From the title,“Baby Einstein’s Refund: Not so Smart?”, Steven Levitt’s story could lead one to surmise that he feels Disney is making a mistake with their recent extended refund offer on Baby Einstein DVDs. It does make a good headline and is very ReTweet-able, but in truth, he doesn’t feel this way. He merely points to the fact that used-DVD eBay sellers have the most to gain from the new policy. In my opinion, that is a myopic view of the situation.

What were seeing here is a ginormous brand do something unusual; compromise. [disclosure, Disney is a client, but not The Baby Einstein company]. They are saying no one wants or needs to fight. As the FTC determined, no laws were violated in the marketing of Baby Einstein products. And from the blog posts and tweets from mothers who purchased these products, none expected their child to be applying for Mensa membership as a result. But there likely is a minority of people who were led to believe these products as giving their babies a head start in cerebral development. In reality they are entertainment and provide parents a moment of rest.

All too often companies are perceived in the extremes of friend or foe. Witness the ongoing Nestle dialog. And, too often, companies just try to sweep things under the rug when things go wrong and hope they go away. It’s encouraging to see a company step up to satisfy all customers, if it is only a minority who need it.

This is a company that understands that Baby Einstein purchasers are their long term Disney customers. They are making an effort at maintaining a positive customer relationships for future gain.

This story was originally written for MomsWhoBlog.com As a business person and/or marketer, you might find insight into one of the challenges of blogging.

EXCERPT:

Services such as Twitter, YouTube and Blogger have made it easy, oh soooo easy to get started with blogging. There’s no money required, no software to buy. Just start typing and you are out there.

That low barrier to entry can create some problems, however.

Read more…

I was lucky enough to have the privilege of an interview and subsequent story published by eMarketer recently. We spoke on the topics of mom marketing and working with moms who are bloggers. I am proud of the interview, but take issue with the title, “Marketing with Mommy Bloggers”, which I didn’t have a say in choosing. The concern is that it paints a picture of mothers who blog, that they only write about motherhood – which just isn’t true.

Excerpt:
Nestle found its Twitter hashtag (#nestlefamily) hijacked by moms who were not attending and very unhappy with the company’s marketing practices of baby formula and sourcing chocolate.

Read more….

BlogHer is the blogging conference that attracts the most female attendees and gets the most buzz, but it’s not the only one specifically produced for women. There are smaller conferences where meeting people and learning might be more easily achieved. Here are a few others that should be considered if you are looking to connect with moms who are bloggers. These events expect 150-300 attendees.

Type A Mom Conference

September 24 -26, 2009

Ashville, NC

A unique mom blogging conference designed to help moms who blog take it to the next level. The conference will feature influential and insightful mom bloggers talking about topics like the power social networking, branding, blogging, finding your voice, and turning your passion for blogging into a real paycheck.

Sponsors include: Little Debbie Snacks, HP, Boiron & iRobot

Blogalicious

October 9 – 11, 2009

Atlanta, GA

For three days, black, Latina, Caribbean, Asian-Pacific, and Native-American bloggers, among other nationalities, will enjoy a weekend of discussions and events. It’s an opportunity for women to come together to celebrate their diversity and their love for blogging.

Sponsors include: Quaker Oats, Burger King, Success Rice & Boiron

Blissdom

February, 4-6 2010

Nashville, TN

A conference for women bloggers who not only want to network in a laid back atmosphere but also walk away with improved skills. Learn from other women about building your blog, your brand, and your business.

Mom 2.0 Summit

February 18 – 21, 2010

Houston, TX

A place for marketers, mompreneurs and social media enthusiasts to get to know one another. A place to connect, converse, and build relationships. This year’s Summit discussions will focus on social media, marketing, networks, and brand building.

The label mommy blogger is used by some rather loosely, and in general, from what I have heard from moms who blog is that they don’t like it. The concern is that it paints a picture of them that is limited to the parenting of their children.

The results from our poll asking, How to do feel about the term “Mommy Blogger”? validates what I am hearing. 40% of moms who blog “Dislike” or even “Hate” the label.

To my surprise, nearly an equal number, 39% “Don’t Mind It” or even “Like It!” And if the responders who said, “No Opinion, Got Better Things to Worry About.” are included in this group, the percentage goes to all the way up to 60%.

Conclusion:
The majority of moms who blog don’t have an issue with the label “mommy blogger”. But many do feel that it creates a stereotype, so it’s probably best to ask before using it, or don’t at all.

Many of us, myself included, struggle with explaining to someone who has never seen Twitter, what exactly it is. I won’t even try here. And as TIME magazine aptly states, “Twitter makes a terrible first impression.” The poor impression comes from the fact that it is difficult to understand.

All at the same time, it is a new type of one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many communication. Say what? It’s different from email, instant messaging, and message boards, but has similarities. Yet, it is so simple. See what I mean?

This social media darling has become amazingly popular for it’s ability to harness people’s inherent instinct to connect with others. It offers news way to share, communicate, stay informed, discover, and more. Many people are in love with these new ways to relate, and for some it has become a sort of addiction. They dedicate a lot of time out of their day to spend on Twitter. And this leads to the other element of the bad first impression for non-users. It appears that if you Tweet, you are required to do it a LOT. There is a perceived obligation to very actively participate. “Sounds like a commitment, I got enough of those.” But the fact of the matter is that there are no rules about Twitter participation. It’s quite easy to ‘make it work’ for you in whichever way feels appropriate.

When added up, a fear of the unknown and fear of commitment, result in many people just staying away.

I can’t explain it. I think you will like it. It won’t take much time. Try it, I did.

Of recent, there has been much debate over the FTC looking at the posts and reviews bloggers write about products & services. BusinessWeek kicked of this debate with their story, Blogola: The FTC Takes On Paid Posts Susan Getgood writes an excellent analysis of the FTC’s intent in her post, The FTC is NOT gunning for mom bloggers

Lucid’s perspective, value exchange, influence and disclosure between media properties and business have all been negotiated to varying degrees forever – but it was behind the scenes, often with the agency as the proxy. It is now a greater issue because it is being debated publicly and as Stephanie Smirnov aptly states on her recent post, ““Publisher” vs “editor” distinctions don’t apply…” with bloggers.

Our belief is that people (anybody) should benefit whenever they are approached by a businesses to help them achieve their objectives – whatever form that may take. Thus, we do feel bloggers should be compensated (money, free product, no expense trip, etc.) for their time and effort – and even for product reviews. We don’t believe that the compensation type makes a difference. Getting to keep a suite of appliances in exchange for reviews, is pretty (ahhhem) sweet –
which blogger Candace openly recognizes. And since she has fully disclosed her reward, her readers will maintain their trust. And as we all agree, full disclosure is the requirement.

a news journal about mothers active in social media

Mothers actively involved in online social media (blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) are an important community of women. They are affecting social change from a grassroots up approach. From them, we learn about motherhood’s many joys and challenges, some of which were rarely discussed openly before. To their credit, we are no longer fed a homogenized version of motherhood and life from the mass media or celebrity perspective. Instead we enjoy unfiltered, unapologetic and, above all, sincere experiences from a variety of women living in real time.

These women are also highly coveted by businesses because of their influence, but they are often misunderstood for the reasons that they blog and the connections that they create.

MomsWhoBlog.com strives to be your ultimate source of news and knowledge about mothers
active in social media. Please take a look and choose your preferred way to follow the stories.

Successful and happy people tend to live their lives in a deliberate manner. They have goals and live according to a set principles they believe in. These principles are developed from the teachings by family members and mentors, and through personal observations, experiences and education.

Since we live in a complex society, goals and principles can be very helpful in decision-making and making sense of the world around us. Without goals and beliefs, it can be easy to drift through life and pulled or pushed by extraneous circumstances. But beliefs can also misguide us. Look at racism, extreme religious fanaticism, and other problems of the world where beliefs hurt other people.

Just like society, the business world (inherently a large part of society) is extremely complex as well. Successful and happy businesspeople tend to manage their businesses and careers in a deliberate manner too. Again, with goals and principles. This helps them make sense of their world, and go forward – sometimes misguided.

Andrea Learned offers a perspective in a recent marketing paper that many marketers are misguided in their beliefs about gender. In fact, she says that we should not be marketing to one’s gender at all. To quote her, “too many marketers are taking the lazy way out and polarizing male and female consumers.”

Are many marketers’ beliefs about men and women misguided? Read the Andrea’s “Beware the Gender Trap: Marketing to the 21st Century Gender Neutral Consumer” if you want to challenge some of your beliefs.