What is Moms Out Loud? (Part One)

I just calculated how long I have been on the journey to realize my vision for MomsOutLoud.com, and ironically, by the time the site goes live in three short weeks it will have been nine months.

I’ve kiddingly called “Moms Out Loud” my third child, so I find it coincidental that it has taken me nine months of “incubation” to get to this point.

I’ve traded in my suits, briefcase, expense account (and corporate paycheck) to build something I felt was needed as a Plano mom of two small boys (3 yrs and 1 yr old).  It’s been a journey of self-discovery and growth, that has only reinforced my belief in the promise that a forum like the one we’re building at MomsOutLoud.com holds.  In this blog post – “What is Moms Out Loud – Part One?”, I’ll talk about the features specifically of MomsOutLoud.com.  Next week, I’ll talk more about the community-building activities we’re doing (Mom’s Nights, etc.).  And then in the week before go-live, I’ll write about my long-term vision for the business and what it will give back to Moms.

MomsOutLoud.com is a web community that allows local Moms to get information, connect with one another, and celebrate being mothers.  Research shows that Moms have 30% more “word of mouth” conversations per day than the general population, where they ask questions of each other, share advice, and recommend products and services to each other.  The MomsOutLoud.com website provides a forum for sharing these word-of-mouth conversations on the web — in effect, amplifying them beyond a typically sized playdate or Moms group.

How exactly will MomsOutLoud.com provide this avenue for sharing experiences between local Moms?  Through our user-interactive web-site.  Here is a quick screen shot from our beta test site, to give you a quick idea of the “look and feel”.

We’ve built six sections into the site, listed under the names we’ve selected that will appear in the site header for easy navigation:  MomsReview, MomsPlan, MomsKnow, MomsSupport, MomsShare, and MomsInspire.  Each week – on Thursday (get the pattern?) – we will update the home page to highlight what’s new on the site, from a tally of the number of new reviews to what Moms have shared with us on MomsKnow topics for the week.  Here is a quick sample of the home page (text and graphics haven’t been filled in yet):

MomsReview:

Share your opinions and see what other Moms think when you read and submit reports on kid- and Mom-focused businesses.  We have built a database of over 1000 local businesses that provide services to families – pediatricians, birthday party places, dentists, spas, hair salons, etc.  These businesses, and their reviews that other Moms have submitted, are totally searchable by category, by distance from your zip code, and by keyword.  And the other great thing is – if we missed a business (say, your favorite activity place), you can easily add it to our database to make sure other Moms know about it.

MomsPlan:

This is our calendar feature.  We’ll contineu to highlight what we consider to be “can’t miss” events, but you will have the ability to search our entire database of events by date range, event type, distance from your zip code, free events only, and age appropriateness.

MomsKnow:

MomsKnow will be one of our two main “content” areas.  Here’s where you’ll find articles like those we’ve been putting in the newsletter (e.g., “The Best Skin Care Products”, “Your Guide to Fall Sports”, and “25 Free (or Cheap!) Things to Do with Your Kids This Summer”).  You’ll also find our Tip of the Week here, as well as articles from local experts we have lined up to contribute to the site on parenting topics.

MomsSupport:

This area will provide a directory of local Mom’s and women’s groups, searchable by city and by category (e.g., Moms Groups, Women’s professional organizations, etc.).  We will highlight different groups and fundraisers on this page as well, to provide these incredibly rich resources and networks more visibility to local Moms.

MomsShare:

MomsShare will be our discussion forum area.  We have created a few topic groups we’ve heard that Moms care about (e.g., “Moms of Multiples”, “ADHD/ADD Support”, “Families Seeking Babysitters/Nannies”, “Nannies/Babysitters Seeking Families”).  Groups can be set up by users, so if you have other topics that aren’t already covered in our initial topic areas, like “Argyle Moms”, you can create a new group.  As a member of a group, you can post comments and read the coments posted on the discussion board already.

MomsInspire:

Our second of the content areas, here is where you’ll see our weekly “MOMumental Moms”, as well as have the chance to read some personal essays written by Moms like yourselves on issues in their life.

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We can’t wait to have the site go live, and to get all of your feedback and comments on it as you play with it, search on it, and share your opinions on it!!