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April 2015

Endings

One of the things that I’ve noticed as a reader is that there are a number of books that are good, great even, until the ending and then they sort of just unravel and stop. It’s as though the author knew they needed to stop writing but didn’t quite know how.

I fear that this site has that problem. Blogging has changed and I haven’t. I was texting with a friend just a bit ago who also quit blogging recently and she said, “It sucks having gone from innovators to dinosaurs.”

Consider this my mic drop.

Blogging was my full time job for a number of years. They were good years. Years that were important in my children’s development. They were years where the kids were in school for a short number of hours a day, and not even five days a week. By being a mom blogger I was able to earn a living without ever hiring a babysitter for my kids, missing a school event, a pickup, a drop off or feeling the pressure of full time employment. I wrote every day, sometimes for multiple outlets and I learned a lot about how to write for the web (which should not be mistaken for the fine art of writing).

In 2014 and now in 2015 I have not blogged daily nor have I monetized this site. Although I have a blog I would no longer call myself a blogger as it’s not my day job.

Recently Kelby (founder of Type A Parent) asked folks on Facebook what they thought of the term Mommy Blogger. I’ve been on national TV at least a dozen times with the Chyron reading “Mommy Blogger”. It made me cringe a little but I was on TV and I was on TV as a blogger who writes about motherhood, that makes you a Mommy Blogger, or at least it did then. I have since learned to be more assertive when asking about the lower third. As of this writing Kelby’s question has 120 comments, all of them interesting. “Mommy Blogger” is a polarizing term.

I am working on a post about the term “mommy blogger.” What are your thoughts on it? This will be for possible quoting,…

Posted by Kelby Hartson Carr on Friday, April 3, 2015

If I’m not a blogger why am I keeping this site alive? As the Mom Blogging industry shifted from personal stories told by a small group of women to a large number of women promoting products I’ve moved right along with them. I created an agency that facilitates partnerships between businesses and influencers. I work to create and execute campaigns that work for everyone: brand, blogger and audience. It is possible to respect everyone in the process.

It’s time for me to concentrate on work. Blogging isn’t work anymore and since it no longer offers community, satisfaction or income it’s time to reassess how time, my most limited resource, is being spent.

Twitter changed blogging profoundly. When Facebook opened up to everyone there was even less reason to update a blog. We all want to own our content but the ease of posting something funny and fast in other places is just too much to resist.

Which isn’t to say that none of this matters anymore. It’s still important to build a universe of content for yourself if your business exists online. A website you own should be the center of that universe. We’ve seen too many things come and go to trust the most important content to anyone else. I begrudgingly leave reviews on Yelp and Trip Advisor but resist as much as possible because I hate the idea of providing content for anyone else. When I write I want to own the words.

I want to be a better marketer. What I know could fill a thimble but it’s a thimble that is very much desired and not understood by many who need it. Maybe in 2015 I’ll fill a second thimble with knowledge and expand my horizons. I like being in a position where I can help women working from home make some money. I enjoy guiding executives through murky waters and helping them hone their messages so they can reach their intended audience.

I started blogging because I was losing a friend to AIDS. I continued blogging after he died because I enjoyed the community around me. I’m quitting blogging because the kind of writing that has helped to support my family all these years is no longer in demand, because I’m not getting better as a writer and because I don’t have an awful lot left to say.

I recently spent two weeks in Europe and all I could think was, “I don’t want to share this with anyone. I’m tired of sharing my family’s stories.”

Please follow me on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

I might update things here once in a while but I’m not a blogger. I haven’t been for a long time. Not anymore.