10 years, 6 months ago-
Posts
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Just Wow. This article was written last year so hopefully attitudes are changing.
In this post called Blogger Outreach is Earned Media Not Paid, Right?, Chris Abraham (a partner in Socialmedia.biz), makes the following statements.
“apparently every single blogger who has ever been to a blogging conference has been convinced–conned–into holding their posts ransom to a fee card. I mean, I see it all the time: folks who respond to any query with a fee sheet, be it their price for a “sponsored” post or even for just a keyword link.”
And
“If you need to pay a blogger a posting or linking fee in order to get them to write about you, your social media agency is not doing their job”
and
“in fact, my strategy doesn’t care anything at all about Klout, Compete, Google PR, or even page views or age of site. The only thing my strategy cares about is whether they’re topically-, linguistically-, and geographically-appropriate, targeted, and viable.”
You can read the entire post here http://socialmedia.biz/2012/06/27/blogger-outreach-is-earned-media-not-paid-right/
To me, it is a shocking look into the PR mentality – the mentality of a lot of the people sending us bloggers pitches to write about their product. Sometimes, when I have responded to these pitches with my rate sheet, I have been told that there is no money in the budget to pay bloggers. My question (to myself) has been “Why Not?”. This article helps me understand why not.
I understand marketing so I can understand where the author is coming from in this article. However, being on the other side of the coin, I feel like my time if valuable and my audience hard-earned. I think I deserve to be compensated for that. Maybe a famous football player can afford to showcase a product for a “feel good” reward but I cannot.
How to you feel about what he had to say?
If you need to pay a blogger a posting or linking fee in order to get them to write about you, your social media agency is not doing their job – See more at: http://socialmedia.biz/2012/06/27/blogger-outreach-is-earned-media-not-paid-right/#sthash.y2cFPyMY.dpufIf you need to pay a blogger a posting or linking fee in order to get them to write about you, your social media agency is not doing their job – See more at: http://socialmedia.biz/2012/06/27/blogger-outreach-is-earned-media-not-paid-right/#sthash.y2cFPyMY.dpuf
If you need to pay a blogger a posting or linking fee in order to get them to write about you, your social media agency is not doing their job – See more at: http://socialmedia.biz/2012/06/27/blogger-outreach-is-earned-media-not-paid-right/#sthash.y2cFPyMY.dpufIf you need to pay a blogger a posting or linking fee in order to get them to write about you, your social media agency is not doing their job
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Definetly wow. It makes you think. I know I eas very disappointed when PetsMart at the product review session at BlogPaws this year said they wouldn’t consider paying bloggers for 3 or 4 years. My heart sunk. They are one of the biggest known pet businesses and if they won’t consider why would smaller ones?
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Pretty interesting and smart, in a way, for PR agencies. I’m a young blogger and still learning the ropes. I am starting to get tired of some things, however. I am planning on making some changes to how I respond to product review requests. Hopefully, I’m able to make some nice changes by the end of this year.
Freebies are OK sometimes, but really I have plenty of dog treats, leashes, etc. Doing reviews or writing about products/companies takes time. It would be great if these companies could make it worth my time somehow. And unfortunately, the grocery store doesn’t accept dog treats as a form of payment 🙂
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Wow… $1000…
I attempt to word mine in a way that says “even though I’m being compensated for my time, I’m still being honest”. I guess I can see how it still looks a little bad on a company’s behalf. They should still understand that there are rules that have to be followed. Interesting to see what she said.
Kimberly Gauthier said:
I shared this article in a pet industry group over on Facebook and ended up taking the discussion “off line” with a PR rep and it was interesting hearing her POV. She shared that on her end, she’s dealing with bloggers who are asking for very high rates in exchange for a mention on their blog and this isn’t in her budget (by high, I mean $1000+ – WOW).
And the disclosure we have to include in our blog posts comes across as honest and upfront for us, but as if brands are paying for positive reviews. Because of the negative feedback she’s received for these types of posts, she avoids paying for reviews. She understands that the payment is for our time and not for a positive review, but this isn’t what’s coming across.
I’m wondering if there’s a wording we should use in our disclosure that will protect the blogger while not stating that the brand is paying for a positive review.
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Interesting feedback Kimberly. Thanks for passing on the gist of the conversation with her.
We must disclose for a multitude of reasons. I am curious why PR even works with bloggers if they get “negative feedback” from them.
I know I try to make it feel lore genuine by disclosing within my story…in a more natural way. I don’t think that makes it any better from the PR end but I like it better.
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I really appreciate these discussions – thank you Jessica for adding this topic! As a new blogger I never thought anyone would compensate me for my time. I learned here on BlogPaws that I should.
I can understand a lot of his perspective since I read a lot of tech blogs. They have massive reach and are looking for the hottest content first, so they would gladly cover a new tech gadget or service for free to have it first. I’m not sure he falls into that category but he certainly doesn’t fall into mine. I appreciated Kimberly’s comment on the post.
You’ve all given me some food for thought though – interestingly I read this immediately after publishing my “Partnerships” page and responding to a request for free promotion by asking them to take a look at it! This is all so new for me so I feel like a fly on the wall learning from all of your and your experiences and wisdom.
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Interesting Kimberly. Did the PR rep say who the negative feedback was from? Their client or the public? I know for me, it’s not the wording of the disclosure, but the wording of the review that makes it seem like the blogger was getting paid for a positive post.
Jessica, do have any info regarding doing disclosures within the review? My understanding was the disclosure had to be obvious and before the review so the reader could be aware of any potential bias before reading.
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@Dawn Only anticdotal. I asked someone who presented on disclosures if that was ok. The FTC requires that it be clear how you obtained a product….not misleading by hiding it in fine print in the end. They dont specify HOW exactly you do that. She said plainly stating it within the first couple paragraphs before the actual bulk review was fine. I don’t do your cookie-cutter reviews. Indtead I start out with some kind of story to draw the reader in, disclose how I obtained a product that fit our needs (if I bought it with my own money I say that) then go on to say what I thought about it. In my opinion, that kind of disclosure is read more. If I go to a post and there is an “unrelated-to-the-story” blurb on top, I will skim it and only half read it or skip it. This way someone is involved in reading my story and discovers the disclosure along the way.
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@Boingy I didn’t expect to get paid for my time at first either. I considered it a fair trade to get goods in an ecxchange for a review from someone who was still growing an audience and learning to be effective at promotimg their product. Now I have been blogging for 3 years, have a significant audience, get good engagement with my review review posts and treats no longer hold value for me because I am swimming in them. I prefer compensation in the form of cash now. That being said, I still accept payment in goods more often than not. The value of those goods is more than a $6 bag of treats though.
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Interesting Jessica. Will have to keep that in mind. I was at the BlogPaws FTC session, but I don’t remember the discussion about including it in the post.
Kimberly- I hope that PR rep has contact with bloggers from other niches and that it’s not pet bloggers giving the impression that we are all unprofessional high priced bloggers. It kind of ruins it for everyone.
You can use #ad as a disclosure. That I do remember from the FTC session!
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That’s understandable.
Jessica/YDWWYW/PetTalkMedia said:
@Boingy I didn’t expect to get paid for my time at first either. I considered it a fair trade to get goods in an ecxchange for a review from someone who was still growing an audience and learning to be effective at promotimg their product. Now I have been blogging for 3 years, have a significant audience, get good engagement with my review review posts and treats no longer hold value for me because I am swimming in them. I prefer compensation in the form of cash now. That being said, I still accept payment in goods more often than not. The value of those goods is more than a $6 bag of treats though. -
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