Ann Arbor Mom Success Story: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow!

Hello readers. It's been an exciting few weeks at our home. Unexpected and crazy in many ways. I don't know how many of my readers know the story of why I began the blog, but it some ways it has everything to do with many changes in my life, so I thought I'd share.


Several years ago, I decided to leave where I was working and work for myself. Years earlier I had done that and found that in was happiest when I controlled my own destiny and I wanted to spend a little more time with the kids. I left and started consulting, doing online advertising and search engine optimization, mostly for small businesses. As fate would have it though, my husband lost his job not long after, so essentially we were two not-working-very-much persons with two young children.

Children don't stop wanting things or wanting to do things though, so I began looking for free events and very low cost activities near Ann Arbor. Surprisingly there were a LOT of family events and activities out there for us to experience! Pretty soon friends started asking me "Where did you learn about that?" and saying things like "You find all of the cool events for kids!" So I hatched the idea to start blogging.

It actually fit nicely into what I was doing with search media, and I had already begun diving into social media so I started the Ann Arbor Mom blog with the following goals in mind:

1) I wanted to walk-the-walk and -he talk-with clients,
2) I did not intend to get rich off of the blog (despite what many websites offer),
3) I got a better understanding of the power of blogging,'
4) I wanted a creative outlet,
5) and I wanted to put myself in a position to get more clients and maybe a full time position at some point later.

Surprisingly I was noticed right away and was hired as a contributor for AnnArbor.com when they went live. I also found several clients and made the next several years successful for myself and several of them. I have been contacted by PR firms for paid sponsorships, reviews and give-aways and even found a couple of paid advertisers for the blog!  I call that a success story!

The blog has changed several times too. I had a calendar of events at the start of the blog that I discontinued when I began working for AnnArbor.com and I used to write "Life Lessons" stories about my parenting experiences. I'd like to re-implement several of these ideas, and a few new ones, so you may see changes in the coming months. Since starting the blog I have also started providing information through Twitter and Facebook, which is often unique to each platform. I'm really trying to not bombard my fans and readers (can I call you fans) with full duplication of information across all platforms.

Now here comes the exciting part. The blog and all of my social media efforts were so successful that I have been hired as the Search & Social Media Director at PWB Marketing Communications!

I will not abandon the blog, in fact it strengthens my resolve to find the best content for Ann Arbor families. So in the coming weeks, look for some changes, new content and new ideas. Hopefully it's the best for everyone and it will help keep the Ann Arbor Mom blog on the top of lists for events and activities in Ann Arbor for kids!

If you ever have story ideas or thoughts, please don't hesitate to contact me at tmayrend at gmail dot com or leave comments on any of my posts. Thanks for your continued support. Without the notice of folks in the area, I wouldn't be where I am now!