Walmart Free Groceries Contest Taps Mommy Blogger

OLNEY, Md. (WUSA) -- If you think mommy bloggers are just taking part in a hobby, think again. They're becoming a marketing force that major companies are now tapping-- to help sell their products.

Jessica Smith from Montgomery County has been working her internet and social networking connections for years now. Her blog is called Jessica knows...http://jessicaknows.com/ where her "hello jess show" she records at night in her jammies has a loyal following. She made no money at first on the internet, but now she does well. She says it's no different from breaking into other business where you may have to do an unpaid internship to get your foot in the door. "You have to be be patient." Her husband watches their son in the morning while she writes for two websites, celebritybusinessblogger and digitalbliss.com. And she works on her chief mom officer job for wishpot. com... a social shopping site where she oversees online baby registries.

She loves being able to work from home to be with her son, and now she's become so influential on the internet... Walmart has come knocking. She's one of Walmart's "11 moms"... being used to pitch their video contest. She has produced several videos to show others how to do it. Other moms will produce their own videos, enter them in the contest, people will vote across America, and the winner gets free groceries for a year.

Walmart isn't paying her, but they gave her a makeover, photo shoot and a Flip camera which she's using to expand her own online brand.

" Mom are a huge purchasing force. And, they're not in a corporate world, but if companies would realize that educated, professional moms have decided to stay home in some sort of capacity, then they could tap into that and leverage that and really reach out to those moms in an authentic and genuine way. "

We have our own social networking site for local moms. It's dc.momslikeme.com, where D.C, Virginia, and Maryland moms meet. You can share advice and pictures, ask questions, and even form groups on the site. You can click on it at the top of the WUSA Home page or, right here: