In school I was taught to write a research paper by taking notes on 3×5 cards, organizing them according to my outline, and combining them into a paper. The 3×5 cards were not to be verbatim from the source book; we were often warned about perjury. We were told to write in our own words, but everything had to be very proper, no contractions, watch for cliches or idioms, make every sentence complete, etc. etc. etc. That left little room for my voice; not that I had much of a voice/style in high school…

Writing a mommy blog is quite different. You need to have a voice, a uniqueness, even a style.

Where do you find a voice and how do you get it?

The good news is that you already have a voice. Ever hear of voice biometrics or audio forensics where people are identified by their audible voice? All you have to do is take that audible voice and define it in your writing style. No one else can define your voice for you. They could look through your past writings and help you figure out or hone your voice, but in the end – only you can define your voice.

[Read more...]

A WordPress Website Gives You Advantages

My platform of choice is WordPress. WordPress is most commonly known as a blogging platform but it’s grown in popularity as a website platform for both large and small businesses. It’s a smart move to use WordPress for your blog or your small business site; and actually your blog can be the start of your small business.

Why does WordPress work well for both? Here’s 8 reasons:

1. Easy to Install – With a good hosting program you can simply install WordPress with a few clicks. Oh, and did I mention it’s FREE?

2. Easy to Update – One of the features of WordPress is the easy to use visual editor. It’s called a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. You could compare this type of editor to using Microsoft Word to edit your website as it’s very easy to use and many people catch on to use it quickly.

[Read more...]

Increase your blog traffic

More traffic is always a good thing. If you have great traffic you can get more subscribers to your mailing list, have the ability to sell ads on your site, and get your message out to more people. Building – and keeping – traffic takes a long time, but there are some easy things you can do to get started.

One of those is to register with search engines.

[Read more...]

Everyone received a Boy Scouts of America Fieldbook in the Type A Conference swag bag. As I flipped through the book I was impressed with the massive amount of information it contains as well as the multitude of good pictures and illustrations. This quote caught my eye:

The people who I see performing best in a crisis are people who are honest and forthright. They don’t hide their personalities or their weaknesses. They’re genuine.

~ Sharon Wood, the first North American woman to summit Mount Everest

The book is all about knowing what to do outside in fun or emergencies, but since I was at a blogging conference my thoughts immediately applied that quote to the online world.

[Read more...]

This week is Blog Week!  A partnership between Mom’s Talk Biz and Mom Webs Hosting gives you the opportunity get set up with your own self hosted WordPress blog.

It’s a special package that includes your domain name registration for the first year, three months of free hosting, a customized blog header graphic and much more.

Are you still blogging on Blogger and want to finally make the leap to self hosted WordPress?  This is the time.  If you don’t have a blog now and want one, go for it!

The Blog Week deal includes access to WordPress Orientation classes that are held on Monday nights.  You’ll be able to ask questions and learn more about WordPress every week so you won’t feel lost in all of the tech.

What is really cool is that you get to watch them create your new blog header graphic – so you can make it look just like you want as you offer feedback in live time via a web conference room.  This also means that you get your blog set up THIS week – no waits, no delays.

I found this interesting and pretty much right on the money.  [pun totally intended] I’d love to hear what you think.

It’s nothing new that moms have a huge influence on advertisers. Even before the Internet most advertisements were directed towards women because when it comes to the household women usually run the household. While it’s not so popular to say that a woman’s place is in the home, advertisers still focus most items for the home – and for children – toward women.

[Read more...]

photo from Shutterstock

Social media is hot for all bloggers and especially for mommy bloggers. If you don’t have a Facebook Page especially for your business you’re missing out on a huge opportunity to connect to your target market in a unique and personal way. So, the short answer to the question, “Is Facebook profitable for a mommy blogger?” – is yes. So, how do you cash in?

[Read more...]

Here’s some great stuff for you – all for free!

Lynn Terry answers the Top 10 List Building Questions. You can read it as a post or download is as a pdf at the bottom. It is good for every blogger – whether a mommy or not – to have a mailing list.

All Custom Content is offering free Summer Content Planning Tools. A bit of planning ahead of time will help your business sale smoothly through the summer.

There are 2 free downloads from Contentrix that can help you. First there is How To Write Product Reviews That Sell. Many mommy bloggers do product reviews and it would be a nice bonus to make some affiliate commission from those reviews.

Then there is a free special report titled 15 Things You Should Know about Your Target Market to Immediately Boost Your Sales. Even as “just a mommy blogger” you should know about your target market. It’s necessary information for your media kit; plus it just may surprise you.