Maybe it was a blog hop, maybe I spotted a tweet for giveaways with low entries, whatever it was I'm glad I did.
Visiting Ten Talents has become almost a daily habit for me. Why? Well maybe the real question would be, Why haven't you?
LOW ENTRY LOWDOWN
One thing that set Ten Talents apart for me is the daily "Low Entry Lowdown" feature on here. A list of blog giveaways with clickable links, all with low entries. I love this feature because not only do you have a good chance of winning but it also helps out the bloggers whose giveaways, maybe need a little extra attention. Like my current Bacon Hot Sauce giveaway for instance: http://bit.ly/bhreviewffcandm 2 winners will be chosen :-) Sorry, I'll take a break for the shameless promotion for a moment.
You can see an example of one of Stephanie of Ten Talents' "low entry lowdowns" here: Low Entry Lowdown from 7/11/10
Have an entry with low entries and want to be included? Just visit Ten Talents and shoot her an email with the name of your giveaway, link to the giveaway, and date your giveaway is ending. I've entered a few of mine. Stephanie is great to respond.
TWITTER PARTY CALENDAR
Another great feature of Ten Talents is the twitter party calendar. It's an easy to read calendar with times and names of twitter parties with clickable links. There's a good amount of parties listed on their. Check it out for yourself. Twitter Party Calendar on Ten Talents
Feel like attending a twitter party, want to try out a twitter party, looking for a particular twitter party? Check this calendar first.
INTERVIEW WITH STEPHANIE OF TEN TALENTS
1. What does the title of your blog "Ten Talents" mean to you?
"My husband came up with my blog's name. I told him I wanted something biblical related to savings, and he thought of the parable of the ten talents. It's actually pretty perfect because I was bemoaning the fact that I don't have any talents, and my friend told me "You're good at couponing". I was a little sad about that...what kind of talent is couponing? But the parable is really all about that, isn't it? Using the talents we DO have instead of not using them because we don't have as many (or ones we think are as useful) as others!"
2. How long have you been blogging?
"Let me go check...I started on 4/26/10. Before that, I played around with blogspot to see how in the world ppl were posting all of the deals I saw because I was curious about it, but that's when I really started to do it :)"
3. What made you start the Low-Entry Lowdown?
"Well, I had LOTS of time on my hands when we were in China because I only taught a few classes on the weekends, so I had plenty of time to enter giveaways. I started noticing that there were really a lot of low entry ones out there, and then I started winning almost every day. It occurred to me that maybe other would be interested in entering the low entry giveaways too, and I knew it would help out the bloggers with low entries, so I tried it out :) I didn't expect it to be the most popular thing on my blog, but I'm glad so many people enjoy it!"
4. Do you have a favorite or most exciting thing that you've won yourself from the Low-Entry Lowdown?
"Well, since I started the LEL I've stopped winning as much, especially the giveaways that I list there. In fact, I can't think of one single thing I've won off the actual LEL. I'll have to go back and check, and i might have to amend my answer :) I can't complain though because I've just started entering random non-low entry ones that I find as I'm surfing around, and I've been blessed to win a couple of those. Winning only once or twice a week but having a post that other ppl enjoy is better, I think :)"
5. The twitter party calendar is a great idea. How do you keep up with all the twitter parties?
"Thanks :) Well, the calendar IS how I keep up with them. I started the calendar because I was always forgetting about the parties I wanted to attend. I tried using a date book at home, but I just kept forgetting to check it :) So, I started the calendar and posted it so everyone could see it in case I wasn't the only person out there having a hard time remembering! Now I just check Twitter and sometimes Google to see if I can find any information about the parties. I definitely don't know about all of them, so I encourage ppl to comment and let me know when I don't have one on the calendar so I can add it and everyone who wants to can attend. Sometimes, if I find out about one a few minutes before it starts, I'll try to RT the info so if anyone is following me on Twitter, they can find out about it too!"
6. What are some of your tips for balancing blog/family/work (out of home and/or housework)/etc?
"Hmmm...well, I'm not too good at the balancing yet. I'm a terrible housekeeper, and I feel like I should give my daughter more of my attention. That is one of the biggest things I've been trying to work on these last few weeks. My husband and I decided to sacrifice having more stuff so that I could stay home with our little girl, and then sometimes I find myself using the extra time on my blog, which I am doing for free. It doesn't make any sense when you sit down and look at it, and I have to remember what my priorities are. I am thankful for this blog though. It helped me through the last few, difficult months in China, and I enjoy it! I'm hoping I continue to learn balance and priorities day by day..."
7. Do you have a special blogging moment you'd like to share?
"Actually, I remember the first time I checked my feedburner and I had 10 RSS feed subscriptions, and that was a special moment for me (just wrote about this yesterday). I was really shocked and thankful that anyone out there actually wanted to know what I posted. I'm still pretty shocked :)"
"My husband came up with my blog's name. I told him I wanted something biblical related to savings, and he thought of the parable of the ten talents. It's actually pretty perfect because I was bemoaning the fact that I don't have any talents, and my friend told me "You're good at couponing". I was a little sad about that...what kind of talent is couponing? But the parable is really all about that, isn't it? Using the talents we DO have instead of not using them because we don't have as many (or ones we think are as useful) as others!"
2. How long have you been blogging?
"Let me go check...I started on 4/26/10. Before that, I played around with blogspot to see how in the world ppl were posting all of the deals I saw because I was curious about it, but that's when I really started to do it :)"
3. What made you start the Low-Entry Lowdown?
"Well, I had LOTS of time on my hands when we were in China because I only taught a few classes on the weekends, so I had plenty of time to enter giveaways. I started noticing that there were really a lot of low entry ones out there, and then I started winning almost every day. It occurred to me that maybe other would be interested in entering the low entry giveaways too, and I knew it would help out the bloggers with low entries, so I tried it out :) I didn't expect it to be the most popular thing on my blog, but I'm glad so many people enjoy it!"
4. Do you have a favorite or most exciting thing that you've won yourself from the Low-Entry Lowdown?
"Well, since I started the LEL I've stopped winning as much, especially the giveaways that I list there. In fact, I can't think of one single thing I've won off the actual LEL. I'll have to go back and check, and i might have to amend my answer :) I can't complain though because I've just started entering random non-low entry ones that I find as I'm surfing around, and I've been blessed to win a couple of those. Winning only once or twice a week but having a post that other ppl enjoy is better, I think :)"
5. The twitter party calendar is a great idea. How do you keep up with all the twitter parties?
"Thanks :) Well, the calendar IS how I keep up with them. I started the calendar because I was always forgetting about the parties I wanted to attend. I tried using a date book at home, but I just kept forgetting to check it :) So, I started the calendar and posted it so everyone could see it in case I wasn't the only person out there having a hard time remembering! Now I just check Twitter and sometimes Google to see if I can find any information about the parties. I definitely don't know about all of them, so I encourage ppl to comment and let me know when I don't have one on the calendar so I can add it and everyone who wants to can attend. Sometimes, if I find out about one a few minutes before it starts, I'll try to RT the info so if anyone is following me on Twitter, they can find out about it too!"
6. What are some of your tips for balancing blog/family/work (out of home and/or housework)/etc?
"Hmmm...well, I'm not too good at the balancing yet. I'm a terrible housekeeper, and I feel like I should give my daughter more of my attention. That is one of the biggest things I've been trying to work on these last few weeks. My husband and I decided to sacrifice having more stuff so that I could stay home with our little girl, and then sometimes I find myself using the extra time on my blog, which I am doing for free. It doesn't make any sense when you sit down and look at it, and I have to remember what my priorities are. I am thankful for this blog though. It helped me through the last few, difficult months in China, and I enjoy it! I'm hoping I continue to learn balance and priorities day by day..."
7. Do you have a special blogging moment you'd like to share?
"Actually, I remember the first time I checked my feedburner and I had 10 RSS feed subscriptions, and that was a special moment for me (just wrote about this yesterday). I was really shocked and thankful that anyone out there actually wanted to know what I posted. I'm still pretty shocked :)"
Thanks Stephanie for taking the time to answer some questions. If you haven't visited Ten Talents take a minute and check it out. Sign up for her emails too so you get the latests on the low entry low downs and more.
Ten Talents is also on twitter: @asthepotter
Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More
