The State of the Mom Blogosphere - Highlights from the Talk

Ten hugely influential mom bloggers led a conversation in TheMotherhood.com on The State of the Mom Blogosphere ... and TheMotherhood.com rocked!

Really, it was pure magic.

So much great information was shared – from predictions for 2011 to advice on blogging, finding time and inspiration, working with brands, thoughts on platforms like Twitter, Foursquare and Gmail Priority Mail, and so much more.

Thank you to our amazing hosts, and everyone who contributed to this AMAZING conversation!

Below are links to highlights from the Talks, organized by category.

Blogging

From the practical to the big picture, the conversation on blogging was riveting.

Q. What are your thoughts on drawing more attention/focus on newer bloggers in the "mommy blogger" community?

Q. How do I take my blogging from just a hobby to something more intentional?

Q. Experts, how did you break out of the middle and make it to the front of the pack?

Q. What if I make mistakes on my blog?

Q. How have readers changed over the years?

Q. I have been told that my blog is too 'all over the place' and others absolutely love my diversified info. What’s better for marketing my blog?

Q. Ideas on recycling old content?

Q. Out of the gajillion blogs and web sites about "how to" blog, how do you prioritize what to read, who to follow?

Q. How do the experts manage their online brand identity vs their own "name as a brand" identity.

Q. Should we should consider all blogging in the same place as opposed to asking people to go to different destinations all over the web?

Q. What are the best blogger conferences?

Mom Bloggers and Brands

Mom bloggers and brands were a big topic, with thoughtful answers, great advice and Do's and Don'ts.

Q. Biggest piece of advice for mom bloggers who want to work with brands

Q. What should brands be doing better?

Q. Working with brands. How did you initially get started down that road?

Q. How do we price on our influence?

Q. If we see behavior in the mom blogging community that could hurt our brand as mom bloggers, should we call it out or let it go?

Q. Question from a brand - What is more important for a mom, the price point or the quality/eco-friendlyness of a toy? Quantiy of toys or quality? 

Technology

No surprise - top mom bloggers have strong feelings about technology.

Q. What are everyone’s thoughts on Twitter?

Q. Controlling your email "inbox"?

Q. How has micro-blogging and geo-locating affected your overall approach to blogging?

Q. With geo-locating tools, such as Foursquare, what are your privacy and security concerns and the protections you employ?

Q. Do blog followers favor one blogging platform over another?

The Personal

We talked about finding time, taking care of ourselves, and keeping it going.

Q. When my life gets overwhelming (like it is now) my instinct to blog just shuts down. How do you all keep blogging through the hard stuff? Does it help you?

Q. Between posting, reading, commenting, doing chats, finding new blogs, facebook, and twitter, how can we keep our life from getting lost in the shuffle?

Q. How do you find time to write on your own site, read and comment on others, and participate in forums/Twitter parties?

Q. How do you find the time, do you use childcare?

The Big Picture

Q. What are some predictions for mom blogging in 2011?

Q. How is storytelling evolving in 2011? More video/collaborative, or a return to our writing roots?

The Hosts

The AWESOME, INCREDIBLE mom bloggers who co-hosted the Talk were:

Amie Adams, Mammaloves
Tracey Clark, TraceyClark and Shutter Sisters
Esther Brady Crawford, Faint Star Lite and ShePosts
Allison Czarnecki, Petit Elephant
Stacey Ferguson, Justice Fergie, Mamalaw and Blogalicious
Liz Gumbinner, Mom 101 and Cool Mom Picks
Jennifer James, Jennifer James Online and Mom Bloggers Club
Isabel Kallman, Alpha Mom
Christine Koh, Boston Mamas
Laura Mayes, Blog Con Queso, Kirtsy and the Mom 2.0 Summit

THANK YOU!!!

[Cross-posted on TheMotherhood Talk on the State of the Mom Blogosphere.]

Comments

[Boston Mamas]

It was an honor to be part of this conversation! So energizing!

[Jennifer James]

So amazing! Was thrilled and honored to be a part of it. Thank you!

[Robyn Wright of Robyn's Online World]

This was an excellent chat yesterday! Can't wait for the next one. The experts shared so much wonderful knowledge with all of us!

[Andrea Hatfield]

I really enjoyed the conversation and appreciate the advice and knowledge shared by the experts. Looking forward to the next chat!