Mother’s Day may be in May, but the blogosphere reminds us that mom is to be cherished—forever and always.
I chatted via e-mail and Twitter with Cat, the creator of the mom blog 3 Kids and Us, which has made its way to #5 on the top 100 Mom Bloggers Club list. That’s quite a feat since the blog really just started (early summer 2008), and we bloggers know, it takes a LONG time to spread word-of-mouth or link-luv about a blog.
In 1999, it was reported that nearly 80-85 percent of women are the primary purchase decision-makers in the home, and Cat is quick to point out, “men just don’t make up that number, because moms are the researchers. As a mom, I want to make sure the products I use are safe for my family. All moms want that,” she said.
The explosion of moms on social networks has lead to some poignant acronyms as well: WAHM, SAHM, FTWM. There’s probably many more but that’s currently what’s out there on TwitterMoms profiles and online clubs such as Mom Bloggers Club, CaféMom, and Cat’s personal favorite, MomDot.com— because the founder Trisha knows how to keep moms connected while also offering a more personable, welcoming atmosphere. MomDot.com via its Ning social network garners a whopping 50,000 unique visitors per month, so according to Cat, “Trisha is doing something right.”
Don’t underestimate moms’ stamina in broadcasting her favorite events, news, or kids’ stories over a blog. Cat informed me she spends a total of 8 hours/day blogging, so it’s really a full-time gig with the added hustle and bustle around the home. The most surprising thing about mom blogs, particularly “3 Kids and Us,” regardless of the Web-click banner ads for monetization purposes: blogs are not a source of income for families. That sure shocked me, as I always figured top mom bloggers with high visitor traffic would be shoe-ins for a start-up entrepreneur contest entitled, “The Next Best Thing.”
As the telescopic lens of company brands has become more zoomed in on moms, so have the criticisms for doing things wrong. Though it’s not a requirement for brand managers to hire a social media mom (Lolita Carrico thinks so), Cat drives this mom message home:
“If a company wants to sell their product to a mom or her children, they need to take the time to speak with the people to whom they are marketing. Moms know what they want and need; we don’t want to be told by a suit why something is beneficial for our families when they themselves have no idea how the product will fit into our lives.”
So here’s to moms like Cat who are working really hard in energizing other moms and companies to do it right, and aren’t getting paid for it.