Yes, I admit it – I read the mommy blogs.  Dooce (Heather B. Armstrong) is my favorite.  ‘The Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond) runs a close second.  There are a few others that I read, but none with the regularity of those two.  I find their approaches uniquely different, but both quite appealing with their own ‘voice’.  Dooce pounds the keyboard with a sardonic wit that may offend some (see her description of herself here as an example), but feels very real and natural in her approach to everyday life with her husband Jon, daughter Leta, and that ’SuperMutt’  - Chuck (that was the original cast of characters when I started reading her blog years ago – they have since added a mini Australian Sheppard Coco and have another baby on the way)…..

Ree, is quite different in her tone and tenor.  She literally lives in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma and to quote her “I love it. Don’t tell anyone.”  Her passions include digital photography, gardening, cooking, and home improvement – and that’s how she connects with her audience – around her passion points.  Which leads me to an interesting article posted on the MediaPost Blogs specifically addressing the power of people like Ree and Heather to influence purchases among the mom market.  Considers this stat pulled from the article:

“There are 35.3 million moms online with children under the age of 18 — a number projected to reach 36.9 million by 2012.” 

That’s a huge total available market for companies to tap into online.  Another interesting factoid pulled from the article addresses the notion of trust:

“Studies show that moms are increasingly losing trust in established “experts” — institutions and the like — while trusting more in what other moms have to say. That trust extends beyond members of their family or immediate community to other moms — strangers — they meet online.”

How, as marketers, do we work with these powerful mom’s with such a large halo of influence, to be a trusted advisor to those that follow their adventures online?  In my opinion, very carefully because if that trust is broken – so is their influence.