merkal2005: Hi Anne-Mare, please tell us about yourself

amnichols: I'm a 40-something WAHM (work at home mom), professional blogger, freelance writer, and social media consultant. Besides running several of my own blogs including A Mama’s Rant (www.amamasrant.com), This Mama Cooks! (www.thismamacooks.com) and My Readable Feast (www.myreadablefeast.com), I have blogged at ClubMom, 451Press, b5Media, DotMoms, and for several clients. In 2006, my blog, Citizen Mom’s Family Journal for Studio One Networks, won a webaward and a Silver Davey Award.

When I'm not showing Colorado book authors the hows and whys of blogging and social media, I'm a community moderator at CafeMom, a social networking website for mothers. I recently signed on with Mom Central Consulting to help them with their social networking needs. You can learn more about me at The Write Spot.




merkal2005: While reading your biography I noticed that you started part time freelancing. What were the reasons for that?

amnichols: I started to freelance write part time as my children got older. I have a degree in journalism and a background in marketing communications. Writing from home on freelance assignments seemed like a good fit with my family's schedule.


merkal2005: How did you discover blogging? Are you passionate about writing?

amnichols: I discovered blogging by reading mommy blogs. My youngest daughter was a year old, and I was trying to find a community of moms with whom I had something in common - something I had not found in my town. They inspired me to write again. Now I find I get very crabby if I do not write on a regular basis, so yes I'm very passionate about it. The only thing I'm more passionate about is reading, and my family of course.


merkal2005: You have quite a lot of blogs. How can you manage them at the same time?

amnichols: Not very well, I'm afraid. I wish I had more time to write, but now that I'm working as a community moderator at CafeMom and a social networking consultant at Mom Central Consulting, I don't have as much time to blog. I'm hoping that when my children go back to school in mid-August (both will be in school fulltime then) I will have more time to blog as well as do all the other things I'm doing like teaching blogging workshops and talking at conferences.


merkal2005: Please tell us one thing missing today in the blogosphere which you think will happen in the future.

amnichols: Bloggers getting paid what they are worth. While I'm supportive of the "pay to post" model - especially for stay at home caregivers and people who can't work outside the home due to health problems - getting paid $5-10 for 250 words of content is less than minimum wage. Horrible! I'd like to see good writers get paid their worth. I'm starting to see this happen as advertisers realize that paying $5 for a post won't get them much in return. They are starting to see that if they pay bloggers better, their products/services will get better quality reviews and buzz.