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Mom Blog Proofreader?

Hi Everyone! I am somewhat new to blogging; and now that I've started, not only is it addicting, but it's causing me to consider re-focusing my business. I was going to start a general proofreading business; however, upon seeing the professionalism and dedication that mom bloggers have, I am now considering focusing my proofreading business to mom bloggers.

Services that I might provide include proofreading every post (could charge on a monthly basis), and proofreading archives (including menus, layout, etc).

Anyways, many of you have been blogging for much longer than myself and I'm wondering if you think there is a market out there for this business? Please be honest, obviously, it won't hurt my feelings. :) I'm getting all excited about this potential opportunity, but if no one would ever pay for it, I don't want to waste my time, kwim? Thank you so much!

Katy
www.parentingbygoogle.com

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Permalink Reply by Katy McCarrick on May 1, 2009 at 9:43am

Anyone? Like I said, if there is no market for it, just tell me. There are sooo many moms on here that have much more experience than I do, so I'd like to get a few opinions. :) Thanks!
Katy
www.parentingbygoogle.com

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Permalink Reply by ChitChatMom on May 1, 2009 at 10:25am

Katy,
If you're interested in starting a proofreading service I would suggest leaving it open to a larger segment than just mom bloggers. Many of the mom bloggers that I know of are not in the position (but would love to be someday) to be able to pay for proofreading. However, there are a lot of freelance writers that write about more topics than just mommyhood and those are the writers that seem to be more likely to generate the income necessary to pay for proofreading. I proofread all of my posts several times and I still miss things... but right now I can't justify paying for a proofreader just for my mom blog.

Have a great day and good luck with your biz!

ChitChatMom

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Permalink Reply by Katy McCarrick on May 1, 2009 at 12:16pm

Thank you for the response and advice! That's kind of what I figured, but I was thinking that as we mom bloggers become more professionalized and are asking for advertisers, we definitely want to put our best foot forward. :) Well, I was thinking when/if I do get a proofreading biz up and running, I will offer it free to some mom blogs as a test and see if I can get some good feedback from those moms. You would be the first I would offer it to! :) Thanks again!
Katy
www.parentingbygoogle.com

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Permalink Reply by Shynea on May 1, 2009 at 10:23pm

I personally don't think that this would be a profitable business. I am a mommy blogger and I couldn't imagine paying someone to redo my post for me. The best thing about being a mommy blogger is the different "voices" that each blog has. The different writing styles that each mommy blogger posses make each blog different. Once you start making each post more uniformed, it takes away that originality. PR from companies look for things like this when they solicit bloggers for their services.

Like the post said above, a wide range of freelancing would be a better alternative.

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Permalink Reply by Rachel LeRoy on May 8, 2009 at 4:58pm

checking site archives for broken links, etc might have a market, but part of what makes blogs NOT ads is that they are imperfect and from a specific voice. People may shy away from proofreading for that reason.

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Permalink Reply by Karen Dittman on May 9, 2009 at 9:44am

Another thing to remember is that people, as a rule, don't want to be corrected --- however, businesses, advertising, landing pages - and that suggestion of broken links above - these are areas you might want to look - and offer your services - keeping in mind there are a lot of "proofers" out there and worldwide - some charge $10 a page - some almost nothing. I've heard of established folks charging $500 for a 20 page article - While I don't know the answer for you --- I just don't see it with moms -

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Permalink Reply by Alyssa on May 9, 2009 at 10:45am

I completely agree with most here that this isn't going to be very profitable for you. For most of us mom bloggers, even if we do make money from our blogs its not the kind of money where we could afford to pay someone to proof for us. Even if I could I don't think I would. MY mom blog is my space and I honestly just have to live with the fact that I might make a grammar error or two.

I am also a ghostwriter, but honestly couldn't afford to hire a proofreader for that business either. You're probably going to have to target bigger companies for this business to ever be profitable.

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Permalink Reply by Katy McCarrick on May 9, 2009 at 12:10pm

Thank you for your responses!! I appreciate the feedback. :)
Katy

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Permalink Reply by Sweet Cuddlecakes on May 9, 2009 at 3:16pm

I certainly think you are on to something as far as charging for proofreading. Being that I was an assistant editor for a magazine, it almost embarrasses me to see grammatical errors or the incorrect speling/usage of a word (small pet peeve of mine. LOL) on blog pages. But, I have to agree with some of the other comments in regards to moms who may just be doing this for fun. Paying someone to proofread their thoughts or opinions might take away from the personal feel of the blog as a whole.

Just a thought!

Good luck!

http://www.sweetcuddlecakes.blogspot.com

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Permalink Reply by Mom on the Run on May 10, 2009 at 11:16pm

You might want to check in to becoming a Virtual Assistant. I know very little about this service, but have heard that bloggers who make money blogging hire VAs to do paperwork, data entry.