The demographics of British 'Mummy Bloggers'

"At the end of 2010, we surveyed 317 BMB members and developed a clearer picture of this fast-growing, dynamic blogging community which not only puts paid to some of the stereotypes but reveals why mum blogging is one of the most defined and inflential blogging tribes in the UK.
The survey reveals:
- Contrary to the image of all mum bloggers as not engaged in the world of work, 84% of respondents had a career before they started blogging and 68% still have a job or run their own business.
- Social networking is a cornerstone of their blogging life. They mostly define blogging as a hobby (82%) but it entails spending more than 7 hours a week on social media. (96% use Facebook and 81% use Twitter.) Compare that with the 2 to 3 hours they spend on traditional media each week, including newspapers, magazines, radio and TV.
- BMB bloggers mostly identify as being middle class (67%) and the majority are aged 30-39 years (55%) or 40-49 (30%).
- Far from being an “old trend”, mum blogging continues to gain steam - something we see in the number of new members joining BMB every week. Thirteen percent have been blogging for fewer than three months, 26% have been blogging for up to a year, and 34% have been blogging for 1 to 2 years. More than a quarter, or 27%, have been blogging for three years or more.
What we blog about
Unsurprisingly, parenting and children rank highest on topics to blog about. But lifestyle (71%), food (46%)  and travel (32%) are hot topics as well.
Mum bloggers are also looking to the future by interacting with brands - one of the ways that blogging is becoming sustainable.
More than half of respondents do reviews and 31% more want to. Most bloggers are open to working with brands, if the situation is right: 55% are interested in advertiser and sponsor relationships and 35% would consider it.

Source:  Research conducted by, and published in The Britmums Blog, 11th April 2011

Motherhood drives smartphone ownership

"More than half (53%) of the women surveyed said they purchased a smartphone as a direct result of becoming a mom. During this transition to motherhood, the most important features of her phone changed from her address book and text messaging to her camera, up 78% to #1, and video camera, which increased by 167% to #2. Apps, which weren’t even on her top ten list of important mobile features before she became a mom, increased 67% to #3 on the list. More than half (52%) of the moms surveyed have ten or more apps downloaded, with nearly 25% of the apps being for her kids."
Source:  Press release from Babycenter, 29th March 2011

"Mommy Blog" Dooce.com generates an estimated $30,000 - $50,000 per month in revenue

"She [Heather Armstrong] is one of the few bloggers who wield that kind of clout. Typically, there are 100,000 visitors daily to her site, Dooce.com, where she writes about her kids, her husband, her pets, her treatment for depression and her life as a liberal ex-Mormon living in Utah. As she points out, a sizable number also follow her on Twitter (in the year and a half since she threatened Maytag, she has added a half-million more). She is the only blogger on the latest Forbes list of the Most Influential Women in Media, coming in at No. 26, which is 25 slots behind Oprah, but just one slot behind Tina Brown. Her site brings in an estimated $30,000 to $50,000 a month or more — and that’s not even counting the revenue from her two books, healthy speaking fees and the contracts she signed to promote Verizon and appear on HGTV. She won’t confirm her income (“We’re a privately held company and don’t reveal our financials”). But the sales rep for Federated Media, the agency that sells ads for Dooce, calls Armstrong “one of our most successful bloggers,” then notes a few beats later in our conversation that “our most successful bloggers can gross $1 million.”"
Source:  New York Times, 23rd February 2011