We Have Winners.......

Let's do the $100 Visa Card first! Can you even wait?! I wish I could give you each $100! Thank you all SO much for joining the forum and supporting us in all of this! We have a really great start! There are a lot of conversations going on and we can't wait to have all of you new members add to it! Pass the word along about the forum. The more people, the more fun!

Let's get to this winner business, shall we?

Which means......

DEEDLEBUG!!

You are the winner! Email me your mailing address and we will get that Visa card to you ASAP! CONGRATS!

Now let's deal out the $35 Visa card! To win this card you had to have the highest number of referrals, meaning the more times people put your name in the little "referred by" box on the bottom of the registration, the higher your chances of winning.

And the winner, with the most referrals is......

KAYLANONI!

Congrats! Email me your mailing address and I will get the card sent to you!

Again, thanks so much guys! This isn't the end of the giveaways! Just around the corner is a FABULOUS gift idea and I am giving away a few sets! Watch for more on that! And I am sure in the future there will be MUCH MUCH more! Including a revisit to the Visa Cards, cause lets face it, straight up money rocks! :)

Now head over to the forum and see what conversations you can jump in on! Don't forget to swing by the "reading" forum and give me an idea or two of good books to take on the cruise with me next week! I am in desperate need of ideas!

Have a great weekend!

"Last Chance, Slow Dance"

Yeah, my kids never know what I am talking about when I say that to them either. :)

Listen, today is the LAST day to enter the Big Ole Giveaway. With Christmas just around the corner, it couldn't be better timing to stick a $100 or $35 Visa Giftcard in your purse and go hit the stores!

We are way excited about those of you that have wanted to be among the first to join the forum! It has been a lot of fun getting to know you guys more and having some discussions! We can't wait to add more to our numbers!

If you haven't registered and entered the contest, please do! We would love to have you join us! No obligations and it is TOTALLY free!

Also, the $35 Visa Giftcard is for referrals. It is totally up for grabs! Pass the word along to friends and tell them to come enter the giveaway and register for the forum. When they do make sure they put your FORUM USERNAME in the box that asks who referred them. VOILA! You are entered! The more times your name makes it to the referral box, the closer you are to a free $35! Whoever has the most referrals wins that one!

Anyway, we just want to thank you guys so very much for all of your support! It is really quite amazing how great you guys are to us! We appreciate you SO very much!

Good Luck You Guys!

Winner will be announced tomorrow morning! Keep your eyes peeled! :)

"Who Needs A Forum Anyway" Guest Post by Mr. Lindstrom

My dear hubby, the fabulous Mr. Lindstrom, is our Guest Poster today. I do love to read anything he writes. He manages to entertain me constantly....over the last 13 years, thank you very much! :) So, without any further ado......

Some of you may be saying to yourselves “Self—I sure would like to win $100, but just what exactly is a ‘forum’ fer anyhoo?”.  Well—I’ll tell you.  I am of the opinion that there are nowhere near enough social networking avenues available to surfers of the interweb, so I thought I’d create another one.  Yeah, not really. 

I admit I rarely, if ever, consult Wikipedia—but this is their definition of an ‘internet forum’:

“An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages.  They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived.”

So—it’s a ‘site’ where people can hold ‘conversations’ which are ‘archived’.  How could this possibly be of use to you?  After all—you already have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Linked In, Ning, Tagged, Classmates, Hi5, Myyearbook, Meetup, Bebo, Mylife, Friendster, Myheritage, Multiply, Orkut, Nerdcentral, Webgang, and Mygeekclub, with a dozen or more different gmail addresses just to keep things easy and organized. 

Two words:  ‘Niche’, and ‘Archived’.

Niche:  ‘A situation or activity specially suited to a person's interests, abilities, or nature.’

Archive:  ‘An extensive record or collection of data’.

Remember that life-changing inspirational video about a cat with six legs that your bestest friend from high school, that you didn’t remember existed until you accepted his friend request and went through all of his pictures, posted on Facebook a month ago?  Wanna show it to your real bestest friend?  You may be able to find it in a jiffy, but I’m positive I couldn’t.

How about that High Altitude Green Jello recipe that is TO DIE FOR?  Well, if someone shared it in a ‘niche’ forum somewhere, you could type ‘green jello’ in the search bar and find the recipe, as well as all the riveting discussion about it, in about a half a second.

It’s like hanging out with friends online, but everyone has similar interests, and shares ideas and information that can be searched at any time by anyone for reference.

PERSONAL EXAMPLE(that you can skip if you are easily bored):  About a bajillion years ago I was into off-roading.  I wanted to build an off-road machine, but I had no previous experience in how to do such a thing.  I found an online niche forum about off-roading.  I joined even though there wasn’t much content there yet, because the forum seemed to be about exactly what I was interested in—building your own off-road machine.  I was member number 6, as in the sixth person to join.  The other five people didn’t hesitate to ask questions in the forum, to share their projects in the forum, to post pictures in the forum, to pass along information in the forum.  I built an entire custom off-road machine from the ground up, with no prior knowledge, almost exclusively by taking part in this community of do-it-yourself off-roaders.  As of 8:33 this evening, there are now 174,171 members of this forum, with 2,288 members browsing the forum at this very moment.  When I joined there were about 4 or 5 subforums.  Now there are 82.  Without this forum it would have been ridiculously difficult for me to build my off-road machine—but it took a leap of faith at first just to join.      

SO—what exactly is the niche that is YourLifeUncommon?  I can’t really say that I know.  Not that I’ve spent weeks thinking about it, but I can’t really put YLU into words.  The truth is, if you’ve read more than about five YLU blog posts(uhhh…not counting this one), you probably have a pretty good idea what it’s about.  THIS IS THE NICHE OF THE YLU FORUM.

Homemaking doesn’t really cover it.  Self-improvement is a little too broad.  Entertainment certainly doesn’t explain it(until now anyway).  As the niche that is YLU continues to be better defined, the YLU Forums will grow right along with it, with new, more specific forums added as necessary. 

Since the YLU Forums are new, the archive of discussion is fairly small.  Okay, really small.  This is because the ‘archive’ of information comes from its members, and you’re all a little timid about sharing your vast pool of knowledge.  I don’t blame you.  BUT—if the YLU Forum is going to help anyone—you need to get over yourself.  You KNOW you have something of value to contribute.  SOMEONE out there has some amazing recipes they want to share.  At least ONE of you has sewed vinyl before, and could certainly be of assistance in the ‘Crafting’ forum(like, right away actually—go HERE).  Forum registration is FREE, but your contribution  is invaluable—‘having  great value that is impossible to calculate’.

Besides, if you don’t go join right now, not only will you miss an opportunity to win $100(out of my own pocket I might add), but I will continue to post on YLU daily with unbearable quantities of ‘these’ ‘around’ ‘every’ ‘word’.

Don’t have anything you want to share right now?  FINE—anything goes in the ‘General Discussion’ forum(although ‘anything’ will have to adhere to a PG-13 rating).  Talk about the weather—whatever.  The first step to joining or forming a community is getting to know each other.  We all have something in common or you wouldn't be reading this right now. 

So—enough about me.  Let’s hear about you.  All you have to do is click HERE.       

TO DISCUSS, COMMENT OR ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS POST, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

A New Forum and ONE MOTHER OF A GIVEAWAY!

Alright my friends. You have been promised a YLU forum for a long time. My hubby has been slavin' away on it.

AND NOW IT IS DONE!

We couldn't be more excited! So, to get you all excited we are doing a HUGE giveaway! I mean HUGE! Just in time for Christmas!

 

One lucky winner will receive a $100 VISA GIFTCARD. How sweet is that?! VISA! That means you can use it ANYWHERE! Is there anything better?! Just before Christmas! So great!

Another lucky winner will receive a $35 VISA GIFTCARD. Still SUPER cool! Let me break it down.....

In order for this forum to be a success it will require YOU! This is where YourLifeUncommon becomes a true network. Each post will have it's own discussion forum. A place where all of you can leave comments, put in your 2 cents, ask questions, whatever. But that is just scratching the surface!

YLU's new forum is in and of itself a sort of social network. You can upload pictures. Start threads on how to's for a craft, recipe, whatever! The sky is the limit! You can form groups, post items you want to sell, post for items you are in need of, advertise your own blog, whatever you want! Isn't that fun?! There can be craft threads and recipe threads, inspiration threads and fitness threads...whatever you can think of, whatever you are interested in....HERE is finally a place where you can discuss it all.

Now, I will be honest, I have never really been involved in a forum. My hubby has. He has helped me see the potential for this and I am absolutely excited! If you are not familiar with how things work in a forum, please check it out. Believe me, I am new to it also, but I will say that my hubby has done a fabulous job with step by steps and there is always the "FAQ" link. That will answer any question you can come up with!

SO LET ME TELL YOU HOW TO WIN.....

For the $100 VISA GIFTCARD there are 3 ways to enter...Of course we would love you to enter all 3 ways!

1. Click on the "YLU FORUM" link in tool bar at the top of this page. Click on "Register" in the upper left hand portion of the forum and register yourself as a user. AFTER YOU REGISTER COME BACK HERE TO LEAVE A COMMENT. THIS COMMENT WILL COUNT AS ENTRY #1.
(Be sure to click on "User CP" to personalize your profile!)

2. Once you are registered for the forum make sure that you come back to YourLifeUncommon.com and  become a "FOLLOWER" by clicking on "FOLLOW" in the left hand column of the blog. Then LEAVE A COMMENT TELLING ME YOU ARE A REGISTERED FOLLOWER. THIS COMMENT WILL COUNT AS ANOTHER ENTRY.
(If you are already a follower, you can still get your 2nd entry by leaving a comment to  let me know that you are registered on the forum AND already a follower.)

3.Introduce Yourself on the Forum. Click on the link above to the forum. While Logged in to the forum, click on "INTRODUCTIONS". Be sure to follow Ryan's short instructions. They are really helpful. Your introduction can be as long or short as you would like. It's just a way for us to get to know each other a little better. ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE INTRODUCTION, COME BACK TO THIS    POST AND LEAVE A COMMENT STATING THAT YOU HAVE INTRODUCED YOURSELF. THIS WILL COUNT AS ANOTHER ENTRY.


FOR THE $35 VISA GIFTCARD.....

This one is all about referrals! Tweet, Facebook, blog, email...whatever you want to spread the word.

After you have registered and have a user name for the forum GET ON THE HORN. Spread the word about the forum. Provide a link to this post to all of your friends so they can enter too.

As your friends register, there is a space at the bottom of each registration that asks for the person that referred them to the forum. This is where they will enter your user name, so be sure to give it to them and stress the importance of this part.

The person with the most referrals will win the $35 VISA GIFT CARD! The more people that sign up because you sent them our way, the more chances you have to win. Be sure to stress how important it is to your friends that they put your exact newly created forum USERNAME in the referral box. When they follow the steps above AND they spread the word, they are also entered for both cards! NIFTY RIGHT?!

(Please do not leave a comment stating that you have spread the word. This prize will be given away based on referrals submitted through the forum alone. If you would like updates on your standings, please email me at yourlifeuncommon@gmail.com to request an update.)

Get going! 2 of you are going to be VERY happy people, very soon! :)

Thank you all SO much for helping us make YLU such a success and for helping us get the word out about the forum! We couldn't do it without you!

VISA GIFTCARD GIVEAWAY WILL END AT MIDNIGHT ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2010. WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2010

GOOD LUCK!

Now, stay tuned because tomorrow we are really going to open a can of worms! Tomorrow is all about having "THE TALK" with our kids. When? How? What to say? All will be covered in this two part post!
Then the discussion will be open and ready to begin on the forum!