Latest Posts

From Blog to Empire: An Interview with Ariel Meadow Stallings

Over on the Skimlinks blog, they just published an interview with me about growing your blog, monetization, coworking, and the future of the Empire.

Offbeat Mama is becoming Offbeat Families

This weekend we’re flipping the switch: Offbeat Mama will become Offbeat Families. The title of the site will change, the URL will be switch to offbeatfamilies.com (although all the old offbeatmama.com links will still work), and one of the header characters has undergone a transition from “blonde soccer mom” to “blonde soccer butch/transdad/pretty SAHD/fey uncle/gender-queer auntie/whatever ze wants to be.”

This re-brand has been under consideration for a long-ass time, and we’re super excited about what it means for the site…

A different kind of viral post

Today, Offbeat Mama is having its highest traffic day since launching in 2009 because a post called I’ve started telling my daughters I’m beautiful has gone viral. But it’s going viral in ways I’ve never seen before. If you like nerding out about this kind of thing, huddle up. Let’s take a look at how this post is different…

The 24-Hour Reply Rule

Stating the obvious here: dealing with drama when you work with an online community can get a little overwhelming. Whether it’s moderating comments, moderating forum content or internal blogs, or just dealing with contact from readers or members, there is a lot of potential for being in a situation where you’re dealing with really unhappy people. This is why I have my 24-hour rule…