I am forming a mom bloggers guild, and I think it is far overdue. I think it could serve so many purposes, but primarly I just think this group needs someone advocating for it. Here are a few things I think a mom bloggers guild could do (and if you’d like an idea of what a guild is, see the Writers Guild of America). Here are just a few things I think a bloggers guild could do (and I qualify that by saying I haven’t researched yet how difficult these are to accomplish:

• Provide professional training such as business advice on things like setting up a company, registering for a trademark, etc.
• Have a group health plan to make insurance more affordable and accessible to WAHMs who blog.
• Have sample contracts as well as a lawyer who can review contracts for members (certainly some lawyer would consider doing it pro bono in exchange for massive mom blogger buzz).
• Establish minimum rates for paying bloggers for content, spokesperson roles, advertising, etc. (I am thinking an extensive survey of members could produce great information for that)
• Establish some basic standards and ethics (again, community-driven).
• Have job listings to match bloggers with paying gigs.
• Perhaps some day have a lobbyist in Washington to represent the blogger perspective when issues such as the FTC regulations surface.

I think it’s very important to have people both on the corporate side who work with bloggers as well as bloggers involved. I am even thinking there could be two types of memberships with different benefits for bloggers and companies.

Bottom line: there needs to be a voice for mom bloggers.

Of course, it is very important that the guild be representative of the community and that some of the brightest minds involved in the mom blogosphere help guide the guild. I am forming an advisory board. I have some wonderful inquiries already but want to be sure as many people hear about this as possible before the board is selected. If you are interested, please fill out the form below. Yes, company representatives who work heavily with mom bloggers are welcome to apply (and yes, men too).

_{Graphic of women copyright Hilde Vanstraelen.}