Four things to know about Mumsnet Bloggers Network

[ElinorMumsnetBloggers]

Hi all,

We're keen to get you out and about on the site and beyond, but here's what we need to promote you more powerfully on our homepage, Featured Bloggers slots, MN newsletters and social media:

1. A bloggers network badge on your site: This is an important part of membership. The badge links back to the network homepage, which drives more readers to everyone. So keep the love flowing and attach that badge! We shared information on how to attach it in your welcome email, and please ping us as [email protected] if you're really struggling.

From October, we'll expect you to display the badge to gain a top promo slot on Mumsnet and newsletters, or to review products for us, so it's worth the effort.

1. A picture for your blog: A few of you have sent em in, but most of you are concealing the goods. Don't be shy! A unique image for your blog will make it far more clickable.

And we need them to promote you as a Featured Blogger.

You could use a headshot, or whatever you use on social media. It needs to be at least 80 x 80 pixels, ideally square. But a rectangular shape is also OK. We can work with jpg or png formats.

Please send it to [email protected]. We'll cut them and add them to your profile.

1. Your Twitter handle: Please take a gander at your profile on the directory and give us a heads-up if you didn't include your Twitter handle when you applied. It gives us a quick and powerful way to spread the word to our wider audience.

If you're new to Twitter, we'll be doing much more on this in the autumn, so watch this space. You can follow us @MumsnetBloggers for the latest from the blogs.

1. Your blogging byline: We've taken the name on your blogging profile or left it blank (and we will never use your real name unless it's already out there on your blog). But please email us if you'd like to change your byline. Again, you can check this out in the bloggers directory.

OK, that's it for now.

Thanks, Elinor

Thanks very much for your feedback - it's always so helpful for us to hear from you about what you do and don't like about the network. We're all very new at this, too, so it's great to have the opportunity to take your views and suggestions on board and mull them over.

Just to answer a couple of points straight off, though:

With regards to who we feature: we always try to include some celebrity bloggers in our daily mix. We think it's good for our network to feature celebrity bloggers - they bring in visitors who may then go on to visit other MN bloggers, redistributing traffic and, hopefully, bringing clicks your way.

As for how we choose who else to promote, it's simple: we go through every single post on the most recent posts feed on our landing page, and we feature the posts we think our members will find interesting. We do try hard to mix it up (there's no pre-arranged rotation list, we promise!) and give everyone some 'airtime' but, obviously, those who've posted more recently and more interestingly will have the best chances of being picked - which is as it should be, really, we think.

Tee, we featured you in our Advent calendar because (as you say) you had not been featured for a little while, and we thought that your DRINK and CAKE gathering was both endearing and fun. And Shirleyknot your Frothers blog's been featured recently because it's so searingly topical and is clearly a topic close to many Mumsnetters' hearts.

Obviously , if any of you have any particular gripes, moans, concerns (or whoops of delight) you'd like to us to consider, do please get in touch at [email protected]. We always reply personally to every mail that's sent in.

Elen - I'm not concerned about my own blog (and actually the Frothers is a collective - not my own blog at all by the way) - honestly, I'm not! My beef is with the lack of new talent/different blogs being featured.

I'm at the point (as an avid reader of the blogging community) of not bothering to connect to the MN "featured bloggers" sidebar as it is the same bloggers featured all the time - I do not accept that the 90/10 division (90% being being established/celebrity bloggers, and the 10 being regular MN Bloggers) is actually bringing fresh traffic to the hundreds - and I'm sure we're far into the hundreds if not thousands of bloggers displaying the MN Badge - of MN Bloggers here.

From my own experience I have received 9 views from the MN bloggers page in the last month - a month where my hits totalled 2,000 (not an enormous amount but you can see that the hits I'm generating through being part of the network is vastly tilted in your favour?)

Meh - I hate complaining about something I'm not paying for - I hate complaining about MN - I love you all and love being a part of this community, but I'm really uncomfortable about this network/community TBH. It should be more inclusive. It should be pushing those blogs that don't get publicity rather than leaning on the bloggers who are getting huge hits every month either through celebrity or through being well known bloggers. You need to start looking at the stuff that is being published through the network and showcasing some of the lesser known blogs - there's some really great stuff out there - and you're doing this network a disservice by taking the easy way out.

Finally I want to re-iterate the point that this isn't about my own blog (I don't blog in my regular MN name) it's not. It's about seeing the same 6 names on the featured bloggers month after month after month. It's boring.

Sorry and all, but that's the way I'm feeling.

it's really interesting to read Tee and Shirleyknot's thoughts, and ElenMN's response.

As a new member of the network I just wanted to say that I thought that the featured bloggers never changed . I thought they were a permanent list as every time I scan it, it seems to be same list of people...and tbh I'm not interested in the celebrity bloggers at all! So I never use the featured bloggers list at all, but do explore the blogs in the network in other ways.

ShirleyKnot, It's not a 90/10 split between celebrity bloggers and non-celebrity bloggers, by any means. If you take a look at our Twitter feed or the main block on our landing page, you'll see that we feature all sorts of blogs, from cooking to craft to education to politics. We're sorry you are put off by the celebrity bloggers, though; we know that lots of other people aren't.

Our aim is to change the featured bloggers sidebar every month to two months from now on. There's a change planned next week, so take a look then and see what you think.

I'm very new to blogging and I know that my blog doesn't have wide appeal, it's more about what I get up to with my children as a record for myself. I do post almost every day though, and I do think that I have ideas to share.

I've had very few hits from the Mumsnet site, no reviews, never been featured or even mentioned. I've tried to make an effort to join in with the blogging discussions on this forum, and I've started a few topics, but there are only so many hours in the day. As much as we all say that we blog for ourselves, it is nice to think that others might be reading what you write. If we were truly only writing for ourselves and family/friends we wouldn't bother bother joining bloggers networks.

I think that it would be nice if the featured bloggers list on the right changed much more frequently, and maybe included some very new bloggers that are just getting started to give them a bit of encouragement. It does always seem to be the same faces appearing. Perhaps some collections of themed posts - cookery, crafts, holidays or something like that.

I love finding new blogs, and I really like the updated list of latest blog posts on the main page, I've discovered lots of new blogs to follow that way.

Hi ladies, I only joined the MN network yesterday and only started my blog two weeks ago ( this is one of my recent posts about how to make a pirate flag for Little Pirates everywhere), so I am not clued up about what to do or where to go, so any advice is appreciated.

I don't use twitter at all, although I did set up an account (just to get on to pinterest). Is it worth setting up an account? Do I need to know what to do with twitter to promote myself on it?

Hi flubba, and welcome. I am a month old newbie to the network ( though have been running my blog for a couple of years. I think twitter is worth it. I get few hits from anywhere at the mo, as only really just started promoting the blog, but I do get a good portion of them through 'sharing ' each post with twitter.

My blog has seen a lovely increase in hits and even a couple of comments since joining the network and I am loving it. It's added pressure and responsibility now readership is widening, but I like to think it challenges me to write better posts!

Good to add you new posts to the bloggers forum's weekly post thread too!

I think Shirley nailed it. MN is in a unique position to find and encourage/promote new bloggers. Whether they blog about being mums or crafts or whatever it is that gets them a MN badge.

Instead I feel that MN is taking the 'easy' way out by only featuring the most prolific already visible blogs. Perhaps if you profiled a blog from a person who posted last week, rather than last night, that person would write more?

Also, I have a vague memory of Rowan saying something about keeping a spreadsheet of who was being featured to be sure to spread that out. Perhaps she was being tongue in cheek (and in line with the over all 'I have a spreadsheet' in joke here at MN) but I think it is actually a really good idea! A column with all the blog names with a column of the last time they were featured next to it. So you can keep track, I mean, not for publishing or anything!

In any case, I also think you are a victim of your own success. There are hundreds of us now, at least. There is no way to keep up. So perhaps ask for the bloggers for help? Ask us to point you in the direction of MN bloggers who we are pretty sure haven't been featured and should be?

I think that's a great idea from Tee, to ask for ideas of bloggers to follow. I know that I follow some really good blogs that I don't think I've ever seen featured. It would also give an idea of the sorts of things that we like to read about.

Also like you say, posts featured don't need to be the ones from that day, they don't go out of date that quickly.

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, because I'm really enjoying being part of the network and I think that it's a fantastic idea.

Hi there, how do I get a mumsnet badge to put up on my blog? (www.youcantakeherhomenow.blogspot.co.uk/) thanks! Anna

Hi AnnaandNancy, the badge link is in our welcome email to you. If you can't find it, drop us a line at [email protected] and we'll send you the info again!

Hi, Just realised this is an old thread, but don't think I've already done this- so just sent you an email with relevant pic and info as requested. Thanks.

@Nanniejo

Hi, Just realised this is an old thread, but don't think I've already done this- so just sent you an email with relevant pic and info as requested. Thanks.

Thanks Nanniejo.