Guest post from Toushka
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There is a lot of talk in the blogosphere at the moment and I’m sure your reader is full of posts about it. Money. Money for blog.
The mummy blogging phenomenon has taken off in Australia, and like anything good it is being criticised. There are as many opinions as there are bloggers, and that is the beautiful thing about blogging because if we all had the same opinion then companies wouldn’t be paying us the big medium bucks to share our unique opinion with our readers.
There are several schools of thought on the matter and I will talk about two of them. The first one is the school of “get while the getting’s good.” Like any phenomenon, it will not last forever and also, while it lasts, your blog may not always be flavour of the month. Can you afford to turn your nose up at offers and then regret it later? Blog Blog Blog and Take Take Take. Money in the bank and money for jam. Especially if your blog is about jam.
The other school of thought is the “Stop being such a greedy sell out”. This school has two levels: the level that believes that all advertising is bad and you should just blog for the love of writing and the connections and self expression. The other level believes that some advertising is a good thing but too much is a bit whorey and ruins the voice of your blog and hurts the reputation of the whole mummy blogging community. Man.
I have been on the P&C at both schools because I am as fickle as fashion and sometimes even border on hypocrisy.
So after a lot of twitter chat and deep thought these are the values I have settled on when it comes to the selling out debate. We are all individuals and can do whatever the hell we like and need to do what’s good for us and for our families. When seeking advice, remember that other bloggers can tell you what they would do but not what you should do. What works for one blogger may not work for you. Likewise, what works for you may not work for another blogger. Do not try to tell someone else not to take a job because it doesn’t pay enough. There is no industry standard because there are too many variables. Sometimes I blog for free product, because I like the product. I don’t need money all the time.
Good value means different things to different bloggers. If you get an offer that sounds good to you, take it. Don’t worry about what the blog next door is doing, you have different reader numbers, a different reach and different voices. Money is nice but keep in mind the other benefits you get out of posts. Traffic is one of those. I still get traffic from a movie review I did eight months ago. I hated that movie but my son loved it. I got to keep the DVD and run a giveaway for my readers. Now when you search for that movie in google, my blog is on the first page. If you are interested in the long term money making abilities of your blog then traffic is important. If you run giveaways on your blog and want lots of comments and entries, then make sure you support the giveaways on other blogs.
As a community we can support each other and keep the phenomenon alive for as long as possible. Don’t get snippy about “why wasn’t I offered that review or opportunity” Tall poppy syndrome or a woe is me attitude is not attractive. Most importantly, make your own choices and don’t look down on another bloggers choices. Whether that be to monetise, advertise, strategise or not. To get sponsored for an event or not. To jump on a blogging bandwagon or not. If you are truly happy with what you are doing with how you manage your blog, then it shouldn’t matter what anyone else is doing. Have conversations about it out of curiosity not contempt.
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Toushka Lee is a mum of two who blogs at Toushkalee.com. She sells out on such a regular basis that if you go to her blog right now there is probably a giveaway attached to a sponsored post. Don’t forget to click on the ad in her sidebar.
You can also find her on Facebook and twitter.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I think this is so well written and gives a very balanced perspective! Just say true to your own beliefs and you cannot go wrong x
Thank you! That is exactly it, summed up nicely.
Good points. The most troublesome thing I see, is that it keeps getting discussed. Is it such a prevalent discussion in other blogging “sub cultures”? I would hate to think as women and mothers we are undervaluing ourselves and each other by being quite self conscious about being offered renumeration. Now I don’t mean this as a veiled way to say “shut up already” to everyone, just food for thought regarding what else may underpin the discussion alongside points you’ve raised with regards to tall poppy syndrome, community support, etc.
*sigh*
Why can’t people just let bloggers do whatever they want? Whether that’s advertise, not advertise, write sponsored posts, not write sponsored posts, accept invitations & products or don’t.
I think it’s completely up to the individual.
I have personally chosen to not have display advertisements for example. I accept (some, but not all) products I think my readers will like, try them out and the if…only IF…I like them, I’ll write about them. IF. (And there have been a few products I tried and didn’t like – or they didn’t work the way they were supposed to – so I didn’t blog about them.)
But it doesn’t bother me IN THE SLIGHTEST if other bloggers want to do those things I don’t. It doesn’t put me off their blog…well, only if every 2nd post was sponsored. There was a blog in the UK I loved until it got filled with sponsored posts, so I just stopped going there. (Products were mostly UK based.)
But that’s just it…that’s my decision. I don’t have a problem with her wanting to do that, but it doesn’t interest me.
Don’t read if you don’t want to. You know?
Great post.
x
Great post. It makes perfect sense; if I try to make my blog look and feel different than the next blog (to give me a point of difference) then why would I aim to have advertising, giveaways and sponsored posts the same as someone else?
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Great read!
It’s such a fine line, isn’t it? I think you’ve got the right balance.
I’m happy to do giveaways etc if I get to do an activity or keep a product that I wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford for my kids. For me, that’s payment enough.
At this stage, my blogging is a hobby so anything extra is a bonus.
Plus I like giving stuff to other people. I might not be able to afford it, but if a company wants to give some awesome person something nice via my blog, I’m happy to play a part in that.
Toushk, bloody fantastic post. Spot on.
(I left the A out of your name on purpose. To denote a sense of familiarity and coolness.)
Hahaha love that bio!
Oh this is so well said. And I agree with you on every single point, including where I stand (point of hypocrisy, fence-sitting, etc etc) and I’ve given my opinion on it – cos I’ve been asked! But at the end of the day, I couldn’t care (rather, don’t mind in the slightest) what others do on their blogs. I know what I want for mine and it does sort of buck the trend of PR-blog harmony…. but I’ve also said plenty of times in plenty of places that I never say never either! I really agree with Leah (Bogue Living) – that the only meh thing about it is that we all keep checking what’s “ok”. But then, that’s also a teething period thing too.
We’ll all work out what suits us individually. I have every faith in that. If we all try to keep up with the proverbial (invisible) Joneses, that’s where we’ll shoot ourselves in the collective foot.
all such lovely comments. thank you.
Not sure how I missed this post but so glad I found it today. Love it, Toushka! Personally I’m tired of all the talk about selling out and not selling out. Let’s just blog.