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Showing posts sorted by date for query marketing. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query marketing. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query marketing. Sort by relevance Show all posts

What is Influencer Marketing?

Influencer Marketing is a form of Word of Mouth Advertising


Did you ever have a homepage with Microsoft or are you even old enough to remember those? There's been a steady progression in the world of blogging and I've been along for the entire ride. Now, I'm considered a social media influencer. Influencer marketing is the latest trend on the world wide web, remember that term? Ha. It's been a wild ride. What is Influencer Marketing? 


This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.


What's influencer marketing and a sponsored post?

Influencer marketing is online word of mouth advertising. It goes like this. I went to a new ice cream shop, I loved the pineapple flavor, I took a picture and shared it all over my social media pages. It's true. I do love pineapple ice cream. If I tell you how much I love it, maybe you'll try it and love it too. Generally, influencers are trusted or are recognized as a celebrity or specialist in their area of influence.


Me? The influencer progression went like this: 


  • Microsoft Homepage - I shared my page with my family members to update them on the status of my new baby. (He's 17.)
  • MySpace page for my family - like a scrapbook.
  • Blog - Here's what we've been doing, doesn't it look fun?
  • Facebook page - So, you want how to instructions for the kids activities we've been doing?
  • Twitter profile - Because someone told me I had to have at least 5k followers to be of any value. (Twitter doesn't really fit my niche.)
  • Pinterest profile - Picture this and save it to make later! My stats skyrocketed quickly, so I wrote a how to book which ended up on Amazon's Best Seller's list and that boosted my influencer status.
  • Instagram profile - Everyone's doing it, it's the place to be. So, I did it too.

In between all of those social media platforms, I tried Snap Chat, Periscope, Blog Frog, Google+, and a host of other platforms that you've never heard about. My influencer status grew by leaps and bounds on Blog Frog. Once I caught on to how they got paid when I wrote an article or allowed ads on the page, it was a game changer.


Suddenly,  I realized that I could do that on my own website. I solicited brands, got free product, and a small payment for my articles. This method later became known as the sponsored post. The more sponsored posts I did, the more I was hooked. Next thing you know, I'm a huge (one of the first) Pinterest influencer. It happened while I was looking the other way. 


Over the last several years, my influencer status has grown to include Instagram. People like to see what other people do behind the scenes. That's why these unboxing YouTube videos are all the rage. While I do love to receive free product, as an influencer, it is important that I am compensated for my time. It's how I make my living. Never heard of me? Just Google it.


These days, I like to focus on educational kids' activities and budget friendly family travel. However, my blog is considered a lifestyle/parenting website so I get offered all sorts of influencer marketing proposals. I can afford to be choosy. 


Back in the day, Paris Hilton was one of the first social media influencers. Now, anyone can be an influencer, celebrity not required. You just have to be patient and persistent. There are many bloggers who became influencers by accident. I particularly like this story about the Barefoot Marathoner in the Influencer Spotlight. Like me, she was just doing her own thing, minding her own business when people began to take notice. Surprise, you're an influencer! 


Some Influencers make their money with YouTube advertising. I haven't found the time to focus on YouTube. Notice, I forgot to even mention it my progression list, it fits in somewhere after Facebook. I've helped other websites market themselves with YouTube, but my own profile falls flat. Maybe someday.


We don't have to all love the same things! There are some platforms I just don't love, and they obviously don't love me back. If you want to start building your own influencer marketing business, pick a social media platform that you love. Build it, love it, and they will come. Don't be fake. Just be yourself.


So, how do I use Influencer Marketing?


I get offered products to try. I do a lot of kids' recipes and snacks. So, influencer marketing platforms pair me up with food brands and retail stores who send the product and offer a small payment - they call it a fee. That can be confusing to newbies. It's a fee that I require to publish the article on my website. It's a payment to me.


I also get free tickets to events in exchange to promote the event on my social media pages and write about my experience on my blog.


I get pitched various things to post on my Instagram. I try to curate these to include only things that my followers (largely teachers and homeschoolers) will appreciate learning more about. I charge a fee per post or story.


When I do a sponsored post on my blog, I almost always share it to Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. I charge an additional fee to share it to Instagram because it seems to be a premium service. If sponsors just want me to pin something on my Pinterest profile, I'm happy to do it for a fee. Time is money. Even adding a link to an existing blog post takes time, so I charge a fee for that too. 


What should you know? There are regulations on sponsored posts. Sponsored posts should be noted as such. On my social media pages, I am required to add #ad or #sponsored. Amazon affiliate links require a disclaimer at the top of the blog post. I always say, "This post contains Amazon affiliate links for your convenience." For other sponsored posts, I use different language, 'This is a sponsored post, all opinions are my own." or "Post sponsored by INSERT BRAND." 


What's the biggest rage in influencer marketing these days? I'd say it's tiktok. Notice I don't have that listed above? I'm still thinking about it. Still. I've never been an early adopter, but I do okay. Juggling all of those different social media platforms is very time consuming. Many times, by the time I get around to thinking about signing up for a platform, it's already obsolete. 


Now, how do I find these influencer marketing gigs? Well, these days most of them find me. However,  if you're just starting out, just do a search for 'influencer marketing,' 'sponsored posts,' or 'become an influencer.' There are a ton of sites that help pair influencers with sponsors.


Good Luck! If you have any questions on your journey, feel free to reach out to me.



Recommended:

More on Social Media Marketing from Adventures of Kids Creative Chaos





How did Coronavirus affect the Housing Market?

 Has the 2020 Pandemic Changed your Living Situation?


When you work from home as a social media marketing consultant for small business and an online social media influencer, AND homeschool your kids, you can literally work from anywhere.  A few years ago, we took advantage of  that and bought a cottage in the middle of nowhere on a little lake. If I knew then, what I know now, I would've held out for more money when I sold it in 2020. Even so, for owning it just over two years, I made a little money on the deal. So, what's up with the housing situation anyway?


                                    This post contains Amazon affiliate links for your convenience.



How has Coronavirus affected the housing market.  People can live anywhere. Lake House Cottage.

Lake house, fixer upper, mid fix stage.


In 2019 the kids decided they wanted to attend public school to pursue building trades and band. As a anxious homeschooling mom, I wanted to feel comfortable with this choice, so we moved back to my hometown and we rented. Lucky for me, it wasn't real renting. My brother had purchased a rental and we moved in while I looked for a more permanent place to call home. Since everyone was out of the house, I decided to go back to working in a brick and mortar environment too and I took a job for Habitat for Humanity.


Then, I looked and I looked, and I looked. Rentals were few and far between and most of them were either outside of my price range or beneath my standards. Let me tell you, I had pretty low expectations, but I wanted my kids to feel safe. I tried to purchase my own home, but every time a place went on the market it sold before I even got a chance to look at it. What was left were the homes that no one wanted. The homes that couldn't get  loans due to major issues or the homes that were priced well over their appraised value. Though, I considered making the leap and purchasing one of these houses, I held out for a home that wasn't a fixer upper.  



How did Coronavirus affect the Housing Market? Looking for an affordable place to call home.


However, the home we bought, would've sold for considerably less in 2019, before the pandemic. In fact, the flipper had purchased the house at a 2017 auction for only $25,000. After looking at several houses that were priced outside of my comfort zone and not really what I wanted, I jumped on the opportunity to buy my home at $131,900. Sure, in most communities, that's a great price, but in my hometown the median home price is $85,000 and the houses in the neighborhood were going for considerably less. I needed to love this house for the purchase to make any sense. It was a risky move, will it retain it's value?


However,  despite the housing market situation, I decided to take a risk and make an offer below asking price. The homeowner countered, and I accepted. It was oddly easy, as most houses were selling over the asking price and this house had everything I wanted. Just before I closed, I found out that the house had been the place of a brutal murder. Probably should've countered the counter offer. I was the only one bidding. I'm not mad. I'm thankful to finally have an affordable, safe place to call home.


After the pandemic, the prices of homes in rural areas like New Castle, Indiana have skyrocketed. For those who are looking for 3+ bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, there's a housing shortage. Since Covid hit, more people are realizing they too can work from home. And they can live anywhere. So, they're abandoning high cost urban areas and retreating to rural communities where the cost of living is easier on the wallet and life is simpler. This means, rural areas can raise home prices and because rentals are in high demand with millennials, they can also raise the rent, pricing out low-income families. In turn, many affluent urban areas are actually seeing a decrease in rent as people flock to small towns. You can learn more about that in this article on how 2020 changed the housing market.


After reviewing the article, I took special note of what this is doing to low income families. Working at Habitat for Humanity, it is my job to help low income families find affordable housing and help remove some of the barriers to home ownership. With increasing cost of building materials and virus constraints, many area Habitat affiliates have had to put building new homes on the back burner. Families have had to wait for over two years for their homes to be completed, and Habitat affiliates are losing money and need to raise more funds just to complete the houses



Habitat for Humanity House. Donate to Habitat.


The chart below lists several counties neighboring the one where I live. If you aren't from around here, the data may not tell the whole story. However, Hamilton and Hendricks counties have some of Indiana's most affluent neighborhoods. Marion county is the home to Indianapolis, which has seen a slight increase, but compared to cities like Chicago and New York, Indianapolis is an escape to a more rural life. It appears the Coronavirus has changed the housing market. More and more people are realizing they can work from home, and that means that home can be anywhere they want it to be. There truly is no place like home, so why live in a house in a place that you don't love?


Affordable rentals in New Castle, Indiana.


We want to hear your thoughts! Have you moved or considered purchasing a new home in the pandemic? Tell us about it in the comments.



2/1/2021Delaware CountyIndiana$6003.30%$45,065114,135Small metro
2/1/2021Hancock CountyIndiana$7909.00%$69,39278,168Large fringe metro

2/1/2021Hamilton CountyIndiana$1,116-0.90%$105,062338,011Large fringe metro
2/1/2021Marion CountyIndiana$99621.70%$50,458964,582Large central metro

2/1/2021Madison CountyIndiana$79220.20%$55,142129,569Large fringe metro



This chart from Zumper tells the story with data.






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Marketing your Business Yourself

 How to Market Your Business without Hiring a Marketer


Marketing is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. It is the oxygen of the company, as some say, and they’re not wrong. A strong marketing campaign can help your business get noticed, but it can often be difficult to engineer such a campaign on a strict budget. For some budget-friendly ways to market your business without breaking the bank, try one or more of the following suggestions on how to market your business without hiring a marketer.


This blog contains Amazon affiliate links.



Marketing your Business Yourself



Go Back to School

If you are struggling with creating the next marketing campaign, now might be a good time for you to go back to school and try your hand at a business certificate, specifically a marketing one. 


For example, consider enrolling at the Kelley School of Business, one of the most prestigious institutions in the field. The Kelley Online Marketing Strategy Certificate can be yours in less than five months. 


What’s more, you can take the courses online, which is a lot easier to fit into your busy schedule than heading to class. This program can easily fit into a hectic life, and, most importantly, it equips you with the core concepts and skills that make a good marketer.


Trust in Networking

Many people shy away from networking events because they can take up a lot of time and don’t always provide instant results. Not seeing big results after putting in a lot of work can be frustrating, and you might think, “why bother?” 


But, when you do it right, networking can provide a lot of support. Through a strong network, you can find new opportunities naturally for your company. 


Networking generates organic publicity for your company through the people you meet and the opportunities they bring with them. So, free up your calendar and look for some networking events!


Ask Your Customers

Often, businesses shy away from asking their customers to refer others, but that is an excellent way to generate more organic traffic. By offering your existing customers an incentive for every referral, you motivate them to go out there and bring you more customers. 


For example, you might offer them a discount or a coupon. These new customers are a lot more likely to trust your company if a friend recommends you, rather than if they found you accidentally online.


Experiment with Free Trials

People love a freebie, that’s a given. So, if someone has the chance to try out your service for free for a limited time, they are likely to try it and invest some time in it, to “make the most” out of their trial. 


By the time the trial is done, they will like it so much that they will invest in the full product. This trial could be as short as a week or even extend to a month.


Final Tip: Get Involved with the Local Community

Often, marketers “overshoot it” by trying to cater to a global audience. But thinking small can be infinitely more effective if done right. You can stay involved virtually too. Find local groups on Facebook.


Affirm your presence through various local events (related or not to your field.) The more times people see you and your brand mentioned, the more likely they are to trust you.



If you still need help, we're happy to act as your marketing consultants! With over fourteen years of social media marketing experience, we can direct you to the easiest ways to market your business online.





How to Get More Traffic to Website: Traffic Secrets

Traffic at a Standstill?


This is a sponsored post. #ad Are you stuck in the eternal flow of social media? Do you have a blog, website, or other social media pages to sell a product or service? After you've exhausted all ideas, is your traffic still at a standstill? If so, you've probably searched for how to get more traffic to your website. It seems like an uphill battle. Okay, it is an uphill battle, but persistence and perseverance pay off.



how to get more traffic to website: traffic secrets


I've been working the 30 day challenge in this book by Russell Brunson, Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers. Let me just say, it may feel overwhelming, but that's what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the crowd. The past few years, I've slowed down on my personal endeavors. They've taken a backseat to the digital marketing that I do for other brands and businesses. I've got a keen eye for what needs to get done, but when it comes to doing it for myself, I don't always accomplish those goals. Reading this book has been the kick in the pants I needed to get motivated. 



Traffic at a Standstill?


The first thing I noted was it felt like work. It felt like stuff I don't really want to do. Ugh. If that's you and you can't find the motivation, this method isn't for you. However, you should kick yourself in the pants and just get it done. Even if you do only a portion of what's been explained in the book, it will motivate you to set new goals. I hadn't posted every day on any social media platform, for years. YEARS! It was clearly time to make a change. For me, this 30 day challenge helped me overcome some fears. I posted several times a day nothing bad happened. In fact, my social media pages, particularly Facebook, started getting more engagement. More. Not less. More! Social media sites like it when we're active. Even if you're just talking to yourself everyday, post something valuable to help build that engagement score.



Russell Brunson Book Reading



Russell Brunson is doing all the things I dreamed of doing! Book signings, podcasts, videos, and most importantly, selling books! For me, the goal of more traffic is to reach my target audience and sell more books! I love to write and create content for kids, but it can be difficult to attract the right audience to your website and even more difficult to attract them to make a purchase. That's where your dream 100 comes into play. In Traffic Secrets, Russell Brunson details what it takes to work with your dream 100. The first step is to identify who they are so you need to make a list. Once you've got that list, you need to work it. Find ways to connect with your dream 100. Make sure your dream 100 knows who you are! You can read all about it in his book, Traffic Secrets.






By completing the Traffic Secrets 30-day challenge, you'll learn the strategies you need to increase your site traffic. You've probably already got a great product or service ready to go, you just those customers! If you've yet to create a product to sell, you need to get on that. 

Here are some of my products:


I sell my products anywhere I can! In his book, Brunson mentions how important it is to have an affiliate army. Get other people (your dream 100) to mention your books and sell them on their websites. Set them up as affiliates so that they earn a little for each book sale. After reading his book, I discovered that I really need to focus more on building my tribe. First thing I plan to do is set up an affiliate marketing program for other book bloggers. In this latest book Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers, entrepreneur Russell Brunson reveals the classic and foundational direct marketing techniques that will allow you to be at the front of new trends and see opportunities that are invisible to everyone else. Having an affiliate army is a huge piece of the puzzle.

Russell Brunson is a Best-Selling Author & CEO of the $100M software company ClickFunnels. If you've started any digital marketing, you've probably heard of funnels. Everyone needs a funnel! He has built a following of over a million entrepreneurs, sold hundreds of thousands of copies of his books and popularized the concept of sales funnels. Basically, you need a funnel where you have all sorts of marketing efforts pointing to your landing page or the page where you sell your product or service. You drop links to this page preferably through other great online and personalities, and they all funnel in one direction, which drives sales of your product or service. There's an online adage, "work smarter not harder." However, if you can work smarter and harder, you'll find success in your entrepreneurial endeavors. 

There's no time like the present, be sure to pick up your copy of Traffic Secrets: The Underground Playbook for Filling Your Websites and Funnels with Your Dream Customers and start your 30 day challenge today!


#TrafficSecrets 
#RussellBrunson 



 



My call to action:  Your kids have been cooped up for too long! Be sure to get your copy of my Summer Camp Handbook! 5 theme weeks of science experiments, recipes, exercises, games, and activities to enrich your lives!







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Free Online Relationship Counseling

Are you Struggling to get Along with your Family?


For the next series of posts, we're going to stray a little bit from our regular article topics. We often talk about parenting and share advice for parenting teens, but we've rarely talked about the relationship between two parents. Whether you're married, living together, or co-parenting after a separation, that relationship is a key factor in your parenting success. We want to model healthy, mature relationships for our children, but that is often easier said than done, especially, when you throw in all the expenses of raising a family. However, there are online sources that can help with most of life's struggles. If you're looking for free online relationship counseling, we've got your back.



Is it time to take a look in the mirror? Free online relationship counseling.


This post contains Amazon affiliate links.


Is it time to take a look in the mirror?


As you know, we have a series of mommy bloggers who contribute posts to this website, they also help with our Digital Marketing business. As we get new clients,  we sometimes discover that different clients' needs are better suited to one staffer as opposed to another. Sometimes, it's due to work ethic, ability to communicate on a particular topic, or even a staffer's personal passion (or lack thereof)  for a subject. As the editor-in -chief of this website I also have faced conflict of interests, time constraints, or personality clashes with certain clients' content topics. One that particularly comes to mind, is what, at the time, I saw as a lack of interest in the subject matter. 


After working with the client for several weeks, I came to realize it wasn’t a lack of interest that I was facing, but a lack of personal courage. While speaking to the client each week, I enjoyed the conversation and even felt a kindred spirit with her. On the flip side, I dreaded our weekly consultations. I'd find a dozen reasons to put off those weekly calls. I was consulting her on the best way to promote her articles, so calls were a necessary part of the work week. I felt miserable after our calls. I was trying to avoid that feeling. The client was a divorce consultant... 


Every week, she had shiny, new articles to share and we’d discuss the best way to market them. As I read the articles to prep the marketing strategy and create striking image text, I’d become depressed. These articles were hitting home. I soon realized, I was her target demographic. I didn't like the way it made me feel. It was a slap in the face, a weekly reminder that I needed to make a change in my own life.


I also didn’t like that I was broke. I could easily benefit from utilizing her services, but I couldn’t afford it - or wouldn’t. The fee for the program was $1000.  Most of us don’t have the budget for an unexpected $1000 monthly expense. If we do, our budget considers it an emergency fund  for broken water pipes, a new furnace, or other homeowner’s expenses. The kind of things that  you and your partner would share the blow of the expense. “Sorry, Honey,  I used our emergency money for a divorce consultant.” Yeah, that’s not going to go over well for anybody, right? Keeping those kinds of secrets is exactly why you need a relationship consultant. So, most of us suffer in silence, hoping it will all work itself out. It won’t.


Fast forward two and half years later, here I am. Those articles were the catalyst I needed to start the process of removing myself from a very broken relationship. This meant shaking up the lives of many people, making difficult decisions, and hoping that I was doing the right thing. In the end, I made the right choice. Things aren’t easy, life comes at you way too fast, but emotionally, I’m in a much better place. If only I’d taken advantage of other free online marriage counseling or the many online mental health services sooner, I could’ve avoided some issues and been more prepared to help my children deal with the upheaval it placed on their lives. 


We’re still working out the bugs, but all in all, it was the best decision for everyone involved. Sometimes, you just have to step back and evaluate your situation. Change is scary. If three years ago, someone would've told me that I’d own my own home, be responsible for the note on two cars, two houses, and all the other expenses that take their toll on a head of household, be a single parent with two teenagers in public school, and working outside the home, I would’ve told you that you that I couldn’t do it. Me, the advocate for “You can do it!” would’ve said, I’m not strong enough or capable enough to pull off the life of a professional single mother. I would've rather rolled up in a ball and never got out of bed. 


At the time, I didn’t realize that I was depressed. I had a series of health setbacks. I’d become comfortable in my unhappiness. It was a mess, but at least I knew how everyday was going to play out. Ugh. They all played out the same way. There was no hope for the future, only hope to make it through to the next day- to survive another day. My kids had been feeling the same way. Are we all Disney happy now? No, far from it but, even in these trying times, we all have hope for the future. Stay tuned for more on this story.



Recommended:


Self-Care Tips for Parents


Cognitive Behavioral Health Strategies.









Best Software for Small Business

Need Virtual Assistant Software Tools?


In today's world, if you're a small business owner and you don't have a virtual assistant, you probably should. More than likely, you also have marketable skills you can use to work remotely from home as an online virtual assistant. As a small business owner or independent contract worker, the only thing holding you back, is your knowledge of the many tools available to make the work easier. So, what is the best software for small business? Keep scrolling for our favorite picks for tools to use with a virtual assistant. 

Tip: Use these tools to teach your homeschooler and they'll have the skills necessary to set up shop at UpWork, an online site for freelance work. If you're tech savvy, you may already be using some of these online software options.

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

Best Software for Small Business


5 Best Online Sites or Apps for Software for Small Businesses


  • Google Docs Google Docs does everything Microsoft Word does and then some. In the brick and mortar world, Word is king. Most businesses expect their employees to know how to use it. They probably bought it years ago and keep paying for upgrades. However, Google Docs offers many features that make it stand out from similar publishing software programs.

It's all in the cloud. Your documents live in the cloud. When you're working with people who require Microsoft Word Docs, simply convert the Google Docs with a click of a button. You can also save your documents as ePublications, PDFs, and RTF files.

Another great feature of Google Docs, is that you can leave comments and other markup on the    document. If you're working with someone on the other side of the world, they can check in at their convenience, read your notes, and make changes or suggestions any time of the day or night. If you're in the same time zone, schedule a time to work together and you can do a live text chat right inside the document. This feature is also nice when your homeschooler is writing a paper and needs some incentive or a little collaborative help with editing.




  • Thermostat -  If you want to create professional User/Customer Surveys, thermostat is your new best friend. You can create one survey per month with their free option, but if you really need to collect data for your small business, upgrade to the paid version. These surveys will help your engagement and marketing teams (ha, you- if you're a really small business) understand how your customers interact with your online products or gather any type of data you may need to collect.

  • PicMonkey -  If you're somewhat technically challenged and need to do simple graphic design or overlay your logo or other watermarks onto your image, PicMonkey is your best friend. The free options is more than enough for a casual user, but if you regularly do images for social media, you'll want to upgrade to the paid version which is under $10 per month. There are similar options out there, but they have a bigger learning curve. PicMonkey is extremely user friendly. This online graphic software also works for homeschool digital art projects.

  • TeacherSherpa - Continuing with the graphic design theme, if you're a teacher, a retired teacher, a soon to be teacher, or a homeschool parent who creates lesson plans, TeacherSherpa offers an online software tool to help you create lesson plans to sell online. The creation tool feature is free to everyone and includes fun, education related clipart. The best part? You can create lesson plans with TeacherSherpa's online editing software and upload them to sell on their site or similar sites that sell teacher resources. If you were thinking about a small online business to sell lesson plans or similar items, this software is what you want.

  • MailChimp - You've got your word documents, your customer surveys, and your digital graphic software, now you're ready to create an email newsletter campaign. There are many subscription newsletter options out there, some are very inexpensive, some are free, and some are way too complicated for the Average Joe to use with out getting frustrated. As a small business owner,  you're an Average Joe. Unless your mailing list has thousands of subscribers, use MailChimp's free option. With MailChimp, you can easily create professionally looking newsletters with their free templates. Add in the graphics that you created with the best free digital design software mentioned above, and no one will ever know that you're tech challenged. Now you can even create free landing pages with their templates.

Hopefully, these recommendations for the best software for small business have motivated you to get started. Don't fear the tech in the cloud; embrace it! You'll be surprised how easy it is to become a virtual assistant or to work with a virtual assistant, once you take a little time to learn some new software.



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Books for 11 - 14 year old Boys: The Last Kids on Earth

Books for Boys: 11 to 14 years

This post contains affiliate links.

Are you looking for books that your preteen or teen boys will read and enjoy? Whether they are reluctant readers or love to read, once they've read all of the Harry Potter book series, it is difficult to find new books that will keep 11 to 14 year old boys engaged. No need to worry. We've found the cure! The Last Kids on Earth series by Max Brallier is just what you need. Enjoy!




Book Blurb: Life after the zombie apocalypse is pretty good for 13-year-old Jack Sullivan: he lives in a mind-clobberingly cool tree fort with his best friends, speeds through town playing Real-Life Mario Kart, has a crew of monster buddies, battles zombies on the regular, and generally treats life like it’s a videogame! 
But then Jack’s friends make a startling discovery: they may not be the last kids on earth, after all. This is great news for everyone… except Jack. Once they’ve found other humans, his friends won’t stick around for long! Jack’s only hope for keeping things the way they are is to prove that everything here is perfect, life is crazy fun, and nothing else could be any better. 

One problem: it’s hard convincing his friends that everything is great when they’re being hunted by a monstrous Nightmare King and an ancient evil who won’t rest until Earth has been devoured. Crud! Maybe life after the monster apocalypse is more complicated than Jack thought…


Books for 11 - 14 year old Boys: The Last Kids on Earth


Read our review about the first book in the series, The Last Kids on Earth book review. These books are page turners. Jake read this book in less than 24 hrs. When he read the first book from this series he said, "They better make this a series!" This time he says, "They better make this series a movie! I'd love to see it."

Per Jake: In this latest book, Jack is always fighting with himself. He knows they need to fix the radio, but he doesn't want to lose his friends. If they fix the radio, the other kids will go back to their families. He doesn't want that!


Pin it!

Books for Boys: 11 to 14 years: The Last Kids on Earth



Max Brallier is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty books and games, including the first two books in The Last Kids on Earth series. He is the creator and writer of Galactic Hot Dogs, an ongoing middle-grade web serial and book series with Aladdin. He writes for licensed properties including Adventure TimeRegular Show, and Uncle Grandpa. Under the pen name Jack Chabert, he is the creator and author of the Eerie Elementary series for Scholastic Books. In the olden days, he worked in the marketing department at St. Martin's Press. Max lives in New York City with his wife. 


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Also by Max Brallier: Galactic Hot Dogs




Self Help Book for Life: Ordering Your Private World Review

Into Self Help Books?

Handlebar Marketing gave me a copy of this book for review; all opinions are my own.

Are you living in chaos? Do you perpetuate chaos? This blog is titled, Kids Creative Chaos, but several years ago, I was able to squash most of the chaos. I learned to say 'No' and not to overextend myself. I forgave myself for not attending every event or argument that crossed my path.


Self Help Books


Amazon Affiliate: I get a small commission if you make a purchase from a link.

Some people need routines to organize the chaos. For me, the routines bred the chaos. Now, I take one day at a time and try to live every day to its fullest potential. Of course, on some days, life's fullest potential is just relaxing and watching a movie on Amazon- not something I felt comfortable doing in the past. How could I sit idle when so much needed done? If you are looking for a self help book for life, Ordering Your Private World is the perfect choice. Enjoy!



Self Help Book for Life: Ordering Your Private World Review 


The first thing you need to know about Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald, is that it is a Christian book written by a pastor. It references scripture. For some that will be a win, but for others it may be a turn off - don't let it be. MacDonald's personal journey may be different from your own, but it is worth the read. Written in a conversational style, this self help book on life is a quick and easy read.

Book Blurb: One of the great battlegrounds is within the private world of the individual. The values of our Western culture would have us believe the busy, publicly active person in ministry is also the most spiritual. Tempted to give imbalanced attention to the public world at the expense of the private, we become involved in more programs, more meetings. Our massive responsibilities at home, work, and church have resulted in many good people on the verge of collapse.

In this updated classic, Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald equips a new generation to live life from the inside out, cultivating the inner victory necessary for public effectiveness.

The author shares his personal journey of a Pastor spread too thin. He shares a turning point that gave him insight and helped him realize the time had come to organize and take control of his own life. With a study guide to help you on your own organizational journey, in no time, you'll be on your way to a life led by your own spirituality focusing on what's really important and matters most to you.


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