Currently Away from the Blogosphere
By metropolitanmama | August 1, 2008
Will return as soon as morning sickness subsides…
Topics: Uncategorized | 49 Comments »
A Few Things…
By metropolitanmama | August 1, 2008
THANK YOU to all my family and friends who have called and emailed and brought meals. Even though I am not responding, I appreciate every thoughtful gesture.
I AM SORRY to all companies, bloggers, and PR representatives who have emailed or queried me recently. I will respond as soon as I possible can.
After I am feeling better (my husband is typing this for me as I dictate to him), I am pretty sure I have enough giveaways lined up for each day for an entire month so be sure to stay tuned.
Finally, don’t forget that you can still get 10% off your Protect-A-Bed mattress protector order through September 1st, 2008, by using discount code “MM01.” There is also still time to win an all expenses paid cruise for two or a $1000 so be sure to enter if you haven’t already done so.
Topics: Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
Unwelcome Visitors…and a question for you about “morning” sickness
By metropolitanmama | July 24, 2008
Nausea, Dizziness, and Throw Up have decided to take up residence in this little body of mine (despite my many “eviction notices”)…which is why I’ve been a bit MIA here in the blogosphere.
But I can’t complain. I am - at this very moment - experiencing an incredible miracle. A little life is taking shape inside of me. If that isn’t awe-inspiring and beautiful and intensely moving, I don’t know what is.
I do have a quick question for you about “morning” sickness. There is an Old Wives Tale out there that the amount of morning sickness that you have can be a predictor of baby’s gender. I don’t put much credence in such tales, but I thought I’d take a quick show of hands of my mama friends just to see how it panned out for YOU.
Did you or did not have morning sickness during any/all of your pregnancies? Did you notice a difference based on the gender of your baby?
Okay, back to resting and trying to lie veeeerrryyy still so as not to send my body’s nausea-meter off the charts…
Topics: Uncategorized | 89 Comments »
In case you’re wondering…
By metropolitanmama | July 22, 2008
If I’m going to post a recap of BlogHer…I might.
If “Tuesday Tours” is going to be up tonight…probably not (I am so sorry).
If I’m experiencing morning all day sickness…I am.
If I am feeling extraordinarily grateful and happy to have this little life inside of me…the answer is YES (a very emphatic yes).
***I’ll be posting updates and giveaways and articles whenever I feel well enough.
Topics: Uncategorized | 24 Comments »
We have a little announcement…
By metropolitanmama | July 22, 2008
Topics: About Me | 74 Comments »
BlogHer 08 in Photos
By metropolitanmama | July 21, 2008
My bed at the Westin St. Francis. It was comfortable. It was also the first time I had slept alone in over 2 years.
In the hotel room prior to Thursday night cocktail parties.
At Guy Kawasaki’s house: Me, Nicole (Apron Strings Aflutter), Caryn (Rockin’ Mama).
Outside of the Westin. Lisa (Workout Mommy) and me.
Outside of the Westin. Shannon (Rocks In My Dryer) and me.
Outside of the Westin. Me, Abbey McDonald (Mom Central Consulting), Kara Hoisington (Mom Central Consulting).
Heather and Whitney (authors of The Rookie Mom’s Handbook and bloggers at RookieMoms.com).
Inside Macey’s. Closing Cocktail Party. Michelle (Scribbit) and me.
At Lori’s Diner. Melanie (Blogging Basics 101, Bloggy Giveaways, and Don’t Try This At Home), Janice (5 Minutes for Mom), and me.
Topics: Uncategorized | 28 Comments »
LIVE BLOGGING: When the Road to Motherhood Is Anything But Smooth: Infertility, Adoption, and Miscarriage Bloggers
By metropolitanmama | July 19, 2008
***featuring Pamela Tsigdinos (Coming2Terms), Lori (Weebles Wobblog), Monica Mingo (Rantings of a Creole Princess),, and moderated by Melissa (Stirrup Queens)
This session was small and thus rather intimate. The panelists and some of the attendees began by sharing their thoughts about and experiences with infertility.
One attendee said, “I didn’t know anyone who was going through infertility [when I was going through it] and I felt very lonely about it.”
Another attendee said, “I felt very alone. I didn’t know anyone else who was adopting a baby. It [blogging] helped me to get over all of the infertility and go on with the adoption.”
Yet another attendee said, “Blogging saved my life in so many ways.”
Lori said she writes about the topic because “I feel like I’ve come through the other side of it and I want to support other women.”
Pamela Tsigdinos expanded on the topic by saying, “It’s about more than just babies. It’s about being invisible. We also wanted to have a discussion today with women who conceived easily. We need people to be part of the discussion. Most people think infertility is self-inflicted.“
An attendee followed up with that statement saying, “The issue of invisibility seeps into every part of infertility. Blogging has been an act of lifting the veil of infertility.”
The discussion then turned to how to build bridges to help people understand infertility.
Melissa stated, “I don’t see a huge divide between those who are infertile or fertile. There’s a divide between those who are sensitive or insensitive.”
Pamela shared some of her own story with a bit of emotion, “Our next door neighbor was having a baby shower and I dropped off the gift early. Not because I wasn’t happy for my neighbor, but because I couldn’t deal with her friends. I didn’t think I could stand there without falling into a pile of tears.”
Another attendee related, “When you’re in the midst of it, you feel like you have no skin. You feel raw - like everything is poking and prodding at you. It just sucks - It just sucks to be there.”
Monica said, “Infertility blogs are really good because it helps you feel like you’re not alone. It’s not just you.“
Two representatives from March of Dimes jumped in to say that, “We’re trying to bridge the gap. Moms are moms are moms. March of Dimes is here to support all moms, no matter how they get there. We get the most comments on our blog posts that deal with preconception issues, struggling to get pregnant, etc.”
One attendee gave some final words of advice, “Everybody has their own process and their own journey. There is no right or wrong. Be kind to yourself. Support other people.”
Topics: Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
LIVE BLOGGING: There’s More to Monetization than Advertising
By metropolitanmama | July 19, 2008
***Featuring Stephanie Agresta (Internet Geek Girl), Kristen Hammond (owner of Baby Brewing), Lynn Truong (WiseBread), and Dana Loesch (mamalogues).
We walked into a packed session - attendees sat on the floor and lined the back and side walls.
The session began and ended with one question: How Can I Make Money From My Blog?
Questions were asked and advice was shared.
Following you will find a transcript of the answers that were provided by the panelists.
One of the panelists began the session by pointing out that, “There isn’t one method. Just as your blog has a distinct voice, you have to know what your niche is and what you want to accomplish with your blog.”
HOW TO JOIN AN AD NETWORK
There are many ways to find and join an ad network. Two to consider are the BlogHerAd network and Chitika. Or you can google “ad network” and a whole bunch of them will pop up. Consider your audience and your goals before selecting one.
HOW TO GET ADVERTISERS “ON YOUR OWN”
- If you’re doing independent advertising (not through an ad network)…ask yourself: What businesses do you frequent every day? What coffee do you drink? Where do you get your nails done? What are five products that you’re obsessed with? Advertising should reflect your tastes and your personality.
- After you determine the advertisers that reflect who you are, approach them and ask if they’re interested in advertising or partnering with you! Companies are eager for the “buzz.” Kristen pointed out that, “You never know unless you ask. It can never hurt you to ask.”
- It can help to look a little bigger than you are. You could put up affiliate buttons to start. Advertisers are more likely to advertise if they see that other people are advertising.
- If an advertiser is hesitant, offer one month of sponsorship/advertising free and then see if they’re interested at the end of the month.
- Remember that the number of comments you have doesn’t necessarily mean anything. If you can show that your readers are loyal, that’s just as important as numbers.
- DO have a way to track your statistics.
- DO know the “demographics” of your audience. Do an informal reader survey.
HOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ADS
Go to a few advertising conferences: adtech, Affiliate Summit, etc.
HOW MANY ADS TO PLACE ON YOUR BLOG
One panelist shared that she chooses to place no more than three ads on her blog at any time. “The reason people go to a blog is for the content,” she pointed out.
WHAT TO CHARGE ADVERTISERS
A standard rate is $2/CPM (cost per thousand impressions). You could also look at two other sites are comparable to yours to see what they are charging.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Here are a few good websites for people who want to learn more about the basics of search engine optimization. SEOmoz.com is one good site for learning about the industry. You can also check out the Search Marketing Gurus blog. Google FAQs is also a great place to go for an easy introduction to SEO. Remember that key words, titles, and categories are super critical for getting good representation on google.
Topics: Uncategorized | 14 Comments »
LIVE BLOGGING: Is Mommy Blogging Still a Radical Act?
By metropolitanmama | July 18, 2008
***Featuring Lindsay Ferrier (Suburban Turmoil), Polly Pagenhart (LesbianDad), Maria (Immortal Matriarch), and Charlene Li (Midnight Musings and SiliconValleyMoms.com)
Lindsay, the moderator of the panel (pictured left), welcomed everyone and introduced the panelists.
Charlene has been watching mommy blogging for four years and she stated that, “MommyBlogging is still a radical act because any type of blogging is a radical act. You’re putting a large part of yourself out of there.”
Lindsay wondered aloud if it is possible to maintain a radical voice and still have ads and/or do the commercial side of things.
Maria responded by saying, “there are too many people coming into blogging to make money. As long as you are blogging for yourself, you can maintain your voice. When I go to someone’s blog, I want to hear about them.”
Polly pointed out that “the first definition of radical is ‘fundamental or root.’ The second definition of radical is ’social impact.’ Radical is making fundamental change.”
Kyla from The Journey said, “I think radical means honest.”
Catherine from Her Bad Mother (pictured right) pointed out that although “There’s a lot of acceptance for what we do, there’s also still a lot of backlash. We need to continue to be courageous about it [talking about motherhood].”
Maria maintained that authenticity is the most important thing, “I think as long as you are - I want to hear YOU - If you like this product or you like this TV show, I want to hear YOU.”
WhyMommy from Toddler Planet chimed in, “One of the things that I love about mommy blogging is seeing how people live. We’re not all one-dimensional. We mommyblog and then we’re professionals or volunteers.”
There was also a short conversation about whether or not to put your blog on your resume when looking for a job.
Jessica from It’s My Life and the Lemonade Stand pointed out that, “I have gotten three jobs as a result of my writing on my blogs. It proves that there’s more to being a mom than diapers and wipes.”
Polly switched gears and shared a comment from one of her readers about why so many moms/parents choose to blog, “The conversations online are deeper than mom conversations in real life. At playgroups, there is a lot of small talk and shallow level discussions. Blogging allows you to read and think and respond tomorrow when your child is asleep. We are encouraging each other to think deeply.”
Another attendee said that “MommyBlogging is a movement. It’s a silent movement.”
Several women commented about the importance of staying true to self.
Kyran from Notes to Self said, “This is my space to be me and there are no rules for me.”
Maria followed that up with, “You have to write for yourself. You have to do your blog for you.”
Liz of Mom 101 and Cool Mom Picks reminded the room that, “There’s room for everyone. There’s room for different voices. It’s all good.”
Another attendee started a conversation about how tough motherhood is and how blogging gives a voice to that difficulty, “I didn’t realize how hard it was to be a mother. It’s a really hard job that you don’t get paid for. Past generations didn’t get any recognition.”
Catherine of Her Bad Mother followed up, “This is work and this is hard. We are the backbone of this economy. We do deserve to get recognized and compensated.”
Maria (pictured left) summed up the session by saying, “You are radical just being YOU. When I come to your blog, I want to see the person behind the keyboard.”
Topics: Uncategorized | 17 Comments »
Themed Weekend: BlogHer ‘08
By metropolitanmama | July 18, 2008
How can I be at BlogHer and NOT talk about it? This weekend I’ll be sharing photos (lots of photos!) and summaries of the happenings here. And of course there may be giveaways so I can share all of the “swag” with you (although I have to say I really don’t like that word…).
I’ll also be “live blogging” from three of the sessions, which essentially means I’ll be reporting on three sessions (objectively - no opinions inserted).
P.S. Thanks again to my BlogHer sponsors - B&H and Kiwi Magazine!
Topics: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
And so it begins…
By metropolitanmama | July 17, 2008
The parties.
The laughter.
The buzz of a million conversations happening at once.
The friends.
The learning.
The sharing.
The fun.
And the missing…
Oh, the missing.
These two are in my heart every second of the day.
Pictured top right: Me arriving at the Alltop/Kirtsy party at Guy Kawasaki’s house (BlogHer 2008).
Pictured bottom left: My husband and daughter walking hand-in-hand (December 2007).
Topics: Uncategorized | 16 Comments »
Wordless Wednesday: A Little Girl on A Big Chair
By metropolitanmama | July 16, 2008
Topics: Wordless Wednesday | 12 Comments »