Modern Mom, a Los Angeles-based pioneer in the increasingly crowded “online moms” space, is launching 12 city guides on Wedensday (Nov. 15). Previews of LA, San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City and Washington D.C. are already up. These cities will be joined by Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Seattle, Minneapolis and Dallas (if my reading of the pinpoints on a 50 state map is correct).
“Founding Mom” Lolita Carrico says that the city guides will each have a local editor, but won’t initially be accompanied by local sales – although the site might eventually get local sales partners. For now, the site will be relying on national sites such as Shutterfly, TIVO and isaBooties, and by companies like Roche, which features a link to its localized Flu Tracker site (“find out about flu conditions in your area”).
Another localized advertiser is Baskin Robbins 31. In fact, I found the site because I am on Baskin Robbins birthday list and received an email promo giving me $3 off its new Fudge Crunch Cake. At the bottom of the online flyer is info for Modern Mom, urging ice cream lovers to “be the first to check out their San Diego City Guide for the latest scoop on hot products, must attend events and fantastic services for you and your family!” As my friend Jim Bonfield says, “This stuff really works.”
Carrico notes that the site, which was founded in 2002 and is still independent, currently attracts 250,000 unique visitors a month. It also has 80,000 subscribers to a daily email. The site gets very frequent usage, with 30 percent coming once a week, and 22 percent daily. Thirty-five percent have household incomes above $100k.
Peter, there is a huge difference in quality of content in the “moms” space. Local sites like MilwaukeeMoms.com are sites that were founded by moms in localities where there was a true need. National sites like ParentsConnect and ClubMom are really just another iteration of city guides.
The difference being appointed city info/reporter types that are employed by the national sites vs. the growing number of mothers who feel marginalized by marketers and feel it’s their obligation to inform others in their own community.
I don’t think anybody’s particularly close, although I’d like to think that we’re heading in the right direction here at backfence, but gaining an engaged local audience takes a tremendous amount of genuine outreach. That can only be done by locals in small local geographies, or in very specific verticals.
“Moms” is simply too big, but it sure will draw lots of ad dollars.
Just thought I’d give you the heads up about momready.com’s unique partnership with the Geffen Playhouse Saturday Scene by searching for Kid Reporters to review their 2006 – 2007 season of plays. momready.com, a leading online parenting magazine that offers tips and topics for busy parents, with a bit of humor mixed in, has partnered with the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, California to launch the momready.com’s Kid Reporter for Saturday Scene at the Geffen Playhouse program.
This is a unique opportunity for children 6 years and older to be selected as the “Kid Reporter” for an upcoming performance during the Geffen Playhouse Saturday Scene 2006-2007 season. momready.com editor and CEO, Elisa Taub says, “We are extremely excited about our collaboration with the Geffen Playhouse. My two children have always enjoyed the Saturday Scene and I can’t think of a better way to engage kids in theatre. We look forward to providing great Kid Reporters.”
For each show, momready.com will provide a Kid Reporter to be randomly pre-selected through a “contest” that will be announced on momready.com. To enter your child, log onto momready.com and fill out the “momready Kid Reporter at the Geffen” form. Parents may enter more than one child and need only sign up once, as names will be stored for all future momready.com Kid Reporter at the Geffen drawings. Subscription to momready.com is free, with informative, bite-sized articles delivered directly to your e-mail box, Monday – Friday. Subscribers are eligible for unique giveaways, contests and special sales.
momready will provide the “Kid Reporter” with fun questions about the performance they attend and/or the world of theater. The answers will be “lightly edited” as their article will be published in the next Geffen Playhouse Saturday Scene Performances playbill and in a designated section on momready.com. For safety and confidentiality, no last names will be used, just the child’s first name and age.
I agree with you about the “crowded” mom’s space on the web, however the Modern Mom’s website really offers an organized approach to much-needed information. Thank you for sharing this site with us. I’d like to share our site with you, http://www.ForHerInformation.com ; a site for the conscious-minded woman. Our national PBS TV series and quarterly publication are also featured on our site, along with our new radio show and online newsletter.
It’s all about “community” for women; sharing ideas and solutions that fit into our busy lives.
Enjoy,
Beth Aldrich
Founder
For Her Information Media
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