Resources Archives | Page 2 of 2

09 April

9 Smart Facebook Groups For Women Entrepreneurs, Freelancers, + Bloggers

Erika Madden | Business Tips, Resources, Social Media Marketing | 60 Comments

Have you ever joined a Facebook group thinking that it looked pretty darn cool, only to get in there and find an endless stream of promos + sunset pictures with sappy quote overlays?

Yeahhhh. Me too.

For the last 4-6 months I've been on a relentless search for "quality" Facebook groups to help me learn more + grow my brand. All I've (ever so humbly) asked for is a place that has:

1. No icky spam

2. Useful, correct advice

3. Helpful, engaged people

Am I being difficult here? No! And yet, for every great community I've stumbled into, I've stumbled into 3 more that give me that "ewwww, I just stepped into a late night infomercial while I was trying to find the Game Of Thrones marathon" sensation.

I don't like feeling so undignified + swindled (can you tell I take my Facebook forays seriously? :) ), hence the creation of this brief guide to help you avoid a similarly dreadful pick-your-own-adventure scenario.

(Ahem. You did read those books when you were a kid, right?)

So in no particular order and without further chitty chat, here are 9 of my favorite Facebook groups for women entrepreneurs, freelancers, and business-minded bloggers!
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14 August

22+ Of The Best, Most Beautiful Websites For Free Stock Photos (Because Risking Your Biz For A Free Photo Is Silly!)

Erika Madden | Business Tips, Resources, Website Design | 36 Comments

22+ of the best free stock photo websites for your blog and business. (Regularly updated!)

I'm a hopeless sucker for pretty photos. Especially of chic office spaces with colorful, curvy chairs, elegant white desks, and gleaming Macs.

Every time I spot them on Pinterest, I think about how ridiculously perfect they would be for my next blog post.

But, alas, you won't see them here.

Why? Because those photos -- which seem so casually and easily available -- actually aren't free to use. At all.

They belong to somebody, somewhere, and that person or company has legal rights to the exclusive use of that photo. It makes no difference whether they were taken by Penny Q. Smith for her obscure personal blog about thumbtack art or were published on KateSpade.com. If I used them, I'd be breaking the law.

(And could easily be served a crippling $8,000 in copyright infringement fines.)

My business does well, but I don't have large sums of money laying around to throw at random things like, oh, stiff copyright penalties. Do you?
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