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Blog-ola!

Photo NPR

Here’s a trend that that continues to shape the blogosphere: Moms talking to moms.

Mommy-bloggers are proving to be quite influential with their readers. In fact recently at the fifth annual Blog-Her conference in Chicago, more than 1,500 people attended the conference, a mere fraction of the tens of thousands of women who blog.

Among the many discussions there, a new term: “Blog-ola.” That is the free favorable publicity or positive reviews that moms often give to companies supplying them with free products and other perks. I’m hearing that the Federal Trade Commission is considering new guidelines to help clarify what constitutes advertising in the blogosphere. That’s because companies from Wal-Mart and Kmart to Ragu and Michelin tires work with mom bloggers and tweeters, for practically nothing.

But is this type of target marketing and having bloggers review products and services something that needs regulating? Moms have afterall been recommending products they like to other moms for decades.

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The Mom Network

Which blogs speak to moms? Quite a mommy-bloggers have huge followings, including Motherhood Uncensored and Mom-101.

And they’re not just blogging. Check out this incredible Twitter site called TwitterMoms. It is a unique network of highly influential, active, and “networked” moms. The site even has an “advertise with us” page that says:twittermoms

Nearly 80% of our members maintain personal or professional blogs — many with substantial followings. More than 95% of the members use Twitter to communicate with a range of friends and followers. All of our members are socially active and engaged online. We help advertisers and marketers who want to reach and engage this influential audience. A good program on TwitterMoms can drive impact way beyond these pages, thanks to the network effect of the community.

We know that moms control upward of 80 percent of household spending, so I think it makes perfect sense to have mommy bloggers, and now Twitterers, review and promote products and services.

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