As you know, I’m very close to giving birth to our baby boy. I have about two weeks left, unless the baby decides to make a grand unscheduled entrance beforehand. Things are quite hectic in our house as we prepare for his arrival, but also for the many other events happening in December: baby girl’s birthday and birthday party, holiday-related events/parties, and of course, Christmas itself. December has always been a busy month in our family, but this year it’s even busier with the new addition.

I’ve been busy working on scheduling posts for when I go on maternity leave, wrapping up business items, etc., in an effort to leave things “in order” for when I take some time off. You may remember that I have a loose plan for preparing for the upcoming changes in our family’s work-life balance. I’ve definitely had to slow down the last few weeks as I get further along in the pregnancy and focus on the must-do tasks before I run out of time.

Because of all that, you may find that some days I have more to share than others. So, today, I want to share other blog posts that you may be interested in reading. Some are mine and others are from within my blogging community. All are worth a click.

Around my Community

The Kids Are Alright – Marta of My Big Fat Cuban Family shares how this year’s Thanksgiving was very different for her and why she’s ok with that. I saw a bit of my family reflected in this post, so it was a wonderful read.

Spanish Tips for Semi-Latinas – Marta’s Tiki Tiki Blog partner, Carrie, shares some humorous tips for speaking Spanish even when you don’t know how.

Exploring Culture as Part of Your Curriculum – Ideas for integrating learning about a culture into a homeschooling curriculum.

Twitter Moms Sponsor Campaigns: Contest Or Call For Submissions? – She Posts covers the Twitter Moms debate on whether certain campaigns should really be called contests.

Green Eggs & Facebook: 15 Social Media Tips from Dr. Seuss – Applying lessons from Dr. Seuss to social media.

Mentioning Me

Women in Blogging: 125 Fearless Female Bloggers – Kristi Hines of Kikolani provides a list full of interesting women bloggers and includes yours truly! Some amazing women are featured, so definitely take a minute to check them out.

Spotlight on Melanie Edwards: Blogger & Entrepreneur – Angelica Perez of New Latina aims to empower Latinas to be successful and live balanced lives. She frequently highlights Latina businesswomen, bloggers, and artists. Click over to read my interview on New Latina.

Written by Me

Tubes Tied or Vasectomy? – I debate whether or not I want to have a tubal ligation as we approach the birth date and have no plans for more children.

Keeping your Online Personal Brand Consistent – Tips for developing your personal brand and keeping it consistent across social media.

Do you have some blog posts to share with us? Either your own or others you found useful and worth a read?

Guest post by Kim Dority – part 2 of a 2-part series on Professional Brands [Editor’s Note: The original article focused on your brand for traditional employment/career success. I have added notes for applying this information to your online/blogging career, designated with the “Editor” preface.]
Read part 1 – Build Your Professional Brand for Career Success

Having a strong, positive professional brand will open up opportunities for you throughout your career. Having a bad professional reputation, however, can sabotage your career in countless ways. Are you guilty of any of these brand-damaging behaviors?

Burning bridges with previous employers.

Had it with your job? Resist the urge to simply tell everyone what you think of them and then stomp out the door. No matter where you live or what profession you’re in, assume it really is a small world, and your unprofessional behavior may come back to haunt you in the future.

Editor: Don’t blast out a blog post or tweet letting everyone know just what you think about a particular brand or company. Instead, think about turning the experience into a productive blog post for your readers to learn along with you…without naming names.

Over-sharing photos online.

Yep, it may be fun to post Friday night’s bar-hopping escapades on your Facebook page, but keep in mind that photos posted online tend to be much more visible – including to potential employers – than you’d imagined.

Editor: Obviously, depending on your personal brand, this may be fine. But, if pictures of you dancing on the bar at the latest blogging conference is not in-tune with your standard online persona, you might want to think twice about them.

Not watching your online words.

Like photos, online communications (think blog posts, comments, association discussion lists, etc.) live on years beyond their original publication. Thinking about starting (or participating in) a flame war? Think twice – how would this look to a potential employer?

Editor: This is something I think the majority of bloggers, particularly women bloggers, know all too well. In our blogging community, it seems to happen all too often. One blog post about another blogger and/or their blog, leads to multiple comments, tweets, and other blog posts. Remember that via search engines, all of your words will live forever.

Sabotaging co-workers.

Word gets out quickly when you develop a reputation as a back-stabber. Play nice – when you help others succeed, they’ll be much more interested in helping you succeed.

Editor: Our blogging community can be a great benefit to each of us. I know that through recent exchanges within my own network, we’ve been able to help each other out with our blogs tremendously. But, it takes everyone playing nice and helping each other out equally.

Being unreliable.

Everybody drops a ball now and then, but if you consistently fail to meet deadlines, deliver papers on time, or show up prepared, you’ll develop a reputation for being unreliable and immature – regardless of how smart or talented you are.

Editor: If you agree to be part of a campaign that has a specific time line, then you need to meet that time line. If you’ll be unable to do so, the professional thing to do is to communicate with your contact for that campaign and provide a new time line that is agreeable to both parties.

Taking credit for others’ or team efforts.

A professional looks for ways to give credit to those who have earned it. If you take credit for others’ work or successes, you will develop a reputation as a selfish, untrustworthy co-worker. That reputation quickly makes its way to bosses and potential employers.

Editor: Give credit where credit is due. If you were inspired by another blogger, then say so. If you worked with someone on a project, then give them the proper credit.

Being difficult to work with.

You don’t want to develop a reputation as the person who’s temperamental, moody, arrogant, negative, or always taking offense at perceived slights. You want colleagues at previous jobs to want to work with you again, and recommend you to their new employers. If “difficult to work with” is part of your professional brand, everyone will find ways to avoid working with you!

Editor: I have heard that PR agencies do talk to each other. If you’re known to be hard to work with on campaigns, word may spread. The same for clients. People look for recommendations and your goal is to be recommended amongst your network and your network’s network.

Neglecting to say “thank you.”

Throughout your career, a lot of people will help you in various ways. Remembering to thank them, especially with a written note, is not just a professional courtesy, it’s how you build a reputation as a conscientious and appreciative colleague. Failing to do so marks you as unappreciative and selfish – characteristics unlikely to contribute to a positive professional brand.

Editor: Even in blogging and other online businesses, thanking those you worked with – as a client, on a campaign, etc. – will be appreciated. And yes, personal handwritten notes are still loved by many, but even an email will go a long way.

Do you tend to think about how your actions might affect your personal brand?