I was chatting with my husband about the amazing popularity of mommy blogs. Some mommies from the mommy blogs travel allll across the United States, giving speeches about frugal living and mommy blogging. They get weekends at luxurious hotels, and spa treatments, and free cameras and other really cool stuff. It’s amazing, the power of the mommy blogger. We marveled together.
Freaky Frugalite is a mommy blog. It’s *relatively* popular. I get about 20- 30,000 hits every month here (sometimes as much as 200,00 a month), and I’ve given several interviews to media corporations, including the Associated Press, TIME magazine, and other “smaller” media corps; and I have been approached by the folks from Good Morning America and BlogHer.
And it’s really neat.
I mean, I think it’s so cool that people actually LIKE ME! People actually LIKE to read what I write! It’s a terrific feeling. (No hotel stays or free cameras, though :-p ).
But…. fame doesn’t buy the groceries. :-p
I still have Page Rank 0 here, despite loads of people visiting me, linking to me, and media bigwigs mentioning me. My New York Traveler.net blog is even bigger- I get close to 700-1,000 hits a day there, with an active readership and a LOT of new folks visiting (my posts there are very informative). And that blog only has a measly Page Rank of 2.
I’m a pro-blogger. I write because I enjoy it, but I also maintain so many blogs because I’ve made it my career while I raise my children. It’s an extremely fulfilling career- thanks to you!- and I absolutely LOVE blogging. But all this love and flowers and media attention doesn’t change the income a whole lot…. and sometimes I feel disappointed and a little desperate.
… ?? I don’t know what to do, exactly. Maybe I just don’t have what it takes to make this blogging gig a full-time career thing. That’s OK, come to think of it. I’m happy keeping things easy and relaxed. But gosh darn, you’d think with all these interviews and mentions and fireworks and wreaths of roses, I’d see an increase in some cashola! Nope. Still, Page Rank 0 and tepid sponsors. Hm.
*sigh*
So what’s next?
3. July 2009 at 11:29 pm
Well, you could pick a subject and try examiner.com. I’ll willingly share all I’ve learned in my three months of doing it (with the last two months taken off for moving!) It won’t take long.
4. July 2009 at 9:16 am
It is what everyone in life searches for….a happy balance.
It is not what the next door neighbor is doing that should determine what your happiness balance is…it is what you do and how it makes you feel at the end of the day that is gold. So many people look at what others do or have and totally miss the real key… which is… what is it that works for you!
Excellent awareness post!!
4. July 2009 at 5:10 pm
I actually got to your blog through the AP article. Regarding SEO, I know my stuff pretty good & I must admit it is a bit odd that you don’t even have PR1 considering your backlinks & unique (i hope ? ;) content history. The only thing I can think of offhand is that you changed your URL structure or something? (I notice all posts are rewritten to the root directory, prolly a wp plugin - was that always installed?)
Also it might be a good idea to add a few more words to the homage title of your site besides the actual name - ‘Mommy blog’ or whatever. Something people search for.
As for the cashola aspect - you really have to seek out & test different affiliates, as opposed to ‘sponsors’ seeking you out. Think of what your readers are already purchasing & provide them easy access to do so or good deals on those items etc
I have successfully monetized many blogs & websites and you sound really sincere so I had to leave a comment - hope it was helpful.
Good luck!
4. July 2009 at 11:31 pm
It’s no surprise you have tons of traffic coz you have a really cute blog and fun posts as well. I don’t know much about SEO or probably nothing at all but it looks like Matt has some good stuff right there.
Wish you the best!
5. July 2009 at 11:13 am
I understand. I surely don’t have your popularity, but to have opportunities based on Google Rank is silly and hurts quality bloggers.
5. July 2009 at 2:16 pm
Google is in there own little world. One can only wonder how they do things. Do they have a wheel that they spin.
Thanks for visiting Grampys Place. Mine is just a fun spot.
6. July 2009 at 7:54 am
I wouldn’t worry about pr - I think the only people who care about it are the blog “snobs” and paid to advertise sites (and they are usually the reason people loose pr), As far as getting sponsors, maybe because your site is trying to help people save money, advertisers don’t want to place ads there because they think that people who visit your site don’t want to spend money. Just a thought I had, don’t know whether it’s relevant or not. Their loss. It might also help if you ad an “Advertise” page and set it up with links to paypal - I get quite a few advertisers that way for theadmaster.net, you can check out my page at http://theadmaster.net/?page_id=61 - sometimes people are just lazy and if you give them an easy way to advertise on your site, they’ll grab it.