Learning From the Top Mommy Bloggers

After reading Scribbit's article about mom bloggers this morning I got curious and just had to learn more. I mean, who exactly are the top mommy bloggers and what can we learn from what they do? The trail took me to an article in the Wall Street Journal, an article about a blogger known as Dooce. I'd never heard of Heather Armstrong or her blog at Dooce.com. To me that's one of the idiosyncracies of the blogging medium, it's actually pretty hard to figure out who is getting the attention/readership unless you follow the blogging trail. Back when I first started blogging I wanted to figure out who the top bloggers are because I thought I could learn something from them. I tried Googling for things like top blog, but the results which came up really weren't all that helpful.

Well, according to what The Wall Street Journal had to say back in April of 2008, here are the top ten motherhood blogs:

• Dooce.com
• 5minutesformom.com
• designmom.com
• parenthacks.com
• scribbit.blogspot.com
• fussy.org
• notesfromthetrenches.com
• stirrup-queens.blogspot.com
• izzymom.com
• suburbanbliss.net

Now for the thoughtful analysis part. At Wiep.net you can learn about linkbaiting. Basically one tried and true way to go up in the blogging world is to get others to link to you. Every link is like a spoke on a bicycle wheel. The person who's blog is at the center will be the one getting noticed. It seems to me that to become that center hub you need both good writing and wide appeal. Otherwise, you can get a lot of links by offering a community or service to other bloggers (blog challenges, carnivals, awards and resource sites spring to mind). Not only that, you need to have a "hook". The article at Wiep.net goes into hooks in great detail. So let's look at the hooks these top mommy bloggers are using.

News
The main news mommy bloggers use is mommy news. You're more likely to find them reporting on is what is happening within their family and with the families of other bloggers than to get a report of the latest sensational world news or scientific discovery. Now I'll admit that I've not done an exhaustive reading of the ten top mommy blogs, and Scribbit is the only one I'm currently following. Occasionally the outside world of news creeps into mom blogs, but it sure doesn't seem to be the main hook. How refreshing, news of real people taking care of the everyday issues that we, as moms, are most likely to face :-)

Education, Information and Resources
Moms are good at sharing their tips and top mommy bloggers do quite a lot of this. You'll see everything from crafts and recipes to tips and motivation. 5 Minutes for Mom is a great place to find all kinds of information, Parent Hacks is all about parenting tips and both Design Mom and Scribbit post their share of inspiring craft projects.

Entertainment and Controversy
Who'd want to visit a blog that is not even vaguely entertaining? Top mommy bloggers are tops at entertainment. The news they give about their daily life really does catch your attention. It's no accident that the top mom bloggers are practiced writers with a good sense of humor. Women used to rely on gossip over the garden fence to keep them smiling, but now they can visit Dooce, Fussy, Notes From the Trenches, and Suburban Bliss. Scribbit is pretty entertaining at times too. Call it entertainment, or call it controversy, but ranting and being irreverent surely stir up some interest and Dooce has got to be a master.

I'm pretty sure that being a top mommy blogger is not all a garden of roses and it's surely not on the cards for every blogging mom. Make no mistake, it's hard work, day in and day out, and not for the faint of heart. However, if you enjoy writing and want to stick with it and go up in the ranks, think about your goals, figure out your hook, and make sure you convey it instantly to new visitors.

What's your hook?

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I Did What?

What a doozy! Last night I decided to voluntarily close down my Firefox and restart my computer while in the middle of writing a post!!!!!! Somehow it slipped my mind that I was in the midst of writing. I'd been trying to get rid of open links all day so that I could reboot and save my computer from acting like it was 1985 vintage. I'd started a post of some learning links, mostly related to blogging. Here I was feeling pleased with myself for rebooting when I realized what I'd done. Duh! Whoever did such a thing? So, sorry, you will have to rely on my dubious memory to find those links again and share them with you. I think we're both in trouble. Oh well, I just had to laugh because it really wasn't that big of a deal compared to...

On Thursday night I thought I'd lost that big, long post I wrote about Mini Lesson Plans. Now that was a whole different feeling. I'd been working on that thing off and on all day, stealing a few minutes here and there from our homeschooling schedule, and agonizing over what to include. It was a case of too many ideas. My original concise post on all kinds of models had morphed into a long one mostly about model railroads. I really wanted to get some shut-eye, but not before posting that thing which perpetually seemed to be 'almost done'. Well, I did manage to get myself to the point of hitting Publish Post. As I sat back ready to admire my published work, imagine my horror to discover that it had disappeared. Argh! I was not a happy office-mate for Handyman Hubby to have. However, he sprung into action and between us, and despite the vagaries of Blogger, we found my post out there in the ether still residing among the back-key world and I was able to go to bed somewhat happier than I'd have been otherwise.

Now I just need to worry about Blogger going crazy some day and losing everything I've written. What's my backup plan? Oops, I don't have one yet and it's making me nervous :-(

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Favorite Blogs

I've decided to celebrate my first three months of blogging (my first post was August 13th, 2008) by saying thank you to the special bloggers who's words I enjoy reading every day. Many of my bloggy friends are regular visitors to my little blog, but others are likely much too busy with their large readership to come over here. Nonetheless, I enjoy you and I want you to know that. This list of blogs is by no means a complete list of blogs I read regularly; I already have over 80 rss feeds in my Google Reader. Just because you don't see your name here doesn't mean I don't read you and appreciate you!

• Janet at Adventures in the 32-Aker Wood is very supportive of other bloggers. She is a regular visitor not only to my blog, but to a long list of blogs. I enjoy her mix of humorous stories and thoughtful commentary at her blog and I'm always thankful to receive a comment from her.
• LindaB over at Occasional Scotland reminds me of the beauty and humor of my first home country with her not-so-occasional photographs. Thanks LindaB for making my day a little brighter with some not-so-gloomy views of Scotland!
• I have to say that Peak Oil Hausfrau is not a laugh a minute. Her job is to remind me that we need to care for the Earth for the sake of ourselves and future generations. Life could change; we all need to think some about being prepared. I am more prepared from reading her posts and from keeping up with her adventures in solar cooking and her regular thoughtful postings.
• I've long admired, well OK for 3 months, both Michelle at Scribbit and Julie at Homeschooling Ideas. Each of them was very gracious and supportive toward me with my early blogging questions and I enjoy keeping up with what they have to say.
• Tonia at Study in Brown conveys her graciousness and love through her blog. She has recently committed to following her heart to meet the homeschooling needs of her family. Tonia, you have my admiration.
• Holly at Unschool Days seems to have a wonderful pace of life, following her daughter as she explores the world. I enjoy sharing your adventures and your journey Holly.
• Little Window Shoppe does a wonderful job of showcasing small businesses. I love the graphic they made up to present my book business. Emily the Editor is gracious to work with and asks nothing in return while offering much. I'm not much of a shopper, but I must say that two of today's posts have really caught my attention. Fingers crossed that I win the free limited edition blog template!
• Last, but by no means least, Crunchy Chicken puts the mental in environmental. Crunchy has a good sense of humor, sets interesting challenges, and gets great discussions going. I may not be up to freezing my buns off, but I am inspired!
• Oops, I can't believe I forgot to mention my friend at Home Spun Juggling. JugglingPaynes, I voted for you in the Best Homeschool Blog Awards, though I'm not going to tell you in which category. Actually I've not finished voting yet, so I'd better get my skates on! I enjoy your art and your humor :-)
  

If I've chosen you as a favorite please feel free to take a copy of the above graphic and display it on your blog with a link back to this post or to my blog. However, this is totally optional.

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Are We There Yet?

Are We There Yet at Amazon.com
Have you ever heard one of your children say, "Are we there yet?" Now that most kids are back in school I keep hearing about homeschoolers who're heading out to travel. What a great time of year to be on the road. Gas prices have dropped back down, many attractions are still open, the summer crowds are gone, and you can enjoy freedom from the worry of heatstroke!

Personally I'm determined to stay home. Maybe it's old age creeping up on me? Not long ago the idea of travel made my ears perk up, got my blood going, and had me rushing off to pack. My heart filled with the pulse of mountains and oceans and my brain zinged with the excitement of new horizons. Today I'd rather explore the world from my own couch. Could it be anything at all to do with the hours I drove this weekend? It's amazing what we'll do for our kids. While I'd have been happy curled up on the sofa at home Artist Girl had other ideas. Thus an adventure began. I don't have anything too exciting to share - mostly it was me saying, "Are we there yet?", from the driver's seat!

Sometimes we need to reflect back to fully appreciate either the past or the present. So, as we settle into our fall holiday season, looking back on your spring and summer what stories do you have to share? Did you go on an adventure, enjoy traveling, have a travel disaster, visit somewhere exciting, or boring, shed tears, laugh together, or just get grumpy? Did you discover something great to prevent the Are We There Yets?

Leave me a comment for a link. Humor is always welcome!

United States Election, Republicrats and more!

1. While wandering today I discovered the Republicrats party. My kids had heard of the Monster Raving Loony Party in the UK (now in the USA too apparently), so I think they're going to like this. Be warned, the Vice Presidential Candidate for the party is seen with bikini clad women hanging on his shoulders. Republicrats, rated Teen?
2. Melissa at Sweet Serendipity shares a way for kids to get involved in voting - read about it here.

Got any funny stuff related to the election? Artist Girl and Game Boy love humor in homeschooling. Share and I'll give you a link.

Tonia thinks it's important to keep a sense of humor about the elections. I agree!

The Art of Weblogging - do you measure up?

What is good weblog writing and are you doing it? Aimlessly wandering the web and commenting about it is not going to hack it! If you need to ask yourself this question don't worry - there's plenty of good advice out there to help us succeed as weblog writers.

Here are some of the most common suggestions:

• Write good titles - B L Ochman gives some examples
  
• Keep your posts around 250 words - included in Darren Rowse' top ten tips
  
• Voice your opinion - be honest
  
• Omit unnecessary words - keep sentences short and to the point
• Provide good, informative, links - Seth Godin says, "Write like a Blogger"
  
• You don't have to be all serious - a little humor makes people want to come back
  
• People like lists (gotta learn from what you read)!

If that's not enough tips yet, what's wrong with you? Do you want to be famous for your blog writing, rank high on google, write like a professional, or know all the technical stuff? Writing a blog is surely an adventure, a learning experience, and something that can result in personal growth. All you have to do is keep reading and keep blogging.

What have you learned from blogging?