I’m currently shopping on Dealuxe.ca to pick out an outfit for my talk on Thursday during Mashable Socal Media Day. Sign up here to come for the fun, there’s 250+ people coming already. Gonna be fun to see everyone. This skirt is cute too eh. Mum loves it.
I’m also browsing EGOCLOSET to pick out something to review & while testing out their new online store. Thinking this uber cute Diamond Pocket Dress, Maxi Jumper or this Chifon tail dress. Loving those long flowy skirts & dresses. They were really popular in NZ last year & they are ALWAYS ahead in style down there.
I love getting stuff in the mail, everyone loves mail. The other day Keri & I came home feeling kinda blahhhh and my friends at Bud Light sent me a 12 pack just because they knew it was going to be a nice weekend.
Thanks guys, it did make the weekend better and I appreciate it.
Sometimes I wonder why I’m even talking about this…. should I keep quiet?
Here’s the thing about blogging I don’t love:
C.C Chapman wrote about it six months ago. The Mommy bloggers have been talking about it way before I brought it up, good article on MomBlogMagazine about it here.
PR email comes in about an ‘exciting’ new campaign that brand XX is launching. It is either a one day event or it spans several weeks but it is ‘perfect for my audience’. This is a what is called ‘Blogger Outreach’.
The company knows from idea conception that they want to connect with bloggers although they bugdet nothing for the bloggers who are going to do a bunch of work. They know exactly who they are going to target because we are all on the same list.
The real kicker is when the campaign involves giving some unknown person a bunch of prize money ($10k-$250k). Wait, nothing for us? But we’re doing the work! I asked 100 people to blog for my client a few months ago and paid them $100 each. I understand both sides of the blogger/PR coin here and people are getting ripped off.
It’s not the “we’d like to send you a sample” emails, those are great. It’s the “[insert major brand here] is putting a boatload of money into this campaign and we need/want you to share it and blog/tweet the crap out of it to your audience”. Sometimes they want you to talk about it for weeks and take a day off work to spend with them driving their cars or at their factory. Once I got asked to go chill at a farm for a whole day. A FARM?!
Maybe this will never change because someone will always do it for free. Maybe it’s the end of blogging or maybe it’s the beginning? I don’t know.
I’ve had the opportunity to work on some great campaigns over the last year with totally awesome people (Pepsi Canada, Puma, Toyota, Ford, NZFW) and I hope for more in the future. I’m not afraid to offer up stats or history on things I’ve worked on if it’s regarding a fun job.
I strongly believe in building relationships with people & brands. This is a new industry and like many things (alcohol, gaming, online shopping, prostitution) I feel it will eventually be regulated. Is this good or bad? I dunno. I’m also nto sure how to do it but I enjoy knowing I’m not the only one asking questions.
The next topic of discussion is ‘Contests’. Check out this post by Candice to see why she won’t enter another one. After the Virgin thing, I probably won’t either.
Anyhoots, Happy Sunday! I’m going to the park then gonna do some gardening with Mum in the sun. Daisy dudes + bikini top here I come.
contracts and no more (at blogger’s discretion) freebies. don’t even type words in my fucking email, put the $ amount in the subject heading. by the time they are willing to pay we won’t be around anymore to he them and zero stand outs are being groomed to replace us when we go.
@raymitheminx exactly. shooting stars!
odd typos but yeah, miss the boat dudes these stars are shooting.
Good post, lady. I try to give folks good things if I have something to talk about. There’s usually some sweet (at least I think so!) event with good gifts or I’m giving people product they can try and love. Some sponsorships, too, of course.
The biggest thing is I NEVER ask people to write about something. Ever. It’s awesome if they do, but it’s not an ask. It’s a gift.
@rlangdon:twitter thank you miss. You are very good at your job and I love getting your emails <3
I checked out Keri’s video and was subsequently sent here afterwards for basically the same subject (you know me, I’m always behind on blog catch up). I’m going to assume this list of bloggers that are being canvassed to push a brand is relatively limited. There’s only so many heavy hitters in the bunch. If that is the case (again I’m assuming) is there a reason the “bigger bloggers” haven’t looked to organize to ensure compensation on a per job basis?
I’m not advocating unionizing or something drastic like that. However, from the limited material I’ve read, a lot of the problem stems from the fact that a myriad of freelance workers want a universal method of compensation. Am I wrong? I know you Casie and Raymi (probably my two favourite local bloggers) are constantly working. You’re going to be ahead of the curve not only in content but through finding a means to get paid for pushing that content. Have any steps been taken for a “greater good?”