Going vegan, family style: New vegan fare makes an animal-free diet tastier than ever
Features »
Going vegan, family style: New vegan fare makes an animal-free diet tastier than ever
May 16, 2012 – 6:51 am | 5 Comments

Before the television appearances and the best-selling cookbook, Roberto Martin was a typical “Top Chef” kind of guy: meat, meat and more meat.
But then Ellen DeGeneres and her partner, Portia de Rossi, both vegans, hired him to be their personal chef.
Now, he rarely puts anything in his body that comes from animals.
For Martin, ethics and [...]

Read the full story »
Activities

Check out Denver’s guide to activities, craft ideas, Steve Spangler Science experiments and so much more!

Events

Stay in the know of family-friendly Colorado events with our weekly event round-up. Published every Wednesday.

Family Travel

Spring is here! Check-out oodles of adventures in Denver and how Orlando offers a lot besides Disney World, including Hogwarts, space facilities and more.

Mama Drama

Need advice on how to handle parenting challenges? Don’t we all! This column tackles YOUR behavioral and medical questions. Also find tips on healthy living.

Mama’s Product Picks

We receive hundreds of press releases every month. Find out what products made the cut and are mama- recommended.

Home » Blogging, Humor, Mama Tech Talk

10 Mistakes Mommy Bloggers Make

Submitted by on January 8, 2009 – 12:00 am41 Comments

Editor’s Note: Want to attend the hottest playgroup in town? Mile High Mamas is giving away 20 free passes to The Denver Art Museum’s brand new Create Playdate. Scroll down for details! Congratulations to Crystal Stephen who won our free session with a professional organizer contest.

You know those mommies at the playground who look like they have it all figured out and you find yourself thinking, “What’s she got that I ain’t got?” Those mommies exist in the blogosphere, too.

They make blogging look so easy. They write one measly post about some funny thing their kid did or said and they get double or triple digit comments. Take a different mommy blogger with the similar silly story and nothing, zip, zilch, nada comments. What’s the difference?

Here are ten missteps in mommy blogging that can make the difference between a comment box full of love and a comment box full of chirping crickets.

10. Not posting enough

You’ve got to keep your blog fresh. Blogging is a commitment. If you want comments and regular readers, you’ve got to keep them coming back for more with regular posts.

9. Posting too much

Posting too often doesn’t give your readers a chance to comment. It sends the message to your readers that you don’t care what they think and you’re moving on to the next topic.

Posting to your blog once a day may be too much to ask of a busy mommy blogger, once a week is too little, three to four posts a week seems to be the magic number for the most successful mommy bloggers.

8. Bad template

Make sure your blog is easy to read and navigate. Is your text too small? Is it hard to read the lime green text on the coral pink background? Do you have an obnoxious playlist? Is it clearly marked where your readers “click” to comment? Is it overcrowded with adware? Your blog is your virtual home on the Internet. Make it a nice place for people to visit.

7. Not commenting on other mommy blogs

If you want to get, you’ve got to give. It’s a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” kind of thing. You can start by finding mommy bloggers with similar interests such as photography, cooking, or working out. Searching out mommy bloggers with kids the same age as yours also gives you instant compatibility. Don’t worry about commenting on someone else’s blog that you don’t know. Bloggers are in the business of comments. If they didn’t want comments, they would turn off their comment box or make their blog private.

6. Writing too much about junior

We all know you have a cute kid. We all know that he walked early, talked early, potty trained early, and balances your checkbook. Can we hear about something else already? You were an interesting person (or maybe not) before you were a mom, share some of your own interests outside of mommyhood. We know you are proud mommy, but change up the topic a little. A daily brag rag of junior’s accomplishments gets old really fast.

5. Whining too much

Mommy blogging allows moms to not feel so isolated. It’s not hard to find another mommy out there in the blogosphere who is sharing the same thoughts and feelings that you are. I know many a mommy who has found comfort, solace, and sisterhood through sharing her burdens on her blog. That being said, this should be a once in a while occurrence. Mamas have their own drama. Don’t make your blog your Kleenex.

4. No pictures

It may seem voyeuristic, but your readers want to see pictures of your life. If you are afraid of putting yourself out there too much, maybe blogging isn’t for you. Just like any good news story has footage to go with it, any good post is made better with pictures.

3. Ignoring your readers

A good mommy blogger asks her readers for their thoughts. Share your anecdote, story, or complaints and then ask your readers a direct question, i.e. How would they have handled the misbehaving tot on your play date? What do they think of your new highlights? Which detergent is better for getting out formula stains? If you don’t want other people’s opinion, keep a diary.

2. Not networkin’ it

Successful mommy blogs network with other moms. The easiest way to do this is to have a “blog roll.” A blog roll is a list of other bloggers on your sidebar that you read. This makes it easy for their readers to find you and your readers to find them. Also, join mommy blogger web rings. This makes it easy for moms with similar interests to link to each other. BlogHer, with its coinciding adware, is arguably the grandmammy of them all.

1. Not keeping it real

I like to call this the “Pottery Barn Mistake.” Even if every item in your home is from Pottery Barn, if you live with kids, your house will not always look like the picture in the catalog.

Real life has its ups and downs. Visitors will lose interest fast in a blog that reads too much like an advertisement for your perfect home and perfect family. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable, relatable and honest with your readers. Your sincerity will pay off in comments.

What’s that mommy blogger got that you ain’t got? Nothing…she’s just got it.

Don’t yet have a blog and want to start one? Checkout our Blogging 101 Guide for the Beginning Blogger. Then, make sure to let us know. We’d love to make you a part of Colorado’s largest community for mommy bloggers!





41 Comments »

Leave a comment!

Add your comment below, or trackback from your own site. You can also subscribe to these comments via RSS.

Be nice. Keep it clean. Stay on topic. No spam.

You can use these tags:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

This is a Gravatar-enabled weblog. To get your own globally-recognized-avatar, please register at Gravatar.