I haven’t loved the term “mommy blogger“, but understood that perhaps that was the easiest place for the industry to put me. Lately I have been seeing things changing a bit, which makes me think that the mommy blogger of old, will soon be a thing of the past.
See, here’s the thing about a mom blogger, her kids grow up.
They grow OUT of diapers, and stop playing with toys. Suddenly the wee ones that mommy bloggers shared their blog pages with no longer care about helping with product reviews and just want better tech and more screen time.
In the past years the Mommy Blogger has been the go-to resource for brands to reach this high value market. We were affordable (i.e.” FREE”) and would review product and promote messages.
Eventually a few got wise and monetized. There was now a fee associated with these product reviews, and we became publishers instead of just bloggers.
But there is still more change to come.
As a generation, our group is pretty easy to work with. We are polite, professional and (most of us) grateful for the opportunity to have this fabulous home based business.
But hot on our heels are those millenials, and guess what, THEY will be the new moms and dads. THEY are the new “Mommy Blogger” to be.
Considered the “ME” Generation, and thought to be narcissistic and enabled us “Gen x’ers” are usually confused by this group.
But, how will they affect the influencer industry?
Well ladies (and gents) one thing we DO know is that they are more tech savvy than we weill ever be. They are breaking new ground in technology and roll out perfectly edited video in 1/100th of the time we could.
They have a great ideas, and are digitally connected in a way that would make us blush. They were born INTO the internet. . . our generation is still learning (heck I JUST learned how to get a high res photo on instagram!)
So, what does this mean to the Mommy Blogger of old?
It means we are going to have to find ourselves a new label ladies. We won’t be in the Mommy niche anymore.
And even if we are, the game has changed.
Millenials are making transparency a requirement- even in advertising. They will redefine what we are doing in native advertising, and we had better adapt.
So Mom’s, if you want to stay in this game, here are a few things you can do to “extend” your life, and your career.
1. Be a New You.
Don’t try and stay in the past, adapt to who you are now and start bringing these stories into your blog. It’s OK that you are getting older, embrace that and start working with brands that fit your NEW niche.
Older can be good too ladies. Think of all those additional products we need to use to keep our wrinkles down,and our hair “youthful”. Not to mention the opportunities for travel we never had when we were raising kids.
And we are much more aware of our finances than we were 10 years ago (ahem, hello banks, we should talk) We have a wiser view of life that IS valuable.
Oh and to replace our children as they move out of the house most of us invest in pets, and pets are almost as great a market as babies are, so “yay”.
2. Let your Kids Go
It might be time to move the kids off the blog and redefine what you are writing about (see above) Writing your kids stories may not even be appropriate anymore, especially if they are getting into the teen years. Hint here – as you take them off your site, help them define their OWN brand on their personal platforms. . . if you know how to rock this industry perhaps that will be a leg up for them?
My daughter is finding HER voice on her own blog, and while she is too young for many social media accounts, she is teaching ME a thing or two about the ones she does have access to.
3. Learn New Things
Even though you might be an old dog, that doesn’t mean you can’t learn new things. Follow the younger crowd and start building your tribe on other platforms (hint hint, how ARE you on Instagram?)
Find your new market on these platforms and figure out how to integrate them into YOUR demographic, and into your business. Be careful here, you don’t want to force yourself onto a platform that you just don’t understand- make sure there is value to your current situation before you start downloading apps.
4. Move Up the Ladder
You would expect growth and improvement in any job you are in, and if you haven’t moved in your current role in the passed few years, it is time. Expand your skills, improve them and get a bigger JOB.
Management is where it’s at baby, so it might be time to take the leap and start advancing. Let those young whipper snappers fill the other roles while you move along to bigger and better things.
5. Watch and Listen
Changes are coming, so be sure to have your eyes open and your ears listening. There is a whole amazing community of millennial influencers out there, doing groundbreaking work. They are superstars beyond anything you could imagine.
Watch, listen, and then let them do their thing, but take what you learn and adapt it into a NEW way for our Gen X generation to influence the market. Our generation may be moving out of the survey group as the most valuable to brands, but we are still valuable.
Our generation still has buying power (bigger and better vs more!) and that means we still have a place in this industry. I mean, Harrison Ford is 71 and I still think he is kinda sexy (oh lord, I AM old)
But lets jut all remember, 40 is the new 30, right.
We aren’t dead yet.