CurrentMom

Memo to AOL: Arianna Huffington and I Are Peas in a Pod

Truth Tuesday

With the news that AOL and Arianna Huffington are teaming up to take over the Internet -- combining the Huffington Post with AOL's roster of Web stars including Politics Daily, Engadget and TechCrunch -- I couldn't help but feel a bit overlooked. One of my inspirations for starting CurrentMom was the Huffington Post, and I'd like to take the opportunity to point out to the AOL acquisitions team the many ways in which Arianna Huffington and I are alike.

We use our friends

A few years ago, when friends of mine started blogging for the Huffington Post -- for free -- I was shocked. These are experienced, talented journalists with insightful, powerful things to say, and they were giving it away. So that got me to thinking … if Arianna Huffington could elicit high-quality content without paying for it, why couldn't I? Thus, CurrentMom was born, just over two years ago.

Like Arianna, I launched with a core group of friends I persuaded to write funny, informative, thought-provoking blog posts to drive traffic to my Web site. The only difference is that her friends were drawn from Hollywood, national politics, big business and journalism. Mine come from the preschool parents' group, volunteer journalism organizations, my school days and my secret life as an a cappella singer.

I'm immensely grateful to my friends -- and the new bloggers we've added since then -- and very proud of the result: CurrentMom is immensely readable, never predictable and I regularly find myself in tears over an intimate emotion or universal truth that one of my bloggers shared. Granted, AOL just agreed to pay Arianna Huffington $315 million for the enterprise she built on free labor, and CurrentMom's advertising revenue hasn't even covered my expenses, but things can change!

Do Bloggers Deserve to Be Paid?

Startup Sunday

I've followed with interest the ongoing debate in the blogosphere over whether bloggers deserve to be paid. Most recently, a PR executive blogging as Sarah at Mom Blog Magazine wrote a snarky piece that summed up the situation with the comment: "No matter how amazing your blog is, if the client doesn't have the budget to pay bloggers, you're not getting any money. Period."

While I certainly take issue with the column's tone and reduction of mommy bloggers to women typing on laptops in our bunny slippers (well rebutted by Deb Ng at Kommein) the post does have a grain of truth that is important for anyone trying to make a living online. The truth is that no blogger deserves to be paid. Just framing the issue that way creates the misapprehension that if you slave over a blog and devote yourself to your craft, eventually you will land a book deal or become a paid evangelist for your favorite brand or otherwise strike it big financially -- because you are deserving and because there is justice in the world.

There's no justice in Corporate America. Any financial compensation you receive has to be wrested from the powers that be through well-informed negotiation, demonstrating the value you provide and turning down the multiple offers you will inevitably receive to be underpaid and exploited. A longtime professional journalist, I started blogging and writing for online publishers three years ago to expand my universe of publishing venues -- and to better understand the space.

To me, there are several ways for a blogger to be paid:

1. Blog for a publisher or company that agrees to pay a set rate per post.
2. Generate enough blog traffic and a loyal community on your own blog to create substantial advertising, sponsorship and product revenue.
3. Demonstrate writing talent, knowledge, social media savvy or other unique skills that make your services valuable -- separate from the act of writing blog posts.

Anticipating the Unknown - Future Indispensable Technologies

Image by Lyn Millett via Flickr

Technology Thursday

Scott Rosenberg discussed an intriguing conversation that involved Mark Zuckerberg and the people who organize the big Web 2.0 conference. Apparently a "map" of "points of control" for the Internet was under discussion. And Zuckerberg observed that the map was misleading.

I think that the biggest part of the map has got to be the uncharted territory. Right? One of the best things about the technology industry is that it’s not zero sum. This thing makes it seem like it’s zero sum. Right? In order to take territory you have to be taking territory from someone else. But I think one of the best things is, we’re building real value in the world, not just taking value from other companies.

Now, this possibly self-serving insight aside, I don't actually find Zuckerberg all that thoughtful or insightful and am generally unhappy with Facebook. But I do think that Rosenberg's follow-on observations are worth heeding:

Oops, I Did It Again - Blogging About Blogging and Other Faux Pas

Sharing Saturday  

Well, once again I am a tragic victim of revealing TMI – too much information. At a friend's dinner party the other night, in the midst of a fairly intense conversation about my hosts' relationships with their parents, I stepped in with not just one major personal story dump, but two. And while my hosts knew both my stories, the other guests did not. No one seemed overly uncomfortable, no one seemed offended. In fact, one of the guests was genuinely empathetic and incredibly sweet in her response to me. I appreciated that.

But it was definitely a case of a little too much of my personal story revealed a little too quickly.

My husband sat quietly on the side.  Needless to say, he knows my stories too (and one of them is his as well.) But he is not the kind to kiss and tell. In fact, he is one of the most private people I know. His stories pretty much stay locked up inside except to his closest of friends.

I, on the other hand, see an opening to share and burrow in like it's a comfy rabbit warren. I like to connect with people, and my connecting tool is my life story.

Back to School Without the Back to Crazy

Startup Sunday

My family returned from vacation yesterday to piles of back-to-school notices and meetings. Already, I've had to cancel one professional meeting that conflicts with meet the teachers night. And then there are the piles of unwashed laundry and bills to pay! Is it any wonder that my stress level immediately rose once we stepped in the front door? (The warm fridge full of spoiled food didn't help - but that's material for another blog post.)

So now I'm really looking forward to the upcoming free webinar CurrentMom is co-sponsoring with Laura Vanderkam, acclaimed author of 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. On Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 12:30 pm, Laura will help us all tackle the back-to-school madness and figure out:

• where your time really goes
• how to decide, as a family, what deserves your time and attention
• how to fill bits of time with bits of joy
• how to get everything else off your plate

The Today Show's Natalie Morales called 168 Hours "a great read" and Christine Whelan at the Huffington Post said it offers "a compellingly written, logical argument against the emotional complaint 'I'm too busy,' presented alongside practical advice and an engaging collection of time-use tricks."