Archive for May, 2009

24 Great Sites for Fathers

Sunday, May 31st, 2009
joeprah1
Joeprah
Twitter: @joeprah

A great blog about a stay at home dad and his family.

discovering-dad Discovering Dad
Twitter: @jnbammer

Discovering what it means to be a dad.

building-camelot Building Camelot
Twitter: @buildingcamelot

Helping men become better dads & husbands.

nordquist The Nordquist Blog
Twitter: @akula

Brett is one of the most underrated Daddy bloggers on the planet.  Sincere and eloquent, he chronicles fatherhood in a way that few can.

dad-labs Dad Labs
Twitter: @dadlabs

Funny, irreverent, and always helpful.  Videos, podcasts, and blog articles about being a dad.

dadomatic Dadomatic
Twitter: @dadomaticblog

Another blog collective started by Chris Brogan.

busy-dad Busy Dad

The only guy I know who is more involved with BlogHer than most women.

frugal-dad Frugal Dad
Twitter: @frugaldad

One of the most widely read dad blogs out there, he really knows financial matters.

dad-gone-mad Dad Gone Mad
Twitter: @dadgonemad

A little big intimidating? To be sure.  Cares about his kids?  You bet.

the-father-life The Father Life
Twitter: @thefatherlife

A magazine containing a mix of original content and some of the best from different father related websites.  I should know, you might find some of my work there if you look hard enough!

rebel-dad Rebel Dad

Stay at home dad expert, convention organizer, and all around good guy.

mommydaddy-blog Mommy Daddy Blog
Twitter: @mommydaddyblog

An eclectic mix of parenting advice, personal accounts, and reviews of interesting products.

dadcentric Dadcentric
Twitter: @dadcentric

Cheeky, irreverent, and a little crass, Dadcentric tells it how it is with no fear.

digital-dad Digital Dad

Raise your hand if you’re a tech geek.  DigitalDad satisfies the need for gadgets in all of us.

dc-urban-dad DC Urban Dad
Twitter: @dcurbandad

There is a need for more men in the world like this guy.  Good, solid men who care for their kids and share their thoughts and opinions.

dad-thing Dadthing
Twitter: @dadthing

Another great dad blog by another great dad!

daddy-brain Daddy Brain
Twitter: @daddybrain11

Fathering advocate, radio host, and speaker.

evolution-of-dad Evolution of Dad Project

An ongoing film project detailing how the role of Dads has changed in our modern society.  Donate to his project!

disfordad D is for Dad
Twitter:@disfordad
fatherhooddotorg Fatherhood.org

The single most complete resource on the web, and an advocacy group for making sure kids grow up with involved fathers in the home.  You won’t find a lot of opinions on this site, but well researched information on social problems and how men can help.

dadsdotorg Dads.org

An advocacy group for Dads centered on Catholic principles.  Read articles, find local help, and listen to their radio show.

alltop1 Alltop Dads Page

Alltop is a brilliant website that aggregates the best the web has to offer all over the internet.  The dads section has real time updates from the top Dad blogs around the internet.

hhs HHS.gov

The US Government’s website promoting the health, social and economic benefits of having fathers fully engaged in their children’s lives.

fathersdotcom Fathers.com

The National Center for Fathering’s website.  They inspire & equip men to be better fathers & grandfathers.


Ronald McDonald Is Evil and Has Bad Taste In Music Too

Friday, May 29th, 2009

I told my daughter McDonald's burned down – all over the place - and that we can never go there again.
Why? Because of the Kidz Bop CD’s they were giving out with the Happy Meals.

For the last 9 months after her Ballet class I’ve always taken her to the nearby McDonald's for dinner. Its become our little once a week tradition that we both look forward to.
Sitting there almost feels like we’re in an 80’s commercial: a 3-year-old dressed in her Ballet clothes with Dad across the table usually instructing her how the Happy Meal toy works.
But this day was different; she got a Kidz Bop CD and asked to play it in the car.

That was one long drive home…

Why has no one given me a proper warning me about this? The CD label should at least have a warning label on it that says, “WARNING: KIDZ SINGING ON THIS CD HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO MUSICAL TALENT WHATSOEVER.”

I stopped the CD at the Kidz version of “Funkytown”, which by the way is an alteration Lipps, Inc probably never intended, and told my daughter that the CD broke.

“It’s like a sticker, you can only use it once” and then changed the subject.

Later, I threw it in the recycling bin hoping they could melt in into something useful like Wii’s, iPhones, flying cars, or better yet Happy Meal Lego toys. Until then, I have a 3-year-old that won’t stop asking when I’m taking her to Funkytown.

Has anybody else encountered bad kids music? Have you discovered "good" kids music? Or does that even exist...?

Spark An Idea That Motivates You This Summer : How To Get Healthy During The Summer Months!

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

spark-an-idea2Welcome to ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’.  Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers.  We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog!  If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

Guys, even though it may be a tad late to impress the ladies with your six pack abs at the beach this summer, it doesn’t mean you still can’t get in great shape and use the summer as your motivation!

You see if you are like most guys you may have spent a little too much time eating not so healthy foods and drinking a little too much beer while watching your favorite fall and winter sports.

It’s pretty easy to hide those extra pounds under a sweat shirt or heavy winter coat right?

Well trust me, I’m no different.

You see in addition to setting a goal for myself to leave my full time job and start my own business by May 1st, 2009, I also told my wife I would trim down and reveal my six pack abs by this summer!exercise-men-sparkplugging

Well if you read my last blog post you’ll know I was able to leave my full time job but I didn’t do so well with the six pack….abs that is.

I was so busy working and preparing for my escape from the rat race I didn’t stop to think about what I was eating during those late night working binges.

I was also working so many hours I was dead tired during the day and the last thing I felt like doing was exercising even though I knew it would help improve my energy levels and mental clarity.

So anyway now that I’ve left my job and I’m my own boss, I’ve  been eating much more healthy and exercising multiple times a week and I feel great.

Maybe it’s a  little too late to reveal my six pack abs but not too late to drop 20-30 lbs over the next few months.

So, I’m going to use summer as my motivation and start living a more healthy lifestyle.

I actually think it’s easier to be healthy in the summer months as you can fire up the old hibachi and grill leans meats, fish and veggies basically whenever you want.  Not that you cant do this year round but living in the northeast it’s a little more difficult then our brothers in the sunbelt and out west.

Summer is a great time to add fresh fruits and local veggies to your diet from produce stands and local farm markets. Nothing’s better than stopping at one of those roadside stands and picking yourself up some fresh summer berries and maybe a zucchini or some fresh broccoli for the grill!

It’s all about making simple changes to your diet and not beating yourself up if you want a cheeseburger and beer at the family picnic.

In addition to all the fresh fruits and veggies in season you can also take advantage the nice summer weather.  It’s much easier to get outside and start moving around on a nice warm sunny day than it is on a freezing cold  January afternoon right?

So over the next few posts I’ll share some of my fitness tips and healthy eating tips ANY MAN can follow.  ( By the way, I am also a certified personal trainer so I do know a little something about this stuff!)

In the mean time I’d love to hear from you!  How do you stay motivated to keep a healthy lifestyle? Or maybe tell me about your frustrations trying to be healthy….I’d love to try and help you out if I can!

So send in your questions and comments and lets see if we can both lose a few” lb’s “over the next few summer months OK?

Now get busy, Bill Parlaman


The Trouble With Ashes to Ashes

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
Once again the state of California has proven that its label of liberal is nothing more than window-dressing and urban legend.

or

It's the damn Mormons, don't you watch South Park?


There are fingers and there are pointers, and excuses are thrown against walls and heads are smashed in alleys lined with blood and bottles sharp with anger and stupidity.

It's not about politics. It's not about religion. It's about doing the right thing. You'll hear people say otherwise and they are wrong. There are few things in life less grey. This is black and white. This is right versus something far from it.

Freedom for all should not be contingent upon the fears of the some. Glass ceilings are meant to be shattered. Dreams are meant to inspire and mountain tops only remain unreachable to those without the will to see beyond the rocks that fill their mind.

Love is not unconstitutional. Civil rights are not wrong. Families are not supposed to be broken. Nobody gets left behind.

Isn't there enough hate in this world?

Will my children grow up in a world where love grows hungry, left to starve in open closets while government rations are thrown into the masses, kept straight and narrow by the sight-line of their blinders?

Do we need to paste the words of Gibran and Lennon on every street corner? Should the ebb and flow of Neruda's heartstrings be our ringtone? Must a Browning be tattooed upon every shoulder to whisper a constant song of poetry across the stream of our conscience?

Even Foreigner must know what love is by now, and it is not what passes for law in the state of California.

There will be those that disagree, which is their right. They will fill comments and message boards trying to justify the unjustifiable and their every word will prove us right. They will waste both time and space with letters to the editor, pungent with blunt ignorance and the pocketed scent of posies.

We all fall down, but only some of us will have rings on our fingers.

Don’t Let Work Stress Overwhelm Your Marriage

Tuesday, May 26th, 2009

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When your job interferes with your marriage it causes all sorts of problems. You know what I’m talking about. Too much time at work, thinking and talking about work when you are at home, and getting upset over things at home because of work stress.

With entrepreneurs, this stress is even worse. The weight of your company is on your shoulders. Every decision counts, and you don’t get to quit at the end of the day and let other people make the important decisions. Do you work from home? If you do, good luck separating your personal and professional life. It’s even tougher. Your children walk into your office, your spouse asks if you can take a moment to discuss something just when you are getting some steam rolling on a project.

Here are a few things that I do that help me keep the work stress away from my marriage:

Prioritize.

When things go really wrong and you feel totally overwhelmed remember this: your marriage is more important. Honestly. When your priorities are in the right place that work stress that you were so worried about can just melt away. My wife (like most) is an amazing person and when I treat her well, she in turn helps me feel a lot better about myself. Every entrepreneur needs someone who supports and encourages them, and my wife is my biggest cheerleader. Because of that, I’m willing to put her first.

Exercise

I bike about 10 miles each way 3 – 5 days a week. Besides being a great form of exercise it gives me plenty of time to mentally prepare in the morning, and to cool down after a tough day. I can take all of my frustration out on the bike pedals.

Whatever form of exercise you like, it releases endorphins, and releases stress. This can only be a blessing for your marriage.

Bring the focus.

Much has been made of a woman’s ability to multitask. I really admire that. You know what, though? Guys are pretty good at focusing in on one thing. It’s a strength all to its own. It helps you win in business, turn it loose on your marriage. When you are home with your spouse give them your full attention and ignore the work stuff.

Plan dates.

Going along with focus, planning a date is a great way to get out of work mode. You know that when you leave work on date night that you’ll be doing something fun with someone you really like, and that shared activity allows you to leave the work worries behind.

Plan time with kids.

Just like your wife, your kids are more important than your job. I’m really passionate about organizations like The National Fatherhood Initiative because they teach people that having a father that is intellectually and emotionally engaged with his children is vital. No one ever laid on their deathbed wishing that they had spent more time at work.

Get perspective.

One thing that I like to do when I’m stressed is give a good friend a call. We might just talk for a minute, or we might go out for a drink and a kvetching session. Blowing off some steam with a friend is healthy, and if you trust their judgement you can also get some additional insight into your situation.

Remember: It’s just business.

A company needs all types in order to succeed, including the emotional firecrackers. If, like me, you’re one of those firecrackers, remember that even when it hurts it’s just a business decision. Don’t make important business decisions when you’re angry, and don’t take out your frustration and anger on coworkers – you’ll find yourself less stressed at home if you make decisions deliberately and with care.

What do you think? What do you do to keep your work stress from hurting your relationships? Let us know in the comments below.

Cory Huff (@aGoodHusband) is best known online for AgoodHusband.net. He also works for an internet marketing firm that specializes in Search Engine Marketing. Cory hopes to leverage the Sparkplugging internship to help performers and artists make money using the internet.


Of Mice, Men and Murder as a Lullaby

Friday, May 22nd, 2009
Driving through Salinas, CA is like driving through a memory - assuming your memories include the collected works of John Steinbeck, which mine do. It is a trip through prose and the scenery springs to life from so many paragraphs.

So it was that Tricia and I stopped at the Steinbeck museum and upon leaving I purchased the classic Of Mice and Men. Tricia had never read it. It became our narrative - an audio book without the tape and an aroma reminiscent of a French Dip sandwich and a couple of beers.

I read as she drove that lonely highway with the sun burning bright and the pages dancing all around.

I told her about the rabbits.


There is a murder in my yard. A murder of crows. Alfred Hitchcock is sitting on the bench under the mulberry tree and he is tossing them bread crumbs and forgotten lines.

They are loud and they have us surrounded. They talk and gargle and sing and yell and the sound of their wings echoes through our now empty home like the pending arrival of helicopters promising napalm in the morning. They are black birds and they sing in the dead of night.


Our house is bare but for the random can in the cupboard and assorted condiments in the icebox. We have two weeks left before we walk away forever and it will be spent on hardwood floors covered in quilts and children.

Our beds are gone. Our TV is packed. Our chairs are broken laundry baskets and forgotten boxes. Our clothes are on repeat.

We have been working hard. We get up early and stay up late. There is heavy lifting and dirt and sweat. We work until our backs cannot and then we lie upon a pallet of discarded blankets and the give of oak.

It is Salinas in a memory. It is broken wings and all my life.

It is only waiting for the moment to arise.

Three Easy Steps To Quitting Your Job!

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
Alexa (left), Gabrielle (center top) Kirsten (right) Me in the middle!

Alexa (left), Gabrielle (center top) Kirsten (right) Me in the middle!

OK, so in my first post I kind of introduced myself as a husband and a dad of three beautiful little girls trying to find a way to quit my full time job to pursue my dreams of running my own marketing business.

We’ll I’m announcing it here that I have officially left my job and I’m working full time on my business, Radical Marketing Solutions!

Now this was a long time coming for me.

Running my own business has always been a dream of mine and I’ve identified three very important principles that got me to the point where I could leave my J.O.B.

And I’ll be very honest with you, none of this would have happened had I not figured out and implemented these three rules.

So you ready?  Good, lets dive in shall we?

1. You must invest in yourself :  One of the first things I did when  I made the decision to start my own business was to find a course and coaching group for something I was interested in. In fact, the first thing I did was sign up to take a Real Estate Investing Course.  Now I don’t invest in real estate but it opened my eyes to the world of marketing and how to be a business owner.  I spent a lot of money on the course and while I never actually made one real estate deal, I did meet a ton of like minded folks who helped me along the way change my mental mindset from that of an employee to a business owner.  This one course propelled me into other marketing coaching groups, I bought products on how to write direct response copy and how to become a direct response marketer. I turned my car into a rolling library of success and money making education as I had every CD known to man in my car or burned to my ipod. I joined local entrepreneur groups and paid for one-on-one coaching.  It cracks me up how some folks have no problem dropping ten grand a year to get their bachelors degree or finish up their masters degree but will scoff at paying $250 for a course on how to build websites or how to write ads that sell.

2. Find a mentor : Success leave footprints. What do I mean by this?  Well there are countless amounts of people who have gone out on their own and started their own business from scratch. These people have already made the mistakes and figured out what it takes to run a strong business. So why not find some of these folks and either offer to take them out to lunch or offer to pay them for mentoring. I actually have three different mentors I’ve paid at some point to learn different skills from. Each mentor had their strengths and I leveraged each one of them to cut my learning curve tremendously. And here’s the thing, you can always make money but you can never get the hours back in a day.  So learning in a few weeks or months what it’s taken these folks years to learn is huge!

3. Take Action :  It’s not enough to invest in yourself through education and mentors and then sit on your duff. You have to take what you are learning and apply it to your business.  Look, you don’t have to jump right in, you can start small and start applying what you’ve learned and see what happens. The late great copywriter Gary Halbert said, “It’s motion not meditation that gets things done.”  This statement is so true…the trick is to start doing something and you’ll be surprised how fast things start taking off for you!

So there you have it, the three success principles I beleive has allowed me to leave my Full-time job to becoming my own boss.

Look, a lot of people say they would love to run their own business but how many people actually do it?  We’ll I’m one and these are the principles I used to reach my goals.

Now make no mistake about it, my job is not nearly done and now is when all the hard work takes place…getting up and running!

I also realize that not everyone reading this wants to start their own business but I believe these principles can help anyone who wants to improve their career, their marriage or their life!

Now get busy, Bill Parlaman


“What I Want To Be When I Grow Up”

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

No, this isn’t my list. I already know what I want to be when I grow up: Mr. T. Or a king/dictator/emperor of a small island in the pacific with a KFC franchise.

The weekend was fun as it was just my daughter and I while the wife was busy at some workshop for her MBA program. We spent most of the time drawing, painting, swimming, playing video games, and watching movies – we FINALLY saw that Monster’s Vs Aliens movie in 3D. I was disappointed as it was totally overrated. When the credits rolled my daughter turned to me and said in a serious voice “the monster movie wasn’t that good.”
Happy to know she has good taste. Well, not that good since she still likes that ‘Kidz Bops’ music.

Anyhow, I can’t even begin to explain how much I love spending time with just her. It’s not to say that I don’t enjoy spending time with both my wife and daughter – I do. It’s just my wife doesn’t jump up and down, yell in excitement and start clapping when I say things like “let’s play video games!” or “let’s go get some popcorn chicken…and play video games!”

Generally I’ll get an unfavorable stare.

Some of the conversations with my daughter can get pretty interesting because usually she’ll have an answer and opinion for just about everything from her 3-year old point of view. Celebrities (Oso, Elmo, and Hannah Montana all wear too much makeup), politics (Princesses just need to keep dancing on the Earth), the housing crisis (make them all pink) and yesterday she spent most of the day telling me what she wants to be when she grows up. Here are a few:

Truck (Pink, but can sometimes be Purple)
Butterfly
Order taking lady at Wendy’s
Princess Ariel
Duck (Pink one)
A mountain with clouds
A nice bumblebee with a pink truck
Souplantation
Fairy with a sparkly elevator
Kitty cat haircutter and doctor
Ballerina that can fly with a wand
Unicorn with a pink truck
Guacamole

In my view, she can be anything she wants to be. Except maybe guacamole.

Two Ear Infections and a Microphone

Thursday, May 14th, 2009
That was a good drum break.

If you've ever read this blog, or any blog written by a parent, you would know that some things are understood- things like sleep is a myth and all restrooms are public.

We didn't sleep last night. Granted, we never sleep. Our bed is too small for the ark that Jacob said to build upon it (see below) and a good rest is seldom had.


Yes, we co-sleep. I don't care what you think. Unless you're okay with it, then by all means think away. Our decision to do so is based loosely on the fact that we sold the kids' beds on Craigslist. It's a recession, people.

Plus, the move and all that. They'll have beds soon, put the phone down.

Anyway, last night there was little sleep had by anyone with a pillow (see above). It was a night of cries, screams and whimpering. Yes, whimpering. And whining.

Thing Two (top center) has been sickish for a few days. We assumed it to be allergies. The air here is disgusting and everyone is coughing, itching and feeling like crap. We figured that was the case with Thing Two, or possibly Swine Flu.

About, oh, 4am, he declared that his ears hurt. Not one ear, but ears. Then he continued to cry, scream and whimper, without even missing a beat. The kid has talent. Eat that Susan Boyle.

Six in the morning found me and the boy in Urgent Care. Double ear infections. Antibiotics. A donut. A nap.

Now he's sitting at my feet eating ice cream and whimpering noticeably softer. And I am more tired for it.

How To Build Business Allies

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Welcome to ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’.  Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers.  We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog!  If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

I’ve found one of the best ways to grow your business is by building relationships with other businesses.spark-an-idea

In other words, build business allies!

So how do you do this?

We’ll follow along and I’ll show you, OK?

One of my favorite ways to build business allies is by networking.

I try to attend as many networking meetings as I can for groups who have similar or concurrent business needs as my business.

So for example, I do a ton of search engine optimization projects for my clients. So what I do is go to meetings where other website designers are hanging out.

Believe it or not, most website designers have no idea how to properly search engine optimize a website.  They know how to make a website beautiful but they don’t necessary know how to driver traffic to websites.

Now before I get a ton of hate mail from all you web designers out there — I’m not saying “ALL” web designers, but I will say a good amount of them for sure. ( By the way, this is not a slam on web designers, we all need to do what we’re good at and as business owners it is important to know you CAN NOT be all things to all people.)

So what I’ll do is contact other website designers in my community and offer my SEO skills to them as an unbundled service. I’ll explain I need to make “X” per client and they can charge whatever they want for my services as long as I make my fee.

On the flip side, if I have a client who wants a certain type of website and I don’t have the time or the expertise, I’ll funnel my client to the web designer for a predetermined fee.

Make sense?

Can you see how I’ve built a powerful business ally and is mutually beneficial for both businesses?

Try to think of some ways you can build allies in your business. How can another businesses benefit greatly from your relationship.

I’d love to hear your ideas or examples of how you might do this in your business so make sure you leave your comments and thoughts below OK?

Now get busy, Bill Parlaman