Mommy Blogging 101
One weekend in the sixth month of my first pregnancy, I spent an entire weekend scrap-booking my soon-to-be-born child’s baby book. Despite a bulging belly and the need to get up and visit the ladies room every 12.4 minutes, I spent hours that weekend cutting and pasting, creating a beautiful work of art waiting to be filled with such important statistics of when baby slept through the night and the exact time and date of his first attempts of rolling over.
Then that little baby arrived.
I quickly realized I was doing good to get a shower each week. That beautifully scraped baby book collected dust on the shelf as I attempted to survive motherhood. The baby did roll over and he did (finally) sleep through the night. However, such events were recorded well after they happened. I realized I was simply too busy living motherhood to actually be able to record it.
That is, until I started blogging.
When my firstborn was three months old a friend said something about her blog. I smiled, not really knowing what a blog was. After our lunch date, I quickly went home and googled “What is a blog and how do I get one?”. I quickly discovered that mommies everywhere were banging out posts on their home computers about such important topics as Jr.’s first steps and Little Susie’s midnight feedings. Reading the tales of other moms, deep in the same parenting trenches with me, was soothing to my first-time mother’s soul. Then I decided to join them. That cute baby book I spent hours crafting sat abandoned on the shelf while I published post after post about all the highs and lows of being a mom.
Starting a mommy blog is a relatively easy process, one that most likely can be done start to finish during a productive nap time. Below are some steps that can help you create your very own Mommy blog.
- Find a voice. Mommy blogs do not merely discuss the ins and outs of diapering a child and feeding a family. Mommy bloggers cover a variety of topics from parenting to saving money to political issues. In order to establish a blog others want to read (readership is one of the goals of a blog), one must first decide the voice that will be used. Draft a few blog posts, attempting to focus the writing on topics or subjects of personal interest.
- Select a blog hosting site. The Internet is crawling with a variety of sites that will host a blog, many free of charge. Blogger and WordPress are two of the most popular and user-friendly blog providers. Examining a detailed comparison chart of these two hosts can aide in deciding between the two.
- Choose a name. Give the name of a blog careful consideration. Before simply deciding on “Jo’s Journal” attempt to think of a creative title that will prick the curiosity of potential readers, wanting them to peruse the content of the blog.
- Consider design. Blogs come in a variety of designs, from simple free templates to expensive intricate designs. Take time to contemplate the look desired before jumping in feet first to a blog design. Remember that others will be reading the blog and attempt to make the site user-friendly and pleasing to the eye. The best thing about blog designs is that there is an array of possibilities, meaning that everyone can find something to match their personal taste.
- Write…then write some more. The best way to enhance one’s writing abilities is to practice. Establish a goal for the blog, attempting to generate a particular number of posts each week. Although such an exercise, as with any exercise, can be difficult at first, it will eventually become easier with time.
- Promote the blog. As mentioned earlier, one of the reasons for penning a blog is to gain readership and experience feedback via comments. List the blog at specific blog directories that match the content, leave comments on other blogs and tweet about recent posts.
Almost nine hundred posts and 4.5 years later, I am still blogging.
And that cutely crafted baby book is still sitting on a bookshelf in my house, waiting for the day that I fill its pages.
Do you have a mommy blog?
Leave a comment telling why you choose to blog and a link to your site.
I started my original blog (www.concscientiousconfusion.com) years before becoming a mommy, and when I became pregnant I realized that the readership of my original blog might not actually be a good fit for a mommy blog. So I started our family blog (www.afamilyis.us) to focus on only mommy-things, while the original blog remains my personal/environmental/responsibility blog.
I left a career in TV production to be a stay at home mom. I was LOVING being a mommy, but I needed my creative outlet back. On top of that, when I married I moved to Texas from NYC- leaving all my friends and family. My blog gave me a place to keep in contact with everyone, even when I was too exhausted to call.
At this point my blogging journey has become a place to get to know other moms in the area, as well as have a network of women all over the globe who I can feel a sistership to in our common struggles. Learn from, when I’m struggling for ideas – or laugh with at life’s crazy twists and turns.
Blogging has been a wonderful development in my life, it helps me process my feelings, and gives me a powerful voice. I love it!
http://www.milkandcuddles.com/
I am a freelance writer, but most of my article writing is on topics dealing with issues outside the home. I began blogging when I realized that my Facebook status line just wasn’t a big enough outlet to describe the ridiculousness of life with a precocious preschooler. I blog about life, the mommyverse and everything at The Twisting Kaleidoscope, http://thetwistingkaleidoscope.wordpress.com.
Because I also have a keen interest in media, my other blog, Woozles and Heffalumps (http://woozlesandheffalumps.wordpress.com) gives me an outlet to discuss the interaction of children, families and media.
I LOVE my blog because I was an avid scrapbooker but I always felt guilty because I was always getting behind. Blogging gives me a way to document our lives and keep everyone up to date on what’s going on with us. I no longer feel guilty because I never get behind. I look forward to seeing if I will get comments on what I write and I enjoy seeing how many people are interested in our life!
My only wish is that my writing would grow to be something I am proud of.
http://roubinek.blogspot.com
I started blogging about our little family when I was pregnant. Though I’ve often thought about stopping, what really keeps me going is that it keeps me in touch with my extended family. They can see what’s going on in our lives, but only if they want to!
babyratliff.blogspot.com
I started blogging, too, and had a lot of fun doing it. But I haven’t kept it up lately. What I have done, which I love, is make beautiful hard bound photo album scrapbooks for my son for each year of his life.
There is a company called Blurb that lets you download the software so you can work on the book without being online. Since my digital camera records dates that photos are taken I don’t have to always write dates down. When I want to work on the book I simply touch up my photos, crop, design pages, and add writing (often postings from my blog or facebook). No printing, no cutting, no glue, no mess! When I am finished I upload the book and have it shipped to me. I get a professional looking photo book of the most important and cutest times of my boy’s life. This year I even bought one for his grandparents! Much cheaper, cleaner and easier than scrapbooking and he loves looking at them!
http://www.blurb.com
I started blogging because the online magazine I was writing for preferred for their writers to have a blog. I was nervous and didn’t really have much direction or goals in mind but over time I found myself being pulled to other blogs and my own blogs began to develop.
http://www.MommyMattersBlog.com
Is probably the blog that is most like my personality and me. It is a blog about organizing, decorating, homemaking, cooking, blogging and life. It is quite simply my experience as a woman who is also a mother.
http://www.passportacademy.com
Is our homeschool blog. It is about our personal experiences as a homeschool family. I do share our resources on this blog when it applies, but it is about our journey and travels.
htt://www.teachermatters.blogspot.com
Teacher Matters is strictly a resource blog. I developed the homeschool resource browser toolbar and I talk specifically about many of the resources (and more) on that toolbar on this blog. This blog is read by both homeschoolers and traditional educators and I like that.
I love scrapbooking but I must admit that my 4th child has nothing. My third child has half a baby book and my first two children (twins) have the first year of their life chronicled in several scrapbooks. Amazing.
Ooooooohhhhh, the guilt I have over not scrapbooking Rayah’s life. It could be so EASY is what I tell myself. But then I remember I’m taking care of her full time and working full time, and wow – where did my day go?
I started blogging two years ago and it’s been a life-saver for my kids’ baby books….that are still empty! I blog their developmental milestones. Their blunders. MY blunders. And about random, useless stuff that only moms who stay at home understand because it truly is my only form of adult “conversation” on many days.
Not only has blogging been a wonderful outlet for me, but it has also helped jump-start my etsy shop. So if anyone is in business for themselves, I’d recommend blogging as well.
Oh – and the GREAT people you “meet” makes you feel all warm and fuzzy about the world again….especially after you watch the 6p news.
My blog: http://www.yoderlife.blogspot.com
My etsy: http://www.blueyodey.etsy.com
I started a blog last winter, and then got pregnant in the fall. As every mama knows, it is a challenge for me to think about anything but the wee one growing inside me. My blog is definitely moving in the mommy blog direction, and I’m having fun with it.
http://www.barefeetonthedashboard.com
I started blogging before four month, and i am very enjoy in blogging, this is awesome. But I haven’t unbroken it up recently. What I actually have done, that i like, is create lovely onerous certain photograph album scrapbooks for my son for every year of his life.
Excellent blog!!
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