I’ve observed an interesting phenomenon in recent times.
In the past 3-4 months, I’ve been approached by 3 potential start ups, to pick my brains regarding their potential businesses (beauty related). One audaciously wanted me to not only meet them to share my ideas and contacts, but to invest my time (not sure about money, we never got that far) fully in their business in return for….. nothing. I’m serious. I asked. There was a lot of beating around the bush but essentially the take away was, nothing.
Another wanted basically to conduct market research in exchange for a drink and the privilege to be “the first” to know about the new product/project/business (Its not a new concept, don’t kid yourself; and it’s not exclusive when up to 10 other people I know got the same email later). Yet another wanted to collate information and essentially also, do market research with a 20 question questionnaire that I know was shot out to all my blogging friends and maybe everyone else.
On separate occasions, I received an email with an offer to “review” a product but I also had to Tweet it twenty billion times and “Like” on Facebook and post to their Facebook page a trillion times a day and basically spam the living daylights out of everyone that mattered…. in exchange for something ridiculous like a deodorant. Or I have to “promote” an event none of you may be able (or interested) to attend before the event and after the event and for that I get “free entry” and a “door gift”. Wow. We’re not talking about a trip to Greece here, folks. We’re talking a can of deodorant and some random party.
What I was upset with was with the presumption that as a blogger, I’d be free at any time of the day to meet/discuss and give free access to my head/ ideas/ contacts, spend all my time on Twitter and Facebook, deluge readers and followers with crap like “OMG! My underarms have never felt drier in this weather than with XX Deodorant!” fifty billion times a day; or that I’d be falling over myself to attend an event 3 days away “for free” and that I’d promote the hell out of it and make all of you pay RMXX to attend too; and that I’d do it all for well, nothing! Generous me! I’m “just a blogger after all”.
Frankly, I feel taken advantage of and quite quite unrespected. Well bloggers, what say you. Do you sell yourself short as a blogger? Do you feel that you’re “doing your bit” in “giving your help” when approached and it makes you feel important? Bear in mind these are companies who are planning to make money out of what is essentially YOUR ideas and effort. Don’t sell yourself short!
I’m not saying here that we should all be mercenary penny pinching people asking for payment for everything we are asked to do. I don’t ask for payment to write a product review (that is so not on, on so many levels!) and I’ve given up doing advertorials because they take too much time for too little remuneration (I also wasn’t up to sticking tubes of moisturizer down my non existent cleavage, doing 20 kawaii poses with the product and arguing over why I had to talk about what’s not good). I don’t charge a fee to promote something if its something I already like. If I don’t like it, I won’t say anything about it so paying me doesn’t make it better (unless we are talking good 5 figure money). In fact, barring the ads I run in the sidebars through networks, I don’t charge anyone anything. Silly me evidently, because I know of bloggers raking in the money for doing everything I’m already doing for nothing. I don’t think it right or wrong of them to accept the cash. I know I’m the silly one. Its just how we operate i.e. differently.
But there are limits and there are times when our skills are worth a fee and this is when we are being asked to be consultants or go on an advertising blitz, something over and above a simple blog post. Many of us work full time and have full lives, and we blog part time. Some of us are more active than others. Its a question of our time management and our work flexibility. Our time and ideas have to be worth something right? If we are full time bloggers, we’d definitely want paying else where would our monthly income come from?!
In most cases, I’d say that bloggers are among the most generous of people I know. For some of us, we don’t depend on the generosity (or not) of the various companies and brands out there. If we really want something, we go out and buy it or pay for our food, our hotel stay, our holiday… and we share our experiences for free. Gratis. Nothing.
Not only that, we pay for our domain name, our hosting fees, our camera equipment… Tine has a good idea of how much a dedicated blogger will spend on our blogs, and that’s not even taking into account the time and effort we put in, the leave we take from work to attend an event we are interested in, the other parts of life we may otherwise sacrifice, because we enjoy what we do.
So really, if a company wants to conduct market research, or use my reach and contacts, or embark on an advertising blitz through me, they better jolly well make it worth my time. Or they can just pay a market research company or PR/Advertising company or a consultant to do it for them. If not, suck it up, launch the product/project/service and then engage with the blogging community who may be happy to then tell you where you went wrong (or right). As it stands, they are so far off the wrong-o-meter I can’t even begin to describe it.
I am prepared to help out a friend or someone I know and have some sort of relationship with. I am however, not as accommodating towards a stranger who just wants to “pick my brains” for free and to then use that free information to make money or leverage on my generosity, time and readership for their own gains. I’m sorry, it just doesn’t work that way.
Bloggers are sometimes seen as freebie-grabbing, money-grubbing entities but in this one instance, I believe we are fully entitled to be. We have something you want (information and a strong readership base) so do the respectable thing and offer to pay for the ‘expert’ advice and consultation, the way you’d pay your lawyer or doctor or accountant or PR agency.
There are times when we should draw the line and I’m not going to sell myself short anymore. I urge you, fellow bloggers, to do the same. Big or small, we are all worth something, and at the very least, we are worth some respect.
Bloggers, what do you think. Do you sometimes feel like we’re getting the short end of the stick here? That the perception is that we are prepared to jump through flaming hoops for a drink, dinner and being made to feel important or for a free ticket to a random party?
Paris B
Simple Blogging Tips are some simple tips I have for fellow bloggers, based on my own experiences. I’m no ‘guru’ but I hope they will help you. You may read up on previous Simple Blogging Tips here.
I hear you loud and clear and I can’t agree with you more! I am one of those who don’t have advertisements on my blog and I only accept products for review if I’m truly interested. I have no problems buying products I like and use and I don’t request for free products to be sent to me. So, when someone approached me for free info, I was of course reluctant and started thinking that this person wants to take advantage of bloggers. I blog as a hobby and big or small, a blog is all about hardwork and passion. I won’t let anyone take advantage of it and other bloggers shouldn’t either.
Indeed,I don’t mind helping someone out but not when it takes up too much time or effort with nothing to be possibly gained in returned. That said, most people would probably jump a mile high at the thot of recognition, nevermind what it’s for or the consequences :P
And what gets to me is how these initial emails are sent without much homework done! I think I’ve shared my ranting with you on an email I received recently – on the same lines, wanting to share my thoughts over a drink. In a timeframe as dictated by them – during work hours. If you’re coming out asking for a favour, sorry, you don’t have much rights to dictate time frames. Most don’t realise we work full time and blogging is something we do IF and when we want to. Seriously, when I saw that email, really? You want my thoughts over a drink? The most expensive cocktail I can think of is only $25.00 and I make more than that in an hour doing my regular job (nett, not gross! take out the crappy taxes). What’s in it for me? Has it ever occurred to them that ‘being-the-first-to-know’ about something is not really what I desire?
Sorry for the rant but it really gets to me. And I don’t even blog regularly!
Ah yes, I hear ya! As much as there are bloggers who ‘spoil the market’ there are also brands, companies and PR who could do with a lesson on how to approach bloggers, and it starts by reading the darned blog. I don’t know why that’s so hard.
Ding ding ding! Nail on the head! What is it about us bloggers that people think we have “will do anything for free products/event” on our forehead? Back in the day before blogging became so popular, didn’t brands actually pay for advertising? It doesn’t matter whether it’s in print or digital media, if you have money to pay for a $5M campaign for ONE piece of makeup, you have the budget to at least do something more for bloggers who would be willing to promote your product if they like it. I’m not about to jump through hoops for a bleedin’ tube of mascara ;)
The line is drawn! It ends HERE!
PS: Brands should also take heed that asking bloggers to run giveaways where participants can enter the competitions by liking Facebook pages breaks the terms and conditions of Facebook.
So much truth, Tine! I think the market got spoilt when you get people who will jump through hoops for a mascara. Those who don’t get lumped with those who do, the company doesnt care, and the only ones laughing all the way to the bank is the company. Personally, I’m not for the Facebook contest model. It’s just a popularity game isn’t it?!
I don’t have a beauty blog, so I haven’t experienced this before — but quite frankly, I’d be plentily miffed by those emails, too. Companies see bloggers as a source of free information and free advertising, and newer bloggers starting out might feel honored when they’re in fact being taken advantage of.
Hi Emy, this isn’t only happening in the beauty blog world but, I believe, in all genres. And yes, to many companies, bloggers are all these young teens with too much time on their hands, happy to jump for a free meal, party or product. Where does it leave us working people eh? Bloggers need to wise up, and not be taken advantage of no matter their age :(
I know what you mean! When i saw that email I was like hullow, agencies pay a fee for the 1-2 hours of my time spent for their surveys yet i am supposed to see them for free coffee and the first to know about their stuff? I am struggling enough to find time to blog, at war with slow upload time when i’ve used up my broadband limits with all the photos and then having to slot in more time to give free advise to people i don’t know?? Hehe. I was shocked beyond words!
Haha so you got it too! It’s preposterous to me, that they want to make it seem so exclusive and secret and hush hush but they’ve already gone and told at least 10 people and I don’t think they’ve done much market research on their own either :P
I share the same sentiments and I am shocked when a brand approached me to meet up for a drink to “discuss”. I felt puzzled because I am not hired by their company as a marketing exec so why do I need to rack my brains on a marketing campaign for them? I feel that they should do their own marketing research and formulate their own campaign instead of asking me to do it for free.
Even if I were to do a survey, a face-to-face one would pay me SGD80-$110 for 2 hours of my time.
Maybe we should start a blogger’s union?
Oh my, I believe you’re in Singapore, Stacey, and you got a similar proposition too? Clearly this is a regional phenomenon, based on everything I’m reading and it sucks that they’d want to take advantage of our good natures! You said it. We aren’t hired by them and we owe them no obligation. They really should get their heads checked. We could really screw up their ‘results’ if we were up for a lark :P
Dont be upset….some companies are really desperate to establish themselves via famous bloggers so they lose their minds and start doing silly things. It’s fri, waste no time on them.
Actually it’s something that’s been brewing for a while and only getting worse. Am only trying to get people to think about the ‘offers’ they get :) hopefully this opens up their eyes and minds instead of just perpetuating the myth that bloggers are all freebieholics ;)
I do understand how you feel. On a different perspective: I’m not a blogger but I do run a business. I have been approached by a few bloggers(not anyone here, I might add). At first they were really nice and emailed me asking about my products and price list. I politely informed them that my existing customers are free to write reviews. But bcos my business is pretty small and unknown I do not give freebies in return for reviews etc. One sent me an email criticising my customer service., when in fact she has never bought anything from me! To be fair, she did apologise when she realised she mistook me for another business that was offering makeup! Perhaps that’s why those companies you spoke about tried to get some bloggers to help with their market research? Personally, I’m afraid of bloggers LOL
Thank you for sharing your experience from the other side, ProudMummy. I totally get where you’re coming from too as I’ve seen it happen and I personally cringe when I do. It’s not the case of one bad apple, but many bad apples spoiling all the names of the good ones. I’m sorry you had to have at experience. Many bloggers feel some sense of entitlement that I honestly don’t quite understand. They could so easily just go out and buy what they want. If you ask me, I’m afraid of bloggers too! :P
My blog is pretty much of an unknown one so I don’t really get all the sponsorship and stuff from people :P but seriously a can of deoderant and an invite for some random party in return for all the hassle posting on Facebook & Twitter a billion times!? That’s just not worth it at all >:(
“Big or small, we are all worth something, and at the very least, we are worth some respect.” I agree! If they are truly serious about marketing their product, at the very least they should offer you something more than just a free product for a review (especially if the brand itself is quite big/well known)
When the time comes, Saphy, I’m sure you’ll know how to deal with it ;) the change must come from within and who better to facilitate this change the us bloggers ourselves, withi reason of course :)
*nods* Totally Agree! I recently got similar email too and oh yeah, I even got emails who require me to meet up with them for business talk about some of their products and would you believe I wasn’t even allowed to know what brand and product beforehand? *sigh* I hope they get to realize that 99% of the bloggers are professionals who have work and don’t have the time of the day to go around and meet random companies just to “get freebies” (because we’d kill for it! duh) :) Great great post! Will definitely share!
Can’t believe this is a regional ‘problem’ Nikki! A reader in Singapore reported a similar situation. I don’t quite understand this wanting us to consult with them about their business. It seems to be a new phenomenon,a dn I’m not even sure why they think bloggers will be able to tell them more than a marketing consultant (that they’d have to pay)
Great post, Paris. I’ve gotten some pretty ridiculous requests (and downright insulting) but the worse one was that I was to write a review of this company’s fashion website, and they will pay me… wait for it… $1 dollar. ONE DOLLAR. I was livid.
My advice is to just ignore emails like that, although if some of them are persistent (and annoying, like someone found me on Twitter, personal FB page to hunt me down asking whether I received their email). What I do is I give them a ridiculous price, saying it’s my “standard rate” and they will immediately disappear, LOL!
$1 dollar for a review… wow seriously that’s just disturbing & insulting, not to mention disrespectful. As if anyone’s review is worth JUST $1!
A real n honest review’s worth is not neccessarily in monetary terms.
But. . . . Some “reviews” are not even worth 2 cents, nay – not even 2 rupiahs.
Still if you consider the effort being put in and so on… I don’t know, but heck, if it was a company asking you to do a review and then paying you only $1 for it – it’s pretty insulting to the blogger to be honest. :l
Thanks Renee! I remember the $1 review you tweeted once. It was so ridiculous and insulting! I can’t believe they actually even said so. I usually just reply and let them know I don’t have the time or that I’m not interested. I got one that was very persistent though and it really irritated me. I don’t think much if anything of their brand/company/product anymore, and it’s not even launched :P
Yeah, the persistent ones are pretty hardcore, eh? Like I said, if ignoring them doesn’t help just say, “alright I charge $$$ for that” and they will never bother you again :-P
And yeah, the $1 thing. That is my worse (and most funny) experience in blogging so far, LOL. The response I got on Twitter on what to reply back was hilarious :-P
Couldn’t agree more with you, Paris. I blog about things that I bought and I like. And of course, sometimes companies send their products for review and I’ll pick those I’m interested in. Some lousy companies thought we are like a beggar and will fullfill whatever their requirements, but hey we are not! Well, for most of us I would say We bloggers have our own life and we blog for our interest.
Anyway TGIF, let’s forget about these companies and enjoy the partiessss tmr. :) It’s a very “Ong” day tmr as there are so many eventsss in town, I wish you enjoy it if you are going to anyone and see ya. :)
Yes, some companies do treat us like beggars even if all we want is information. Silly people. I hope you had fun this weekend. I was out of town so no events for me, and I’m glad. Lol!
Paris you rock, this post is amazing and I think it says the true of beauty bloggers, most companies see us as a form of free-services, but a lot of us blog as a hobbie not as a work. I have to accept that for example I made some “advertisement” for Bourjois for it comming to Mexico, but I saw it as an opportunity of free publicity to me, because of the retweets and also when you search for it in Google you find my blog. Did I do right? What do you think?
Hi Efrain, I think the sharing of info voluntarily is great. You took initiative to find out the info and share it and that brings you readers. It’s when the brands/companies/PR make demands is when you might have to think things over. Our blogs are our platforms for sharing so keep it that way and do whatever makes you comfortable without feeling like a sell out or that you’ve sold yourself short ;)
I totally agree with you and it’s terrible that you’re being attacked by these companies to do such dumb things. I’ve seen some people fall for these traps and they just end up losing their loyal audience. I’m glad you’ve put up this post! I’ve always been against people selling out and the worst part is falling for the traps as a part of their audience. Even with some success to the blogger, it all bites back at you.
Thank you Janessa. It can sometimes mean alienating people or brands or even companies but I see it as a question of respect. I guess many companies still see bloggers as their free marketing tool and there will be those who are happy to be. I guess it comes down to the readers and how they perceive it then ;)
I agree with you wholeheartedly. Once I was asked by a company to “tell your readers” about some promotion they were having simply because apparently they had a lot of inquiries about a product based on a post I posted up. It’s not that I didn’t wanna do it but more so because of the way the email was phrased, like it was “expected” of me to do it. Like I owed it to them or something.
Sheesh.
Bloggers need to stand up and say NO sometimes too. Good post, PB!
Indeed, we have to learn that no isn’t always a bad thing. I don’t mind doing someone a favour, but sometimes the requests are crazy or just plain demanding. In those cases, I decline or just bin it if it’s a generic email.
Amen sister. Great post ;)
Thanks Becca, I hope you never have to deal the same moronic people :P
Great post! I can’t believe they are doing that over there. Some nerve!
What I get all the time is asking for free links/ads place on my blog and they’ll put a link to my blog on their site-yeah on some page that NOBODY ever clicks on or sees. Why on earth would I do that? Get a grip. You have to pay for advertising on any other site-why do they think blogs aren’t worthy of the same?
Oh yes, apparently here bloggers are either “free marketeers” or “bad news” if we cant be controlled. I wish they’d make up their mind :P I get those link exchange emails too! Thes days I filter them all into spam so I never hav to see it again and google is pretty clever at doing it for me :D
so right about this, Paris!!! bloggers are taken for granted…there was an issue lately with a European brand in the Indian blogger circle…they asked a blogger to take down the negative points of the review and tried to entice her with freebies!!! imagine doing that??? we are here promoting our hobby and passion for beauty…why do they think they can turn our hobby into an advertising platform for themselves for probably something which we will never look at!!!
Ooh Swati, I can’t believe that the brand was doing it in India! Did the blogger cave? At least they tried to sweeten the deal with freebies lol! I don’t mind doing ads within reason, if we can earna little money of it. But it’s the sense that we are all young teens with all the time in the world that really bugs me, mainly because I’m not a teen with lots of time on my hands lol!
nah…she was a tough blogger and didn’t cave…in fact she asked the brand to take away all the other products they sent for review as they were unopened and I guess they DID do that :D :D yes, earning money through ads is fine but then we can’t sell the blog for them is something they really nees to understand!!! in fact, the prob is some cavil under pressure for money.
Urgh! They actually took away the other products?! That’s terrible. I have offered to return the products to a brand before this but they declined and I have used them and they are nice so I will be posting a review on them in due course. There will always be people who cave for money, no matter how little or how much. I guess we just have to know our own principles and where we stand :)
Hi Paris :D You always have such insightful advice (and opinions!) for bloggers and people interested in getting involved in blogging.
I agree with you 100% about some companies trying to pick your brain and giving you back nothing in return. I am very firm on what I advertise and I would never sell myself out to tweet about things a million gazillion times. It’s just not sophisticated! Sadly, some of my once favorite bloggers have sold themselves to companies that lurk but it’s ultimately their choice. I really admire your class and your unbidden way of saying it like it is :)
And the cost of beauty blogging is absolutely crazy! I know that feeling!
Hiya! I’m glad you find them useful even if I’m terribly opinionated most times LOL! Its great to know you know where you stand on propositions like these ridiculous ones I’ve been seeing. I have seen many a good blogger become irrelevant to me because of the route they chose to take. Its not to say they were right or that they are wrong. I guess I just stopped relating… but they will gain new followers (and money) so I guess its all win for them :)
I read through your post 3 times, and each time there were different points that struck me and had me nodding my head in agreement.
I feel that there’s a lot to be learned by both parties – for the bloggers, you’re right. We need to learn that we shouldn’t sell ourselves short when approached by unscrupulous people out to make a quick buck from us. I also hope that more bloggers won’t dance to the tune of the big brands and their PRs in doing posts/adverts that are nonsensical and shallow and to me at least, ultimately worthless. I’ve been turned off more brands than I care to remember just because of these so-called advertorials.
On the other hand, the people who approach bloggers should also learn that dealing with bloggers is a different kettle of fish altogether. It’s not as easy as ‘dangle a carrot in front of them and hope they bite’. We are also not free press – although the number of press releases that land in my inbox (without so much as an introduction) continue to come in.
I guess at the end of the day, there’s no such thing as a free lunch – for both parties. Pay peanuts, get monkeys. :P
Thank you Rinnah :) Actually I’ve come to accept advertorials as a reality these days. The thing is, I feel, that the brands themselves aren’t being discerning in their choice of blogs and bloggers. If the brands don’t ask for quality, no one feels the need to improve and ultimately, we get saddled and inundated with crap and moisturizers down bosoms <- quite traumatized by this LOL! So what we need is for the brands/companies/PR to grow up, be a bit more discerning instead of carpet bombing, and maybe we will see an increase in quality from both sides. Wishful thinking huh?