An Open Dialogue with Jessica Smith, Social Media Consultant and Blogger at JessicaKnows.com
June 22nd, 2009Author: Allison Blass
Jessica Smith is one of the top mommybloggers on the Internet, writing about social media, business and life as a working mom on her blog Jessica Knows. Jessica is also a social media strategist for Care.com and MomForce.com, as well as consulting for brands and working as a spokesperson for such companies as Ford and EA SPORTS. She also recently launched a new initiative to bridge the gap between bloggers and PR professionals called Buzz Cooperative, which are weekly email newsletters of pitches from PR professionals and requests from bloggers. Jessica has also been featured by AdAge and CBS, among other blogs, and Nielsen Media named her one of the Power Pack in their Power Mom 50. She lives with her husband and son in Washington D.C metro area. In addition to her blog, you can find her on Twitter at @jessicaknows and on Facebook.
DialogueMedia: How did you get started in blogging and social media? Was it before or after you had kids?
Jessica Smith: I’ve been involved with social media since 1989 when I connected with people on the Prodigy BBS. In college, I networked with other Greeks to share marketing ideas when I was VP Marketing for my sorority. After getting my degree, my first job was with Sapient Corporation, a business and technology consulting firm. I registered my Twitter account in 2007 and definitely didn’t get it at first, then tried again last year around this time and it clicked.
As for blogging, I didn’t really get entrenched until the middle of last year.
How has being a Mommyblogger affected your life?
Being a mom that blogs has made my life more fulfilling. I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned throughout my career with my readers with regards to marketing and building a brand. I also enjoy sharing products and services with other busy moms like me who are trying to achieve work/life balance.
The best part though, I have to say, is the connections I’ve made with other bloggers via the interwebs and the amazing opportunities it’s brought my consulting business.
It doesn’t come without it’s setbacks though. I do feel overwhelmed at times and sometimes I’m scared to open my Google alerts because you never know what people are writing about you.
How do you manage your time being a mom, a wife and a blogger withrunning your own business?
I take things day by day. Luckily, the companies I consult for, like Care.com, are mom-friendly and offer flexibility.
I’ve learned that time management and being able to constantly prioritize has helped a lot.
Many mommybloggers are starting to charge money or request free products not to be returned in exchange for press. Some PR pros are unaccustomed to this because we don’t pay journalists for placements nor do we typically give journalists products to keep. How do you recommend PR pros and bloggers work together with these new expectations?
I think the protocol for this is ever-evolving. Journalists are typically employed or contracted by a publication. Bloggers. Well, we ARE our publication. Some bloggers identify with being journalists themselves, while others don’t. At the end of the day, it comes down to our influence. And I know that for a lot of readers of blogs, they’re reading not because we report the news, but because we talk about what we believe, our personal experiences, and our lessons learned.
You have worked with many PR professionals – what has been your best experience and what has been your worst experience?
Best experience: PR pros that look at our relationship as a long-term, ongoing one.
Worst experience: a pitch for a review of a baby item the day my “Say No Can Mean Saying Yes to Success” post was on the front page of my blog specifically indicating that those are not products or services I would review.
You started Buzz Cooperative a few months ago, which helps connect bloggers with PR professionals. What was your inspiration for starting the service?
My inspiration for starting this service came from a few things. First, my virtual rolodex is pretty large, I wanted to pay it forward without compromising the privacy of my contacts. For that reason, I created the opt-in email list format. Second, there are so many influential bloggers that get overlooked for campaigns because it’s easy for PR firms to just pick bloggers from the campaigns that are already live. Buzz Cooperative allows blogger members to pitch the PR pros, in other words, turn the tables. The feedback for creating this exchange has been great so far and for me, this is personally rewarding.
There are many new PR graduates just launching their careers. What advice does Professor Smith have for the PR pros of tomorrow?
Nurture relationships with those who are connected…it will make your job easier in the long run. Also, this wild, wild West of the interwebs is ever-changing, come in with flexibility and the understanding that there’s a learning curve every day and you can’t go wrong.
You’re in the RSS feed of many people, but who’s in your RSS feed? What three blogs do you recommend the OTD readers check out?
Oh gosh, I can only pick three?
Mashable
Horse Pig Cow by Tara Hunt
Yeah Dave by David Romanelli
