The state of British Mummy Blogging 2009 and predictions for 2010
![Bb3[1]](https://amodernmother.com/.a/6a00e55455c93588330120a741c062970b.jpg)
Last year I wrote a post about mummy blogging just starting to take off in the the UK. I had just created British Mummy Bloggers and frankly I struggled to come up with a list of 100 UK parent bloggers.
Now there are 800+ British Mummy Bloggers members and my inbox is so full of PR pitches I've had to open a new account.
So what happened in year? Mummy bloggers are hot. No, we aren't all running temperatures with swine flu. We're a hot commodity. I spoke with one PR firm yesterday that said they are ditching celebs for the "reality" factor that mum bloggers carry. Now don't go quoting this out of context. What I mean is that right now mummy bloggers are trendy. Who knows how long the trend will last — but given what has happened across the pond, my money is on the longer term.
Here's a summary of what happened in the parent blogging scene in 2009:
- There were a series of articles in the mainstream press about the rise of mummy blogging in the UK, including The Times; The FT; The Independent; Red Magazine and countless others (including Italian and Irish dailies).
- Seven mummy bloggers were asked to review Disneyworld, making Disney one of the first brands on this side of the pond to heed serious attention to the trend.
- A couple local indexes appeared to help rank parent bloggers: Tots100 and Cision Top UK Parenting Blogs.
- Learning from our US counterparts, BMB led the way in terms of ethics and disclosure with the British Mummy Bloggers Do It With Integrity campaign.
- "Cyber Mums" are being touted as the linchpin in the upcoming election — which is rumoured to be won at the school gate. Blogging mums are voicing their political opinions everywhere, check out these articles in The Independent and The Sun.
- Mummy bloggers have pulled together to put their new found voice to positive use in campaigns such as Mummy bloggers launch online auction for flood victims and The Great Panto Review for NACCPO.
What's in store for next year?
- More mums will start their own blogs. In the US "mommy" bloggers rose from the ranks of the parenting forums. With Mumsnet's 750,000 members, that's a large breeding ground. It also makes me slightly worried 😉
- Women will continue to ditch mainstream media in favour of blogs. This is especially true as some mainstream media move to a pay-per-view model for their online services.
- The bloggers that are establishing themselves today will be next year's leading voices.
- UK mum bloggers will start video blogging, or vlogging (thanks to Flip)
- It will become harder to get a mum blogger's attention as PR pitches continue to come in thick and fast.
- More and more mum bloggers will become spokespersons for brands.
- BMB's mummy blogger conference in July will be oversubscribed and a huge success! (email me for more details).
I've been busy helping brands with their social media strategy – if you want some suggestions, send an email to amodernmother (at) gmail (dot) com. Here's a link to some of my suggestions for working with mum bloggers…
So what do you think will happen in mumosphere this year?
A Modern Mother | 16th Dec 09
Chris — agreed and all points.
Chris Norton | 15th Dec 09
Great Post Susanna, I think Mummy blogging has become a bit of a phenomenon with more and more people doing it over the last twelve months. I think the power a good strong recommendation from another mother cannot be under estimated. I hope blogging in this area continues to increase because it is good for passing on useful tips and information about being a parent. As a blogger and a parent – I can tell you they are both difficult for different reasons. Keep up the good work.
A Modern Mother | 15th Dec 09
Natalie – with the technology so easy now it seems a no brainer, but perhaps it is me with no brain!
Natalie | 14th Dec 09
Looking forward to the conference and thanks for sharing! Not sure about podcasting or vlogging – I remember sitting in meetings at my old job several years back when they said that podcasting and vlogging would be big and in every year since I started blogging, I’ve been waiting for them to take off mainstream. But maybe next year is the year!
A Modern Mother | 14th Dec 09
Melita — yes, I forgot about podcasting, I can see that catching on here too…
Just a Plane Ride Away | 14th Dec 09
Congratulations!! What an amazing and successful year. Wishing you (and all the mummy bloggers) all the best in 2010 🙂
Iota | 14th Dec 09
I think I’ll just go on feeling old and a bit past it, and not quite in the mainstream, with all these new fancy mummy bloggers starting out, but it hasn’t bothered me for 2.5 years, so I don’t suppose it will in 2010.
I still love my blogging friends, and they seem to keep coming on round my place now and then. I’ll just keep nodding and smiling…
ella | 13th Dec 09
I’ve been blogging for a long time but this year has been fantastic fun as mummy blogging has taken off.
I’d love to come to the conference. Thanks for all the organisation you do for BMB x
TheMadHouse | 12th Dec 09
I think this is a fantastic post, I have no idea where things are going, but I do think that there is one essential element and that is that we are all either British or in Britain!!
I am unsure about vlogging, not from the doing it, but I never watch them, as I never have sound on!!!!
Melitsa | 12th Dec 09
Great round up. I also straddle both areas being a British mummy but living in the US, currently but that is likely to change. I can see a lot of changes happening in both places and I hope lots of healthy debate will continue about the best ways forward.
Everything is so new and it’s easy to get swept along,caught up in controversy and on bandwagons.
Lots of US bloggers are now wondering if they have sold their soul or spend too much time way from their families for not enough or no pay.
There is a lot of burn out and ‘breaks’. BMB works well because of the community aspect in my opinion, a very supportive and not hyper competitive, as communities can become.
Personally, I think podcasting is the way to go. :)Blog talk radio exploded this year in the US along with MomTV shows. Images and voices stay with you differently than the written word.
Women and mothers are prepared to produce shows and vlogs to get their point across, in their untidy homes or with their clean face on. With iPods and Flips mums are less technologically challenged.
In the quest to be a little different in the huge pool of mummy bloggers I think many will continue to diversify how they produce content.
Conference sounds great!
sandi | 12th Dec 09
Can you tell me about the conference? I would like to attend. By the way, great article and lovely pic in Red!
Brenda | 11th Dec 09
Great round up, looking forward to 2010 and all it holds and of course the conference should be a highlight not to be missed.
Kelly | 11th Dec 09
Really interesting post. I am so thrilled to be part of something that is changing so much and so quickly. Makes me feel that I am part of something even though my days are mostly spent at home with only a 4 month old for company!
TooManyHats | 11th Dec 09
You have really done amazing things this year! Congrats on the success thus far. I can see 2010 being another banner year for all of you.
A Modern Mother | 11th Dec 09
expat — wonderful!! promise not to make you sit in the lobby
Expat Mum | 11th Dec 09
You’ve done an amazing job, you really have. I remember when we hit 25 members! And, you’ve just made my summer plans for next year. To think, I can come over and see some of you in the flesh!!
A Modern Mother | 11th Dec 09
Emily — agreed, it’s going to be harder and harder to get noticed… and I dare say it’s not going to be just about writing good posts…
Emily O | 11th Dec 09
A really interesting post as I’m a newbie to mummy blogging. I started on Mumsnet and having got to ‘know’ a number of forum posters on there I’m not sure many will make a move to blogging. Mumsnetters pride themselves on anonymity and regularly change their nicknames. It can also get firey and confrontational on there, quite different to the more gentile world of mummy blogging where comments are usually supportive and complimentary. Many people will prefer to stay with the quick fire, argumentative type of online interaction. I’m a member of Twittermoms and that seems incredibly commercial compared to BMB. I hope it’s not where British blogging is heading as I get tired of seeing brand names splashed about everywhere. Maybe it’s inveitable. In the future I think good mummy bloggers will be picked to write commercial blogs for the media or family brands. There will only be room for so many good blogs though, and with time they’ll have to be very good indeed to get noticed!
Ellen | 11th Dec 09
oh i like it Social Darwinism on the internet. I do wonder sometimes if anyone other than bloggers visit my site, my prediction is that all the media coverage and more PR links will turn us to be more outward facing with non-blogging readers.
A Modern Mother | 11th Dec 09
Emma — interesting, a survival test!
Emmakaufmann | 11th Dec 09
Great observations. I straddle two camps seeing as I am a British Mummy but live in the USA where there are so many mummy bloggers it is like drowning in a sea of oestrogen!! My predictions for the mummy blogger phenomenon…only the strongest will survive!
Knackered Mother | 11th Dec 09
Beautifully summarised. I’m a newbie and loving the creative outlet my blog gives me and the laughs (and sometimes tears) given by reading about other mother’s experiences. Completely self-indulgent but I’m sure I shout at the children less as a result. That’s got to be a good thing.
Modern – volunteering to help on wine front at conference if that’s called for?
x
Jennifer | 11th Dec 09
It’s interesting that there’s so much debate about vlogging and whether it’s “real” (ie. here to stay).
I think video reviews are great (especially with hotels and toys). But just talking to a video camera? eh, not for me.
The conference is going to be awesome. Make sure you take poll on the BMB site to let us know what you want it to feature.
amy | 11th Dec 09
Great post and thank you for putting a link up to the article that I was in 🙂 oh and BMB conference? i am so there! xxxx
Almost Mrs Average | 11th Dec 09
Brillant summary Susanna and it’s been great having you leading the way. So thank you from me too. Here’s to next year. 😀 x
working mum | 11th Dec 09
Thank you for that interesting and informative round up of what’s happening. As a blogger who works full-time I find it difficult to keep up to date with what is happening in the blogging world so this was a great overview for me.
As for next year, I wonder what will happen with the PR/Marketing approaches that we get. I think that they have seen bloggers as a new resource, but are not sure how to use us. I do read all the approaches I get, but I must admit that most go straight to my recycle bin because they are blatantly trying to get me to do free advertising for them. I feel like my blog is a magazine which they want to advertise in without paying. Perhaps the approaches will decrease or they will develop a more collaborative and mutually advantageous way to work together.
As for me, I’ll just carry on recording life in the Working Mum household for my family, my friends and anyone else who finds it interesting!
A Modern Mother | 11th Dec 09
Dulwich — tentatively planning 3 July (a Saturday) in London … more info on BMB!
Rosie Scribble | 11th Dec 09
I’d like to say thanks for all the work you are doing Susanna. I was about the 100th blogger to join BMB so I remember when I was still a relatively small community. It is impressive to see how much it has grown and it is likely to get much larger (which may increase your workload substantially!)Good luck with the next year!
Dulwich Divorcee | 11th Dec 09
Hi Susanna, you’ve hit it on the head as ever. Thanks so much for bringing us all together and for keeping us together! It’s a huge job and much appreciated. Can’t wait for July – could it be before the little dears break up for the summer, please?
Vic | 11th Dec 09
“it’ll be like blogher but like *cough* much better” I love it!!!
Mummy blogging (as opposed to mommy blogging) is definitely going to get bigger and I hope that we can managed to maintain our integrity as it does.
I’m still not convinced about vlogging – I think that it can be a useful tool but have concerns that the quality of posting will go down if used, and that it’s not necessarily as time-efficient as it sounds on the surface. Personally, I don’t bother ‘reading’ vlogs and prefer the written word, but that’s just me.
Linda | 11th Dec 09
As someone who blogs in part for professional reasons and has been doing so since 2006, a big turnabout for me this year has been discovering that blogs are also places to discover friends.
While it’s fascinating from a work point of view to witness and analyse what’s happening with blogs and to be able to participate and benefit from professional opportunities this has brought me and others, for me, perhaps the most far-reaching element will remain the sense of community and friendship.
I think some confusion and frustration will also remain around the term ‘mummy blogger’ – which for me conjures up images of a hugely middle class and some would say self indulgent phenomenom, I would love to see more diverse voices in the mix.
And I’d love to see an end to assumptions that as a group so-called mummy bloggers are pretty much identical, we are not.
I hope that the charity initiatives you have highlighted can also make a difference, thank you for highlighting our efforts to raise money for children’s cancer charity NACCPO and please can I ask your readers to consider donating to our JustGiving page:
http://www.justgiving.com/Havealovelytime
Every penny counts for this charity working to support families whose children have cancer but has severely limited resources.
Thanks Susanna for all you have done with your work on BMB in making so much of these developments possible, am very much looking forward to the July get-together.
Josie @Sleep is for the Weak | 11th Dec 09
A conference??!!! Oh yes please!!!
It’s been a fab year and I feel proud to have shared in it for the last half of it. Can’t wait to see what next year has in store.
Mumstheboss | 11th Dec 09
Great summary of a really exciting year!
I think it would be great for more bloggers to be paid for what they have being doing for love for so long.
It would also be great if blogs were more widely read than just within the BMB community and were promoted to a much wider audience in the media.
Like lots of others, I’m not keen on the idea of video blogging but I *do* like the sound of a conference – there’s nothing more inspiring than a room full of creative people 🙂
Home office mum | 11th Dec 09
Fab summary. Dying to find out more about the conference. Please fill us in!
Erica | 11th Dec 09
OMG what’s all this about a BMB conference, it’ll be like blogher but like *cough* much better 🙂
Details please 🙂
A Modern Mother | 11th Dec 09
You all say no to video now … But let’s see where you are next year…
Metropolitan Mum | 11th Dec 09
It’s so exciting to be part of it. Well done for holding it all together!
Hot Cross Mum | 11th Dec 09
Really fascinating post and it is so amazing to see how quickly this has exploded. Exciting to see what 2010 holds in store. Will be interesting to see how the PR thing pans out – whether they change their strategy at all.
Heather | 11th Dec 09
An interesting post. Not sure about the vlogging though. Personally I would much rather read a post that watch a video (only alerts kids to the fact that I’m on the computer and they come flocking) and i can’t imagine anyone wanting to listen to my dulcet tones.
angelsandurchinsblog | 11th Dec 09
Lots to think about, but wonderful to read about something so positive. Most bloggers talk about ‘community’, and this is obviously what the PRs are all so keen on getting in touch with, a bone fide way in to a targeted revenue stream. So I predict even more pitches, and far more creative ones. So as long as bloggers keep their integrity, and their real voice, it can only be a good thing. Nice that print media is taking notice of the community too, but wonder how long before they start to fear the bloggers quite a lot too?
Dawn/LittleGreenFingers | 11th Dec 09
I would be interested to see how many more people next year will actually read blogs. Sometimes it does feel as though we bloggers tend to also be the main body of readers which can make this quite an insular world. I hope next year will open out the audience further.
Also, I wonder if the PR community will actually start to really analyse the worth of the blogging community in a meaningful way next year. So far it does feel rather like a knee jerk reaction to tag a ‘blogging campaign’ onto the main media push just because it feels like a cheap and easy hit.
Crikey – have just realised I’ve come over all serious. That’s not like me!
Brit In Bosnia | 11th Dec 09
Oh no, vlogging not for me. I might have to brush my hair and I’d rather the world didn’t see the state of my house after the boys have been through it!
Great post though. I’m really interested to see where this blogging thing is going to go. I know that i really enjoy it, the writing, the community. As long as that aspect remains then long live mummy bloggers!
A Modern Mother | 11th Dec 09
Shannon –that’s a thought
Potty — good idea
Carly — vlogging’s not for everyone, but with Flip it is so easy…
Carly | 11th Dec 09
Golly, it really has grown hasn’t it.
I love the idea of vlogging but not sure it will take off here as a few years ago I vlogged in the fashion industry and compared to my blog it was never as popular but you never know, perhaps next year is the year.
You have done such an amazing job with BMBs, don’t know how you get the time, thanks so much
And would love to know more about the blogger conference in July too x
Potty Mummy | 11th Dec 09
Great summary Susanna – and if we’re going to start vlogging in our pyjamas I may have to upgrade my dressing-gown…
Shannon | 11th Dec 09
Don’t forget the Mums Net, what’s-your-favourite-biscuit debacle, which brough Mummy blogging to the front of the news for a bit.
I think vlogging has come and gone, though. I’ve been blogging for 7 years and remember a blip when audio blogging and then vlogging came through – the resounding voice from the blog folk was that they’d rather read, not hear. So I wonder if that is going to come back. I’d rather not. It would mean people would see I blog in my pajamas!
A Modern Mother | 11th Dec 09
I think online paid content is going to decline too, why would you pay?
Liz (LivingwithKids) | 11th Dec 09
I think you’re right, and I’m going to predict that by this time next year there will be around 3000 British Mummy (and Daddy) bloggers. The paid content is really interesting, as I’m convinced newspapers are going to discover their readership dramatically declines – personally, if I can’t access content for free then I look elsewhere. I’m not sure about the vlogging, though… I wouldn’t want my face on a video and I don’t think anyone would want to look at it!