The Mommy Blog | Adventures from the Wonderbelly of Motherhood

Monday, February 08, 2010

Family, Momversation, Parents Ask, Fellow Parenting Authors

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Me, Me, Me, BlogHer, Giveaways, Fellow Parenting Authors

This post from The Social Path is timely — fifteen hundred women (and a few gutsy men) will descend upon the BlogHer Conference in Chicago July 23-25. PR companies are highly focused and determined to reach this audience, and at the same time, scared shitless about screwing it up. As usual, I left a lengthy comment and cross-posted it here to get your reactions.

This is the week blogger outreach goes on trial.

In just a few days, an estimated 1,500 women will gather in Chicago for BlogHer, the mega-conference for women of the Web. And while there are sure to be countless topics for discussion, you can expect one to eclipse all others:

How should bloggers — most notably mom bloggers — be compensated by marketers?

This is a topic that has sparked heated debate for months (if not years), but it’s sure to come to a head this week as some of the largest brands and most influential Web personalities meet at the social media Mecca that is BlogHer. (Not to mention pending government regulations on how bloggers and marketers can work together.)

…In an Advertising Age video posted today, BlogHer Co-Founder Elisa Camahort Page outlines her blog network’s rules on disclosure and separating your “real blog” from your “review blog” — guidelines that some high-profile writers have criticized as being onerous and micromanaged.

You can expect some of these policies — along with a litany of other real-world dilemmas — to be hot-button issues throughout many of the BlogHer panels.

Oh, now I REALLY wish I were going to BlogHer, if only for this reason. I can’t afford to go, alas, because I am not paid to blog. Sound familiar?

I’ve been around a long time — started in 2002 (and was there stuffing binders in Elisa’s apartment for the very first BlogHer conference) — and am often approached for giveaways, reviews, and mentions, though I don’t really have a “review” blog. Generally, if it is something I do use, would use, have discovered I love using, or think my readers would love, I’ll talk about it in the context of my own family life. Or I’ll mention it in the Site of the Day section.

I know that PR companies go to a lot of trouble and expense to reach out to us, and that it is not always rewarding. It’s tough to contact hundreds of bloggers and get the name right in each personalized email (I’m being serious), tough to strike the right tone, tough to decide whether to inform the blogger of your product’s existence with an offer to sample it, or to ask for action on the blogger’s part.

If I receive the “info” type of email, I’ll look at the product and feature it if I think it’s awesome. If it’s not something I’d use or is a little outside my demographic, I may just delete the email. Or, I might flag the email with good intentions but never quite get around to doing something about it.

Some companies just send me things ranging from a press kit or a panty liner (that was yesterday) to an HD Flip cam or custom bicycle. Sometimes I don’t even know who sent it or why (flip cam two days ago). Sometimes I really don’t know what to do with something (a metal lunchbox from The Pork Board).

Occasionally, I am genuinely astonished at the request. One company asked me to take shipment of an appliance, test it, send results to a lab to demonstrate efficacy, blog about it in detail, and then SHIP IT BACK when I was done. I called up the contact person and asked if that was really the pitch. Who on earth would take an appliance, do a whole lot of scientific analysis, ship the thing back, and be grateful for the opportunity? The contact broke up laughing, saying that personally she was with me, but that her company won’t authorize a giveaway of that size, and understood when I declined to put that much effort into unpaid work. We parted on good terms, and I hope she let the client know that their strategy was of the kind that we bloggers tell each other about when swapping stories, and they do NOT want to be on the “Can-you-believe-this-BS?” circuit.

Many things sit in the Pile of Goods next to my desk, which sits next to the Pile of Books sent to me for review or mention (that backlog is about fifty. When am I going to read and talk about fifty books?) I don’t get paid for all that time, and since blogging is a labor of love, I have to spend my time at my paying job, because like many bloggers, I have a family to feed. In my case, I’m a single mom of three, which makes me a great PR target, but also guarantees that my time is at a premium. The irony.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you should curb your outreach; when the product is something a friend might use, I’ll give it away and let that person’s word of mouth campaign suffice. They are usually so excited to receive something useful for free that they tell everyone they run into, and that is fantastic real life buzz and promotion that simply can’t be bought.

Believe me, I stress out about it. Notice that I’m typing this at 3:48 a.m.? I feel bad for the unanswered contacts. I feel bad for the products that come that have no chance whatsoever of a mention. I hope that folks understand, and say so on my contact page so that everyone knows ahead of time that I’m crazed and busy, but open to new ideas and products. By the way, that’s your target demographic in a nutshell. Whee!

There are times when I do the math and wish that some of the cash that went into the effort could have come to me, but then again I have a policy of not taking money for reviews. Advertisers who purchase space in my sidebars can say what they like, and I will continue doing my thing in the body. There is a definite demarcation between the two, and they do not mix. The Site of the Day is a compromise but still subject to my personal preference.

I’ll offer advice if you like, and will happily vet any outreach strategy, and will happily accept a consulting fee but not be part of the outreach. That seems to be the stance with the most ethical integrity. I can help craft it or I can review it, but not both. And there’s a very good chance that many excellent PR efforts will fail at my doorstep simply because I have no idea what to do with the product, or simply do not have the time to devote to pro bono advertising for businesses.

I’m interested in hearing others’ opinions on this, and on the video suggesting setting up a “review” blog apart from the original. Going over to view it now, but I think I can safely say that I would not be inclined to do that. A blog is enough work; why double it when you can just accept advertising in the sidebars that doesn’t influence content? I just don’t see the ROI there. What am I missing? What would you do?

Friday, May 22, 2009

Other people who write, Family, Fellow Parenting Authors, Moms Like Us

I have over fifty books in piles next to my desk that have been sent to me by publishers, publicists, authors, and agents. Their hope is that I will review each book. Mind you, these are only the ones I have expressed an interest in reading. There are lots more requests that get deleted because no one is paying me for this shit and I only have so much time to read after everyone’s in bed.

So, to do at least a bit of justice to these fine authors, knowing full well that it will be a warm day at a Chicago Bear’s playoff game before I get around to them all, I will list them here, and try to maintain a running list of what’s on deck. (Chances are that at any given moment I am reading a half-dozen of these at once and would give a schizophrenic review at best, which would beg revisitation of my med schedule for which I haven’t time nor money nor inclination.)

If I have missed any titles, please let me know in the comments. Any omissions or errors are mine and not a reflection on a book’s merit. Void where prohibited. Results may vary.

Family Life:

Biographical/Autobiographical:

Fiction:

Non-fiction/Inspirational:

Children:

Sunday, May 03, 2009

Other people who write, Momversation, Fellow Parenting Authors

An Interview with Melinda Roberts
by Jackie Papandrew

Melinda (Mindy) Roberts is one of the trailblazers of the mom blogging movement, having started her groundbreaking The Mommy Blog seven years ago. Now, as Roberts says, “Every third blog created these days seems to be called The Mommy Blog…All I’ve really managed to do is make my brand the Kleenex of the blogosphere.”

Mom Writer’s Literary Magazine just put out the new Spring/Summer 2009 Issue, and it’s definitely one worth picking up. I say “picking up” because Asha Dornfest is on the cover and I’m featured, so you might want to hang it somewhere in a heavy, gilt, museum-quality frame. Or, you can read it online. Suit yourself.

The fun thing about reading a feature for which you were interviewed MONTHS ago is seeing what’s current, what’s isn’t anymore, and what you said that maybe you shouldn’t have. I talk the same way I write: one draft, no revisions, no looking back. More balls than brain. Usually, though, there’s something funny in there I’d forgotten about, like the bit about the dueling nightstands in our house. I’m thrilled with the profile. Need a new photo, though.

But please! Have a look yourselves, and see why I practically worship Asha, co-panelist at Momversation.com and creator of the ever-more-famous ParentHacks.com.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Other people who write, Family, Fellow Parenting Authors

I totally listened to Anita Renfroe’s video of the Mom Song sung to William Tell’s Overture a bazillion times to get it right. And now Vanessa of On Youth and Teens Today with Vanessa Van Petten has postedthe response. She kills me. Bookmark her now - I guarantee you will be grateful later!

humming it incessantly now

Monday, November 03, 2008

Family, Fellow Parenting Authors

I Love You, But I Hate Your Politics!

You know who we’re talking about: the people who share your blood don’t always share your politics. Since tomorrow is Election Day, Heather Armstrong of dooce asks: What do you do when the people you love disagree with your political views?

This Episode’s panelists:

Alice Bradley of Finslippy
Daphne Brogdon of Cool Mom
Heather Armstrong of dooce
Rebecca Woolf of Girl’s Gone Child

Asha Dornfest sums up the rest nicely:

There are any number of ways to keep up with Momversation episodes and forum buzz. You can subscribe to the Momversation episode feed or comment feed, or you can subscribe via iTunes. Sign up for the weekly newsletter, follow Momversation on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook. I’ll also embed the episodes here as they come out.

We’re working with the great folks at deca.tv to produce the videos—they’re the folks behind Boing Boing TV among other Web video shows. Target is sponsoring this experiment (hence the ad in the video and the banners on the site), but has no input into the content or format. That’s up to us. And the result is turning out to be oh so much more than the sum of the parts.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Me, Me, Me, Fellow Parenting Authors

Momversation - see what all the blogging’s about!
On November 3, take a peek at the brand-new site, Momversation.com, and be among the first moms to see some of the web’s most recognizable and outspoken mom-bloggers in a new video show.

That’s right—y’all aren’t going to BELIEVE what I’ve been up to with seven other mom bloggers. We’ve been creating Momversation.

Momversation is a video show and website that brings together the web’s most outspoken mom-bloggers to discuss topics and share their thoughts. The format is unique because the cast of women aren’t in the same room together. Instead, all the material is shot by the panelists in their spare time in their own homes.

Because GOD KNOWS what would happen if we were all in the same room together. This is the only way to separate the voice tracks, I’m sure. But could you see us? (Heather’s family might pull a gun, for Pete’s sake. It’s a surprise, so don’t ask.)

The fun part (to watch, not have to figure out for yourself) is seeing where we have to go to film ourselves in our homes. It ain’t easy. Let’s just say that attempted locations include offices, bedrooms, kitchens, garages, bathrooms (this works), living rooms, and in one failed attempt, a hotel room across from a construction site. My bad.

Momversation is hosted by a rotating cast of 8 hot, mouthy, sage, and influential mom-bloggers including:
Heather Armstrong of dooce

Alice Bradley of Finslippy

Daphne Brogdon of Cool Mom (Fun fact: I used to listen to her on Dr. Dean Edell’s show, and it cinched the choice of my daughter’s name!)

Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks

Nataly Kogan of Work It, Mom!

Maggie Mason of Mighty Girl

Mindy Roberts of The Mommy Blog

Rebecca Woolf of Girl’s Gone Child

Everyone can also “join the momversation” by posting comments and starting their own discussion topics in the Momversation forums.

Momversation videos will also be featured 3x a week on Yahoo! Shine in their Parenting section.

Oh, and don’t forget to sign up for the Momversation newsletter so you can see us having awkward moments talking to ourselves with a tiny camera and no script.

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it

Friday, August 08, 2008

Children's Health, Fellow Parenting Authors

Remember when a bunch of mom bloggers went to Cincinnati to visit with Pampers? Remember? No? The runs through O’Hare, the broken eyeglasses, the falls out of the limo? Still nothing?

Well, you’ll remember this, by golly. I designed a new widget for donations to the “Support UNICEF’s Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus” effort, to be displayed on our sites.

Not one of us walked away from our visit with UNICEF USA’s CEO Caryl Stern unaffected by her descriptions of the thousands of preventable neonatal and maternal deaths from Tetanus, a totally preventable disease. The cost of a single vaccine? Five cents. There was no question we weren’t going to do something about it.

Lifesaving Immunization for Children

Every since its first tuberculosis campaign in 1947, UNICEF has been a leader in global immunization. Today we provide vaccine to 40 percent of the world’s children and help save two million lives a year. But thousands of children still die needlessly every day from diseases like measles, polio, or tuberculosis. UNICEF is committed to vaccinating every single child against preventable childhood diseases.

When war or natural disaster strikes, we do whatever it takes to get children immunized. We help broker ceasefires so that we can enter a war-torn region and vaccinate its children. After a disaster, we go door-to-door in the remotest areas to distribute lifesaving vaccines.

Here is the widget, which also has a home in the sidebar. Our hosts have really gone the extra mile and created a page just for us where you can make a donation and receive a tax reciept on the spot. Pampers will track the donations that come through this widget, so we can see how well we’re doing to support the cause.

To get an idea of how important that is to us, have a look at the video of Mr. McCleary’s (of Pampers) visit to Angola to see UNICEF’s progress with tetanus vaccines.

Dig around and see how many nickels you have laying around, and then think about each one of those saving a mom’s or baby’s life. And pass our links around so we can get this thing to go viral. If we can’t pull it off, who can? Who care more about moms and babies than other moms and babies? You can make a difference, and save twenty lives for each dollar. I just donated fifty dollars, and you know what a commitment that is for me right now.

Let’s take Tetanus out of the equation - having children is hard enough without knowing just how slim the chances or survival are without proper care and vaccination.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Me, Me, Me, Fellow Parenting Authors

Tracey Serebin of FamilyMatters Talk Radio interviewed my along with Genevieve Thiers from SitterCity.com on hiring a child care provider.

One of the most important decisions a new parent makes is choosing someone to take care of their child when they are working. This week I am speaking with Genevieve Thiers, Founder of Sittercity.com, America’s largest and most trustworthy online souce for caregivers, about what new parents need to be aware of when hiring a child care provider for their new baby. Also joining me is Melinda Roberts, mother of three children and author of TheMommyBlog.net, sharing her experiences in hiring a nanny for her first two children.

Listen now.

Guess I'd better go listen, too!

TheMommyBlog

Join the Momversation