So, You Say You Wanna Be A Mom Blogger…
Usually, when people ask me what I do for a living, I’m really super vague. ‘I’m a writer,’ I say. Or, ‘I’m a social media consultant.’
(That latter term I use only very infrequently, like, with customs agents and bankers, because, ‘social media consultant,’ ew. I once told a German blogger that I sometimes used the term ‘social media consultant,’ and he was aghast. ‘Consultants are horrible,’ he said. ‘You must call yourself advisor.’ He never did explain what was so horrible about consultants, apart from the more or less universally contemptible qualities that emerge from the combination of ‘social media’ with any word denoting ‘expert’ or ‘professional,’ and maybe these issues go double for Germans or something. But these issues would, you would think, apply to advisors as well, so I don’t see the difference. Which is why I usually call myself a writer. ANYWAY.)
The problem of what one to call oneself when one makes a living in social media is just one part of a larger set of problems associated with making a living in social media, including, but not limited to: how do you describe what you do? What’s your category of employment? How do you justify what you do as a job if you do it in your pajamas? Is it possible to participate in Career Day at your kids’ school without everyone raising their eyebrows? Why don’t customs agents know what a mom blogger is? Is this really how you’re using your PhD? And so on. The biggest problem, though, is this: this gig is hard, and nobody really believes that. Sure, it’s awesome – get to work in your pajamas, doing stuff you love – but it’s also hard work: it takes a lot of time and commitment to actually make a living doing this, and part of the whole ‘make a living’ thing means doing stuff that is considerably less fun than spinning prose in your pajamas. It involves business plans and business strategy and business development and business promotion and just generally a whole lot more ‘business’ than you might expect for any endeavor that lends itself to pajama-wearing.
But that’s part of what we’re going to try to do here, at MomCrunch: demystify the business of social media, as it’s done by moms, so that you can either a) have a go at making a business of it for yourself, or b) decide that it’s really just way more fun to do this as a hobby (but a hobby you can be excellent at! So!) And so that we all can work together to make it clear to everyone else that this is – or can be – a real job, and an important one. And then maybe we can all walk into Career Day – or walk up to customs agents, or sit down to discuss social media business with Germans – with our heads held high.
Can not wait to read more from the fabulous women in the lineup here! Now when someone asks me what I do all day, or how they too can stay at home and work from their pajamas I can point them here.
Good for you : )
This is great! Can I put just momcrunch in my reader or will I get all of Babble’s posts? I mean, I love Babble…but may never find time to write again if I get the entire feed delivered to me!!
Loving this and also baffled by titles and finding it has to say social media in there somewhere for ppl to know what I’m talking about and then I need to have it sound official–like you would want to hire me to work with so—–have we figured out an alternative to social media consultant yet
I have always lamented not having an easy to articulate or tangible and thrust in-your-faceable talent: Here, look I compute!
As I get older I more comfortable with what I do kind of being a dance and I end up just setting my rhythm to match whoever is listening. Sometimes it works, sometimes I gently rock in a corner.
What a wonderful idea. Definitely about time for something like this. The more information, the more success, the more power for women – and our children – to (cue cliche) achieve whatever we set our minds to. Thanks Catherine.
-kelly @kellynaturally
http://www.kellynaturally.com
Sometimes it doesn’t seem real, does it. And challenging to explain to real life friends.
I like that you’re not sugar coating it and that some moms might realize blogging is best left as a hobby. That’s all good and proper. Women shouldn’t feel like a blog has to be a business. But for those who do want to make a blog a business, I have no doubt that they will get good advice over here.
Writer seems like an apt description to me, actually the best description of what you do. You write. I don’t blog but I read many and yours is not typical. It’s meatier. It seems more like a column in an intelligent magazine. Or maybe a fluff magazine that wants to hold you up as the “see, we aren’t just all dieting & sex tips, we can be serious!” example.
I’ve been blogging and reading and commenting until the wee hours of the morning for more years than I can count and I was just about to throw in the towel a few weeks ago. (Where is the love? Where are my people??? What am I doing wrong???) Then I realized I would write anyway, so I got over myself. Then I contacted my local paper and and got myself a blog on their site (1.3 million readers a week, unmoderated comments). Sink or swim, right?