Coming Soon - Guest Bloggers

We have several guest bloggers on-deck.  Email us if you're a blogger who would like to add a feature about Writing, Blogging, Small Business, Children's Books, Life Wisdom, Dogs, Parenting, Reading, Language Development and anything else you thinks might fit!

Click-to-Website Business Cards

Authors, Small Business Owners, Educators, 

Concept: Add a QR (Quick Response) Code to your business card and direct people INSTANTLY to your article, your novel, your website, your linkedin page. 

The "Back Story":  We fell in love with Newport Beach from the moment we visited there several years ago. We positioned ourselves to live and do our business in one of the most beautiful areas in California.  How?  We live in an RV resort and write and do business from there! It's lively, it's fun. It's blocks from the ocean. People are always on vacation and they come from all over the country.  Because we experienced Newport Beach as a non-native, I was discovering great spots that every visitor would want to experience.  So I wrote a one-day, do-it-yourself itinerary for newcomers and visitors to the area.  Everytime we met a new person at our resort, I'd ask them if they had seen the view from Corona del Mar or Crystal Cove yet.  I'd tell them about the Balboa Island Fun Zone Tour, and then direct them to my article which was on a website with a long URL. It was too "hit" and "miss" to explain to people where to go, but my husband suggested that if we printed the QR code right on our business card, we could show them the article in an instant. 

How It Works: With a QR code on your business card, your customers, readers, students, clients, etc. can scan the image with their smartphone and go straight to the page you want them to.!  It works well.  If your customer doesn't know how to use a QR scanner, just direct them to  Free Apps for QR Scanner that are available for iOS and Android devices in their respective app stores.  We don't know if one is better than the other, but here's the one we use on our Android phone:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kaspersky.qrscanner

How to Create the QR Image: There are several websites that will do that for free, like this one: http://www.qrcode-monkey.com/

Tips: 

• You might want to use an image bigger than the one we did because the QR Scanner app has to focus and re-focus to resolve the image when it's too small.
• Since your customer will probably go right to your website on his cell, be sure your website looks great on a mobile app.  I had some extraneous pictures on my "What to See in the OC" article which were cumbersome in the mobile version, so I moved them around to look good both on the web and on the mobile app. 

Note:  If you want to see how this works, you can simply hold your phone and scan my business card with your cellphone and my article at http://billiekelpin.hubpages.com/hub/Trippin-in-LA-What-to-See-in-the-OC will appear in a flash on your phone. If you have questions, just email leftpawedpuppy@gmail.com with "OR" question in the subject line, or leave a comment here :) 

Best Life Practices

Thought for Today: 

Leave everything better than you found it.

Business on the Road in a Pop-Up

I didn't know what a pop-up was either,  Now I'm writing to you from one. A pop-up is a camping trailer and doing business from one might not be for you and your business. (I'm not sure it is for mine, but we're giving this a whirl.) Would I like to have one of those top-of-the-line motor homes to do for our "on-the-road" business tour?  Of course,

"Yes!," but only under one condition - that a new Mercedes 
with conscientious environmental gas usage would be in our budget. (Sometimes old environmentalists just can't do the gas-guzzling thing. "It's a moral imperative" as the character Chris Knight says to Mitch in the old movie, "Real Genius") 

Is it easy to conduct  your business from the road?  If you're adventuresome, flexible, and motivated, you can do it.(I think the neighbor next to us is also doing business on the road because he was on the phone outside of his "Sea Breeze" motor home talking on his cellphone about sourcing some product. (Tip:  Just be sure you bring plenty of chargers for all of your devices.)

Right now I am blogging to you from inside "The Enterprise," getting ready to post this blog and then on to my 2nd blog. After that, I'll put in some hours doing my paid online job scoring student essays. 

Meanwhile my husband is out hiking the hills around Valencia, CA with his son Steve on Steve's 30th birthday.  
But tonight I swim in a beautiful pool and tomorrow we take off headed north (maybe) to San Francisco where my book "Lucky, the Left Pawed Puppy" is in Lefty's store on Pier 39. Meanwhile, in the evenings, Mike and I will be working on our new app which will connect to our blog "In Love and War: Love Letters from Vietnam" blog and our soon-to-be-released audio book "Spoken Stories".

So, if you see a tan Toyota pulling the pop-up in these pictures, just give us a wave!

Cheers from Billie, Mike, and Scooter - on the road with Language Rocks.   

Focus, Focus, Focus

Cheers from Billie, the Prez:

Such a long time it's been since posting!  The cause? -My personal lack of focus and eclectic interests and pursuits. Perhaps you can learn from our mistakes here at Language Rocks. I get great comfort from a quote I read on despair.com: "Maybe the sole purpose of my existence is to be a warning to others. So here's the warning: FOCUS! FOCUS! FOCUS!.
I recently joined the OC Writers group and  was struck by the focus of Dr. Diane Rogers, the author of "Stand Tall Growing the Courage To Be Uniquely You"  With laser-like focus on the promotion of her lovely and important children's book, Dr. Rogers has spoken to hundreds of children about the message of her book.  She conducts art workshops with the children, exploring all kinds of creative possibilities to put her self-published book in front of the market for which the book is geared.  Of course, one can never do that unless they have a passionate belief in the importance of their "product" to the consumer.  Dr. Rodgers is not about the sale of her book as much as she is about spreading the message of empowerment that the book bestows on it's young readers. Belief in the benefit your product is to others is most likely the strongest motivator for FOCUS!

By contrast (and here's "the warning to others"), once I wrote and published "Lucky, the Left-Pawed Puppy" in paperback and print book form, I went on to 39 other projects - not a great plan. 

So let's toast today, dear business reader, "To "Focus  Focus, Focus!" - especially this week - all the way to Friday. I'd love to hear the great results you experienced. 

Cheers from "on the road" - our summer business endeavor. More about that in the next blog :)  

Question for Marketers!

So, here's the app that anyone can download FREE for Android from the googleplay store. (RESIZABLE on the phone!!!) We're working on getting this little app into the Apple store, but we're having trouble. (Blog to follow).

Our next plan is to re-publish this app, but with a Christmas game. That app will have the OPTION TO PURCHASE our complete game app for children for $1.99. The upgrade will include "Sentence Scrambles" for developing reading skills, more memory matching games with niche themes, and Fill-in-the-Blank games that are now featured on "The Awesome Game Page" in the kids' secton of our website at languagerocks.com. 
Marketers: We could use any constructive ideas for our little company regarding our games for kids. We need to know if we should: A. Stop what we're doing? B. Keep on going in this direction? C.Go on to something else? We have been creating educational software and games and other products for 25 years and are at an impasse. Let us know YOUR thoughts the comment section below. 

Will a Custom Game App Rocket Your Small Business?

We at Language Rocks believe a custom game app can rocket
your small business to new heights, get customers to interact with your product line, and keep customers coming back.    That's why we created our newest app, a Halloween memory matching game for Android phones, tablets, online (soon to be in the Apple Store as well.) We called it "Concentration-Halloween Haunt". 

For ANY type of Business
The Halloween App makes sense for OUR educational website, but what about YOUR company? Does having a game make sense for YOUR products?  You might have heard of "The Secret" which was popular several years ago. A game on their website seemed to have made sense for The Secret. Playing the game reinforces concepts the book contains. Imagine the interactivity of a customized game on YOUR website or YOUR business app. (We would suggest fewer squares, of course, with YOUR product or content. You then can add sales banners, links, or affilitate information.)  But when you think how often a player would be interacting with your products, the benefits are obvious.
How to Order a Customized Game for YOUR Website: What Will Your Custom Game Look Like: How Can You Order A Game To Be Created for You:


What Will Your Custom Game App Look Like?

Our software division at Language Rocks has created a memory matching game for the Texas State Historical Museum in Austin, Texas.  This game features Texas state symbols and is in the children's section of the museum on a kiosk which plays interactive computer games.  The screen shot here illustrates the game according to color and other specifications of the museum.  A game such as this can easily be converted into an app as we did with our "Concentration-Halloween Haunt" app described previously. 

A completely different look to the classic memory game was designed for comedian Bethany Therese so audiences would interact with the name of famous and rising female comedy personalities.  Just click here to view the Comics Game. 

To promote our own publication of the children's book, "Lucky, the Left-Pawed Puppy" we created "Lucky's Match", a delightful game for children to play online which we can add to our Concentration Series app in the GooglePlayStore and Apple Store in the future.

What Will Your Custom Game Look Like

Whether you sell houses, jewelry, or power tools - whether you want to advertise your blog or your website, we can customize the memory game to match your specifications and promote your products, information, or concepts. We are able to deliver that game for your website and/or as an app submitted to Google Play Store or the Apple Store. Because we are a small business working with other small businesses, our prices are meant to accommodate modest budgets. 

How Can You Order A Game To Be Created for You

If you are not a software developer and need our services, we can deliver a game to you for your website for $79.95. If you are a software developer, you can purchase our copyrighted code for only $49.95 to use in your projects.  For details on how we can deliver and help create and load your app in the Applestore for Apple devices and Google Play Store for Android devices.  Call us at 763-442-0781 or email us at games@languagerocks.com for details.

Apple Certificates for Submitting Apps to Apple Store

Even software developers have a difficult time preparing an app for the Apple Store.  If you are a writer, photographer, business owner, etc. who wants to use ibuildapp.com for creating your app, read on. When it comes to the publishing part and submission to Google Play and the Apple Store, if you're not an experienced Apple software developer, it's best to pay to have ibuildapp submit your app for you. My husband with 40 years of experience in the software field as coder, consultant, senior project leader, had to go through numerous hoops, especially for submission of my audiobook, "Live from Milwaukee, It's Tuesday Night," to the Apple Store. The costs keep changing at ibuildapp and if you're paying for a monthly plan, be sure you're charging a fee for your app that correclates to your projected sales OR give only a portion of your app for free and hope you have enough customers who will upgrade to the paid version.    

New App To Be Released Soon

Since we've had over 5900 downloads of "The Perfect Husband App", we decided to go ahead and combine my audio essays, short story, and one-minute "dollop-a-day" features into an audio app.  I'm using ibuildapp again, and after reacquainting myself with the in's and out's of one of my favorite do-it-yourself online software programs, I am ready to launch "Live, From Milwaukee, It's Tuesday Night".  My husband, Mike, the software engineer and technical support for our company, Language Rocks, uses his developer's certificate AND his expertise to help me upload the app to the Google Play store and to iTunes.  I've decided to charge a small fee for this app, so we'll see how that goes. Wish us luck.

Ibuildapp is a bit glitch-y to use, but they do have a help desk with online chatting available during certain hours along with email support.  I have posted and will continue to post little hints I've found useful.  One hint, before I close tonight, is to be aware, when using ibuildapp that the widgets are tied to the "manage content" functionality.  You can turn off a widget that you don't want by going all the way back up to the place you added your button images and then clicking on the "tab" button.  There you will see an "on-off" switch for your widget. 

More later and please don't hesitate to add your comments or questions.  Cheers, Billie

Our Winter Sweepstakes - Win $100

Welcome Visitors from Language Rocks "I Have a Dream" Speech Page.  Here you will find the specific rules and guidelines for the 'Dream Speech' Sweepstakes.  To enter the contest, simply go to the "I Have a Dream" page and enter your email address. We have a strict privacy policy and your email will not be shared with any other company than Windmill Works at languagerocks.com.  One lucky winner will be chosen on February 14 and notified within 24 hours.  Thank you for your interest in Languagerocks.com 

NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. ALL FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, AND MUNICIPAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

 

 1.            Eligibility

                'Dream Speech' Contest (the Contest) is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of entry. Employees of Windmill Works at languagerocks.com and other companies associated with the promotion of the Contest, and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and advertising and promotion agencies as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings, and children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible. The Contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations.  

 2.            Sponsor

                The Sweepstakes is sponsored by Windmill Works at languagerocks.com, located at 1024 Bayside Dr #325, Neport Beach, California 92660.  

 3.            Agreement to Official Rules

                Participation in the Sweepstakes constitutes entrants full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of 

these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding. Winning a prize is contingent upon being compliant with these Official Rules and fulfilling all other requirements set forth herein.  

 4.            Contest Period

                The Contest begins on January 19, 2014 at 6:00 pm Pacific Standard Time and ends on February 14, 2014 at 6:00 pm Pacific Standard Time (the Contest Period). Entries that are submitted before or after the Contest Period will be disqualified. Submissions will be accepted for the duration of the Contest using any of the following methods: Online .  

 5.            How to Enter

Online: This method of entry will be available by visiting our website (http://www.languagerocks.com/-i-have-a-dream--speech.html) and following the directions provided to fill out the entry information, and submit.  

                Limit one (1) entry per person, per email address, and per household for the duration of the Sweepstakes Period, regardless of method of entry. Entries received from any person, e-mail address, or household in excess of the stated limitation will be void. All entries become the property of Sponsor and will not be acknowledged or returned.  

 6.            Prize Drawing

                On or about February 14, 2014, the Sponsor will select potential winners in a random drawing from among all eligible entries received. The odds of being selected depend on the number of entries received. The Sponsor will attempt to notify the potential winner via telephone or email on or about February 14, 2014. If the potential winner cannot be contacted within five (5) days after the date of the first attempt to contact him/her, the Sponsor may select an alternate potential winner in his/her place at random from the remaining non-winning, eligible entries.  

 7.            Winner Notification  

                The potential winners will be notified by email, mail or phone. Each potential Grand and First Prize winner (parent/legal guardian if a minor in his/her state of residence) will be required to complete, electronically sign and submit a Declaration of Compliance within five (5) days of the date notice or attempted notice is sent, in order to claim his/her prize. If a potential winner cannot be contacted, or fails to submit the Declaration of Compliance within the required time period (if applicable), or prize is returned as undeliverable, potential winner forfeits prize. If the potential winner is at least 18 but still considered a minor in his/her jurisdiction of residence, Sponsor reserves the right to award the prize in the name of his/her parent or legal guardian, who will be required to sign the Declaration of Compliance on the potential winners behalf and fulfill any other requirements imposed on winner set forth herein. Potential winners must continue to comply with all terms and conditions of these Official Rules, and winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements. In the event that a potential winner is disqualified for any reason, Sponsor will award the applicable prize to an alternate winner by random drawing from among all remaining eligible entries. Only three (3) alternate drawings will be held, after which the prize will remain un-awarded. Prizes will be fulfilled approximately 8-10 weeks after the conclusion of the Sweepstakes.  

 8.            Prizes  

                Cash Prize - $100 (Your choice of check to your mailing address or deposit to your account at PayPal.com)  

9.             General Conditions

                In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the Contest is impaired in any way for any reason, including, but not limited to fraud, virus, bug, worm, unauthorized human intervention or other technical problem, or in the event the Contest is unable to run as planned for any other reason, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, the Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, either (a) suspend the Contest to address the impairment and then resume the Sweepstakes in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules or (b) terminate the Sweepstakes and, in the event of termination, award the prize at random from among the eligible, non-suspect entries received up to the time of the impairment. The Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner. Any attempt by any person to damage the website or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages (including attorneys fees) and any other remedies from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Failure by the Sponsor to enforce any provision of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision.

 

 10.         Release and Limitations of Liability

                By participating in the Contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Sponsor, and each of their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, advertising and promotion agencies, other companies associated with the Sweepstakes, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees, shareholders, representatives, and agents (the Released Parties) from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use of the prize (including any travel or activity related thereto), including, but not limited to: (a) any technical errors associated with the Contest, including lost, interrupted or unavailable Internet Service Provider (ISP), network, server, wireless service provider, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone, cellular tower or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties; (b) unauthorized human intervention in the Contest; (c) mechanical, network, electronic, computer, human, printing or typographical errors; (d)application downloads, (e) any other errors or problems in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors that may occur in the administration of the Contest, the announcement of the winner, the cancellation or postponement of the event and/or the flyover, if applicable, the incorrect downloading of the application the processing of entries application downloadsor in any Contest-related materials; or (f) injury, death, losses or damages of any kind, to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrants participation in the Sweepstakes or acceptance, receipt or misuse of the prize (including any travel or activity related thereto). Entrant further agrees that in any cause of action, the Released Parties liability will be limited to the cost of entering and participating in the Contest, and in no event shall the entrant be entitled to receive attorneys fees. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest. Entrant waives the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.

 

 11.         Disputes

                Except where prohibited, each entrant agrees that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the Sweepstakes or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the appropriate court located in California. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, entrants rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of the Sponsor in connection with the Sweepstakes, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules, which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than California.  

 12.         Privacy

                Information collected from entrants is subject to sponsors privacy policy.  

 13.         Winner List

                To request the name of the winner send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to

Windmill Works, 1024 Bayside Dr. #325, Newport Beach,CA 92660. Winner List requests will only be accepted after the promotion end date (listed above). For the Winner List, you can also

Motivating Reading Game for Christmas

The goal of Windmill Works at www.languagerocks.com has always been to make reading and language development motivating.  What could be more motivating, we thought, than colorful Christmas images to improve reading skills?  Of course, being a teacher of the deaf, the focus of our products has always been visual and NON-phonetic.

We're hoping that our remarkable sale of the DOWNLOADABLE "Johnny Rock's Christmas" for only $3.99 will be a great holiday success.

We've focused on little blurbs in the parent groups, speech/language pathologists, teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing, and special ed. teachers on linkedin.  Tonight, we're hoping to add an online sample of "Johnny Rock's Christmas" to promote our lovely Christmas sale.  Read more about the classic matching games with the exciting Christmas vocabulary at www.languagerocksproducts.com where you'll find great screen shots of content and testimonials.  We'd love to hear how your little wide-eyed reader does with matching "Johnny's" fun reading and language building games.  Happy Holidays!