Meet the daddy bloggers with legions of fans who are making a living from posting about nappies and breastfeeding
There's a new breed of social media stars on the web - and they're earning hundreds of pounds for their posts
SITTING on the Tube home from his nine-to-five London job in finance, Giles Alexander pulls out his laptop and starts typing.
But he’s not catching up on work emails or checking the football results – he’s carefully crafting a post on nappy rash for his popular blog.
After that he’ll consider what he can tell his followers about breastfeeding.
That’s because Giles is part of a new wave of social media influencers – a community of dad bloggers, vloggers and Instagrammers who are gaining momentum online.
While parenting blogs have long been seen as the domain of women – Australia’s Constance Hall and the UK’s Katie Ellison of Mummy Daddy Me have more than a million social media followers between them – it’s estimated that around 5% of the blogosphere now belongs to a group of dads, and they’ve got a lot to say.
In Australia, Daddy Fashion Stylist, run by Pete Fuentes, has 123,000 Instagram followers, while UK blog The Dad Network has a 16,000-strong Twitter following.
And that’s not to mention the vlogs from celeb dads such as McFly singer Tom Fletcher, whose videos Bump To Buzz and Bump To Buddy, which charted his wife Giovanna’s two pregnancies, have garnered more than 15 million views on YouTube.
Like Tom, Giles was inspired to publicly chart his journey to fatherhood after discovering he was going to be a dad in January 2016.
“I originally started my blog just one month after finding out we were pregnant. We hadn’t hit the 12-week mark, when you normally announce it, so I used it as a way to express my excitement anonymously,” explains Giles, whose son Teddy is now nine months old.
“Of course I got the OK from my wife Rosie, now 33, first, and then started writing about how over the moon I was feeling about becoming a first-time father. One of my early posts was about different ways to announce you’re expecting. People loved it and started responding with their own ideas. It was also shared over 20,000 times on Pinterest, and that’s when I realised the blog could actually go somewhere as I was really connecting with people.”
Giles, 32, is certainly not alone.
Billion Dollar Boy, an influencer marketing agency in the UK, reported a 12% rise in the number of dad Instagrammers on their database in the last six months alone, with numbers expected to rise in the coming years.
“Dad bloggers still haven’t had their ‘boom’ moment yet,” predicts Ben Jeffries, founder of Influencer, an agency that links up brands with social media stars.
“I currently have 1,000 influencers on my books and about 2% of those are dad bloggers.
He gave up his job as a freelance writer so his wife Hayley, 29, could continue to work in marketing.
Starting his blog in July 2014, Dave drew on his skills to produce content about life as a stay-at-home dad to daughter Elle, now two.
“Before becoming a dad I had no experience with children, so suddenly spending all day, every day with one was a little daunting,” he says.
“In most situations I’m the only dad going to a playgroup or a toddler class, and while I was a little nervous about that at first, I quickly learned that it’s really about my daughter and not me. So now it doesn’t bother me, but I did think there must be other dads out there thinking the same thing – I can’t be the only one.
“After my first few posts there was no pick-up at all with the blog, which was a bit disheartening because I had no idea if anyone was reading it or if it was interesting. But I tried to stay hopeful as I was aware that in the early days it’s good to build up a backlog of great posts so you can really establish your site. After a few weeks, I had written around 10 pieces and still not received any feedback, so I decided to create a Facebook page and Twitter account so I could start sharing my content in parenting forums and with other dad bloggers.
“Being a stay-at-home dad, I felt I had a different perspective to offer on parenting, and I soon began to receive messages and questions from other dads who told me they’d found my blogs helpful.”
Dave had clocked up just 4,000 monthly page views after the first six months.
Now he has 19,000, and last year was ranked second on the Tots 100 dad bloggers list.
Since then, he’s decided to share his knowledge by joining a Facebook group that offers advice to aspiring UK dad bloggers on everything from tips on how to promote their site to how to deal with brands who are interested in working with them – which is something that can be incredibly important to those bloggers wanting to earn cash through what they do.
“It’s definitely possible to make good money from full-time blogging,” explains Ben.
“These types of sites offer a brand the chance to get their products noticed through endorsements, which in turn can become an income-generating collaboration through sponsored videos, posts or reviews.
“The amount earned can vary depending on the type of post and how well it will engage with followers, but as an example, recent research estimates that a female lifestyle social media influencer with 100,000 followers can earn up to £41,600 a year by doing two sponsored posts a week.
“At present, the number of mummy bloggers far outweighs the number of dad bloggers, but this isn’t a negative. It’s a huge opportunity to tap into a less competitive landscape.”
When it comes to sponsored content, Giles runs all offers by his wife first to ensure she’s happy to try out the suggested products, such as a new sippy cup or nappy brand.
“While it’s my blog, she obviously spends a lot of time with Teddy, too, so she needs to feel comfortable with who I am collaborating with,” he explains, adding that he wouldn’t be willing to work with a brand he wouldn’t buy himself.
Meanwhile, Dave began devising sponsored content just six weeks into starting his own parenting blog.
Even so, he’s consistently remained firm on who he will and won’t work with.
“Ultimately I’m a dad with a lifestyle blog, so I’m happy to work with brands and companies that interest me and would be useful for my readers, such as new strollers or toys,” he says.
So far, Dave has collaborated with the likes of Dyson, Warburtons, Johnson & Johnson and Pampers, and his fee varies depending on how much work each project involves.
In The Dadventurer’s earliest days, he would write a review in exchange for a product.
However, due to the number of followers he has attracted he now commands fees of roughly £250 for a single blog post and upwards of £500 for a video.
Of course, these days there are strict guidelines to consider when working with sponsored content, which means full disclosure to followers about the nature of a post.
“If I do receive a product to review I make it clear in the headline that’s exactly what’s happened, and at the end acknowledge if I’ve been given anything for free or if I’m being paid for it,” he says.
There are downsides to opening yourself up online despite the perks of a nice payday, and parent bloggers aren’t immune to trolling.
“When I wrote about breastfeeding, a couple of people asked why I was writing about it as surely it was my wife’s story to tell,” says Giles.
“And when I did an event with the author Sarah Turner, who has a blog called The Unmumsy Mum, she told me there have been times when
she’s ended up questioning being a blogger at all because of all the negative comments people have made.
“I refuse to let it worry me, though. If people say parenting is a topic only a mum should speak out about, I reply that while my wife may have been through it physically, we’ve been through this whole journey together. It’s a shared experience – why shouldn’t I have an opinion?
“That’s the great thing about parenting blogs – they’re honest. They’re saying you don’t have to be this stereotypical perfect parent. These posts let people know we can all struggle, and that’s OK.”
Thankfully, Dave has been fortunate enough to avoid any encounters with trolls, and instead receives lots of support from family and friends.
“A lot of my mates who don’t even have kids read my posts and leave comments,” he says.
“It shows that what I’m writing about really resonates.”
Giles agrees: “My friends who are becoming dads read it religiously.”
So new and experienced dads alike, it looks like it’s time to ditch the self-help books and start logging on.
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