Allie is one of the great women I’ve met through Twitter.  When I asked her if she’d be the first Mom of the Week here and she accepted, I did a little jig.  She has created a phenomenal blog, No Time For Flashcards, that focuses on letting children learn through hands-on crafty activities.  She’s also a Mom Influencer over at EverythingMom.com, where she writes Don’t Eat the Paint.  She’s a lovely, smart woman, and I couldn’t be happier to feature her in this space!

1. Which social media sites are you a part of?
Twitter
Facebook
EverythingMom.com

I also have usernames and passwords on almost every major mom message board, I started joining them when my site No Time For Flash Cards started getting linked. I am so nosy, I need to know what people are saying about my site!

2. How much have you seen your blog readership and interaction grow as a result of your membership on those sites?

Twitter has been the most useful as far as reaching new people, blogs and contacts. I found EverythingMom.com through a site-warming party on Twitter. Now I blog there, my trip to BlogHer was sponsored by EverythingMom.com and I have made more concrete friendships with other EverythingMom bloggers. Facebook has allowed me to connect more easily with my existing readers, but the stats say that 35% are new visitors on Facebook too so apparently I have grown my readership via Facebook as well. I think that for non bloggers, Facebook is the social media outlet of choice where as Twitter is still intimidating for many, although it’s by far my favorite.

3. Have you found any professional opportunities through social media?
Absolutely!  I currently blog for FamilyEducation.com.  They contacted me and asked me to work for them after finding my site and liking what they saw. I have also been able to stay in contact with the company I have written curriculum for, since it’s contract work and I try to do more when I have time, keeping in touch allows me to do just that.

I have also been fortunate to create a relationship with Hooked On Phonics through Twitter, as a part of a select group of bloggers who have helped the company through the development and release of their awesome redesigned Learn To Read program. It’s been exciting to work with them and see their product develop.

4. Are there any craft or early childhood education online groups that you are a part of?
No. I think about this all the time though, there are a handful of early learning/kids craft blogs that we all comment on each other’s sites, we chat on Twitter and really we should start our own group. I think we are all too busy to get it started!  I do feel like there is a community and I try to keep that feeling going with link exchanges, guest posts and spotlighting sites on mine every week.

5. Turning to the more personal aspects, can you tell us about some friendships you’ve made through Twitter, your blog, or other sites?
My husband calls my online friends my 2 dimensional friends, but that is so unfair, they are friends as real as any I can touch.  I have been a part of www.themamasphere.com (previously babytalkbio.com) for 4 years and many of the friendships there are solid. I truly love many of those women. When I had the original idea for No Time For Flash Cards, it was friends there who encouraged me and told me to go for it.

A few weeks ago I went to BlogHer and got to meet so many Twitter friends and again it was effortless. I think that if you view the friendships made online as any other friendship it will be like that.  I miss a bunch of the women I met and seriously can’t wait until next year, I will be one of the women squealing in the lobby running and giving hugs next year for sure.

6. Has there been a time when you’ve been feeling down, or experiencing some turmoil, and your online friends helped you out?
Twitter is great for “Me too” and “Hang in There” moments of motherhood. When my son is driving me batty 30 minutes before his dad who’s been gone for 13 hours walks in the door. I will tweet something about it and sure enough I will get many responses and it makes you feel less alone. It makes it normal and although it doesn’t stop the whining and tantrum it makes me more able to deal with it knowing I am not alone.

When I blogged about being scared of having a 2nd child I got about a dozen emails from readers sharing their thoughts and feelings, which for me, someone who normally blogs about kids crafts and silly songs meant a lot.  I was touched that readers would feel connected enough to me to care.

7. If someone out there is hesitating to jump into social media, what encouragement would you offer?
Just do it.  The rewards I have gotten back from “putting myself out there” have been far greater than I would have ever thought. It can take time to build relationships but be patient and keep going. Follow me on Twitter and I’ll follow you back , we’ll chat!

Would you like to share your story and be Mom of the Week, or do you know someone who should be?  Please tweet me or let me know through the Contact page!

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