Blogger Spotlight: Aby Moore, You Baby Me Mummy

After falling unexpectedly pregnant a month before her first IVF appointment, Aby Moore started You Baby Me Mummy to document her daughters’ childhood and to share with her when she is older. Her beautifully glossy blog is designed to help share inspirational advice to help other ‘mumtreprenuers’ and to also keep a record of the activities that she does with her daughter. In this spotlight, Aby who features on our Mummy Blogs UK Top 10 chats to us about how she has made blogging into a full-time career, being a source of inspiration to her daughter, why PRS need to pay bloggers what they are worth, and being an ambassador for Boots Mini Club.

What inspired you to create your blog? I started my blog when my daughter was 5 months old, I had PND, was being treated badly by my employer and most of my friends had ‘disappeared’. I had no idea about blogging, but just wanted to record our special family moments. I earned money within 4 months of starting and within 15 months I was earning more than I ever had done in my life. I now teach other mums to leverage their positives so they turn their blogs into their businesses and give their lives more freedom. Blogging literally changed my life and I love helping others use blogging to change theirs.

What is the most challenging part of being a mummy blogger? For me (and many others in my community) it is finding the balance between work and home life. Time is another factor that comes into play, as blogging can take up so much of your time. I know lots of my peers feel guilt for being on the laptop in the presence of their children and while I try to limit this,  I want my daughter to see what’s possible when she has a dream. I want her to realise that the things we have take work and for her to have aspirations beyond traditional employment if she chooses that in the future.

How have you built up your audience? Hard work! Being really immersed in the community, which is one of the best things about being a blogger. I have always been friendly, approachable and really willing to help people out and I think that helps to cement your place within the community. I have also produced good, useful content on a daily basis which has ensured I have a good bank of content for people to refer to.

Since starting your blog, what are the major changes that you have seen in the industry? I’ve definitely seen more bloggers diversify and start to expand their blogs into wider businesses, as I have with my Mamapreneur Revolution courses, which help people turn their blogs into a sustainable business which will allow them more freedom in their lives. There are bloggers opening shops, producing products, working with brands in new and exciting ways too. It’s great to see the creativity and the fact that we, as bloggers, are not constrained by the ‘blogger’ title. Video and going ‘Live’ have also exploded in recent months.

What is the most rewarding part of being a mummy? Being a mum is something that, for the longest time, I didn’t actually think it would ever happen to me. Then when it did wow that was bumpy, but I’m rewarded every day just seeing my daughters face. I love seeing glimpses of the person she will become and recognising aspects of my own personality in hers. Her kindness and her drive. I could go on all day about how much being a mum has rocked my world, but all us mums feel the same. Our kids are our lives.

Is there any advice that you would like to share with any PRs or aspiring bloggers? Using someone’s name goes a long way. I have to admit on most occasions when I get an email not addressed to me directly, I delete it. If it’s addressed to You Baby Me Mummy it will definitely get deleted. I also don’t feel great about the emails which mention my ‘kids’, when it’s obvious from my blog I only have one. So, I think my main advice would be to do a little research and be a nice genuine person.

How do you prefer to be approached by PRs? How can they improve their strategy? The personal touch never fails, showing that they genuinely like your blog. Also paying bloggers what they are worth means that the blogger will often bend over backwards to do an amazing job, going above and beyond. So everyone benefits in the end. Blogging can be tough, so it’s great when the effort we put into creating great content and growing our following is recognised.

Will you be working on any exciting projects or campaigns this year? We are currently Ambassadors for Boots Mini Club and have recently been Ambassadors for DisneyLife. In the coming months, although I will still be working with brands, I will be focusing also on building up my courses with an exciting membership site for bloggers in the mix.

What has been your proudest blogging achievement so far? Blogging has literally changed my life and there are so many things that it has brought myself and my family. We have travelled a lot, been to cool events, worked with lovely brands. One thing that sticks in my mind, however,  was being on a plane going on a press trip with Bridgestone tyres to Monaco/Canne and I was with a host of journalists from the Times etc. I remember thinking that their boss/position put them on that plane, going to that awesome event, but I had put myself on that plane. As someone who is quite hard on myself, even I allowed myself a pat on the back.

Having said that, I probably feel proudest when I know I’ve helped someone believe in themselves and take action that will improve their lives through their blog.

How do you maintain the balance between sponsored posts and organic content? I’m quite selective about the brand work I do and try to share our story within that content so my readers will find value in it, even if they aren’t really interested in the product itself. In the past when I have had lots of brand work at one time, I have written additional organic content too.