Many of you have asked where I’ve been over the past few months.   I recently wrapped up writing a book on social media marketing for individuals to large businesses entitled The New Community Rules (Amazon link) and the book is slated for a late June/early July release.

But in even bigger news, two weeks ago today, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Announcing… David Jacob Weinberg!

Little David (who is named after my beloved Grandpa David) has been a bundle of joy so far (and a handful as well, but when are newborns not?!).

Thank you to all my internet friends for your outpouring of support (especially in light of the tweet I sent less than an hour after my son was born); I did so while the doctor was yelling at me NOT to use the phone … but who am I to listen when I was so excited to share such news? And in case you are wondering, my good friend Sam has set up a gift drive, a totally unexpected but appreciated gesture. Thanks Sam — and thanks to those who have contributed!

This is a sponsored post by Sears but the thoughts within are mine and mine alone.

As a blogger, you have the potential to reach a tremendous audience. As an individual, perhaps a company or an entrepreneur who is looking to spread the word about a new product launch, you have the potential to keep marketing costs down by reaching out to bloggers and having them talk about your product. One of the best ways to achieve this goal is through blogger outreach, which typically includes more than just sending out your press release: give the blogger the opportunity to try your product. Send them your book. Or your beanbag chair. Or give them full download rights to your new software product without restrictions.

You can do something else entirely. As part of the Don’t Just Give a Gift, Grant a Wish campaign by the Sears department store, I had the opportunity to participate in a shopping spree to help me or someone else realize our dreams. The idea behind this initiative was that I was given a $500 Sears gift card to “Grant a Wish” for myself, a loved one, or charity. At the same time, I was to photograph my experience in the store.

Many tech geeks will often say that their first forays into cyberspace began with a 300 baud modem and a BBS. I’m a little younger than that (finally, I can say that!), but I was an early adopter of social networks from when I first opened my 3.5″ floppy of Promenade (later to be called AOL) and signed up to use the service.

I used Prodigy, but I never was a fan of the randomly generated alphanumeric username and didn’t stick around. On the other hand, my first ever interaction on AOL was with someone who was separated from my social network by only one degree. I was 12 at the time, it was 1993, and AOL cost $5.95/hour (after a flat rate of $9.95 which included 5 hours of online usage).

After months (and I mean months) of planning, the blog redesign for techipedia is finally live.

This wouldn’t have been possible if not for a few people, so I’d like to thank them for their awesome work.

First, thanks to designer Patrick Winfield of 10e20 for the excellent graphic design work. Pat was very patient, and as you can tell, he did an excellent job. Also, thanks to Chris Winfield for giving me a hand on this project.

Second, the backend coding, for the most part, was handled by web developer Cesar Serna, who also did a fantastic job.

Thank you so much for your hard work!

I know there will still be some tweaks that will be made in the upcoming days, but I’d love your feedback on the new design.

As I was traveling on my last of three conferences, Chris Kieff tagged me on the 4×4 meme that’s going around. The idea of this meme is somewhat like previous memes, but it’s four times full of fun. You’re given four questions and you need to provide four answers. Then, you need to top it off by tagging four people. Here goes…

4 Things I Have Done in the Past 4 Years

Clearly, the past four years have been the most enjoyable years of my life. Here’s why:

1. Just over three years ago, I got married to a wonderful guy named Brian.
2. I’ve traveled more than ever before. Brian and I celebrated our honeymoon in London. I went to the West Coast for the first time to attend search engine conferences, with trips to Seattle, San Jose (twice!), and Las Vegas.
3. I started writing for some of my favorite blogs in the industries and topics I’m most passionate about.
4. I started a blog about my schwag addiction (okay, this was just a fun tidbit I couldn’t pass up!)

4 Jobs I’ve Had