I'd Love to Write French Ad Copy for Pet-Related Brands, but I Don't, so I Post Stories Like This on Facebook Instead

In my third year of high school French, we got a pairs assignment: perform a 10-minute skit of your choice, in front of the class, and completely in French. I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and just hoped that I'd be able to spin it well enough for my partner (a friend) to get on board.

A couple weeks, a stack of French-scripted index cards and several rehearsals later, my partner and I were positioned in front of the class - she standing, and I seated, or I should say - perched - on top of a stool, dressed in yellow, as French Morris the cat - the snarky* star of the (80s-era) 9Lives cat food commercials. 

The class hadn't seen it coming, and therefore, was defenseless. ☺

For me, writing and acting in that 10-minute cat food commercial spoof was (and remains) the highlight of my entire high school French career.

How had I not seen the writing on the wall?

Although I went on to take a couple more French classes in college, I never pursued the language, nor pet-industry advertising, as a career.

* The word "snark" didn't exist in the 80s.

This morning on the Today show, in a strange coincidence, there was lighthearted discussion around a British survey that asked respondents to say whether or not they are in the career that they dreamed about as a child. Unsurprisingly, only 6% said they are.

If they'd surveyed me, I'd have been in the 94% majority. I'm not a veterinarian. (Because who in her right mind - between 11-15 years old - aspires to be a French ad copy writer for pet-related brands?!) Besides, I'm pretty sure I wasn't meant to be a vet.

It can be argued, however, that I was meant to write about animals, ad-spoofing very much included. What's still not entirely clear, is whether there will ever be a "career" of it.

By the way, I was born optimistic.

So, what's the moral of this story? Well, it's this: When you find passion as a child - even if it involves talking animals and toilet humor - if you run from it, it will hunt you down and poke you like a stooge, right in both eyes. Only let it poke you once, my friends. Because a true stooge - by the second poke - has mastered the thumb-to-the-nose, sideways-hand, poke-deflecting maneuver.

In other words, don't be a stooge. ☺

And, for the record, I still get the urge to write in French sometimes. Only a little, though, because I'm way out of practice (and the last thing I need is to get shunned by grammarists in both English and French). I had one of those urges yesterday on my Facebook page (such a tolerant bunch, those Facebook peeps). If you recall, I mentioned something about Facebook in the title of this post. Surely, that means I intend to share what I wrote then, right?

Of course! Here it is. It's about Dewi and me. *runs and hides*

Post by The Chronicles of Cardigan.

Still here? Yay!☺

OK, how about a vintage 9Lives, Morris the cat commercial to redirect your thoughts?!


Gosh, I love 70s and 80s pet food commercials, and Morris. ♥

Here's a fun article from BuzzFeed that claims Morris was the original Grumpy Cat. Although, I don't know that I necessarily agree with that. Morris would never agree to be a meme. 

So, has anyone else circled back to a passion you left behind in childhood? Do tell!

It Rhymes With 'Hump' Day: Frump

In an act of snuggie-wearing solidarity, we declare today Frump Day! And may your five o'clock be somewhere soon!

Did you know? Snuggie (or sleeved blanket, actually) has its own Wikipedia page? (and now repeat after me: "why the frell couldn't I have invented that?!")

:-)

Stay tuned for next Wednesday, when we rhyme "hump" with...???

It Rhymes With 'Hump' Day (1st Edition): Hump, Rump, Lump and Bump

So, I started a little tradition (bad word choice) on the Facebook page a few weeks ago, of posting a photo of the dogs (my dogs) illustrating a word that rhymes with "hump." (Note: The word actually was hump the first time I did it.)

Anyway, because I just feel like it, really - until I run out of words that rhyme with 'hump," or the dogs go on strike - each Wednesday, I will cross-post those photos here on the blog.

I hope they make you smile a little. :-)

Here are the last four weeks' worth, to catch you up!

Happy Hump Day!
(Who needs a camel when you've got corgis?)

By the way, please refer HERE for the sizzling backstory on that photo.

Have a nice Rump Day! ☺

Did someone say it's Lump Day?! zzzzz

And finally, 

Get up and boogie; it's BUMP DAY!

♪♪ We want the funk ♫ gotta get that funk ♫♪

Coming next Wednesday...???


P.S. Great balls of tumbling dog hair! This is my 500th published post!
How did it come to this? ;-)

Soapy Corgis, Dog Packs Online and OMG, Facebook Ads Work!

Note: If you came here for the Facebook stuff, and don't like looking at adorable, soaped up Corgis getting baths, then you can just...um...well...

...click here to skip over the dog stuff. I'm very sorry, though, that you missed out on all the happiness in between. :*(

So, a few two of you might recognize some (or all, if you've been following since the olden days, when I was wearing a size smaller) of these photos. None of them are new; it's just that I'm about to talk about spending money on Facebook. And for some reason, that made me think of going to the cleaners and/or taking a bath, so naturally, I wanted to post photos of the dogs taking a bath. Except, I didn't feel like staging baths just for the photos, plus I'm tired, and my creativity is bobbing for air in a toilet bowl somewhere, sOOOOooooo, I'm posting these re-run pics instead. 

But, I promise, they're still as cute as ever!

I call it: Forlorn.

Oh where, oh where have Jon Farleigh's ears gone...?

Yes, they're both Dewi. No, as a mater of fact, I can't stand the cuteness. :-)

And, speaking of cute, have you heard of Pack (packlove.com)?

It's a startup (still private, invitation-only beta) social platform for dogs and their people, divided up into breed (plus blends and Heinz 57 variety) packs. Within each "pack," there is a (gorgeous) profile page for every dog (photo provided by dog owner, obviously). Here is Jon Farleigh's (in 2 parts - it's big):

Killer of Ladies, indeed!

So anyway, if you haven't yet, and you like being social with your dog (online at least), you should go over and take a look. Remember, though, that the site is still a cyber "baby," with lots of fun functionality still in development. What's not in development, though, (because I've been subscribed for over a month) is a weekly e-newsletter for your dog(s)' particular breed/mix. And, it just so happens that I'm the author/curator for the Cardigan Welsh Corgi newsletter, and you can sign up for it RIGHT HERE, if you want! ;-) You don't have to be a member of Pack to subscribe (not yet, anyway).

Having fun yet? I hope so, because this is the part where I talk about:

(And, if you don't give a flying flip about them, then this might be a smidge boring.)

#1: For as little as $1 (max) spent per day (for however many days you specify), you can run a Facebook ad for your blog/business fan page.

If you have a fan page already, I know you've seen the Boost Post button under all your status updates, and I'm sure you've received at least one pop-up from Facebook, prompting you to create an ad to promote your page. And perhaps, if you've clicked either a Boost Post button or pop-up ad, you've seen the pre-filled $10/day budget in the ad generator (which might have prompted you to roll your eyes and/or mutter expletives for wasting your precious time). I mean, who the heck has $10/day to blow on a Facebook ad for a blog?! I certainly don't.

The thing is, if you really do want to boost a post (say, for example, you just began a contest, or an awareness campaign), for a budget as small as $1/day (hint: you can change the $10 in the ad generator to $1*), you can exponentially increase your post engagement. (As an "experiment," for $5 total, I did it for my Frosty Paws giveaway and increased my post engagement from an avg. 200, to nearly 9,000. It works.)

Or, if you've got a goal to increase your page likes (perhaps you've been simmering around the same number for a while), for the same low daily budget of $1**, you will get them (and I'm not talking about random strangers; these are bona fide fans - most likely in the same demographic as your existing fans - who wouldn't have clicked "Like" if they didn't want to follow your page). (I've been running a $1/day-budgeted ad for one week, which has generated 57 new page fans, many of whom are fellow Cardigan Corgi people. For perspective, my Facebook page has been around since March 2011, with pre-ad, avg. new likes at 10/month. So, in a week, I've seen over a 500% increase! The ad is working.)

Please know that I understand there are other ways to attract Facebook fans, that don't involve paying Facebook. Clearly, I could probably stand to research that a bit more. But, that's not the point of this post. I simply want to share (my anecdotal evidence) that IF you choose to run a Facebook ad, and you have an existing loyal Facebook base, you will most likely see significant, swift results. Additionally, the Facebook Ads Manager makes it easy to edit, pause, delete and track most every detail of your existing ad(s). (In other words, the "delete" button isn't buried three-layers-deep in some obscure place on Facebook Help.)

So, has this been helpful? Has anyone else tried Facebook ads? 

As always (because this information has been fairly high-level), I'm happy to answer any questions!


* The minimum daily budget cannot be less than $1. I tried.
** The amount you spend per ad, per day will never be more than your budget. Facebook charges are calculated based on CPM (cost per impression), meaning that you are charged each time someone clicks your ad. Therefore, it is possible that if your ad generates few clicks, you'll spend less than your daily budget. Conversely, if your ad-clicks quickly reach your daily allotment (per budget), Facebook will pull your ad for the remainder of the day (so your budget is not exceeded).

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. Facebook's britches are much too big for the likes of little ole me.

P.S. Have an awesome day! Thanks for reading! And "liking"! I heart y'all!

My Dogs 'Drew' Straws and Jon Farleigh Won (a Trip to Bark in the Park)

(Editor's Note: I'm just sitting here imagining what a first-timer to my blog might think after reading the title of this post. How does one preface one's dogs drawing straws and winning trips? I dunno? Oh, well. Thanks for listening. ;)

Okay, for those who are still reading, but missed yesterday's post, I made the dogs draw (choose) straws to determine which one got to go with me and Youngest Child to Bark in the Park. (It'll make more sense if you read yesterday's post.)

And, yes, (per the title) Jon Farleigh's nose won the "draw"; therefore, JF got to go (and Dewi will go next time, in August). 

So, off we go to the ballpark...

And here's JF making out with a yellow lab.

JF: Wanna go under the bleachers? 

Okay, they weren't really making out (although there's definitely something more than a casual butt sniff going on). Sadly for JF, though, the lab's visit was limited to this brief encounter on the stairs. ;)

This lovely young Boxer lady, however, was our bleacher mate for the whole game. Such a sweetie!

This little guy was in the row in front of us...

...and Dachshund girl was behind us.

Until this (extremely affectionate) girl moved in.

My little ladies' man was in dog heaven. :)

So was I (in dog heaven), frankly. I didn't watch anything but dogs until the bottom of the 7th inning! (oops)

This little person liked Jon Farleigh (and the feeling was mutual - JF is very fond of little people). :)

Little person: Goggie!

Jon Farleigh slept well last night (right after he got home and played bitey face and zoomies with Dewi, who didn't seem to be holding a grudge).

Oh, and by the way, I'm totally using the straws on the dogs again!

10 Points if You Can Figure Out How I Decided Which Dog to Take to Bark in the Park

If you follow the blog on Facebook, you might have seen this status update earlier today. If not, well, in a nutshell (pun intended), I was in a dilemma over which dog to take with Youngest Child and me to Bark in the Park (one of two dog-friendly nights at the ballpark with our hometown Minor League baseball team, the Richmond Flying Squirrels).

Anyway, my point is: How the heck does one decide between two relatively equal canine candidates, who would be equally thrilled to go to the game, and who would miss the other one terribly should he not get picked, AND NOT WALK AWAY FEELING LIKE A JERK? 

(Yes, for some of you reading this, I do realize the question I just asked colors me a shade of "crazy dog lady." Just lettin' you know that it's not going to get much better from here. ;)

So what do you think, folks? How did I decide?

Did I:

A. Ask the dogs which one wanted to go more?

B. Have the dogs wrestle for it?

C. Rate the dogs' behavior throughout the day and take the one who misbehaved less?

D. Let Youngest Child decide?

E. Have the dogs pick straws? 

(Reminder: I'm a crazy dog lady with guilt issues.)

Give yourself 10 points if you picked E., because, yes, Jon Farleigh and Dewi picked straws! 
(And I am guilt free! Yay!)

This one smells like a winner.

Yeah, I like this one right here.

So, whose nose touched the longer straw???

Tune in tomorrow (Wed.) to find out (plus see some great photos from our awesome night at the ballpark)!

How Facebook Made Me Stupid (and some cute pictures)

Note: Random photos of Jon Farleigh appear throughout this post.

Hi, whatchu doin?

I am not a great big Facebook user (in my non-blogging life); therefore, I reluctantly created a fan page for this blog, after weeks of rebellion against all the social media experts who insisted that all "successful" blogs must have one.

Fast forward a year and I still rarely use my personal Facebook page, but have come to rely on (and even <gasp> enjoy) my fan page for connecting with many wonderful blog readers.

And that is why, when it (my fan page) suddenly left me this weekend (for a better blogger perhaps?) - without so much as a note or an envelope stuffed full of cash, I lost my ever-loving mind. Really.

Shortness of breath.

Sweaty palms.

Racing heart.

Hysterical googling of the words "my facebook page disappeared."

Twitter begging of @Facebook to "please put my page back, lest I might die." (except I left out the dying part)

Strongly worded pleas to the mysterious bureau known as Facebook Help.

I did all of that just this morning!

Shut the front door! She did what?!

Then at precisely 1:50 p.m. my time today (as I peeked at the clock through a squinted eye), it slowly loaded. My wayward little fan page. 

And I felt a little nauseated from the adrenaline release. 

So tell me: If I can find a bright side to a day of scrubbing dog poop off interior surfaces and my dog's butt, ill-fitting clothes and burning my dinner to a block of ash, but can't get it together for temporary Facebook maintenance*, do you think I might be in deep doo doo?

What about you? How would you react if your Facebook (or any other well-used social media) page suddenly disappeared? 

I like to roll in deer pee. Do you?

*I'm assuming that my page was down due to temporary maintenance (vs. a glitch, hack, etc.). Whatever the case, I'm so relieved it's back! ;-) 

P.S. If you're a Facebook fan and it goes missing again, please check the blog (or look at my Twitter feed) for updates!