Gold Standard for Mom Blog: Dooce

From Forbes.com by Kiri Blakeley...

some interesting excerpts. Or click here for the full article.

"Yes, indeed. Armstrong is that woman: The one who writes about her dissatisfaction with her job (which got her fired), her dogs, her husband, babies, poop and pretty much anything else. With an average of 300,000 people following Armstrong's homespun exploits daily, and entries that routinely garner thousands of comments (Marlo's birth drew over 3,000), two books and enough advertising revenue that she and her husband, Jon, were able to quit their full-time jobs, Armstrong is one of the most successful bloggers in the country.

"She is the gold standard," says Matthew DiPietro, communications director for Federated Media, which clinches sponsors for bloggers, including Armstrong. Dooce.com's advertisers read like a who's who of blue chip companies, including McDonald's ( MCD - news - people ), Weight Watchers, Disney ( DIS - news - people ) and AT&T."

"While neither Armstrong nor DiPietro will reveal how much revenue Dooce.com generates ("It's no one's business," says Armstrong), DiPietro says that a site as popular as Dooce.com is perfect for brands looking to connect with Internet-savvy but still wholesome Middle America, and could bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year."

"But it didn't happen with the click of a mouse.

Back in February 2001, Armstrong, who was working as a Web designer in Los Angeles, began blogging. At the time, Weblogs were new and not well-known. She called her site Dooce, after her signature misspelling of "dude," in instant messages. Her first post was a dirty poem about Carnation milk, and she sent it off to a dozen friends. Soon, hundreds were following her ruminations on dating, books and music. "I was kind of crass and sarcastic," she says, trying to explain her blog's appeal. "People came and then stayed because I was funny."

Pragmatic Mom

Type A Parenting for the Modern World

http://PragmaticMom.com

I blog on parenting, education and children's literature

My takeaways:

• Blogging is a journey that can lead you to unknown places. Go with it and write what is true to yourself.
• Monetization is a function of traffic. Find your voice, grow your audience and the money will come.
• Monetization takes time as growing an audience takes time. Dooce took nearly a decade to become the powerhouse she deservedly is. One foot in front of the other.
• She has a nice looking blog and a voice that is funny and clear; she says things most people think but don't say.
• When life gave her lemons, she made lemonade. OK, there was a pit stop into a sanitarium but that makes for good copy.