As some of you may have noticed, our blog has been somewhat quiet recently. Not because we have nothing to say; on the contrary, we’ve been so busy that we’ve quite literally run out of people and time. That is, until now. We’ve had (and are still having!) a mad hiring burst, which has resulted in us hiring me. That sounds a little odd. Suffice to say that we now have a dedicated Online Communicator. Me. I will keep our site updated, the content flowing, the social media active, and the lines of online communication open. I hope you’ll follow, share, tweet, comment and upload until I am so overwhelmed I need an assistant.

In the US, brands have long since recognised the power of female bloggers. But only now is the rest of the world waking up to this lucrative phenomenon. And it’s rapidly changing the rules of advertising, marketing and even brand management.

Women bloggers are the new advertising heavyweights. They control a huge audience – a whopping 36.2 million women actively participate in the blogosphere every week.

And a survey published by BlogHer this year revealed that around 50% of women consider blogs a reliable source of advice and information and are directly influenced by blogs in their purchase decisions.

So how are brands reacting? Businesses now send promo items to bloggers in an attempt to win their favour. Even Wal Mart publicly admits working with a team of female bloggers to promote the company.

My advice: take a more deliberate and inclusive approach to women bloggers. They can make or break your product’s success in the female consumer segment, so find out what they’re saying about you. If you decide to actively engage with them, read the blog to understand its editorial agenda before approaching the blogger.

The times are a’ changing. Women have long since established themselves as the stronger sex and influential consumers. And now they are ruling the blogosphere too. A safer option than letting us men lead the way…