
8. Occasionally, try something completely different.
9. Don’t be afraid to fail. Be afraid of not being interesting enough.
10. Write as if someone believes in you, because someone does. (me!)

Feeling inspired? Go forth and blog! All the best in 2009!

Jen

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Gearing Up Your Blog For The New Year!

How’s your Christmas shopping going? I haven’t even scratched the surface, but that’s nothing new for me.  If you are in need of a few fresh ideas there are several great Green Gift Guides already available around the blogosphere.  So, rather then reinvent the wheel, or bore you with strictly business related finds, I thought I would share some link love and feature other bloggers guides!  They’ve already done all the hard work for me.  Enjoy their great finds!

• Green Living Ideas – Green Gifting For The Holidays
• Nature Moms – Green Christmas
• The Green Parent – Green Gifts That Don’t Cost A Cent!
• Green & Clean Mom – 2008 Green Holiday Gift Guide
• Z Recommends – The 2008 Z Recommends Mostly Green, Pretty Cheap Holiday Gift Guide
• Moms In A Blog – Green Holiday Gifts
• Eco Etsy – Holiday Gift Guide: Gifts For Him
• We Can Be Green – Gift Guide

Do you have a Green Gift Guide add it below for us to check out!

Happy Holiday’s!
Jen

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It’s a Green Christmas around the Blogoshpere!