Dear Mommy Bloggers,
Your niche is really looking kinda spammy lately. That may tick a few of you off, or many, but it comes from a place of love. I read a lot of blogs. Naturally, as a mom, I do read mommy blogs. Mommy bloggers do carry a lot of influence, because we all have had some type of parental figure in our lives, and have advice or suggestions can really help. I enjoy connecting with other moms. I love new tips that may help with my kid, house cleaning suggestions, do-it-yourself craft tutorials, and of course, getting new recipes to try.
What I don’t like is back-to-back sponsored posts. I get it. I truly get it. Some of you really need to make money. You’re accepting sponsored post opportunities with payouts of $5 to $35, and that’s price depends on your website’s traffic and social network follower count. It’s okay to accept those. I highly recommend it.
However, it just seems the mommy blogger niche, in general, is becoming one big endless commercial. Buy diapers, buy toys, buy these gluten free food items… buy #allthethings.
That’s not cool. You really shouldn’t be blasting your readers with that much promotional blog posts. It detracts from your authority in your niche, as well as makes it hard for other bloggers in other niche to take you serious if you decide to speak at networking meetups or conferences. The moment the words “you should be yourself when you blog” comes out of your mouth, you’re going to become a joke. If you are advertising all the time, is that really who you are?
Think about why you got into blogging. Was it solely to make money? Or did you have a drive to reach out to people?
If you’re being way too promotional, you may need to think about writing non-promotional posts in between all the sponsored articles. Sure, you’ve shared some of your story with some of those items, but if you slip 1 or 2 blog article in between each sponsored post, you’ll come to find that your readers will relate more and find you more authentic.
Honestly, before I wrote this post, I spent half an hour and read 12 mommy blogs, back-to-back. It wasn’t intentional that I sought out these blogs. I just happened to be a member of a group, that a lot of mommy bloggers were sharing their links in a thead. Every single one of them (yes, all 12), I noticed how the only material they had from their front page was sponsored posts. That’s a real problem!
I am highly aware that this is a generalization, but even through the 12 I saw in one fell swoop before writing this reflected this, my thoughts to write this post had already been made up after the months and hundreds (probably nearly thousand) mommy blogger websites I’ve seen in the past year… alone.
You’re moms, for goodness sake! Where’s all the awesome little stories about going on a trip with the family, or going on a picnic, or maybe going to the park with your kid? Where are the all the quirky little stories about your kids? Where’s the stories about your memories and experiences?
… without the blatant advertising within that story.
Many of these websites have Google Adsense, Amazon affiliates, other third party ad services, and even in-house banner advertising. That, on top of all the sponsored posts… that’s spam! It’s not right, and it makes me really sad to see such a niche look to do this. I understand that taking care of children and other family is a chore all in itself, but your commitment to blogging and creating meaningful relationships with others falls flat.
I’m not saying you’re evil. I’m saying, step back, look at your blog, and if this post seems like it’s talking to you, you may need to may changes for the better of your website. I DO want you to be able to make money. However, I’ve seen a lot of mommy bloggers get burnt out from the monotony of pumping out sponsored posts day after day.
Mix things up, and put new life into your blog.
Here’s some non-promotional blog idea suggestions to use in between those sponsored posts:
- Picture or “Wordless Wednesday” – This post is just a picture. Bonus: You could add 300 words to write about the story behind the picture.
- Mini Roundup post – Gather 5 to 7 links from around your niche to feature
- 10 minute podcast – Pick a topic and talk about it for 10 minutes. Bonus: Write a short summary of what your readers will expect on the short podcast
- Share a short fond memory that you can write about 300-500 words about.
These ideas can be used over and over with what topics you want to cover.
Just please, let me read about you, not about how every product you’re reviewing, has made some type of difference in your life. If you read it, I’m pretty sure you’ll be reminded of a television commercial. You’re not commercial writers. You’re moms. Let your authenticity shine through.
Your Friend in Blogging,
Nile Flores
P.S. – I’m diligently looking for great mommy blogger websites that I can feature in this article to show other mommy bloggers what they SHOULD be doing.
Again you are sharing awesome collection Nile,I think this is very helpful for every blogger has to need this information.In the above post mentioning 4 ideas sharing amazing to reach the every newbie.Helpful article for blogger like me thanks for sharing.Thanks for updating us.
Hi Nile,
Thank you for this post. I really agree with you, I think it’s normal that bloggers use sponsored posts to make money, but I also think that the commercial intent should be more obvious.
Most of the times, readers are not even aware that the blogger is getting paid to write this content.
Thank you for sharing the information, and I hope your post will have an impact, even if it has to be small 🙂 !
In the US, we’re required by the FTC to disclose. I agree that promotional content should be disclosed or made more obvious. I’ll make sure to make a best practices for Balancing Blogging and Promotional Content.
It’s the choice of the individual blogger to inundate their website with promotional content, but I think in order to become a better blogger, a balance somewhere is needed.
I agree. I can understand the need to make money. And some people really do a great job of writing interesting posts that recommend some product or service.
I don’t mind that at all. When every post is hawking something usually the quality suffers greatly and I lose interest in following the blog. Some balance and sense that you have to create a blog that both your readers and sponsors like is what is needed.
It does. There were some technical points I need to add to this article, specifically on “unnatural linking”, and FTC. I may hold off and do a best practices posts, then link it to this one.
I’m gathering 10 websites in this niche that are great examples of what this article suggests, and plan to get quotes from the ladies. I think it will help, especially for those mom’s who think it’s not possible.
Thanks for coming by and sharing your opinion, John.
I stopped reading mommy blogs largely for this reason. I’m not a mom, but I used to read some blogs that were genuinely interesting and fun so they appealed to me even as a non-parent.
The other reason (and this spans across more than just mommy blogs) is because much of the writing became more about shock value than authentic, solid writing. Some of those stories are hilarious, but after awhile it begins to feel like the writer is just doing it for pageviews. Sorry, but no. Not my cup of tea. If your life is one colossal string of shocking things happening my “HUH?! Are you serious?!” radar goes off the charts.
Hi Kim!
I think you’ve covered some really good points. And it’s interested to hear from a non-parent angle.
As for the shock factor. I can see this too. I’ve not been scared away by this yet, as I like to hear some of the adventures people do. Now, if I keep reading from a specific person, and it seems strange… that may be the time when I start to question things.
Yes, this post is a generalization. Unfortunately, it’s also true. I read from a lot of different niche, and this one is rampant with promotional content. Maybe it’s to be expected? Or maybe no one shown these awesome ladies how to produce better content.
Mom’s are trying to make money, and for some, their opportunities are those $5 posts. Maybe you could also try making a post on places where bloggers can find opportunities.
I think this would be great.
You were too nice… The Mommy Blogger niche has become more of a semi-organized hit squad of wannbe’s who think they deserve the press and the freebies because, well, they are mommies and they blog. Therefore they have power and influence and are “not afraid to use it for good or for bad” as one put at a recent conference I attended.
Sad because they could use it for a lot of good….
I work with bloggers as part of my job, and I have to say that it can be a huge turn-off to see blogs with just sponsored posts. We want to work with people with something to share and a real community! If this is my first time looking at your blog and all I see is ads, I have to question whether your audience is really there and engaged. We advertise quite a bit online, and the benefit of working with bloggers is that it ISN’T an online advertising network but something genuine. If all I see is ads and #sponsored content, I likely won’t even contact you.
Side note, many bloggers are making much, much more than $5. I’ve had quite a few quote me $500 (although that’s beyond our pay scale). 🙂
I agree with you completely. After often getting caught up in the sponsored post train myself, I’ve tried to keep a ratio of sponsored to non-sponsored posts on my blog of at least 1:1. When I find myself accepting more sponsored posts, I at least try to pin some of my fave non-sponsored stuff to my front page to break it up a bit. I still use affiliate links in a lot of the non-sponsored posts, but at least they are 100% my voice and I’m not being paid at all to write the posts. I find that some of my most successful posts for instance, are reviews of my Stitch Fix boxes. I’m not a blogger for them and just get the normal referral commission anyone else would get by referring a friend, so I’m not really writing those for the money but more for the traffic…and because I truly love the service and want to share it with others!
This is very true about blogging in general – but mommy blogs especially (i think because they are so primed for advertisements). It is fine balancing act between making sufficient income to keep the blog going now and making sure that your site does not just become one big advert. I think it is a good policy to sacrifice income today for quality contend that will build revenue in the future!
Thanks Again For Sharing This Awesome Article.
As long as the Mommy Bloggers keep there reviews legit then I guess it’s ok. My wife loves to read the mommy blogs and has several that she follows and wholeheartedly trusts regarding their product recommendations. It would be a shame to if they were just writing a good review to get free stuff as opposed to an honest review.
It would be nice to see more posts on these sites. Seems like to many bloggers are in a rush to monetize content before considering user experience
Agree wholeheartedly! Break it up a bit! Make sure to give your readers something of value that doesn’t necessarily come with an affiliate link!
Value is definitely the name of the game!