All excellent points. I resigned myself a while back to approach Writer Dad as a more intimate site where I share stories rather than trying to make into something more business minded, and so far that is working for me, at least for my mindset. I also see it as something that should be ever evolving though, so I would like to see it go through a few more transitions over time.

You’re totally right about the mommy bloggers, I’m just not sure I could devote the time needed to make that happen. At least not while trying to nurture a budding business and stoke the fires of our personal projects. I do believe that some eventual success with our children’s books will help nurture Writer Dad into something more evolved, it will just take time.

OR

You have to have readers who are less friend and more fan, who want whatever you are a part of.

I suspect that in Corey’s case that many of the people who are subscribed are people who want to reinforce that marriage is awesome in a media storm where it seems to matter less and less. It’s subtle validation for their own choices. I know it sounds weird, but I don’t know that they are actually looking for help.

In your case, WriterDad is a group of your friends. And friends, while emotionally supportive, don’t necessarily whip out the check book. In my particular instance, I don’t have kids so the Wee Books or potty training books aren’t helpful for me right now.

If you could get traction with big name mommy bloggers whose readers, by and large, are mothers – I think you’d get to your target market a little more specifically.

It’s so true. High subscriber and comment counts mean nothing. In retrospect, I can’t believe I placed such high value on them to begin with. At least now I know and can place my focus in a more intelligent direction. High subscriber counts and active audience engagement are at the very best, only a good beginning, but they are far from the end game.

Thanks for sharing your journey.