10.16.2007

We Totally Rock

Did you see the World News Tonight report about us last night? Well not US us, but you know, our community -- Mommy bloggers.

Dawn of Because I Said So was profiled for an awesome piece about how we mommies are now finding community and support through the Internet and our blogs, rather than through old fashioned, and terribly outdated and limiting, ways like our neighborhoods.

What was most shocking to me was that Dawn gets 20-30 THOUSAND viewers A DAY. And she makes FOUR THOUSAND dollars a month off of ads on her blog. And she's only been blogging for FOUR MONTHS, PEOPLE!!! That is complete craziness to me. Dawn has really struck a chord with a varied audience to become that popular in such a short amount of time.

My blog is not very popular -- yet (HA!) -- but I love the community and support I have found through blogging. I think it is super awesome that Dawn and others can make a nice income from blogging while getting support and camaraderie at the same time.

One important piece of the newscast was about how mothers are being taken more seriously as consumers, and given more respect by advertisers. It's about damn time! Whether we blog or not, women are key in influencing monetary decisions for households -- often we are the only one making a decision on how our money gets spent. Why not cater to us? It is extremely silly not to.

Who is the one at Target in the middle of the day re-stocking the house with toilet paper and paper towels? Most often, that's me and my female doppelgangers. (And Bradley Egel. And his doppelgangers.) Our spending authori-tay needs to be respected.

Jennifer wrote the other day about Sauve's mom-centered advertising campaign and it's awesomeness. Dove has been working on a female friendly advertising scheme for a while now. It is truly refreshing and completely stick figure free. We need these types of advertising if only to balance out the testosterone friendly beer and Axe commercials.

As thoughtful consumers, I would ask my brethren to carefully consider your purchases and provide feedback where appropriate. Letting manufacturers know where they went wrong -- or where they went right -- goes a long way toward advancing our product options and our treatment in the media.

Get out there and be proud, mommy bloggers! We deserve respect as women, and as valuable purchasers of consumer products. As they say, "Money Talks."

9 comments:

Al_Pal said...

Word! The thing that really came to mind about Moms as spending-deciders, was how when Carl's Jr was running ads featuring a super-drippy burger in English (I believe the tag line was, If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face), their Spanish-language ads recognized the spending power of the female head of house, and touted the value/volume per money spent factor, rather than appealing to the hulking guy demographic.

Love the Dove Real Beauty campaign--they have got some great videos, and I remember them looming way larger than life, wrapping the big posts in an underground MUNI stop a few years ago. It was a treat to see such lovely curves on display!

I've been much more vigilant about buying organic lately, and it feels great.

*hugs*!

Cynthia said...

Well said!

dawn224 said...

I love the Dove ads... but then there's this:

http://deepmuckbigrake.com/2007/10/14/slbtm-unileverdoves-real-beauty/

(sorry if it blows out your template - no sleep = no chance I can html code right now)

Jennifer said...

Aw man! I've been waiting for the piece on Dawn Meehan and mommybloggers...can't believe I missed it! And whoa! $4000/month. I made $40. Seriously.

Thanks for the link!

Kayris said...

You might be interested in reading about this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Cult-Amateur-Internet-Killing-Culture/dp/0385520808/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-6987989-4635934?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191525251&sr=8-1

The author basically says that amateur bloggers are ruining the world, but, wouldn't you know, he has a Typepad account. Personally, I think he's full of crap. Just because someone isn't a professional writer doesn't mean they can't be good. I prefer recommendations made by my peers over "the pros" anyway. The best example I can think of off the top of my head is movies. I never like the movies the reviewers in the paper like, I'm more likely to ask a friend what to see.

I love blogging and I love the contacts it has helped me make. The moms in my neighborhood run in a very tight group and it's damn near impossible to break into that group. Besides, I graduated from high school a long time ago and have no desire to be part of a clique.

Great post!

Alex Elliot said...

$4,000 a month?!!!

Erica said...

I will flex my spending muscle. I am a "say it loud and proud" mommy blogger! Woo-hoo, sista!

The Egel Nest said...

Proud to be the Daddy with my very few dopplegangers :)

I never thought of using my blog to make money...maybe I should...lol

Bradley
The Egel Nest

Candace said...

thanks for posting that! i had no idea!

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