Interview with Motherboard and Mombabe from Mormon Mommy Blogs

For a long time now, I’ve enjoyed posting information about my give-aways on Mormon Mommy Blogs, (MMB) and was delighted to bump into its owner (who goes by the name of Motherboard) at Marvin Goldstein’s concert in Provo last month.

(Photo by Ann Montgomery)

Today, I’d like to share a recent interview with Motherboard about her blogging enterprise. She began blogging five years ago to stay in contact with friends left behind when she moved to Utah. The transition wasn’t easy, and blogging offered a creative outlet. Motherboard has since found friends from all over the world.

Me: Why did you begin Mormon Mommy Blogs?
Motherboard:
MMB wasn’t my original idea. It was originally started by a well-known blogger, Sue from Navel Gazing. When she pulled out, I took over. I turned it into a company and started working towards making it an interactive community. It’s “A gathering place for Today’s Woman.”

Me: What kind of following did you anticipate, and has it reached your expectations?
Motherboard:
We started in September of 2008 and have grown quite quickly. It has completely surpassed what my initial expectations were. In a two month period, we had over 200 bloggers that wanted to be added to our directory. We are still a young, growing blog aggregate. Typically, we do not publish our own material; we have our blog members do guest spots on the MMB. That increases their readership, which is one of the great perks of being a member of the MMB.

Me: How much time does it take to run your blog?
Motherboard:
In the beginning, it was quite a bit of time. Now, it’s anywhere from 4-8 hours a week. I pick one day a week and add all the new blog requests, and answer emails and get guest posts and sponsorships for giveaways.

The giveaways are scheduled out in advance as well as the guest posts. It got to be WAY too much work, so I brought onboard a couple of other people who help out in the editing of guest posts and reviewing of products.

Me: What would you like to see in the future for Mormon Mommy Blogs?
Motherboard:
Being that we are still young, we are trying to get more members involved in our community. The purpose of MMB is to be a gathering place for today’s woman that is a safe place for people who enjoy reading blogs. We are trying to gather not only just Mormon Bloggers, but other Christian bloggers who share our same values.

We are constantly trying to improve on our initial design and concept. We have some regular features that will be starting in the next while: Discussion Wednesdays—discussing various topics of interest to our readers-- and Dear MMB -which will handle questions submitted by our readers.

We would love to see bigger giveaways, and maybe even a blogger conference. We are working towards making it more of an online magazine where the members of our community can have their blog posts highlighted and interact with each other via the comment section and our Ning community at Mormon Mommy Blogs

Me: What kind of feedback have you had from members?
Motherboard:
Our feedback has been extremely positive. We have been featured numerous times on Deseret News Mormon Times and also in a BYU Studies Review article. Most people love our giveaways, our giveaway directory and the mere fact that they can read blogs and not worry about content.

Motherboard:
I asked Mombabe, who does a TON for the MMB to respond to your questions as well. She's funnier than me... so that will be good.

Why did you begin Mormon Mommy Blogs, Mombabe?

Mombabe:
I didn’t begin anything. That’s Sue’s fault. She started it, and then handed it over to Motherboard. I got involved because they were looking for someone to design a header for MMB, and that’s something I like to do, and I was doing it for free (which is always preferable.) So I designed the original Mormon Mommy Blogs header, and included the infamous “Taking Over the Bloggernacle” line (which started a whole messy debate). Then when MMB was getting too big for its britches, I worked with Motherboard to implement the current blog website system, design, and social site we have now.

Motherboard:
What kind of following did you anticipate, and has it reached your expectations?

Mombabe:
I’m a little bit blown away by the response some days, and not very impressed others. What can I say, I’m a woman and I’m apt to change my mind.

Motherboard:
How much time does it take to run your blog?

Mombabe:
That’s something else that changes almost daily. Some days, I work on the MMB for a few hours, other days, I ignore it completely. I guess I could average the time for you, but then we’d all be embarrassed by how much time I spend on the computer, and we wouldn’t want that.

Motherboard:
What would you like to see in the future for Mormon Mommy Blogs?

Mombabe:
I’d really like to see MMB become an online magazine. I’d love to turn each of the categories we have now into different channels, where we have articles specific to that demographic posting daily. I’d like us to grow enough that we could hold an annual conference. I’d like us to be in demand, I want us to be on everyone’s “Must Read Daily” list. I want MMB to be recognized for its NORMALCY. I think people the world over have a very specific and sometimes negative view of the LDS church, and while I don’t expect everyone to agree with what we say, I do want them to respect us for our beliefs.

Motherboard:
What kind of feedback have you had from members?

Mombabe:
Umm, NONE. I’ve even asked, and they won’t give it to me. Believe me, I thrive on critique. I need to know what I can do to improve things. If something bugs you about the site, even a smidgeon, then I need you to tell me.

Thank you, Motherboard and Mombabe. It’s been great chatting with you. I hope your ambitious project keeps growing. I appreciate having somewhere to post give-aways from my blog. Long may you grace the internet.

Interview with Motherboard and Mombabe from Mormon Mommy Blogs