As the smoke clears in my neighborhood and the Southern California wildfires subside, smoke is clearing from my online neighborhood as well.
Over the weekend mombloggers and twittermoms became upset over a Motrin commercial, voiced their displeasure, and by Sunday the company had issued an apology and pulled the ad.
Yet the controversy continues.
Let’s not go down the path of *if* my fellow moms had something to be upset about. Different things are important to different people, and whether or not babywearing is your thing is irrelevant.
What is relevant to all of us is how the game has changed. I realize you may be shocked by this, but there was a time it was necessary to educate companies and other bloggers on just how influential the moms online are…AND THAT TIME HAS PASSED.
They KNOW.
They are buying ads, they are engaging women online. They are sponsoring trips, sending you even MORE free stuff. They are paying for YOU to consult for them. They are slowly but surely working the new world order into their business plans.
You have their attention.
You have the power.
It’s been proven now in case studies and marketing reports. It’s been proven with the President-elect answering your questions. It’s been proven with your growing checks and empowerment.
It’s time to change how you conduct business.
It’s no longer us screaming to be recognized. I no longer need to lift my shirt to demand breastfeeding gets respect. I no longer need to stomp my feet and be as snarky as possible when a company obviously has no clue how to engage mommybloggers.
You have their ear.
You are now fully-recognized, influential businesswomen.
Time to act like it.
Companies will continue to have no choice but to engage mommybloggers. They are not going anywhere. We are here and they have to deal with us.
However I would prefer we maximize our relationships and they deal with us as BUSINESSWOMEN, not as a protesting, activist group of divas.
Yes, you are a businesswoman. You are a professional. Please don’t make me go over this again.
The problem with what happened this weekend is the perception. Mommybloggers got mad, mommybloggers acted. Mommybloggers over-reacted. Mommybloggers looked like amateurs.
Right or wrong, the rest of the web is now rolling its eyes, again at our community. Words like ‘mob’ and ‘rookies’ and ‘divas’ are flying around and we’re not being taken seriously.
I’ll be honest, they are right. What happened this weekend went from smart, powerful activism to Palin-rally lynch-mob.
I expect better from professionals. It’s time we start holding each other to higher standards.
Please don’t ever make me compare you to Sarah Palin again, it hurts.
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