A Huge Timesaver: Ask a Question!

Today I'm sharing information about a new addition to this blog, a little insight that I have learned about the blogging process, and an observation about a tool that can save everyone tons of time in many situations in life!

The frequent visitors to this blog may have noticed a cute little ladybug banner has been added to the homepage. Today I am going to explain why it is there - and the important life skill I was reminded of in the process of placing it there.

Blogging can be just a hobby, or a source of income, but either way it involves quite a bit of work, and there are some costs associated with owning a blog. While I never want the main focus of this blog to be advertising, I have decided it is time for this blog to participate in a few programs to earn its keep!

I love to share products I enjoy with my readers, and I frequently write about them without any sort of compensation. Yesterday's post is a perfect example. However, if a company wants to pay me to write about, review, or advertise a product I already love; I have decided I will sometimes do so.  I would probably tell you about it anyway! I will NEVER promote anything, though, unless I can honestly tell you I like it. I will never sacrifice quality of content for a monetary opportunity.  I promise you that!

Back to the Ladybug banner.  I was recently contacted by a manager of the Affiliate Program of PartyPail, an online party supply retailer.  She asked if I would be interested in supplying information about their products to my readers, with the possibility of earning a small commission from any sales my promotions generate.  PartyPail has a wide variety of party items, and as I write quite a bit about entertaining, informing my readers about these products seems like it could be helpful.  

I'm sort of partial to ladybugs, as my daughter absolutely loved them when she was small, so I chose that theme of banner to display. They have some really fun ladybug party supplies!

A photo of our little ladybug girl!

PartyPail uses ShareaSale as a third party affiliate to manage this program.  In order to set up an account with them and verify my blog, the instructions explained that I would need to alter the html code of my blog template. GULP! I was really nervous about doing this, and had a bunch of questions as to how to do it.  After hours of reading tutorials and trying to figure it out on my own, I finally decided to call the company and ask for help.

When I did, I learned two things.  
ShareASale has amazing customer service, and the person I spoke with was actually able to verify my blog for me.  She fixed it for me in less than a minute - while I was on the phone!  She also told me that “If something is going to take you hours to figure out, you really just should call us and we will help you.”

This experience was a good reminder to me that sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to ask for help - and help may only be a phone call away! This lesson was reinforced, minutes later, when the link to the banner didn't work after I installed it on my blog.  One email to the PartyPail representative, and just a short time later, it was fixed.  Again - excellent company service.

I hope you will check out PartyPail, and I'd love it if you used my link to click over to their site.*  But, my purpose for writing this post is not really to promote their products (although I think they have cool stuff). Nor am I trying to drum up business for ShareASale (although so far, as a blogger I have found them really helpful, and I suspect Merchants think so too.)  The point I am really trying to make, is that sometimes the best way to get something done is to ask a question.  We often are reluctant or forget to use this valuable tool! Whether we are blogging; lost and needing directions; confused by something being taught in a class; or worried about a health issue - the best thing to do is to just ask!

Can you think of a situation that would have been easier if you had just asked a question?

This post may be linked to one of the great link-up parties I follow and list on my blog. Check them out!  
This post contains affiliate links.

* 9/9/15 update: The PartyPail online store and affiliate program will be shutting down this month, and as instructed, I have removed any links to their website from my blog.