Wendy Hirschhorn, Founder Wendy’s Bloggers
There’s a secret army out there.
And they’re rapidly becoming one of the most powerful marketing forces in cyberspace.
They’re called Mommy Bloggers. And PR vet Wendy Hirschhorn is unleashing their power for marketers with her new company, Wendy’s Bloggers (wendysbloggers.com).
Hirschhorn first discovered the power of this unique group when she was handling the PR for Balance Bar. “I started getting emails and calls from women who called themselves Mommy Bloggers. They wanted product to review and for giveaways on their blogs and websites,” she recalls.
Balance Bar was Hirschhorn’s first connection with Mommy Bloggers
Hirschhorn soon learned that these Mommy Bloggers were a powerful lot, indeed. “They could really write. Their reviews were honest and heartfelt. They were influential and they had substantial followings,” she said.
Hirschhorn dug deeper. For more than three years she developed a network of Mommy Bloggers who she knew and trusted. In March, 2013, she launched her company. Now her network has grown to 200 bloggers and each of them has approximately 5,000 unique monthly visitors to their sites and thousands of fans and followers on Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and other social platforms.
“They’re really extraordinary,” she said. “Mostly they’re stay-at-home moms and many live in rural areas. So this is their community. They are very supportive of one another and take their work as brand ambassadors quite seriously.”
“Wendy’s Bloggers is a win-win for both the clients and the bloggers,” Hirschhorn said. For clients, it means having access to a credible network of Mommy Bloggers speaking with authority to their many devoted followers. For the Mommy Bloggers, it means having a stream of national brands to review and give away on their sites which helps them increase traffic to their sites and monetize their blog.
Three of the more than 200 Mommy Bloggers in Hirschhorn’s network
Hirschhorn takes due care in matching her bloggers to the client. “Usually, I like to distribute product to at least 35 bloggers in my network. But they all have to have an interest in the product I’m promoting,” Wendy told RFPalooza.
From there, she organizes everything – suggesting creative themes for the reviews and giveaways, vetting the bloggers, extending invitations, confirming participants, getting the product from the client and packaging it nicely for distribution, reviewing the client’s promotional materials for distribution to the bloggers, writing and distributing a press release about the event and, of course, maintaining contact with the experts – her Mommy Bloggers.
“I counsel clients to make sure that the bloggers are compensated for their time,” said Hirschhorn. “Mommy Bloggers do not get paid, but do expect and deserve to get sufficient amount of product and ancillary items that makes it worth their while to review and promote products and services. ”
Rod Stewart’s Christmas CD was another product promoted by Wendy’s Bloggers
Although a seasoned PR professional, Hirschhorn sees a major advantage in working with Mommy Bloggers. “I would send out product to 100 magazine and website editors and maybe get 5 or 6 hits. When I send a product to 100 Mommy Bloggers, I’m guaranteed 100 hits. Hands down, it’s the difference between a single and a home run.”
