(Continued from Type-A Mom Sessions – Part 1

Busting the Mom Blog Stereotype

Saturday morning kicked off with a session I was very excited to attend, Busting the Mom Blog Stereotype: Nontraditional Moms who Blog, hosted by Cecily Kellogg, Deb Rox, and Shannan Powell. This session was all about non-traditional moms who blog, and the fact that us — yes, I consider myself one of them — non-traditional moms are still worthwhile bloggers, and are still valuable to advertisers and marketing agencies, though they may not initially think so. One great point was made about mommy bloggers in general: that we're just a bunch of moms who blog about nothing other than their kids. I don't know about you, but a lot of the time the opposite is true for me — I'll blog about gastric bypass issues, work, things my husband and I are dealing with, reviews of products, etc. Yet all people see is that I'm a mom with a blog, so therefore I must be a boring, kids-on-the-brain mommy blogger! Then there's the working mothers — again, a group I identify with. Many of us do not have traditional jobs; freelancing is the thing to do these days. Furthermore, those of us who work, regardless of it being in the home or outside of the home, spend our money on different things than those mothers who do not work. The good news on the marketing front is that more online companies are seeing the value in varied demographics. They're no longer after the soccer moms who drive minivans and live in cozy little cookie cutter development homes. They also see the appeal and benefit to working with lower middle class women and families, and they're delving into non-traditional markets, such as low income and women and families of color. Above all, most companies do love diversity, so don't be surprised if some come your way! The two most important things I walked away from this session with: 1. Be true to yourself (even if it means turning down clients or not even being considered for their campaigns). 2. Un-niche yourself (blog about what interests you, and to hell with stereotypes, assumptions and "obligations").

Multimedia Blogging: Using Pictures, Audio and Video

The Multimedia Blogging: Using Pictures, Audio and Video session, hosted by Casey Mullins, Kris Cain, and Maria Bailey, focused on the importance of using audio, pictures and even video to improve the content and popularity of your posts. Key points to remember:

• Make use of the ALT and TITLE tags in photos for SEO benefits
• When doing product reviews, take actual photos of the products in use!
• Videos make everything better

Blogging with Humor, Personality and Voice

Blogging with Humor, Personality and Voice, a session hostedb y Jenny Ingram and Megan Jordan, focused on what I feel is the most important element of any blog: your voice. So many blogs these days are cookie cutter replicas of others, complete with the "standard" design, content, choice of wording, etc. Don't be afraid to be passionate, opinionated, up front, challenging, conversational, or controversial. What's most important about blogging is that you do it with a specific voice — your own. 

Using Your Blog as a Platform to Get Gigs

Another relevant-to-me session, Using Your Blog as a Platform to Get Gigs, hosted by Carol Cain, Jessica Rosenberg, and Kim Moldofsky, was all about optimizing your blog and your voice to get the most out of it in terms of products and money. Bloggers these days are passionate about blogging, but they're also passionate about working with companies on a variety of campaigns. Some great tips:

• Be ready to work hard
• Put together a media kit
• Make your contact info readily available
• Don't be afraid to go after companies
• Don't stop being yourself

And that concludes the sessions I attended at Type-A Mom. As you can see from my posts, the conference was a busy one, and it was indeed focused on blogging. More than anything, I loved how each session was made uniquely personal and memorable by its speakers. I also loved the useful information that was taught, as we bloggers are truly a community, and if we stand and grow and expand together, we'll only strengthen and improve things for everyone in it!