Hi girlyshirley,
Thanks for raising these issues ? thought we ought to respond just to clear up a few bits and bobs?
Yes MN is a business and we would like to make some money one day, I don?t think we?ve ever pretended otherwise. Despite our growth it?s still not easy to balance the books but the good news from our point of view is that we can now afford to pay ourselves a proper wage. (MN is essentially still here because the folks who worked on it did so without pay for many years).
We do not believe in profits at all costs though, and chasing profits is not our primary aim. Our primary aim is to build a great community that make?s parents? lives easier. If that coincides with making a profit then hoorah ? if it doesn?t, then we won?t (as indeed we haven?t since we begun). We?ve never had any investment bar a tiny bit of seed capital from a friend ? our growth has been entirely fuelled by word of mouth and we have and do operate on a shoestring. We don?t have an office (if I?m honest we don?t even have a shed) ? we all work from back bedrooms and the like.
We did indeed put out a magazine, Mumsnet Best ? a compilation of our product reviews distributed by Mothercare ? which was much acclaimed by readers but sadly not a financial success. RE the Gina Ford dispute being a publicity stunt, well we certainly got some publicity but that doesn?t mean it was a stunt. It was a stressful time and we?re very glad it?s behind us.
We are committed to being an ethical business ? that?s why we turned Nestle away and that?s why we don?t allow a bunch of others guys to advertise either. We are always open to suggestions/debate about who those disallowed advertisers should be.
Re Netmums ? we don?t really want to get into a slanging match because in short we have great respect for what they do and for the people who work for them ? like us they work hard with the aim of making mums lives easier, and there?s no doubt they do that very well. I?ve no idea if they are not-for-profit ? they say they are a social enterprise - and I guess in the sense that our sole aim is not to make profits then so are we. We would salute anything they do to enhance what they offer their community ? be it forums, local listings, product reviews etc. After all how could we say we want to make parents? lives easier and at the same time view another site with a similar function/ aim as a rival? That?s why we?ve never disallowed links to any other parenting/womens? sites. If someone finds another site more helpful/ comfortable than MN then why on earth would we try and stop them? It?s horses for courses innit?. Anyway I digress?
In short we don?t think asking people to voluntarily organize local listings that will hopefully be of use to others is unreasonable or sneaky. We are a community ? people put things in and hopefully at the same time get things back. It?s not all about pay and money. Hopefully and judging by the list Carrie?s got, Mumsnetters on the whole agree.
Anyway thanks again for raising these issues. We do passionately believe in openness and debate ? so we hope it?s been useful to clarify all this stuff.
Best,
MNHQ