HoundsGood: Chronicles of a Virtual Volunteer

On Friday, I wrote an entry thanking a few bloggers for spreading the word about animals in need at Heard County Animal Control. I do have a readership that includes a few fellow/sister bloggers who pick up news stories from me from time, and I am thankful for that. This past week, I didn’t have much time between receiving the information on what sweet cats and dogs that were going to be put down this week, and the time it was happening. I needed help right away !

I turned to the devoted Sparkers at SocialSpark for help, as I knew that I could count on them. I have recently joined SocialSpark, which has a great set up for getting the word out about just about anything that can be blogged. A blogger places their “order” so to speak, and a request goes into the list of available “Sparks.” Suddenly a “Spark” is ignited and the matter you are trying to call attention to or the blog you are wanting to promote is called to attention. Other bloggers can write about it, and in exchange for their generosity, you’ll throw them back a mention too. It is a great way to get to know eachother!

In a nuthshell, it is social networking for bloggers. You may wonder with all of Google’s rules, how can you add all sorts of shout outs to other blogs on your blog? I mean, Google likes to see link exchanges, but you get penalized in the rankings and searches if you go overboard. They just want to make sure you are not one of those spammy “links only” sites with no real content. SocialSpark is 100% Google approved. The use of “no follow” tags instruct the Google robots what to do.

What’s more, is that you can also purchase advertising with this system and get 100% honest opinions about your product, website, or message. You never know what people think sometimes when you buy print advertising. You may get a few phone calls, but what did the other folks who saw it think and why didn’t they act on it? With using SocialSpark, you can find out not only instantly through the opinion of bloggers, but will get a trickle effect from their readers too. All bloggers are required to carry an in post disclosure that has two benefits. Firstly, the reader knows that they are reading a compensated review. Secondly, it gets you traffic from others interested in checking you out. Word spreads fast on the internet!  

Ignite the Spark!  CLICK HERE to start!

It is darn hard sometimes making new friends in a new town.  When we came here,  we met a few people through work, but when someone left the job, there just wasn’t anything in common to keep the friendship going.   A few friends really “stuck” but with everyone moving so often, we talk on the phone, but don’t have anyone to check a new restaurant out with anymore.

A friend of mine sent me a site called The Couples Spot.     I thought it was a joke at first.  In otherwords, they wanted me to open a…let’s say “romance” type of site and really embarrass the heck out of me.     Boy, was I wrong.  It is actually a site “on the up and up” with the concept of letting you and your spouse meet other married couples who are interested in the same things as you are.  For example, you can meet some likeminded people to show you where the locals eat when you make that trip to another part of the country. Maybe none of your friends like live theater, and you are looking for new people to go with.  I even saw people on there that want to meet other people interested in car shows.  If you are like me, maybe you are looking for people in your area that share your passion for helping animals.  It always seems that the people you meet have one spouse who loves it and one that wants to throw the other out of the house because of it, but what if you wanted to meet a couple who were both “all in?” Sounds like friends I would like to have!

There is a new community online for pet lovers called An Amigo. There was a launch party at the Sundance Film Festival for the new site, which was attended by numerous celebrities. The site appears to be a little bit like a “myspace for pets (without the spam.)” Unlike Dogster and Catster, this site is all-inclusive of a variety of species.

The rules of conduct are very simple:

- No biting, snapping, or growling! That means no insults, rude comments or flaming posts.
- No “marking” in our playground. Absolutely NO Spam.
- No corrupting the puppies and kittens. No mature, adult-only related words, pictures, links, or comments.
- No stealing treats. Please only use images and text that are yours, or that you have the rights to, nothing copywrited.

Pet owners are invited to upload pictures and share stories of the antics of their pets, and to network with other “best friends” and their owners. Pet care professionals are also invited to list themselves in a special section and can also network.

I have to admit that I was hesitant at first about another pet site, as many of them featured articles about breeding and allowed advertisements and listings from breeders. Among the list of pet care facilities and services, I was happy to not even find a category for them. There is a category for animal shelters, which is definitely a responsible move!

Try out An Amigo, and let me know what you think!