Will Yahoo! Make Me Shine?

That’s what executives at Yahoo! Think.

Competition is already fierce. Yahoo! enters territory that’s inhabited by already well-established sites, such as iVillage, and parenting networks, such as CafeMom . While portions of this pie may get smaller, there’s seems to be room for more participants. In any case, research tells Yahoo! and all of us that women are looking for a site that will combine content and communications tools.

Because we are mothers, but before that we are women, and we are often times the primary decision makers when it comes to most purchases in our homes, we continue to be a treasure trove for advertisers and marketers, and therefore we will continue to see the likes of Shine proliferate as long as there’s some room for them.

So I visited Shine last night. Not surprisingly, I found more of the same in many ways. There’s advise on personal finances, work/life balance and a Healthy Living section. You get a taste of celebrities’ life with interviews of popular moms and moms-to-be. I was happy to find one of my favorite bloggers, Nataly Kogan, from WorkIt! Mom, with her own posting. There’s plenty of conversation going on and the sense of community can be felt. On a positive note, I can read an article on Toddlers who Drive Moms Nutso Every 20 Minutes and learn about the most expensive strollers in the market these days. And if I ever get tired of reading about mommy issues (I bet I will), I can always jump to Shine’s Fashion and Beauty section and read about Kate Moss’ choice of make-up or keep up on the latest news about Brad and Angelina.

Navigating Shine today feel to me like browsing through a large version of Parents and Marie Claire magazine combined with the contributions of many online community members. The trick for this newcomer will be to get my attention and that of all women out there who already have established destinations in the online world. What will make me and other mothers visit Shine more than CaféMom, let’s say? Yahoo says its edge will be in the vast quantity of data on Web users it has accumulated for the target audience. They got my attention today. Their challenge will be to keep me coming. So far I will say “Let it Shine, Oh Let it Shine.”