• by Holly Pavlika , Columnist, July 6, 2012

It seems everyone wants to cash in on the $2.4 trillion-dollar mom train. If you think mom-trepeneur is just for everyday moms, think again. It’s great to be a celebrity … but it’s even better to be a celebrity mom.

Here are a few examples of A-list mom-trepreneurs: 

After the birth of her child, Jessica Alba was inspired to launch Honest Company, a line of safe baby products. 

Ali Landry is about to launch Spokesmoms, a reward site where moms can earn prizes and exclusive deals for sharing their experiences. 

Tori Spelling will be spinning off yet another show called “Craft Wars.” 

Soleil Moon Frye has a line of eco kid’s clothing. Heidi Klum is about to kick off Truly Scrumptious, a collection of baby products, from clothing to the room décor, with Toys ‘R’ Us. 

And the list goes on and on. 

Today’s celebrities are cashing in on their motherhood with reality shows and product launches. It feels like every other day I get invited to an event with a celebrity mom promoting her new company. But how effective are celebrity moms? How real are their experiences? When they’re buying luxury baby brands, setting their kids up with fancy private tutors, and exposing them to strange diets and Hollywood parties, will real moms buy what they’re selling?

Regardless of their unusual lifestyles and social status, traditional product partnerships with celebrity moms (like Jennifer Garner and Frigidaire) still exist. Yet, every study I’ve ever seen says brands should be connecting with real moms -- they’re more relatable.

There’s a lot of due diligence involved before brands can team up with a celeb spokesmom. Here are a few tips:

1. What social channels does she have? Most influential social moms offer the brand cross-channel promotion when chosen to support a brand. And they will often have more time to create content.

2. Look at her tweets. Is she controversial? Does her reputation align with your brand? Celebs use their twitter accounts as personal accounts, which can be appropriate for the brand, or a danger zone.

3. Who makes up the celeb’s audience? Her audience becomes your audience, so is there a fit? Will she help influence her following to purchase you product or service?

4. Consider a mix of influential, real moms along with the celebrity choice. And don’t forget: some real moms are Internet celebrities in their own right.

5. Moms know the celebrity is being paid. The beauty of social, and the reason moms find others moms more relatable, is because we state whether our opinions are our own or if we were paid.

Amy Lupold Bair, author of the Resourceful Mommy blog, acknowledges her trust in real moms for real advice: “While celebrity moms bring a large following to the table, that doesn’t necessarily translate to engagement.  Where influential social moms create and participate in conversations, celebrity moms simply broadcast.  I look to celebrity moms for entertainment, but I will always turn to my fellow, relatable social influencer moms to influence my purchasing choices and inform my parenting decisions.”

And the ironic thing? The celebrity moms are using influential non-celeb moms with word-of-mouth clout to get promote their initiatives.