Why Mom Bloggers Aren’t Flipping for Just a Sample of Your Product
June 9, 2009
We’re back to one of my favorite topics — Bloggers and Compensation.
There’s a few folks out there who will tell you that if you ever pay a blogger for anything, you’re violating some ‘purity code’ – some imaginary Blogger Code of Ethics that we all got to vote and agreed upon (there isn’t one, getting bloggers to agree on anything is like herding cats.)
The thing is? There are different types of commercially related blog posts. There are reviews (where a blogger gives you her opinion on a product, company or service), there are announcements/informational posts (similar to press releases, usually just a heads up – but sometimes links to deals or sales) and there are contests/giveaways (where opinions don’t necessarily enter into it, but prizes are given away on the blog that are supplied by a 3rd party.)
But these are *very* different types of posts from the blogger’s perspective.
Even though it may take someone about the same time to read each of them? It doesn’t take the same amount of time to create or maintain them.
We constantly get emails from PR people that seem to think that all we really ought to post are the announcement type. It seems that they often mistake bloggers for “new reporters” and think all we should do is repackage whatever info they email to us. (Come to think of it? There are some blogs that do seem to do just that… but not most.)
We also often get emails that say “we would like to send you a sample of our product or service for your review if you are interested.”
But lately, increasingly, companies are turning to the contest/giveaway model and approaching bloggers to see if we want to hold promotions to give away either samples, trial-codes, or prizes to our readers in order to promote their company or products.
Some of them get what it is they’re asking for and some don’t.
We don’t have “web guys” who do the work for us. Hosting a contest? Means figuring out the details, creating all of the content, posting the contest, running it fairly, monitoring entries for validity, choosing winners and notifying them, plus either fulfilling it by shipping at our cost, or acting as a go-between for the company and then posting the winners.
But it seems that there’s people out there who think that all that work isn’t really work. That they shouldn’t have to pay bloggers for doing the same work they would have to pay the guys in marketing, PR, and those who do their own websites.
If you, as a business, went to your web guys and said “we need you to run a contest on the site – create the design, the contest rules, the elements and the content, run it, monitor the entries for validity and to make sure no one is cheating, then contact the winner(s) and get back to us with that info – oooooh, yeah, and we can’t pay you your salaries this week, but would you like some free laundry detergent or diapers instead?“ They’d laugh their butts off. Well, before putting in a complaint with the local labor board and putting their resume on Monster.com, that is.
Yet that’s what keeps repeatedly being asked of us. “Will you work for free?” And for many of us, the answer is now becoming “well no – I’ve got this other company over here who is offering to compensate me for the same work and isn’t treating me as if being a blogger and/or a mom somehow made me lose my business skills and common sense.” Because seriously?
Yes, I love helping my readers experience new things and potentially win something… but I’m not going to be the only person working for free in this equation.
And that’s not because I’m some sort of prima donna who thinks I’m important. Yes, you can tell me that there’s “a ton of mommy bloggers who would jump at this opportunity.” But all you’re telling me is that you will take advantage of anyone you can. Whether a blogger is an “A-Lister” or someone who is still building her audience? They still have to do the EXACT same amount of work. Essentially, you’re asking people to work for free for you “for the exposure” or for “a product sample” but you? Yeah you there offering me this wonderful opportunity for my readers? Are *you* getting paid? Or do you just do that PR & marketing gig out of the goodness of your heart because you love it so?
How much is a bottle of laundry detergent or a package of diapers? Somewhere between $15-25 depending on the size? That’s just horrid. It works out to about $2-5 per hour or less if you run a contest right. One that isn’t just a few lines of “hey, company X is giving away a year’s supply of potpourri” or “this author wants me to hold a contest to give away 5 copies of his new book comment here to win.” One with no promotion, no concern about running a fair contest, no checking to make sure you’re doing a good job.
Would YOU work for that?
Sorry – I just needed to get this out there. When bloggers ask to be paid to host your contest on their sites? We’re not being demanding or unethical – we’re getting fed up with being treated like “mommies” or clueless bloggers who don’t know any better. You’re sure as heck getting paid by whatever company you work for or are doing PR for. Are *you* being demanding or unethical expecting someone to value your time and effort?
And yes, I love being a part of the chain that gets awareness about your client, your product, or your business to your potential customers – but while I may write for the love of it? That’s different than working for you for free.
In the interest of disclosure? This post was in no way contributed to or sponsored by anyone. These are my own thoughts & opinions and I’m more than willing to give you this piece of my mind for free. Or, well, at least for the price of the bandwidth that I’m paying for and the server hosting that I’m paying for and well… you get the point.
Tweet like a Nightingale, Not like a Magpie
November 19, 2008
I spend a lot of time on Twitter. More than I spend just about anywhere else on the Internet. Over the past year and a half, Twitter has become more of a home to me on the web than any place before it ever has. Last January, Laura Fitton (@Pistachio) posted a blog called Twitter is my Village that sums it up beautifully. Twitter has a vibrant community – and a vocal one.
If something happens in the offline world, odds are good I can find more information about it, faster, on Twitter than I can by searching other sources or turning on the television. Whether it’s natural disasters or breaking news, somone on Twitter is posting about it. The same goes for online events too. No one who uses it regularly would dispute that.
So when something comes along to impact my Twitter village, be it positive or negative – or even as yet undetermined – I check it out as quickly as I can.
About a month ago, someone mentioned Magpie. So I did what you probably did if you haven’t checked it out already and followed the link to see what it was.
The short story is that Magpie is a 3rd party service, unaffiliated with Twitter, that pays people to allow them to insert advertising tweets into their twitterstream. The user gets to determine frequency. The default is 1 magpie ad for every 5 normal tweets. This can be adjusted up as high as 1 for every 20, or as frequently as every other tweet. The user gets paid based on 2 things – desirable keyword frequency and number of followers. Because of that second one, Magpie cautions potential tweeters “So keep your followers happy and don’t risk annoying them with too many magpie-tweets.”
In today’s pressing economy, that probably sounds really appealing. I mean, earn money just by doing what you do anyways? Cool!
But if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
One of the things that sounds really appealing is the amount of money that Magpie promises if you sign up. You go to the signup page and it says to put in your Twitter ID to see how much you can earn. I put in GeekMommy and wow!! For those of you not used to thinking in Euros – I did the conversion. It says I can make up to $9,539.45 a month!! That’s up to $114,473 a year! I should quit my day job and just be a magpie!
Yeah. Right.
Still… even if I made a fraction of that, it might seem tempting. I mean, I’m not independently wealthy and my 401k is just as unhealthy as everyone else’s.
The thing is, what I realized as soon as I saw it was the part of it where the user controls how frequently s/he lets Magpie put tweets in their timestream – but that there’s no way for me to turn the volume down as someone who follows these people. I have only two settings – on or off. I can follow or unfollow. Those are my choices.
If hundreds of the Twitterpals I’m following are using Magpie, even if they only set it to one every 20, that doesn’t keep me from seeing hundreds in a row. Potentially, thousands, since I currently follow 4,000+ people.
I find a picture is worth a thousand words in this case.
If logging in to twitter to see page after page of this in hopes of coming across a non-Magpie tweet were my fate, this would leave me with 2 options: quit following those people, or quit using Twitter and go to another microblogging platform.
I was trying to explain to someone else that it’s the metaphorical equivalent of being told that I might have to watch an hour’s worth of commercials on TV before I’m allowed to watch part of the show I want to see and even then, there’s nothing that says I won’t get 5 minutes into the show and be subjected to another 30 minutes worth of commercials. I’d either switch networks or quit watching television.
So what am I seeing? My village is divided. Some are taking Magpie for a ride – thinking “hey, it’s only once every few tweets” and some (like me) are unfollowing those who are using Magpie. It reminds me of a small town council fighting over whether or not you should put advertising on your barn.
I’ve been rather a rather vocal opponent. But that’s because I can only see that in the long-term, this monetization scheme will change how I use Twitter. Because if I follow those using Magpie, I won’t be able to just sign on and find out more about those wildfires in California, or who Obama chose for Secretary of State – not without wading through the ads. If I unfollow those using it, the benefit of twitter definitely decreases for me.
And you? What do you think? Is it a good thing and I’m just over-reacting? Or is it something you see as a negative trend? Weigh in. I’m listening.
N.B. It has been pointed out to me more than once that I misspelled nightingale in the title – apparently, I tweet like Florence Nightengale, not a songbird! I’d change it, but that would break any links to it, so I’m afraid it stays a testament to mommy-brain! NEW: according to friends in my comments, the new WP plugin I added should fix that, so changing title to correct spelling.
It’s True – It’s All in Your Head…
July 27, 2008
Yes, I know. I owe you guys about 4 other posts from BlogHer and my trip to San Francisco in general. I’ll get right on that with my usual alacrity…
But sometimes a concept keeps coming up repeatedly in my life from different avenues and different vectors – and I’ve learned over time that when that happens, it’s in my best interest to pay attention to it – and usually right now.
So there’s this thing, this life-lesson if you will, that has popped up several times this week and I think I’d be more than a little remiss if I didn’t put everything else on the back burner and write about it.
You see, earlier this week, I was having a conversation with one of my best friends. He’s in the middle of a job hunt – but his field is one that isn’t exactly opening up. Rather, it’s becoming more limited and more specialized. Kind of like watch repair. Not many people going in to watch repair these days – because the average person probably just replaces a watch that breaks since it’s either digital or inexpensive. Sure – there’s always a need for those who can repair really expensive watches with internal mechanisms – but it’s not like it’s an expanding field.
So my friend? He says to me the other night “how do I even get started here? All of the guys I’d be competing with have 30 years experience in the field – why would anyone want to hire me over them?”
My response kind of surprised me… but it was something both he and I needed to hear right then, so it boiled up from my subconscious where these things develop until I need them.
“See that’s where your problem is – you shouldn’t be asking the question ‘why would anyone want to hire me over them?’ you should be answering the question. For them and for yourself. Why hire you over someone with 30 years in the business? Maybe because you’re young and still passionate about it? You’re not just going to phone-it-in because you’ve been doing it for so long you’ve lost the drive? That you’re able to blend the experience you do have with a modern perspective? I can keep going if you’d like…” I told him.
He’s a smart guy. He got the perspective shift right away.
There have been a few other instances where I’ve found myself telling someone this week “you’re looking at it wrong – you’re asking the question when you should be answering it.” Don’t say “Why should I go to BlogHer when I’m not an a-list blogger and I don’t already have a group of friends there to hang out with?” Say “I should go because I have my own unique voice to add, and I can learn things too, and besides, I can make a group of new friends to hang out with this year and any other that I go.” Don’t say “Why should they select me to speak at that conference when there’s so many people with bigger reputations and more experience speaking at these things?” Say “they should select me because I’m passionate about this, and I want to share that passion and my knowledge about it with others. I can’t get more experience if I’m not putting myself out there and this is the right time for me to start letting people know that I have a voice worth listening to, too.”
See – I know there is someone who will read the above and think “hey… is she dissing me because I *do* have 30 years experience in my field?” and the answer is not at all. If you’ve got 30 years of experience (and success) in your field, it’s because you already know this part. Intuitively or expressly, you know that rather than asking “Why should someone hire me when I’m getting older and there’s all these hot-shot young kids around trying to climb the ladder?” you say “Of course they’re going to hire me – because I’ve got experience, perspective, and a proven ability to add value. My track record speaks for itself.”
One of the many secrets to being successful in any field is to be the one who answers the question “Why me?” rather than the one asking it.
Think about it for a second and you’ll probably find that you know a lot of people who don’t put themselves out there because they always come up with the “Why me?” questions rather than being able to answer them… and you’ll also realize that they’re the ones limiting themselves. If you can’t answer the question – how do you expect someone who doesn’t even know you to answer it?
Yeah, they won’t. They’ll move on to the guy/gal after you who does have an answer for it. Sometimes, you have to go the step beyond believing in yourself and communicate it to someone else effectively. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself asking “why him/her and not me?” too often.
Okay. Moment of enlightenment over. I’ll get on those other posts next. But I’ve got some company coming over and I’m going to go enjoy myself. Because I deserve it!
Give a Little, Get a Little…
April 20, 2008
A couple of years ago, GeekDaddy and I were in a Wal-Mart picking up diapers and whatnot… and we walked past a product demo. The free sample was a cup of coffee – and given our consistent state of sleep deprivation as parents, there was no way we were turning it down.
The coffee came out of a Senseo Coffee Pod System… at the time, still pretty new and trying to gain ground. At the time, my idea of ’single cup coffee’ machines extended from espresso machines to those annoying vending machines that have the paper cups with the poker hand you never win and the watery coffee & hot chocolate for 50 cents…
But it was decent enough coffee – and what a great idea. I mean, I can’t tell you how many 1/2 full pots of coffee I have emptied down the sink over the years. But the machine? Yeah, well, it was priced at around $80 for the machine plus the price of the individual coffee pods… er… maybe not. We thanked the lady and went about our shopping.
I always thought it would be a nice thing to have – but when it comes right down to it, I wasn’t sure I wanted to make that much of an up-front investment on something I wasn’t sure I’d use. Like every other home, we have our own ‘Small Appliance Graveyard’ filled with machines we were sure we’d use that eventually got relocated for new machines we were sure we’d use. I didn’t need to add to it with a pricey coffee maker when I already had a coffee pot and an espresso machine.
Fast-forward to about a month ago…
A friend emails me a link to this Senseo promotion which read:
Selected participants will receive the following $70 retail value for FREE*:
- Selected participants will receive the following $70 retail value for FREE*:
- Senseo® Single Serve Coffee Pod System
- Bag of Senseo® gourmet coffee pods
- Senseo® Coffee Pod Canister for easy pod storage and long-lasting freshness
- 5 $20-off Senseo® coffee machine cards to share with friends and family
*Participants must pay shipping and handling fee of $15
Seriously – sounds too good to be true, eh? I mean, come on… who gives away something that expensive that has clearly been successful enough to stick around for several years?
But I thought ‘what the heck… for $15 s/h, I’ll try it. I’d spend that ordering a pizza or in a few trips to Starbucks… can’t hurt.’
So I filled out forms, gave them info for billing the S/H fee, and promptly forgot about it. Until it showed up on the doorstep and I explained to GeekDaddy what was in the big box.
After it sat unopened by me for about a week – GeekDaddy unpacked it one morning and set it up. I know, because i was awakened with a freshly brewed cup of coffee that was waaaay to darkly roasted for my tastes. “That’s the dark roast that came with the new machine – we’ll have to try some other blends too,” he said.
He came home that afternoon with several bags of ‘other blends’ in pods to try.
By the end of the week, the ‘old coffee pot’ went to live with its predecessors in the Small Appliance Graveyard. We’re hooked. Firmly.
But that’s the beauty of it, you see… the company doesn’t make the bulk of it’s profit on the machines – it makes them on the pods. Which usually run anywhere from about 30 cents to $1 each depending on where/when you buy them and in what quantities. Now, that’s way more expensive than your average can of Folgers costs per cup – BUT – it’s way less than your average Starbucks and no more pouring unused coffee down the drain every day.
So they hooked us as customers by giving us the machine. Not a bad deal on their part. Something Gevalia coffee has been doing for years – which probably works for them frequently (but never did with me, I don’t like their coffee, personally.)
Zappos
Now, during this same time frame, a company I already respected a lot, Zappos.com decided to join the Twitter community full-force. Seems their employees had already been utilizing it – and Tony, their CEO decided to join Twitter as @zappos. It didn’t take long for the Twitter community to find @zappos and follow him – partially because he was running a promotion/contest of giving a free pair of shoes to one of his followers early on, partially because many of us already knew the site and loved the shoes, and partially because their company presence was so amazing.
Okay, granted – when they started giving away things like a trip for two to Las Vegas to tour the factory and meet with Tony – it started getting even more appealing… but by then we were all following already anyways and perusing the Zappos website with shoe-lust in our hearts.
I wasn’t really aware of how much different the presence of Zappos on Twitter was until I started getting new ’shoe seller’ spam followers on Twitter by the handful this week. Like the account @buyshoes — which just posts random news links in the hope that you will stop by their Twitter homepage and follow the link back to ’sicshoes . com’ (which I won’t link and am munging – not going to give them traffic, thanks) and buy shoes from their crappy website.
Now, honestly – I can use a search engine with the best of them. I know how to find shoes online if I want to. What no search engine can really tell you though is what kind of company you are doing business with before you do. But I can tell you what kind of company Zappos is – it’s the kind whose CEO makes the time to interact with their potential customers… and is willing to run a few free promotions because he knows that most people will pay a little bit more if necessary to deal with a company that treats them well. It’s the kind of company whose employees all seem to love what they do and are positive and upbeat (don’t believe me? click here) It’s the kind of company that I want to do business with.
While I’ll happily continue blocking the link-spamming shoe-bots that follow me on Twitter – I’ll be recommending them to anyone and everyone who will listen. Same as I sent that Senseo email to about a dozen friends and family and keep singing its praises.
Because honestly, the easiest way to make a loyal customer is to give them something they weren’t expecting… like a coffee pod machine, or a pair of shoes, or even just your time and attention.
It’s not rocket science – but it often seems like some companies perceive it that way. Thank heavens there are those who get it right the first time.
Now if you’ll excuse me – I’m going to drink a cup of decaf coffee made freshly just for me and go peruse some shoes…
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