Mummy Bloggers are a lot like Marmite, You either love um or you hate um

Hi my names Claire I write two blogs and yes, I’m open to working with brands!

Long Pause

(((((BANG)))))

That was the sound of me being shoot dead!

Seriously people, move on, get over it, who bloody cares!

This stigma attached to the “Mummy blogger” is worn out, old, dated and if I’m honest, a tad boring. Did I rage with anger when I sat reading the odd twee, (that seemingly grew in a pestiferous rhythm) labelling us “Mummy bloggers” as nothing other than scummy greedy blaggers?

Yes, a little, after all… who didn’t?

Do I still have a little anger manifesting deep within me?

Hell no!

You see, blogging is based around relationships, the whole mechanism of your blog is built up around relationships, reviews or no reviews!

You have your relationship with your readers, those with your twitter and Facebook followers, your community of like-minded bloggers and of course you have the relationship between blogger and brand!

It’s keeping these relationships positive that counts, it’s what matters. You want your readers to be happy and I feel that even though not every review will be read by your regular readers, they will still return to read what ever it is that interest them because you blog with passion and proficiency! I’m sure that if they are looking for a review on a certain product, they will look through yours first!

This is the beauty of email subscription, if one article isn’t to you’re liking then you just delete the email, no harm done! When a post does fall into their inbox that does interest them, they will hit the link and make their way over! It’s like a magazine, unless you’re highly lucky, you never read a magazine cover to cover as there are bound to be bits in there that have no interest to you whatsoever! The point is true followers will stick about, appreciate your writing, after all that’s why they subscribed in the first instance!

So… why do I care what some random pesky person on twitter has to say when expressing they’re flagitious and unsightly remarks, after all most are made by those who lack the skills to write a review so therefore sit about all day deliberating on what to do next, actually try it, or just pop on twitter and mock the “Mummy blogger” who does it and does it well, all in the hope of an argument unfolding! Sad, I know!

Now the only time I find such remarks offensive is when they are made by fellow bloggers, one’s who vacillates between conflicting opinions as and when it suits them! A month down the line such bloggers are often found hosting a somewhat converted blog from personal content into this top-notch review site… Now that’s just bloody annoying!

So, with the blogger, blagger debate in full swing in the run-up to Christmas, I began to notice a huge decrees in the number of PRrequest sent via the twitter hashtag, tweeted by my “now apprehensive fellow bloggers!”

Then came the tweet, the one containing that big question…

“Is this the end of the mummy blogger?”

I laughed, I laughed a little then I laughed some more!

“Baby… this is just the beginning!”

It would only be a matter of time till the request started filling the timeline of that hash-tag once more and with it would come a host of PRs and Brands willing to comply! You see, I have seen requests made by bloggers, that have me thinking, “You cheeky sod” and some bloggers can be a little greedy, but as long as they are delivering what they have promised, then to call them a blagger is barbaric, cheeky OK, Blagger… I don’t think so!

PRs are not credulous, they approach the blogger offering reviews, they also receive direct requests from bloggers that are full off ebullience. If the PR/Brand in question agree then that partnership a long with its agreed terms and conditions, is designed to benefit both! The PR gets its client considerably cheaper advertising on a site that quite often has more hits than your larger big brand sites, the blogger reviews a product of interest, gets to voice their opinions, supply honest feed back while doing what they love… writing/blogging! Only if that blogger does this in return for payment, can the review item be looked upon as a “FREEBIE” otherwise, I feel it’s a pretty low payment for the potential hundreds, even thousands of hits a brand can obtain via that honest, detailed product review.

What’s important here is the relationship between blogger and brand, a good mix makes the perfect working relationship and as long as they are happy with you as much as you are with them, they will return in the future and you’ll be happy to accept any offers when they do.

We are women as-well as mothers… a few blog post calling us a name or two, or that of a string of RTs on twitter, branding us freebie grabbers with no self-respect isn’t likely to knock us down, it just fills us with more doggedness! I for one have been dealt bigger and uglier situations then this one! I make my own choices as a grown arse woman, no fellow blogger, tweeter, or other, contradicts what I do on my blog, it is my blog after all!

I blogged for well over 2 years before I even considered a PR request (which wasn’t due to a shortage of emails containing invites to some of the hottest events while gaining access to some of the top products on the market at that moment in time). Yet, I was on a mission to get my son a statement of special educational needs, a school to meet those needs, a winning outcome of a pending disability discrimination tribunal case, on top of coping with sleepless nights, miscarriage, pregnancy, a new addition to the family and a personal journey of self discovery! A review did not appeal to me (even if it was something pretty cool) anyhow, I had no time, it wouldn’t be fair on anyone, myself, family, readers or the PR/brand offering.

It’s now January 2012, the Mummy blogger/blagger debate is still out there baring its ugly head, yet I can’t see it, and don’t wish to nether!

I’ve sat back and observed twitters PRrequest timeline as its refilled itself with bloggers requests once more! The signs that would indicate the past events is no more! I’m pleased that my fellow bloggers haven’t been pushed away by these hostile, jealous, over opinionated haters, even if the odd request is somewhat “Cheeky”

If anything I love them “Cheeky” requests, you know the ones…

“Established blogger is lost without her iPad 2 since the nipper threw it down the loo, anyone out there wanting to send me one in exchange for an extensive review on my blog #cheekyprrequest”

Why do I love them?

Because it alway brings the “Anti Mummy Bloggers” sliding out from the woodwork, joining forces, it quite obviously give them a means of conversation, therefore meaning that in actual fact, “Mummy bloggers” are doing what they do best… creating hot topics of conversation therefore giving social media a good old push in the right direction!

“Mummy bloggers” are a bit like Marmite, you either love um or you hate um!

Personally, I think we are pretty awesome #mummybloggersareawesome 🙂

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• Are We bloggers or blaggers? [Nigel Dunn] (ecademy.com)
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