Friday, August 10

Blog Disclosure

In an effort to make sure my readers know how Berrie Sweet Picks operates, I am finally getting on the band wagon and writing my official disclosure.

The purpose of this blog is to review and offer occasional contests for products reviewed, with fulfillment of said prizes to be distributed by the sponsor. While I do accept and keep products reviewed for my personal use, I do not accept cash or other forms of payment.

Berrie Sweet Picks does not currently accept sponsorship or make any money off of any ads which are currently appearing on this site.

While it is true that I accept and keep reviewed products, it has always been and will continue to be a forum in which I can honestly provide readers with my opinions on the best products in the market for babies, children, and families. My goal here is to only provide positive reviews, therefore, if I do not feel I can provide an generally positive review, the item is simply not reviewed.

Unsolicited items sent for review will not be guaranteed a review on Berrie Sweet Picks, nor will they be shipped back at my expense. I will, however, always provide a review for a solicited item, and pledge to be honest in stating my opinions. This might be viewed as a conflict of interest to my earlier statement, but if I like it enough to ask for it, I can honestly state that the resulting positive review is truthful.

I do not accept or publish pay-per-post reviews on this blog. This policy will not change.

Readers and sponsors may note that unless otherwise stated, any items reviewed on this blog were provided to me at no cost by the stated sponsor. The only exception would or will be items I purchase with my own funds that I feel are worthy of review on this blog. In these instances, I will identify the item as purchased by yours truly.

Lastly, there are occasions where I provide an item sent for review to a friend or other personal acquaintance in order to ensure said item is reviewed by someone in the proper age demographic. For example, if I am sent an item recommended for a five-year-old, I will not "pretend" to review the item with my two-year-old and rewrite the product description in lieu of a review. Instead, I will find someone who has a child in the correct age range and only post a review after a real assessment of the product by the selected family. For this reason, not all reviews can be posted in an immediate fashion. I am a mother, stay-at-home-mom, and generally crazy busy, so my final note to sponsors is to be patient. If I like it, you will receive an email with a link to the review once it is live. If not, you will receive an email so that we may discuss my thoughts and proceed from there.

Contests:
Contests posted on Berrie Sweet Picks are for those over 18. I will state in each contest whether or not it is open world wide or to the US, depending on the wishes of the sponsor. Prizes are to be sent out directly from the sponsor to the winner once I have contacted said sponsor with the winner's mailing information. Any prizes sent to my address will not be returned. It simply does not make sense to ship an item twice (both economically and with the resulting waste of packaging and gas) when it can be sent once, to the person intended. If a company has any questions regarding this policy, please contact me directly at berriesweetest@gmail.com. I would also like to state that there is a one-strike policy for companies, meaning that if you contact me for a contest and fail to provide the stated prize to the winner in a timely manner, if at all, no further business/reviews/contests will be be written on your behalf in the future. Please remember that this is my integrity and my word at stake, as well, when this occurs.

Thank you to all of my readers and sponsors. I enjoy writing the blog, and am happy to have you here!

Thursday, July 12

About Me

Tidbits

I'm a 30-year-old first-time mom to Buttercup and married since 2002 to the man I call SweetER. I've got a two dogs, named Finnigan and Cat (yes, you read that right), and enjoy the little things in life, like not having my hearing blown out by a shrieking toddler cutting six teeth at once.
The Real Deal


I'm a freelance writer by trade, and a new mom who got slapped with the reality stick when it comes to balancing a baby, work, and my sanity. In my former lives, I have worked in the newspaper industry as a lowly editorial assistant, a crazy-busy city editor, and as a regular ol' reporter.

Journalism was meant to be the paycheck that paid the bills until I published The Great (Mexican) American Novel. (I'll let you know when that happens.) But then Buttercup became my new life, and my paycheck sucked, so childcare was not really an option. That's when I decided to throw caution (and my regular income) to the wind and become a freelancer.

To date, I have written for The Detroit Free Press, The Detroit News, Baby Gooroo, and, of course, Metro Parent Magazine.

And what would be a more appropriate specialty than parenting, pregnancy, babies, and all the related topics therein?

It's tough, but I love it. Hey, it's what I know.


And for the record, I love working in my pajamas.

When I should be doing the laundry...

...I am here. Blogging. (SURPRISE!)

Thanks to connections forged through freelancing for Metro Parent Magazine, I have had the wonderful opportunity to review many products for mom, baby, and the rest of the family. And I must have been doing something right, because here I am now sharing my own berrie sweet picks with all of you.


Sweet? Sweet.


Now, on with the show.

Monday, June 25

Hey you! Business owner! Over here!

Interested in advertising or having a product reviewed on my berrie awesome blog?

Space is available and limited to family-friendly businesses for products and web sites marketed to the following groups:
* Mom
* Baby
* Kids
* Dogs and cats
* Family

Berrie Sweet Picks has a steadily growing readership with 10,000 unique hits since its launch in May of 2007 and averages 200 unique visitors daily.

Advertising rates are as follows:

$ 25: 125 x 125 Ad (2 week run)
For $10, your 125 x 125 ad will run for one week on my blog sidebar, and will directly link to your site. Please contact me at berriesweet.info@gmail.com with your ad. Once payment is received via paypal, you ad will be placed on the site and I will notify you at that time.

$40: 125 x 125 Ad (1 month and berrie sweet deal!)

For $25, your 125 x 125 ad will run for one month on my blog sidebar, and will directly link to your site. Please contact me at berriesweet.info@gmail.com with your ad. Once payment is received via paypal, you ad will be placed on the site and I will notify you at that time.

I only pick the sweetest of the sweet, so feel free to feel honored when I get back to you.