Sunday, March 14, 2010

Girl Power!



With all the heat surrounding this NYT article (Honey, Don’t Bother Mommy, I’m Too Busy Building My Brand http://tinyurl.com/y94f64c) about #BloggyBootcamp and Mommy Bloggers, I feel an important aspect has been missed.

Would anyone have dared write an article such as “Honey” if #BloggyBootcamp had been a male-oriented blog seminar? Would they have dared tag Tony Robbins as ‘self-serving’ or implied he was ‘neglectful of his children’ for trying to make a living off of his passion?

I see poor Jennifer defending herself for talking about SEO at #BloggyBootcamp. Darlin’ I don’t think you have to defend a single word you said about marketing.

Had Steve Jobs given a seminar about blogging that talked about how to break your market into segments, optimize demographics, and quantify time-zone specific commercial slots, do you think he would be apologizing today for not talking about content more?

Uhhh, no, I seriously doubt it.

The source of this attitude can be found in another article (which I found far more disturbing) in Forbes Magazine – 20 Inspiring Women To Follow on Twitter. February 8, 2010 by Halle Tecco. http://tinyurl.com/yfqdwdl

The premise is that men on Twitter get more followers by virtue of SIMPLY BEING MEN! Stats show that men are more likely to follow men and even women are more likely to follow men.

So they listed the 20 “absolutely inspirational women who are tweeting up a female storm”. I thought great! Finally someone taking women seriously.

But the 20 women were basically academics and activists. Only one woman was profiled as being a “colorful look into the life of a woman balancing motherhood and running a tech company”. (And btw, she has the highest number of followers 50,000 and it appears she follows almost everyone back! Girl Power!)

What outraged me about this article, was I thought it left out the entire segment of the Twitterverse which are Moms, empowering themselves through social media to build community, whether through parenting tips, sharing the experience of a family whose beautiful little girl is dying, selling sponsored products or products one has made themselves, etc.

And when I looked at the numbers of the women in the Forbes Top 20 list, the Twitter following numbers were not nearly as powerful as many of the women that I follow. Fifteen of these Forbes women had less than 5,000 followers. (Six had fewer than 2,000 - less than I have!).

These are their powerhouses? Where was Dooce? Mommywantsvodka? ThePioneerWoman? ScaryMommy? HerBadMother?

These are the women that when I started (and was scared to put myself out there and develop my voice) I looked up to. I saw they cultivated a following and it gave me hope that I could as well.

In my eyes #BloggyBootcamp shows the finest in entrepreneurial spirit. I don’t think we should be afraid to talk about marketing ourselves, our blogs, and our passions…openly. You know, like men do.

A girlfriend of mine (@craftycmc) got onto Twitter and within 6 weeks had monetized it. Now she’s got a business going (and she has guys as clients too!).

When I asked her about the NYT article she just shrugged. “I don't see why everyone is so worried about content. The marketplace will decide if your content is worthy, right? Put it out there and take it for a spin, if it sucks, you’ll know soon enough.” (And let's be clear, I love her shit! She makes me laugh!)

So Sisters, we really have to have each other’s backs, clearly Forbes and the NYT won’t!

Luckily I had already booked #BloggyBootCamp in Phoenix before the article came out, otherwise I would have had to rush to the computer and sign up.

Girl Power at its best, Ladies, Girl Power!

10 comments:

  1. EXCELLENT POINT!!! I am so freaking tired of the double standard! Not to mention the article was a little ridic- don't you think?? I get that same article at school, in the work place, at the doctors office... If a man takes a kid to the doctor they are a hero and everyone judges the Mom for not being there..I'm not bitter..nah not me!

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  2. I took total offense to the article. I was at the Baltimore BloggyBootCamp. Yes, it has a casual, friendly vibe. Yes, it is about where you want to take your blog. But I found a great group of diverse women (not all moms) with terrific stories and knowledge. You hit the nail on the head here. Thanks!

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  3. Thanks for not dancing around the sexist tone of the article. especially the headline.

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  4. Excellent, as usual! As far as Twitter, I have a good mix of men and women, but I LOVE my girl Tweeps!

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  5. AMEN! 'nough said from me! Keep us thinking!

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  6. Okay - I'm all Ms. Feminist Up in Arms, but I am such a loser freak when in comes to talking to people via my Blog. So I am leaving a comment to your comments, cuz I tried to go in a leave comments on your Blogs and IT IS TOO HARD!

    AngryWorkingMom - I read your blog, the Assumptive One. I love the visual of you in Cashmere and Heels. And what are you doing making a Roux? This is the beginning of your problems. Take out is the only way to survive Kids and Working. (And I run our accounting firm from the comfort of my own fat ass desk chair at home!)

    Fadra - I was able to leave you a comment. Did you love Bloggy Boot Camp? I'm really excited about Phoenix!

    Kate - Guava - Girl who isn't going to get less cynical! I love Guavas!

    Roxie - I love your Twitter background. I am a big TC Boyle FAN!!! Of course, all my cool books are on Kindle, so I guess I should scan in a photo of my Table of Contents. Nah ... Too hard. I can't even answer people's blog posts! Thanks for the LOVE Girls!

    A

    Lori - I love you. But my Twitter following is HEAVY on chicks. Guys don't dig me. The porn guys do, but I screw FEMALE!

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  7. I don't want to say too much because I, too, will be posting something about this...but,I enjoyed this, and look forward to reading thru your archives. I'm new to blogging, and feel kinda overwhelmed by it. Thanks for sharing your views.

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  8. i didn't read the article. i don't want to get mad. i'm tired of people trying to define me by my blog or because i blog or if make money blogging or don't try to make money blogging or whatever.

    they make me cranky.

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  9. I agree with you 110% and noticed the same issues with the Forbes article - no Mommies and no Business women. You get 'em Bitch!

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  10. Leigh - Thanks for getting the part about The Forbes Article. That is the one that REALLY fried my ass! I LOVE that you picked up on that. I'm always your bitch!

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Tell me what ya think, babe!