MOMpreneur: n. defined as a female business owner who is actively balancing the role of mom and the role of entrepreneur.
Happy Monday Modern Boca Moms! Welcome to our next installment of MOMpreneur Monday, highlighting Florida businesses and brands that were founded by female entrepreneurs and fellow Mommas.
Today’s featured MOMpreneur is…well…me!
It’s official: ModernBocaMom.com has been in business for ONE year (as of March 18, 2015) and I thought I’d introduce myself to Modern Boca Mom’s newest readers and provide a little update to those who have followed “MBM” since the beginning.
Tell us a little bit about yourself…and of course, why you decided to become a MOMpreneur.
Well first off, it’s a little weird that I’m answering questions for myself from myself, but here’s the truth: I’ve always wanted to run my own business.
I initially thought that would happen by me taking over an existing company in NYC. In fact, I worked towards that very goal up until March of 2014. But, the best laid plans don’t always work out. Sad, but true. I learned the hard way that you can’t always depend on others for your own success.
So, when life gives you lemons…you take on a new project. I had the seed of an idea growing in my head since we moved from NYC back to Boca when I was struggling to find educational activities to do with 5 month old #dailybabyavery. Luckily, I found a Musikgarten class via the Boca Raton Children’s Museum (RIP), but the museum’s website was terrible. And at the time, that was the only local place for kids I knew about.
Where was that “go to” site for moms like me to find out what “cool and city-oriented” things were going on for families in Boca Raton and beyond? There was no site, so I decided to create it myself.
How did your business get started? Did you have many challenges along the way?
Well, I had no start up capital which I would see as a pretty big challenge, so I asked a friend who is very web savvy to develop a site template for MBM.
#modernbocadad is handy with Photoshop, so he created my first set of graphics after I described the palm tree/pacifier concept to him. From there, I put my PR and social media skills to work and started attending local mommy activities and writing, writing…and writing some more to start filling the blog with local content and grow a mommy following on Facebook.
In retrospect, I think the smartest thing I did when starting MBM was to treat it like a business. Trust me, I didn’t generate even small revenues for several months, but treating the blog like a business allowed me to make smart decisions from the onset.
Challenges, yes. I still think online advertising and social media promotion are new concepts to many businesses in South Florida, which makes selling paid promotion on a local blog sometimes tricky. MBM is also very time consuming; feeding the blog with new content 4-5 days per week, learning how to do it properly along with SEO, learning Quickbooks, developing event concepts, attending events, networking with other bloggers and business owners and raising a toddler. I’m sure many moms can relate (at least to that last part).
I brought on paid contributors to lighten the load pretty early on they were amazing in helping to create so many different and smart voices on the site. I also lean on other, more experienced bloggers to teach me tips and tricks and share business leads. I’m always willing to collaborate and think it’s key in this industry. I’m an active member of FemCity as a result.
What is truly unique about Modern Boca Mom?
Modern Boca Mom is the only localized lifestyle website for the stylish & modern South Florida Mommy that focuses solely on commerce, business, MOMpreneurs, events and amenities available to Boca Raton and surrounding area families.
I am also frequently hired to host, emcee and develop custom MBM events for businesses in the area, bringing in a targeted audience of local moms and kids to that retailer, school or business. I love the events side of MBM. It’s not something I was really expecting to be doing, but I really enjoy interacting with my readers and their beautiful children!
My one folly: remembering everyone’s name. Don’t take it personally- that’s where my “mom brain” really kicks in! Drives me nuts.
What exciting things are coming up with Modern Boca Mom?
Well, busy doesn’t even begin to describe what I am lately…but I love it!
After the New Year, I completely overhauled my graphics and site layout…both on desktop and mobile. I’m excited that the re-brand went pretty seamlessly.
I will be attending TEDxBocaRaton as a Social Media Influencer on Thursday, March 26, 2015. It’s my first year being involved with TEDx and I expect it to be a one-of-a-kind event.
Oh yes, and I have been hired (woot!) as a regular contributing blogger at BocaMag.com and will be writing 1-2 “Boca Mom Talk” articles per month for the foreseeable future…hopefully they keep on liking what they see! I hear they might be including me in the next print issue as well…stay tuned.
What do you love about living and working in South Florida?
I am a Boca Raton native and although I enjoyed my pre-Mommy/post-college years in New York, I always knew in my heart I’d be back…at the very least, part time.
My family is here and now I have a wonderful set of old and new friends to hang out with. And we are SO LUCKY to have the things we do for our children here. I truly had no idea.
And, I’m just glad I could convince my Maine husband to become a South Floridian! #dailybabyavery seems to have adapted no problem though…
Here is an update on MBMom’s “progress” by the numbers thanks to loyal readers like YOU:
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3,700 Facebook Fans
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2.5K Twitter Followers
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1,200+ Instagram Followers
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225 Pinterest Followers
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61,750 Website Visits
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36K+ Website Visitors
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143K+ Website Page Views
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46 Featured MOMpreneurs
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33 MBMom Planned/Hosted Events
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5 “Boca Mom Talk” columns on BocaMag.com
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1 Partnership with TEDxBocaRaton 2015
THANK YOU!!!
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