Candid Thoughts from TheMommyBlog author, Mindy Roberts
by The Obvious Expert on August 16, 2009
Some comments are so interesting they get promoted straight from the comments section to Obvious Expert blog status. We are very appreciative to hear from Mindy Roberts, author of the book, Mommy Confidential and of her outstanding blog, TheMommyBlog. Mindy Roberts … clearly an Obvious Expert:
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“Thanks for the thoughts – I think you’re right about women. : )
I do sell my book on my site (no one else does! It was self-published!) and will talk about things I have discovered and like, but never in exchange for payment. That could explain why I am not one of the many bloggers making a living online. I have to scramble for income. And it’s not always a perk to receive samples. I have literally piles of books and other things I will NEVER review because no one will pay me for my time, and I wouldn’t accept payment for it anyway. It’s a gamble companies make when they send me something. I’d say one to five in a hundred might meet my criteria of something I would use, have used, or would totally recommend to my readers, and even then it’s not an infomercial. It’s in the context of narrative about our lives.
The ads in the sidebars are my compromise… I signed up with John Battelle’s Federated Media, a company with integrity and high standards, and told then that they could place ads for whatever they liked on my site so long as it never interfered with my writing. I won’t be influenced by the ad revenue (which isn’t all that much. My last monthly check was $300).
I think it’s critically important that we all have a good, hard look at what we do and why. Blogging isn’t something you should to for money, but for the love of the game. Except of course for corporate gigs, in which case you should thank your lucky stars. If you have a voice that appeals, you will gain a following. You cannot buy readers, no matter how hard people to try to believe it.”
Once again, Thank you Mindy for your insights and information about the “real” side of blogging and thank you for helping to set the standard for bloggers with integrity.
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Obvious Expert
“Thanks for the thoughts – I think you’re right about women. : )
I do sell my book on my site (no one else does! It was self-published!) and will talk about things I have discovered and like, but never in exchange for payment. That could explain why I am not one of the many bloggers making a living online. I have to scramble for income. And it’s not always a perk to receive samples. I have literally piles of books and other things I will NEVER review because no one will pay me for my time, and I wouldn’t accept payment for it anyway. It’s a gamble companies make when they send me something. I’d say one to five in a hundred might meet my criteria of something I would use, have used, or would totally recommend to my readers, and even then it’s not an infomercial. It’s in the context of narrative about our lives.
The ads in the sidebars are my compromise… I signed up with John Battelle’s Federated Media, a company with integrity and high standards, and told then that they could place ads for whatever they liked on my site so long as it never interfered with my writing. I won’t be influenced by the ad revenue (which isn’t all that much. My last monthly check was $300).
I think it’s critically important that we all have a good, hard look at what we do and why. Blogging isn’t something you should to for money, but for the love of the game. Except of course for corporate gigs, in which case you should thank your lucky stars. If you have a voice that appeals, you will gain a following. You cannot buy readers, no matter how hard people to try to believe it.”