Here in DC we have one of the biggest Mommy teams around - mommycast.com is an audio and video podcast started 4 years ago - and is now sponsored by Dixie.
Ephraim Luft
· 9 months ago
Do you think that your friend who just completed the study on mom-blogging would be open to sharing it with a wider audience? I would love to chat with him/her and share more about what we have learned about moms' online behavior through Circle of Moms.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
don't know but i forwarded this comment to him (disqus ftw!)
mikestig
· 9 months ago
Hi Fred- Thanks for posting this, very interesting. I'm working on a new site for moms/parents launching soon and so I'm learning firsthand that it certainly is an engaged and highly collaborative community. I'd also be very interested to see more of the study and/or talk with your friend if he is willing.
JohnSharp
· 9 months ago
Fred, you are absolutely right. I just had a friend staying with me who said they are doing a lot of community building for their app through this channel.
The surprise is that a channel with this potential can remain under the radar for so long.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
I'm not sure its under the radar. Blogher has been around for a while
JohnSharp
· 9 months ago
Sure - I meant the market potential as a whole.
benjaminjtaylor
· 9 months ago
There's a great blog called Simple Mom worth checking out. Not affiliated, I just enjoy her writing.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
Thanks. I'll check it out
rockandrollmama
· 9 months ago
Hi Fred! I met Steve at Soccomm in February, and have worked with him and Barbara Jones on outreach to the momblogging community. I love the authentic way Steve has engaged, and the respect he's shown to it. He sees the value in connecting this sphere with something we'll get joy from- Diane's music- and in giving something back to causes dear to Mom's hearts. he truly gets the spirit of social media, and adds value all around.
Pretty cool to see, especially when the musical product is so awesome that it debuts at #10 on Itunes. Not that I'm biased.:) Thanks for sharing this- I think it's a great example of participating in the mom blogging community in a non-exploitative way.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
I'm not sure its non-exploitable. Its simply exploitable in a bunch of positive ways
Holly Hamann
· 9 months ago
Excellent post about the power and influence of the mom blogging community, which represents the fastest growing segment for social network and blogging. I love that Diane Birch (and her producers) are so smart about reaching their target audience. Thanks for bringing attention to this under-served market! At TheBlogFrog, www.theblogfrog.com, we are serving the mom blogging community by giving them blog tools to create community, something that comes naturally to them. Several of the sites you mentioned are members. Would love it if you shared your info source :)
Holly - my sister writes a mom blog if you're interested. http://wendyandjasongotohawaii.blogspot.com/ She's quickly developed her own little community of other mom-bloggers. They all comment on each others blogs, meet when they're in the same city and interact on a regular basis. Kind of interesting.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
That's what blogs are great for!
Keenan
· 9 months ago
Fred, When we built cre8Buzz (RIP), our Mom community was the biggest and fastest growing by far. We placed second in Mashables Open Web Awards in Dec 07 due in large part because of the crazy viral nature of our moms community. (Irony is we lost to Cafe Moms)
When they sink their teeth into something, they don't let go. We still get requests from our Moms' to bring back the buzz (cre8buzz).
The mom community is a very engaged community. They move quickly, and many times in step. When Facebook refused to allow pictures of breastfeeding they mobilized in hours, providing alternatives and getting moms to defect. I really enjoyed participating and getting to know many of them.
Its not surprising that moms are action oriented. All the moms in my life are
daryn
· 9 months ago
No doubt the mom bloggers are a force to be reckoned with when it comes to babies, kids, and family, whether it's food, products, causes, or books/information that make life better for them, but I wonder if that will extend to music... They may love it, but is it their priority/can it be their passion?
BTW, this post looks really messed up on my browser, will send attachment via email.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
I hope steve will let me do a follow up post then this story is played out. I think it will be interesting to see how well this works
robertbushnell
· 9 months ago
Very interesting article..should newspapers also got he same way when they review a album or restaurant or holiday? put up widgets making it easy to buy the article or service
scott crawford
· 9 months ago
Wondering if there's a marriage here with Amazon maybe back-ending a Mommy wom-retail operation. Mommazon? Maybe not necessary. But intriguing.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
Momazon - I love it!
Aruni
· 9 months ago
This is great! I'm a part-time mom blogger and entrepreneurship blogger and it's a great strategy for Diane Birch. I heard her sing at Guy Kawasaki's AllTop party at SXSW and as you said 'fell in love' with her music! I even went up to her and told her how great she sounded. I think she is going to do very well.
Someone tweeted me on twitter after I mentioned I was listening to her and said they were going to help promote her and would send me a CD when it came out so I hope she still remembers because I'm excited to ehar it.
I've recently gotten into song writing and am looking for a musician or two to help me match the lyrics with music. Music and writing exercises the other side of my brain that I've not had the opportunity to exercise as much in the past.
So cool!
bombtune
· 9 months ago
My label did something very similar. We partnered with the Operation Kids foundation for the new Collin Raye record and offered a free download per 1 dollar donation. It's a great way to give back and promote the record at the same time.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
How much money did you raise? I love the concept
bombtune
· 9 months ago
We raised a few hundered and Collin promoted the free download on The Today Show, Huckabee, and CBS Saturday Morning.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
Awesome
Jules Pieri
· 9 months ago
@daryn Moms will absolutely take to the music suggestions. We have seen this in real-life action within our own business which mashes up social media and ecommerce. We have a very solid mom following--they need sources which save them time and are trustworthy. So, we curate and do a video review of one new product a day, geared at the person who controls the household spend. 80% of our customers are women, and the majority are moms. We find that we do really well with books and music because those are two categories where moms have absolutely no time to investigate, and recommendations can be very important. Just sifting through the vast array of choices is so helpful. And...they go ahead and buy at prodigious rates. The thing so many people (men, really) forget is the economic power of moms, and the fact that they are also women with a wide range of interests (and budget) that extends well beyond their kid needs. In fact, our worst category is kid-oriented products. Go figure.
daryn
· 9 months ago
@Jules, great point, and thanks for the data points.
I didn't mean to imply anything about women/mom bloggers, except that if they were writing a vertical-specific blog ("being a mom"), I wasn't sure where music would fit in. As a reader, I trust a blog like Engadget's opinions on, say, electronics, but not their thoughts on parenting, unless it's a parenting-related gadget. Thinking it about it more though, most of the mombloggers I read (I do read a few!) are writing personal blogs, not just on the topic of being a mom, but about being themselves.
I trust Fred's opinions on food and music, even thought he is a VC and a tech guy, because I've been a loyal reader and gotten to know him over time. Absolutely the same goes for dooce (and Gotham Gal! Fred, does Joanne consider herself a mommyblogger?). Where I think it falls apart are the network sites like lilsugar.com.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
The Gotham Gal does not consider herself a mom blogger. She thinks that term is too limiting for what she's trying to do and say. That's what she told me the other night
daryn
· 9 months ago
Not a mom blogger, just a mom who blogs :)
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
indeed
Mark Drapeau
· 9 months ago
Mom bloggers are a fast-growing category of social media. So what? To me, I would expect that to be one of the largest categories, so basically they're playing catch-up. Slightly over half of adults are women. Well over half of adult women are moms in the U.S.. So, that's at least 40% of the adult (used loosely) population. This is roughly equivalent to saying that businessmen in suits are an increasing population among airline passengers.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
And they are
Kevin Burke
· 9 months ago
Your friend is on the mark with their research. Mothers actively involved in online social media are an important community of women. They are affecting social change from a grassroots up approach. From them, we learn about motherhood’s many joys and challenges, some of which were rarely discussed openly before. To their credit, we are no longer fed a homogenized version of motherhood and life from the mass media or celebrity perspective. Instead we enjoy unfiltered, unapologetic and, above all, sincere experiences from a variety of women living in real time. A strong reason they are strongly bonded together.
These women are also highly coveted by businesses because of their influence, but they are often misunderstood for the reasons that they blog and the connections that they create. Thus I've created a news journal, MomsWhoBlog.com, with a team of journalists to be the ultimate source of news and knowledge about mothers active in social media. Some very interesting, important, and entertaining women.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
Mom power ftw!
Christine
· 9 months ago
Great post.
Did you intend to include this Yahoo Media player stuff at the end of the post? It looks a little off.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
The yahoo media player is messed up on this blog. I'm sorry about that. I'll look into it
rockandrollmama
· 9 months ago
Hey guys- just checked back. It's great to see such a discussion of the vibrance of this community and market. Fred: I agree that it's exploitable in positive ways. But what I was saying is that Steve isn't engaging in an exploit-TATIVE way: and there are many, many marketers who are. I've had people say to me, "Oh, I'll just get a bunch of mom bloggers to do it for free," as opposed to hiring an agency for outreach. And the product reviews without disclosure in this community have become so widespread that the FTC plans to revisit their rules regarding that issue this summer.
He took the time to meet moms in the community, hire them at a fair rate (myself included) and then work with them on outreach, he respected the business acumen of the women involved (and for those looking to engage with mombloggers, don't let the cartoon avatars and shiny badges fool you: these are businesswomen.:)
After the November Motrin Moms debacle on Twitter in November, Peter Shankman. (whom I respect, but disagree with on this point) said that mom bloggers are a "Borg" mind, moving as one. While it's true that they look quick to mobilize, each mobilization witnessed represents only a fraction of this demographic. Which is a testament to the breadth and richness of the community. I think the marketers who apply the principles of Seth Godin's "Tribes" to this group, and slice the data much thinner than just "momblogger" will be the most successful in conversations. This is what I was trying to convey in my panel at Soccomm in February, that moms who blog are not a hive mind, and indeed, like Gothan Girl, may not even consider themselves mom bloggers. Thanks for sparking this discussion, i've really enjoyed reading the comments! And I certainly hope that Diane's record is one cause all the moms get behind.:)
Fred, Your blog could be a case study for people interested in placement vs. clickthrough rates b/c as of right now (noon on June 4) the clickthroughs to the momblogs you listed are:
- My Charming Kids (111 clicks) - dooce (50 clicks) - c jane enjoy it (47 clicks) - Bring The Rain (44 clicks) - The Bloggess (37 clicks) - The Pioneer Woman (33 clicks)
It makes sense that #1 gets the most clicks, but I was surprised that they decreased in order for the remaining sites. This seemed especially odd since I'm assuming almost none of your readers have heard of these blogs before. I guess it just goes to show that we all rely on your diligence to guide our behavior.
So keep up the good work!
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
The value of being the top link is high
BmoreWire
· 9 months ago
Does anyone know of a common badge, link, or blogroll technology that most mom blogs use? I'm looking for something to tie all of these mom blogs together.
Liza
· 9 months ago
There is no common badge, link, or blogroll tech that most mom blogs use. We aren't all tied together. BlogHer probably comes the closest to being a common thread, but the network of mom bloggers is more like alot of loosely interconnected networks of moms.
For example, while good writing and high visibility gives some mom bloggers (Dooce, Pioneer Woman) with very niche viewpoints connection to a wide variety of moms, a lot more moms link to and read blogs that are more similar to their own experience. IE, moms of teens are less likely to read blogs by moms of babies, conservative christian moms are less likely to link to lesbian mom blogs.
Geography has been effectively leveraged by the Silicon Valley Moms Blog group to dev their affiliate sites around North America, but I think they may be succeeding more via good writing/marketing than specific common ground.
BmoreWire
· 9 months ago
I guess what I'm looking for is some social media tool or link sharing tool that would allow a CPG advertiser to do an online word of mouth camapign through the network of mom-blogs.....like an easy way for mom-bloggers to share ideas (whether they are fueled by an advertiser or not) across blogs. i.e. all new moms use diapers and to provide an avenue to share best practices or prices for diapers.
yy
· 9 months ago
i love that ... too!
Catherine Maino
· 9 months ago
This again shows the influence that woman have on so many aspects of everyday life and decision making. Reaching woman, let alone Mom's, is not an easy task. Utilizing a destination that we are gravitating to for community, information or advice is brilliant! We're not easy to reach or "sell" to...but once you do we are loyal!
rgibralter
· 9 months ago
Some very smart folks are working on a new polling platform that is IDEALLY suited for momblogs. The emphasis is on sharing questions and opinions and through collaboration learning what communities know and care about. A good test case is biggirlssmallkitchen.com which has a link on the upper right of the home page to their own poll, called an urtak. For more info, check out: urtak.com
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
I'll check it out
Kristin Fitch
· 9 months ago
I find it interesting that most of the people posting about and even commenting about mom bloggers are guys??? I have created a group of mom related websites/blogs that are going well. Most of the comments below are true from what I have experienced/see. I have a question to pose which I will be writing about in detail- Are mom bloggers being exploited or undervalued? We hear it is the most sought after market but only a handful make enough money to speak of- just curious on others perspectives. I co-founded and created http://www.ziggityzoom.com- for kids and parents and http://www.Mommie911.com and launching this month is CuriousBaby and DigitalMediaMoms.
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
I think all bloggers are undervalued right now
Amanda
· 9 months ago
Love Diane Birch! Such a sweet disposition and a beautiful voice! Looking forward to tweeting with her some more at the Twitter Party @ResourcefulMom is having tonight!
I also love that so many great companies are looking into and enjoying working Mommybloggers, there are so many of us!
We're like ice cream, there are so many flavors it would be a shame to just pick one type and not try all the others! We're all great in our own ways and we all appeal to different types of parents. I would like to see all mommybloggers get the same attention and exposure. Though I do understand how business works... Great article though!
Leah
· 9 months ago
I think of it as the new Ladies Home Journal, only those women wanted to be ladies not moms and these women relish in being Moms!
fredwilson
· 9 months ago
Is ladies an old fashioned word?
trisha
· 9 months ago
We would love for you to check out our mom blog community! We love mom bloggers! We see about 40K+ visitors a month and most are mommy bloggers. I think collectively the smaller mom bloggers hold the power.
I also wanted to share my wife's published article about mothers warning their daughters about a hideous danger - scrap booking. From reading your wife's stuff, I think she'd get a kick out it.
It's a beautiful story and a beautiful song. I guess moms, as caring beings, love artists' life stories as much as their works.
I know an artist whose day job is an admin worker at a hospital. His father's business went broke as soon as he was out of the art school. So, he joined Korean army and then had to make money to feed his family and so on. Now he is 41, but he still says art is the most important in his life. He thanked me for starting an art site where he could show his work. I felt honored.
All Comments
The surprise is that a channel with this potential can remain under the radar for so long.
Pretty cool to see, especially when the musical product is so awesome that it debuts at #10 on Itunes. Not that I'm biased.:) Thanks for sharing this- I think it's a great example of participating in the mom blogging community in a non-exploitative way.
When they sink their teeth into something, they don't let go. We still get requests from our Moms' to bring back the buzz (cre8buzz).
The mom community is a very engaged community. They move quickly, and many times in step. When Facebook refused to allow pictures of breastfeeding they mobilized in hours, providing alternatives and getting moms to defect. I really enjoyed participating and getting to know many of them.
Your post is spot on and a bit nostalgic for me. A few other great mom blogs: Meagan at www.velvateenmind.com, Sara at www.suburbanoblivion.com and Jane at www.planejanemom.com
Its not surprising that moms are action oriented. All the moms in my life are
BTW, this post looks really messed up on my browser, will send attachment via email.
Someone tweeted me on twitter after I mentioned I was listening to her and said they were going to help promote her and would send me a CD when it came out so I hope she still remembers because I'm excited to ehar it.
I've recently gotten into song writing and am looking for a musician or two to help me match the lyrics with music. Music and writing exercises the other side of my brain that I've not had the opportunity to exercise as much in the past.
So cool!
I didn't mean to imply anything about women/mom bloggers, except that if they were writing a vertical-specific blog ("being a mom"), I wasn't sure where music would fit in. As a reader, I trust a blog like Engadget's opinions on, say, electronics, but not their thoughts on parenting, unless it's a parenting-related gadget. Thinking it about it more though, most of the mombloggers I read (I do read a few!) are writing personal blogs, not just on the topic of being a mom, but about being themselves.
I trust Fred's opinions on food and music, even thought he is a VC and a tech guy, because I've been a loyal reader and gotten to know him over time. Absolutely the same goes for dooce (and Gotham Gal! Fred, does Joanne consider herself a mommyblogger?). Where I think it falls apart are the network sites like lilsugar.com.
These women are also highly coveted by businesses because of their influence, but they are often misunderstood for the reasons that they blog and the connections that they create. Thus I've created a news journal, MomsWhoBlog.com, with a team of journalists to be the ultimate source of news and knowledge about mothers active in social media. Some very interesting, important, and entertaining women.
Did you intend to include this Yahoo Media player stuff at the end of the post? It looks a little off.
Fred: I agree that it's exploitable in positive ways. But what I was saying is that Steve isn't engaging in an exploit-TATIVE way: and there are many, many marketers who are. I've had people say to me, "Oh, I'll just get a bunch of mom bloggers to do it for free," as opposed to hiring an agency for outreach. And the product reviews without disclosure in this community have become so widespread that the FTC plans to revisit their rules regarding that issue this summer.
He took the time to meet moms in the community, hire them at a fair rate (myself included) and then work with them on outreach, he respected the business acumen of the women involved (and for those looking to engage with mombloggers, don't let the cartoon avatars and shiny badges fool you: these are businesswomen.:)
After the November Motrin Moms debacle on Twitter in November, Peter Shankman. (whom I respect, but disagree with on this point) said that mom bloggers are a "Borg" mind, moving as one. While it's true that they look quick to mobilize, each mobilization witnessed represents only a fraction of this demographic. Which is a testament to the breadth and richness of the community. I think the marketers who apply the principles of Seth Godin's "Tribes" to this group, and slice the data much thinner than just "momblogger" will be the most successful in conversations. This is what I was trying to convey in my panel at Soccomm in February, that moms who blog are not a hive mind, and indeed, like Gothan Girl, may not even consider themselves mom bloggers. Thanks for sparking this discussion, i've really enjoyed reading the comments! And I certainly hope that Diane's record is one cause all the moms get behind.:)
Aruni: I will ping you re. the album.
Your blog could be a case study for people interested in placement vs. clickthrough rates b/c as of right now (noon on June 4) the clickthroughs to the momblogs you listed are:
- My Charming Kids (111 clicks)
- dooce (50 clicks)
- c jane enjoy it (47 clicks)
- Bring The Rain (44 clicks)
- The Bloggess (37 clicks)
- The Pioneer Woman (33 clicks)
It makes sense that #1 gets the most clicks, but I was surprised that they decreased in order for the remaining sites. This seemed especially odd since I'm assuming almost none of your readers have heard of these blogs before. I guess it just goes to show that we all rely on your diligence to guide our behavior.
So keep up the good work!
For example, while good writing and high visibility gives some mom bloggers (Dooce, Pioneer Woman) with very niche viewpoints connection to a wide variety of moms, a lot more moms link to and read blogs that are more similar to their own experience. IE, moms of teens are less likely to read blogs by moms of babies, conservative christian moms are less likely to link to lesbian mom blogs.
Geography has been effectively leveraged by the Silicon Valley Moms Blog group to dev their affiliate sites around North America, but I think they may be succeeding more via good writing/marketing than specific common ground.
I also love that so many great companies are looking into and enjoying working Mommybloggers, there are so many of us!
We're like ice cream, there are so many flavors it would be a shame to just pick one type and not try all the others! We're all great in our own ways and we all appeal to different types of parents. I would like to see all mommybloggers get the same attention and exposure. Though I do understand how business works...
Great article though!
trisha haas
momdot.com
WWW.DOESMOMMYLOVEIT.COM
http://www.takethekidswith.com/2007/06/journey-...
I also wanted to share my wife's published article about mothers warning their daughters about a hideous danger - scrap booking. From reading your wife's stuff, I think she'd get a kick out it.
http://www.julesnolan.com/2005/02/mothers-warn-...
Thanks for the post,
Mike
I know an artist whose day job is an admin worker at a hospital. His father's business went broke as soon as he was out of the art school. So, he joined Korean army and then had to make money to feed his family and so on. Now he is 41, but he still says art is the most important in his life. He thanked me for starting an art site where he could show his work. I felt honored.
Here is one of his photography works, called "Spring 1". http://artpoli.com/products/1063