Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday… Let’s go with the HUGE EOG SALE! We’re combining all our affiliate savings to bring you and offer you’d be crazy not to grab! Build a great site on the best platform with wonderful hosting and a superior theme and save, save save!!

Hosting: 50% OFF ANY hosting package! {affiliate link}

Premium Theme: 25% Off any StudioPress theme with Coupon code THANKS {affiliate link}

FREE Installation! WordPress Installation – FREE with Hosting AND Theme installation FREE with StudioPress theme purchase!

Not a DIY’er?? Get all the FREE and discounted offers above and $200 off our Silver, Gold or The Works WordPress Design packages.

The Design services offer will be available thru Tuesday morning, but the other offers above are only available for a limited time, so don’t miss out on combining all these savings and saving BIG! Contact us today!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Save Huge on Eco-Office Gals Services!

On Friday, November 25^th, 2011 HostGator will run this  awesome sale on their wind-powered hosting! 50% OFF everything!

HostGator is offering:

50% OFF on ALL hosting services. This includes shared hosting, reseller hosting, VPS hosting, Dedicated servers and Windows hosting! This does not include domain names. Visitors do NOT need to insert a coupon code to receive the special. The correct coupon code will automatically be inserted on all orders placed on Black Friday.

The discount applies to the clients first invoice. VPS and dedicated server hosting services are only available on a monthly basis, therefore the promotion will apply to only the first month.

This promotion will bring our already competitive hosting packages as low as:

Shared hosting: As low as $4.95 Now only: $2.48/month (pre-paid)

Reseller Hosting: As low as $24.95 Now Only: $12.48/month (pre-paid)

VPS Hosting: As low as $19.95 Now Only: $9.98/month (First Month)

Dedicated Servers: As low as $174 Now Only $87/month (First Month)

This is an incredible deal and it will only run for 1 DAY! Eco-Office Gals has been a huge fan of HostGator for years, the support is top notch, up-time is wonderful, and they’re 130% wind-powered. We have been a reseller/client for years now and we always highly recommend them.

Save Even More!

When you purchase hosting through Eco-Office Gals or our HostGator affiliate (confirmation required) we will install WordPress for FREE!

Want More? Take advantage of these great savings on StudioPress Themes and the great hosting offers above, Eco-Office Gals will install WordPress and your new theme FREE! Contact us after you have made your purchases and we’ll get you set up and ready to go.

Grab the savings before they expire!

WordPress and StudioPress free installation only, design services and support not included.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

2011 Black Friday: Half Off Green Hosting!

Hourly Rates:

In addition to our service packages above we have an hourly rate option for project work. Projects are one time or ongoing assistance needs such as:

• Internet research
• social network updates, finding followers, tweeting, Facebook posting, etc.
• WordPress maintenance, Basic SEO, Back-linking, post set-up and publishing, plug in installation, social sharing, commenting systems, etc.
• Sending emails, coordinating giveaways
• Other projects and services

A one hour minimum is required upfront and time is billed in fifteen minute increments thereafter. Payment confirmation must be received before time is put on the clock. Time expires after 30 days.

Standard Hourly Rate $50.00/hour

Retainer Rates:

Retainer clients contract an amount of time reserved to be spent on their administrative tasks each month.  Retainer clients enjoy a reduced rate and each following month reserved.  Requirements to qualify for retainer rates:

• 10 hour per month minimum payment is due on or before the first of each month to qualify for the discounted rate.
• Time is billed on the quarter-hour.
• Phone calls, email correspondence, training, etc are on the clock.
• Many projects and services offered may be used with retainer hours (design packages will typically be billed separate)
• Any project not covered under packages will be discussed prior to start of work
• Software licenses, materials, stock images, supplies, etc are not covered and will be billed separately.
• You have the option to upgrade your hours any given month and will be informed if time is running low.
• Unused hours expire at the end of each month and are non-refundable.
• Retainer clients enjoy the benefit of locked in rates. Your rate will never increase as long as you purchase the 10 hour minimum every month. (Returning clients will pay the current rate)

Standard retainer rate for 10+ hours per month $40.00/hr*

Two week notice is required if hours will not be purchased the following month.

Rush Projects:

Any jobs you need completed in a “less then reasonable” amount of time, evenings or weekend projects may be subject to a $50.00 Rush Fee.

* Fees will be paid via credit/debit card through PayPal (PayPal is preferred payment method) or by check upon approval. No services shall commence until after payment is received.

** Rates are subject to change without notice. Prices quoted for services on this site are a guideline, not every project or budget is a perfect fit, please contact Eco-Office Gals to discuss your needs and pricing.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Virtual Assistant Service Hours

Monthly Maintenance:

Once you have a WordPress Site you are proud to call your own, you must perform general maintenance on WordPress, your theme and plugins.

This has nothing to do with how much traffic you receive, or how big or small your site is. Security, speed and other factors can become compromised and you could end up having to redesign from scratch. Nothing is 100% fool-proof but keeping your site up-to-date on the site is the simplest thing you can do for preventative maintenance.

Eco-Office Gals offers a 1 hour minimum per month service per site, this hour includes keeping your site up-to-date each month. You can subscribe to month maintenance through the button below.

Major WordPress Roll Out:

If you are comfortable enough to handle regular maintenance on your site, but don’t want to mess with the major roll-outs WordPress launches a few times a year, Eco-Office Gals can do those for you. We will do the research to see if the release is stable, once we feel it is, we will perform a back up of your site and perform the updates. The one hour minimum includes return to your site several times within 30 days of the upgrade to continue to perform any updates required.

Use the Paypal button below to sign up for one-time upgrades only.

Disclaimer: Eco-Office Gals is not responsible for themes not customized or maintained by Eco-Office Gals. I will upgrade the theme if needed, but any conflicts, broken design elements, theme crashes, etc will not be covered by the 1 hour minimum. If your theme incurs any cost to upgrade it will be the responsibility of the client to purchase the upgraded theme and provide the files to Eco-Office Gals.

In the unforeseen case of plug in conflicts, theme conflicts or any other conflicts occur we will either revert back to the older version, deactivate conflicting plug ins or theme, or restore the back up to get your site back. You will then have to fix the issue or hire Eco-Office Gals to fix the issue before we attempt the upgrade again.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

WordPress Maintenance

This holiday season I discovered Kiss Naturals. I really love their kits and if you have little ones like me I know you will, too! Kiss Naturals makes DIY kits which come with everything needed to make your own natural lip gloss, perfume, soap and bath fizzies. A bit about Kiss Naturals:

At Kiss Naturals, we believe that Nature got it right the first time. We don’t add fillers, additives, dyes or synthetics to any of our products. We simply use Nature’s ingredients in their purest form.

I reviewed the lip balm kit. My girls LOVE “chop stick” as they call it. However, I have heard horror stories about the crud that can be found in the stuff you buy from the store and half the time I can’t stand the synthetic scents. The kit includes:

A fun all-natural do it yourself kit that makes 10 amazing lip balms! This treat for your lips contains 2 bottles of pure essential oils, Shea butter, Safflower oil and Beeswax in pre measured bottles. You simply melt the beeswax, safflower oil and shea butter (on stovetop or in the microwave) then once they melt get creative and start adding the essential oils of your choice! A great treat to make at birthday parties or to share with friends and family!

Lip balms are ready to use in 30 minutes!

Our kit came with orange and peppermint oils. I’m a sucker for peppermint so I was as excited as the girls to get these made! This was really easy to put together. I have to recommend you may want to use some disposable bowls for this. I’m sure you can clean everything up, but it is a bit of a greasy mess. The beeswax took a tad longer to melt then directed in my microwave, but I’m sure that will vary. Finally, don’t take your time with the final pour, the balm starts to harden up quick, as soon as you add the flavor you need to have the containers ready.  The end result was 10 little containers of lip balm that we love to use. The girls gave a few away to friends and grandma and we kept the rest. I want to try a few more of these kits for sure!

Kiss Naturals is letting one of my readers win a kit of their choice to try as well! With the count down to Christmas coming up, I won’t promise Marie will have these out in time – although, mine arrived in about a day. If it doesn’t get there in time for Christmas, no worries this will still make for a fun project during the holiday break.

Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Visit Kiss Naturals and comment here on which kit you would love to buy if you won.
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• Follow @kissnaturals on Twitter or become a Fan on Facebook and comment that you did.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Stumble this giveaway
• Use other forms of social networking to spread the word about this giveaway.
• Subscribe to my feed to stay up to date with the latest from Eco-Office Gals.
• Buy anything from Kiss Naturals and comment 5 times that you did! Don’t forget to use the coupon code! (I will confirm)

The deadline for entering is Wednesday 12/22/10 at 8am EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry for each one of the above that you do and any entries that show obvious laziness i.e. a simple “Thanks for the great giveaway” will not be published therefore not counted. It’s just not fair for the people that do know how to follow simple directions. US & Canada residents only. Thanks!

(In compliance with the new FTC Guildlines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given these products to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.)

And the winner is..

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Gift Giving: Kiss Naturals

One area of our home that is not green is our kitchen cabinets. I confess, our plates, cups and travel mugs… they are littered with plastic. With 3 kids in the home and a husband that walks out the door with cups full of coffee or soda, never to return (the cups, he normally comes back), plastic is a cheap convenience. In our defense, we are paperless in the kitchen, no disposables, no coffee filters, no paper products and we recycle, and compost. Am I forgiven?

When I came across The Green Glass Company, I was intrigued. What better way to step beyond simple recycling efforts then turning wine, beer and soda bottles into tableware?

With origins dating back to 1992 in South Africa, The Green Glass Company has seen many incarnations and has grown into the largest producer of reclaimed glassware in the world.The Green Glass Company strives to satisfy not only its recycling heritage but also its eclectic and diverse clientele. With its patent on the unique wine bottle to goblet conversion process, The Green Glass Company team and its state-of-the-art equipment are at the forefront of the reclaimed glassware market.

Revered throughout Europe and other parts of the world as collectible art glass, The Green Glass Company goblets have even been chosen for the table of King Carlos of Spain, a former Mayor of New York City, movie sets, and, celebrity dinners. In addition to their popularity with consumers and collectors, The Green Glass Company products are quickly becoming a valuable marketing tool in the corporate world. Sandblasted with a company name or logo, the glasses not only provide enduring brand exposure, they also provide insight into a company’s awareness and commitment to preserving our resources.

From Kings and Mayors to the Smith household, we have had the pleasure of sampling a set of these glasses in our home for a few weeks now.  As much as I loved the goblets, I went practical with a set of tumblers, or the bottom section of the bottle.

Through a partnership with Cave B winery, these tumblers are created from reclaimed Bordeaux bottles collected from the organic restaurant, B&B and tasting room on the Cave B estate.

I was sent a set of 4 glasses, each one different from the other and they are really nice. They are thick, heavy weight glass, not the thin garbage you get in the sets from the store.They are made from wine bottles, after all. Another plus, my husband doesn’t walk out of the house with them and the little ones won’t touch them.

The Glass Company’s product line creations don’t stop at glassware. Their line includes vases, pitchers, candle holders, even coat hooks made with bottle tops! There is a wonderful variety to choose from when deciding on your Green Gift Giving this season!

How about giving (or receiving) something from The Green Glass Company this holiday season? The Green Glass Company is giving away a $40 gift code to one of my readers!  Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Visit The Green Glass Company Store and comment here on what you would love to buy if you won the GC.
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• Become a fan of The Green Glass Company or Eco-Office Gals and comment that you did.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Stumble this giveaway
• Use other forms of social networking to spread the word about this giveaway.
• Subscribe to my feed to stay up to date with the latest from Eco-Office Gals.
• Buy anything from The Green Glass Company and comment 5 times that you did! Don’t forget to use the coupon code! (I will confirm)

The deadline for entering is Friday 12/10/10 at 8pm EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry for each one of the above that you do and any entries that show obvious laziness i.e. a simple “Thanks for the great giveaway” will not be published therefore not counted. It’s just not fair for the people that do know how to follow simple directions. US residents only. Thanks!

(In compliance with the new FTC Guildlines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given these products to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.)

And the winner is….

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Gift Giving: Green Glass Company

Stocking stuffers, we tend not to do them in this house. I find that there is just too much junk that goes into them, candy, junk toys from the dollar store, etc. I’d rather take the money I would spend on a bunch of junk and get one more decent gift. BUT this year I’ve discovered a cute gift that may make me think twice.

Piggy Paint™ is specially formulated from God’s natural ingredients and dries to a hard, durable finish. There are  no toxic chemicals; it’s free of formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, Bisphenol A, ethyl acetate and acetone. Click here to see how our polish compares!

Say good-bye to harsh, smelly chemicals and hello to Piggy Paint™…it’s as Natural as Mud!

My girls are girlie girls, so Piggy Paint was a huge hit. There are many cute colors to choose from, it would be hard for me to choose. Luckily, I didn’t have to, my sample was randomly selected for me. They sent us a bottle of Forever Fancy & a bottle of their Nail Polish Remover to try out on our piggy’s, yes I am sporting some on my piggy’s, too.  I tend to be very sensitive to the harsh smell of nail polish. My girls probably even think I’m a little mean because I almost NEVER paint there nails. I just can’t stand the smell, I have to really get in the mood to deal with it. Piggy Paint is almost void off all harsh scents!  It dries fairly quickly and lasts as long as other mainstream nail polish.

I originally tried the Remover on my leftover black nail polish from Halloween, it didn’t seem to touch it. So, this morning I gave it a shot on the piggy paint. It takes more scrubbing then regular remover, the bottle says to soak the nail with a saturated cotton ball for 30 seconds, I don’t have any cotton balls and the TP wasn’t cutting it.  So, I’m not currently having much luck with the remover.

I love all the holiday gift sets available! They have Mistle Toes shown to the left, what a perfect Christmas Eve gift! They also have Dreidel Dreams, Kolors of Kwanzaa as well as gift sets for other occasions and holidays as well.

Piggy Paint is offering all our readers a coupon code use OFFICE10L expiration January 31, 2011 for 10% off on anything on the Website including sale items!

How about winning some Piggy Paint to dress up your piggy’s for the Holidays? Piggy Paint is giving away a $15 gift code to one of my readers!  Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Visit Piggy Paint and comment here on which color or gift set you would love to buy if you won the GC.
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• Follow @piggypaint on Twitter or become a Fan on Facebook and comment that you did.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Stumble this giveaway
• Use other forms of social networking to spread the word about this giveaway.
• Subscribe to my feed to stay up to date with the latest from Eco-Office Gals.
• Buy anything from Piggy Paint and comment 5 times that you did! Don’t forget to use the coupon code! (I will confirm)

The deadline for entering is Friday 12/03/10 at 8pm EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry for each one of the above that you do and any entries that show obvious laziness i.e. a simple “Thanks for the great giveaway” will not be published therefore not counted. It’s just not fair for the people that do know how to follow simple directions. US residents only. Thanks!

(In compliance with the new FTC Guildlines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given these products to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.)

Sorry for the delay, been a busy week – The winner is….

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Gift Giving: Piggy Paint

The Sodastream products had struck my fancy for a few holiday seasons. Several blogs had been giving them away and unfortunately, I hadn’t won one yet. So, I was excited when the company agreed to be part of my Green Gift Giving series this season!

Sodastream’s products are a great addition to the home or office making green steps:

How Does SodaStream Help the Environment?

SodaStream is an “Active Green” product, meaning that consumers  are actively reducing their CO₂ footprint every time they make soda  or sparkling water at home instead of buying it from the store. The more the system is used on a daily basis, the more CO₂ footprint the user actively saves. (This differs from “Passive Green” products, which use green-friendly production processes, but their products are not inherently helping the consumers save on their daily footprint.)

Because SodaStream uses water straight from the tap, the system makes traditional store-bought beverage bottles obsolete. That means less plastic manufactured, less plastic waste is created, and fewer bottled beverages must be transported from manufacturers to distributors to stores to homes.

Globally, 206 billion liters of bottled water were consumed in 2008 (Zenith International Global Bottled Water Report, 2008). The energy required to make water bottles in the US only, is equivalent to 17 million barrels of oil (Container Recycling Institute, 2002).
According to the US Recycling Institute, more than 80% of bottles in the US do not get recycled and end up in landfills. Also, an estimated 4.7 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions were produced in the process of replacing the 134 billion bottles and cans not recycled in 2005.

Using your own home carbonation system means:

• Less packaging waste from cans and bottles.
• Less pollution caused by transport of bottled beverages.

One SodaStream carbonator makes 60 or 110 liters, equivalent to 170 or 310 aluminum cans! When empty, the carbonator is refilled and reused, ready to make more fizzy and tasty soda whenever you want it.

I was sent the Fountain Jet Starter Kit in black and silver to review. It came with 2 1 liter blottles, 1 carbonator, 6 flavored syrups from their regular and diet line, 2 of their Sparkling Naturals, and a 3 pack of MyWater Flavor Essence retail $99.95.

The Fountain Jet was super simple to get together, just insert the carbonator and you’re ready to go. No batteries, plugs or assembly required.  The first and only problem with the product I had: when asked which flavors I wanted to try I mentioned that I am a Diet Coke Gal, so since I was the main reviewer be sure to include that. No Diet Cola syrup was included. Since I don’t really like any other soda I had to leave taste testing to the rest of the family. So far Root Beer has been the family hit, Orange falling close behind. My Mother-in-law really liked the Sparkling Naturals Apple Mango, we sent her home with a large glass and a stainless steel bottle full.

Now, I have found myself drinking something I HATED when I was younger… Seltzer Water. I haven’t tried any of the flavor essences, yet. It’s next on the list (when there is a spare bottle not filled with Root Beer), but I have a new found craving for seltzer and to be able to make it in seconds is really cool! My son took a swig of it (probably thought it was lemon-lime) I heard him gag! That’ll teach him to drink out of the bottle! How many times do I have to say it??

The guys in the house go through soda fast, so this is great. No running out of drinks, running to the store, we’re reducing waste from store bought sodas, too. This has many pros for sure! SodaStream is available at several retail locations and you can search for a location near you on the site. I’ll need to take a trip to a location near me to buy some of the diet cola, then I can start to really enjoy the SodaStream.

This will make a great green gift for the soda lover in your life. So why not try to win one? Yep, SodaStream is giving one of my readers a Fountain Jet to keep or give as a gift this holiday season!

Do as many of the below as you wish and leave a separate comment for each one:

• Visit Soda Stream or the Ms. Fizzy Blog and comment here on which flavor or drink recipe you would love to try if you won the Fountain Jet.
• Blog about this giveaway and link back to this post.
• Follow @sodastreamusa on Twitter or become a Fan on Facebook and comment that you did.
• Tweet this giveaway
• Stumble this giveaway
• Use other forms of social networking to spread the word about this giveaway.
• Subscribe to my feed to stay up to date with the latest from Eco-Office Gals.
• Buy anything from SodaStream and comment 5 times that you did! (I will confirm)

The deadline for entering is Monday, 11/22/10 at 8pm EST at which time one winner will be randomly chosen.  Please don’t forget to leave a separate entry for each one of the above that you do and any entries that show obvious laziness i.e. a simple “Thanks for the great giveaway” will not be published therefore not counted. It’s just not fair for the people that do know how to follow simple directions. US residents only. Thanks!

(In compliance with the new FTC Guildlines, please note that this is a sponsored post.  I was given these products to test and review free of charge.  However, I was not paid for the review and the opinions are my own.)

Congrats…. um anonymous… at least you left an email

Comment:

I would love to try the Pete’s choice and the orange.

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Green Gift Giving: Soda Stream Review & Giveaway!

I had a potential client ask me the other day, “What is the difference between WordPress, StudioPress Genesis Theme Framework, and the child themes?” and in a split second thought I gave her the following analogy: “Think of building a house, WordPress is your foundation, Genesis is the stick frame, and the child themes are what make it yours, the shingles, the picture windows, the cut up roof, etc.”  This seemed to complete the picture for her. If you work with WordPress would you agree this is an accurate analogy?

I have had a lot of fun working with the new StudioPress Themes lately and I thought I would share some examples today. All of the new themes work off of the Genesis Framework, which has been awesome to work with. But each one uses a different child theme, customized by Eco-Office Gals and making each unique.

• Eco-Office Gals was built on the Enterprise Child Theme.
• Hamptology Homes – uses the AgentPress Child Theme, this theme is built for Realtors and proved to be a very functional set up.
• IIA Analytics – built on the Education Child Theme, although this theme has Colleges in mind, it worked nicely for our redesign.
• Marie Scripture – The Landscape Child Theme has been a great fit for this artists website. Showing off featured paintings up front, and random click through to take the visitor deeper into the site.

As you can see the same framework can have many different facades, customized by EOG for your tastes and specific needs. I’ll be working on at least 2 more very soon, one is leaning towards Enterprise and another possibly using the Outreach Child Theme with a shopping cart.

I look forward to sharing them with you and as always feel free to contact me and let me know how I can help you!

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Building the House of WordPress

Yes, I just said the “P” word — Paper.  I have no use for it.  I still don’t have my printer hooked up and have no intentions of doing so.  Eco-Office Gals has no letterhead, no business cards, no paper contracts, we won’t do any job where the end result is paper – it’s just that simple.

However, what options are available if you do have to print? Using recycled materials, FSC certified paper, or tree free paper is always a good direction. Eco-Office Gals has found a few companies out there that have taking the steps necessary to provide you with the most eco-friendly paper solutions.

• Printing for less: This company provides business cards, brochures, catalogs and stationery for your business needs. However, their paper is FSC certified, and they use vegetable based inks. It doesn’t stop there either, they’re wind powered, the building is carpet-free, they use open architecture, natural lighting, and have 25 acres of preserved wetland on their property. PFL has done their homework! Take advantage of the following coupons to place your order:
  20% Off Your First Order, Promo Code: NC2010 Expires: September 30th
  $50 Off Your First Order Over $100, Promo Code: NC50AN Expires: September 30th
• The Check Gallery: Melissa, owner of Naturally Good Soaps, contacted my a while back inquiring about green checks. I had to look around a bit and I finally found one. The Check Gallery checks are printed on recycled paper using vegetable-based ink. So, if it’s time to get new checks consider ordering with them.
  Get 20% Off and free shipping and Handling with coupon code GWF 859
• EcoPaper: EcoPaper produces tree-free & acid free paper products. They use alternatives such as banana, hemp, mango, lemon, coffee and sugar cane to produce their products. Their line includes, reams of paper, journals, envelopes, stationery, sketch pads and cover stock. Take advantage of everyday low prices on office and school supplies at Ecopaper.com!

So if you have to print or use paper for your business, choose responsibly! Do you have a company you recommend for it’s responsible printing and paper practices?

Post from: Eco-Office Gals

Eco-Options: Paper