Cheeky Sweetie

While I was at BlissDom09, I had the dynamic duo behind MomsMarbles.com at my table-and somehow I got lucky and it happened more than once!  They were sponsored by Smashies, and ingenious take on an old favorite of kids for eons, it seems.  I had never heard of Smashies, but now that I have been touched by the awesomeness, I have to share with you!

What are the drawbacks of old fashioned applesauce in a jar?

1. They require additional serving bowls
2. If on a plate with other food it runs into the other food
3. You need spoons to eat it
4. You need a BIG spoon to dish it out
5. The jar gets funky around the mouth sometimes
6. It takes up valuable fridge space
7. It isn’t portable at all

So, moving on, we more recently have applesauce cups available to us, which is an improvement, but you still have issues.

1. They still require spoons, which kind of negates the portability
2. The are bulky to transport
3. You can’t reseal them at all

If you had an applesauce product that solved the remaining negatives of applesauce, PLUS delivered in a healthy, organic, no sugar added, and no high fructose corn syrup form, why the heck *wouldn’t* you be happy as a pig in poo?  So, obviously, that means Smashies is way on top of the snack heap!

By cheekysweetie, shot with BlackBerry 8330 at 2009-03-02

We were so impressed at BlissDom09 by the novelty of the idea-applesauce pouches?  How neat!  And I *so* wanted to snap pics of Sarah and Mary Ellen downing them during an in-session snack break, heh, but I had just met them and I know how I feel about people taking pictures of me eating.  I took my pouch home, thinking I may do a post and a giveaway, but my plan went astray in a wonderful way.

My 7-yo daughter Emily has been extremely sick.  I wrote about her ER visit the other day, and unfortunately she hasn’t gotten much better since.  She had eaten all of the applesauce cups I had gotten her, and today she wanted more.  My mom has some no sugar added cups but Emily didn’t like them, and this girl needs to eat.  She’s already lost weight and she’s a stringbean to begin with.  I thought I was going to have to actually get dressed and go out in public to get her some, but amid a talk with my mom about a potential sponsor for BlogHer09 that I am SO excited about, I remembered that I still had my Smashies pouch in my backpack from BlissDom09.  So I grabbed it, and I gave it to Emily.  She took one little taste and said, “Mommy, it’s delicious!”  I snapped a picture as she gulped it down, and when she was done, she asked for more-for now, and to bring to school for snack.  She LOVED it.

Before Smashies

By cheekysweetie, shot with BlackBerry 8330 at 2009-03-02

After Smashies

By cheekysweetie, shot with BlackBerry 8330 at 2009-03-02

I totally want to get the word out about Smashies, but I also wanted to illustrate to companies out there that are trying to make and impact on consumers just how powerful the blogosphere can be.  This is exactly how this thing works-Smashies sponsored a blogger, or two in this case.  They spread the word about Smashies and gave away products for people to try.  Bloggers who try the products, like me, are thrilled with them, and write about them.  Now not only have the sponsored Bloggers told their readers about Smashies, and told other bloggers about Smashies, but now other bloggers are telling their readers-some of whom, maybe even most of whom, are also bloggers who now know about and will be eager to try Smashies themselves, and tell their readers.  This *works*.

I hope that Smashies appreciates the work that MomsMarbles.com did to spread the word about them, and I hope they know how invaluable giving out the sample was.  I would have thought it a cool product, for sure, but actually having it make a difference in my personal life is the key to my excitement and going on to actually write about it.

I hope that those of you lucky enough to attend BlissDom09 and snap up a sample will use it, and talk about it.  Supporting the companies that support bloggers is exactly the kind of cycle that we are all interested in building, so use it, write about, and link to it, so they can see the benefits in a tangible way.

I also hope that other companies that are considering sponsorship will be conscious of the changing nature of community and take advantage of the lack of geographical boundaries in such.  No longer are small businesses limited by location, and no longer do large companies have to appear so untouchable.

It is a wonderful thing, and I am excited to step into the ring myself and represent a company I can believe in and be proud of at BlogHer09!