Marketing, Monetizing and Mr. Clean.

Below is a guest post from fellow mom and fellow blogger, JGH, of Nyack Backyard.

So far, I’ve resisted any temptation to click on the word “monetize my blog” on my settings page in Blogger. It’s not that I don’t want to make money, it’s just that I don’t want to start thinking of my blog as a business. I’m afraid that the minute I do, the feelings of obligation will begin and it won’t be fun anymore. I’d want to add more gadgets, and more ads and maybe even sell a few things, and then before long, the blog would be one big commercial venture. And although some of my favorite blogs have advertisements, I probably wouldn’t follow one that is devoted solely to reviews.

Wouldn’t it be fun if blog marketing worked the opposite way? Wouldn’t it be nice if Trader Joe’s noticed how many times I’ve praised their Dixie Peach Juice on my blog and sent me a case of it? Why didn’t Mr. Clean notice when I praised his Magic Eraser Sponges? I can always use a few more of those.
My friend once said something nice about a local nursery that got printed in the paper, and they sent her a gift certificate. Now they’ve got her and several of her friends as customers for life. That’s what I call cultivating a local audience!

Every once in awhile I’ll get an email from someone asking me to review or link to something in exchange for being entered in a raffle. I’m sorry. There is no way to know what my chances of winning are, or how many are entered, or even if the drawing is rigged. I guess I’m just not that trusting. I’d probably respond better to the idea of product reviews on my blog if I was offered something for free that I could really use, like a cordless chainsaw or woodchipper, video camera or hardy kiwi vines! I think I could make a good case for any of these products. But the odd things that I’ve been offered haven’t been on my wish list, and now that bloggers must disclose the fact that they’ve received freebies to review, I’d be wary of looking like a sell-out.

There is one kind of marketing that I do participate in, though. It’s called “oblivious” marketing. The Lazy Mom informed me just recently that when someone clicks on one of the books listed on my sidebar, they are directed to and Amazon page where they can purchase it. I hadn’t known that. I’d be surprised if any click throughs result in a purchase, but if they do, shouldn’t I get a cut? How do I sign up for that? I could really use that 17 cents.

The Demise of the Alpha Mom

So what happened to the Alpha Mom? There was so much chatter about her on-line a few years ago and now…nothing. Perhaps they were tired of us “Beta Moms” making fun of them. Perhaps when they sold out to companies who wanted them to “review” their products that put them in the dog house with other moms. Or maybe it suddenly dawned on them—that no one REALLY cares what they think of fruit roll-ups.

For me it was a lazy Saturday afternoon in Riverside Park, Hippo Park to be exact, when my own disgust of the Alpha Mom first began. My sister and I were sitting on a bench as we watched our children run wild through the child’s park of hippo statues. The hippos were at various stages of emerging from the soft playground surface. We were sipping iced coffees—a mom staple, and the children had more Oreo on their faces than in their stomachs. It was one of those perfect NYC days.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a clipped English accent announced: “Veggie Puffs!?” and large cellophane bag full of seaweed green balls was shoved into our faces. Harshing my mellow with this fish tank smelling “all-natural organic snack” the woman popped herself down next to us to tell us all about the health benefits. The children charged over to take a look, which was all they needed to turn up their cookie smeared noses, and ran back to play on the hippos. My sister, who eats nails for breakfast, grabbed the offending bag from Ms. Know-it-All. Scanning the contents—she said: “I would NEVER feed this crap to my child…god knows what they put in it—they could easily get salmonella from this so called “organic” snack.

The mother took her malodorous smelling bag back over to her Baby Einstein enhanced son. We sipped our coffees, my sister lit a cigarette and we watched our cookie faced children do dangerous balancing acts on the life sized hippos while other Alpha Moms called out to them to be careful and called to their own children not to follow suit.

If you cannot be good Alpha Mom—at least be a good bad example.

Down with Disney--A Mommy Class Action Suit

Although I must confess that The Winnie-the-Pooh Disney video truly saved our marriage by sucking our toddler’s full attention for a good 45 minutes...and allowing us JUST enough time to “re-connect“ on the weekends....Disney, now, is not welcomed in our house.

We were talking over dinner the other night—the child, the husband and I, and the child mentioned that the Disney movies always seem to be absent a mother—she is either dead or missing or killed early on. And she is almost always replaced by a mean, wicked stepmother.

I said—I think it is is because they are following the old fairy tales—Cinderella, Snow White etc.

But then child said...”What about Finding Nemo where the mother is offed in the first few minutes? What about that?”

Good Point...

She said she thought it was time for a mommy lawsuit against Disney. I think so too. How many more movies are we willing to accept with this free and easy killing off of mothers?

Mothers of the Internet Unite! You have nothing to lose but that glorious 45 minutes of undisturbed time.


Winnie-the-Pooh looking for a mother

Working Moms' Favorite Sites REVEALED!

So...after a rather painstaking process—the results of my totally non-scientific survey are in. 45 of my closest mom friends have spoken...

Just a note on the survey sample: Most of my mom friends work and those who do not “work” are NOT what I would refer to as the classic stay-at-home moms—in fact they are less likely to be at home than most of us because of their other "outside" interests that take them to L.A. or Tibet...

So what are the Working Moms of the somewhat affluent suburbs (this marketing opportunity sweet-spot so to speak) viewing on the the web?

NOT MOMMY BLOGS!

Now...I know it is a big surprise, but it is true.

What sites are they visiting over and over again like the pathetic addicts that they are?
Tripadvisor.com and Travelzoo.com

Tripadvisor is the one site that came up more than any other followed by Travelzoo....moms are not looking for recipes, not looking for parenting advice (please we get enough from in-laws and even strangers on the street), nor sales.

We are looking for adventure!



It is so true...I know EXACTLY what hotel in Rome I would love to reserve and I know what hotel in Rome we can afford to reserve. Barcelona, Florence, Paris—the trips are completely planned...in my head. If the child did not have a mouth full of braces and a math tutor—we would be in Buenos Aires this week at the Hotel Babel.

Tripadvisor and Travelzoo take note—Start a mommy blog about travel.

News Flash--Moms are too Busy & Men have Time to Burn

“Female iPhone Users More Likely to Tune Out Mobile Advertising” reports Ad Age...as though it is a huge surprise.

Although I don’t believe it is a news flash to any mom, but apparently for the advertisers is was an epiphany.
Moms are “less engaged with mobile web advertising” and tend to focus on getting tasks done instead. duh.

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=139673

The other big surprise revealed in the article, which, for anyone who has a husband or who works in an office with men is not ground shaking news—Men are much more engage with mobile web advertising than women. Probably because their time is freed-up while the women do all those daily tasks....


Of course this all leads up to the controversial, yet popular, PepsiCo's sponsored app "Amp Up Before You Score" for the iPhone. An app to help men be less dopey when trying to pick-up women by feeding the dopes pick-up lines to use with different types of women—I personally think of it as a public service. I think every woman regardless of age remembers painful pick-up lines...surely this app can only help.
The only problem, of course, is that the developers just went a little too “guy,” Rather than coming off as an app to enhance first impression, it was marketed in the most base way...as a way “TO SCORE.” But what can I say—Men are dopey....and the ad people know it. The ad people just forget that EVERYONE sees the app—it is not written on the men’s locker room wall.

http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2009/10/14/Pepsis-iPhone-App-Offering-Dating-Advice-To-Men-Causes-Controversy.aspx

Study: Stay-at-home moms dominate social media

Study: Stay-at-home moms dominate social media

Well...not a complete surprise. It is not like all of the working moms were wondering who had time to do those coupon searches and thrifty recipes and now we know.

The working moms will do what we do best--come home and have a glass of wine.

Posted using ShareThis

Letterman is More than a Pig and Why Moms Should Care

There is nothing like a 62 year old married male boss getting sex from his twenty something intern to turn me all “Fox News”. Although normally I am pretty much be and let be as far as sex, but this is NOT about sex. I cannot imagine what maze of rationalizations Letterman had to wind his mind through to even THINK it was okay to get his groove on with someone who works FOR him. Not with him, but for him.

I work at an Ivy League school and not that long ago a male professor dating a female student was considered normal and now it is completely taboo--as it should be. “OH…you are too busy to date me—perhaps a “F” on your lab paper will change your mind?” Please…how long did it take the old white men at the university to realize that the party was OVER. I will tell you--It took a LONG time.

A mom friend, who does not even own a TV because she is so organic and back to nature, stopped our conversation short to talk about David Letterman, At first I thought—David Letterman is such an asshole on his show to begin with why should I even care about his personal life. However, as she talked…I realized—it was not his personal life that disgusted me—it was his professional life. Yet Ms. All-Natural seemed mostly upset about his infidelity, not about his morally pathetic actions of screwing someone who worked under him, who he had some degree of power over.

I am SO in my Fox Mood Moment I just have to say what REALLY bothers me are the conversations about Letterman. What I have heard and read have been about his poor wife or the blackmail or why are all men pigs NOT about the abuse of power over a young woman...which I think what moms should care about. It is, what my favorite sex-ed teacher calls—a teachable moment. Bring it up with your daughters—there are men in the world who will use their position of power to get you into bed. It is not love, it is not even passion—is just power.