Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth

Ingman: The act of parenting engenders storytelling. How many times do you have a great story at the end of day? Not just the funny things kids say, but the narratives our parenting.

Evans: That's the difference between "my kid used the potty!" and "here's the story of my child's life as it unfolds and what we're learning from it."

Ingman: what about making money?

Evans: I sell t-shirts on my vlog.

Ingman: Do you make money?

Evans: You have no idea. J

Dornfest. Parenthacks is a bit different because it's a community, so people share info about products - reviews, advice, etc. So I connect it with Amazon affiliates program and google ads.

Gaughran Perez: Multiple income streams. You can have primary advertisers. We use Federated Media and BlogHer ad network. I haven't been able to get Google Adsense to work well for me. But if you cobble together you can cobble together an income. But there's a difference between an income, a living.

Corbett. I have a couple of paid blogging gigs. It's strange when people want to buy your voice, but then there are restrictions due to that. If I didn't have those paying gigs, I'd be very nervous that this wouldn't work.

Ingman: What do you mean by restrictions?

Corbett: Subject matter - you don't own the copyright. I can't always put pics of my son up because I want to own them. Language is an issue - some of us can be a little salty. One of my vlogs is PG-13, the other is Rated G.

Gaughran: I gave up my paid gigs because they were too restrictive. I got an offer from a major corp. At first they said do whatever you want. But contract time, they said it had to be rated G and fit with the corporation's image. I said no - have you read my blog? Do you know how I am? You can make good money, but you have to give up a little freedom.

Dornfest: If you do a blog that gets some traffic, traditional media may approach you. You have an opportunity because you've created a name for yourself. This can give you other writing opportunities. So it's indirect, but it's still money.

Evans: When you have a corporate blogging gig, you need to write to their target audience and not offend them. You're making a sacrifice of your own style in order to make a buck. It's acceptable for a while, but I write because I want to write what I want. Compromise can be uncomfortable.

Gaughran: It's not like we're getting rich. You need a couple of paying gigs to really make a living off of it.

Corbett: I'm concerned about how long-term I can do this. Even with a loyal audience, they may not follow you to a corporate gig where you're not being authentic. And the corporate folks may be disappointed because your audience didn't follow you.

Gaughran: Readers will only go to so many sites. They came to you because of your voice and perspective, and if that's reigned in and controlled, it loses its allure.

Ingman: So they want your readers and not your writing?

Corbett? To an extent. I've been able to make it work but it's a challenge. For some companies it's a race to have parent blogs, but they want to control it.

Evans: It's becoming corporatized. The only parenting pros were the folks who write the What to Expect series. It's so clinical and not personal. Now we're hearing real voices about what it's really like to be a parent. We're talking about poop now! And corporations are having a hard time adapting to that realism.

Ingman: For parenting hacks, you're focusing on user-generated ideas - you're not doing all the advice.

Dornfest: The premise is that experts have a place. But the most useful info is from friends and relatives. So we want to be able to collect that info in one place. People are feeling recognized because their advice is being heard and shared. Blogging just lends itself to that.

Ingman: How are your sites fostering collective wisdom?

Corbett: I have a 17 month old who lives on lint and cheerios. When your kid is finicky, it's easy to rant and ask for help. And my readers rushed to help me, giving advice and sharing their own stories. I got practical advice. I have a community to turn to.

Ingman: Each of us has felt a bit let down by real-world networks. Relationships change when you have a kid, but online you can find other parents in the same situation.

Corbett: I'm always amazed when I hesitate to publish something about losing my temper, or when I'm afraid. I never knew that so many people go through this stuff. Everyone was so supportive and grateful that we were talking about it.

Ingman: Since you're writing personal stuff, do you feel you're really under a microscope?

Corbett: Mothers are always held to a higher standard. When a child is involved, people get judgmental.

Gaughran: People can be supportive, but you'll have some folks who judge you. But the overall responsiveness far outweighs the negatives.

Corbett: And it's not about the money. It's the personal, emotional support you get.

Dornfest: It may sounds like a cliché, but we do it because we love it. If you don't, you stop. Otherwise it's not worth the money.

Gaughran: And most of us started blogging before anyone started talking about "monetization." When Dooce started putting up ads, people freaked out. I started with no ads, no designs on earning money. But then the world started shifting.

Corbett: I started ads when I realized so much of my leave would be unpaid.

Evans: Can you make real bucks? It depends on what you mean real. Guess a number and then move the period two places to the left.

Gaughran: I knew someone who just got pregnant, and people were saying quit your job and make it a career.

Corbett: You need to earn this, write every day, give people a reason to come back. Blog audiences are savvy and can smell someone who's in it for the money.

Dornfest: People forget it's like any other writing career. You have to keep at it and produce good, quality content. It needs a strong, compelling voice or offer compelling information. And it's the size of the readership that helps generating income.

Evans: If you start a blog just to make money, you're doing it in the opposite order. This is a different genre.

Ingman: Is it different for dads?

Evans: Most of my readers are probably women. It's different because I can stay away from the drama. I don't think my writing doesn't have much banter; I tell a story and people read it. Male voices aren't as popular as female voices. Women seem to look for a community of other moms, while dads do that less.

Question: Is parent blogging a female space? And is that wrong?

Evans: There's definitely a space for dad blogs. We have a different view. My wife does the dirty work and I teach the kids how to fart. It's a totally different perspective. But wives want to know what men do and why, which is why my readership is female.

Dornfest: My readership is 50/50 because parenthacks is about problem solving. Dads have said that it's a place where they can be fathers. There's a huge opportunities for strong voices in the fatherblogging community. There's room for a lot more.