There has been a lot of chatter about mom bloggers on the news and on the internet. Recently, I saw a piece on Good Morning America about Mom Bloggers. I felt they were unfair in their reporting about us. Many of us do this as a hobby. We don’t make money off of it. Occassionaly, we may sell an advertisement spot on our site or do a sponsored post, but that really doesn’t amount to much.
At least, for me it doesn’t. I have done some sponsored posts in the past. It covered my operating costs. I also put in the post that it was sponsored. I also picked sponsored posts that were informational and may be of interest to my readers. Lately, I just haven’t had time to do any sponsored posts.
I receive products from companies to review for my site. I state in each review post that the company sent the item to me for review. If I don’t like it, I email my contact and let him/her know. I give the companies that send me a product the option to elect to not have me post my negative review. I do this out of courtesy, because they sent me the item to get my opinion and I don’t want to penalize them for it. Neither do I want to post a review that is not truthful. So, when you read back to back reviews from me that are positive, it is because I honestly liked the product. Does that mean that you will? Absolutely not. We are all different, and we all have things we like and don’t like. In the end, you need to decide for yourself.
Trisha with MOMDOT has proposed a PR blackout for Aug. 10-16. This is not to shun PR, but to give us mommies a break. We put a lot of time into doing reviews and giveaways. Time that we don’t get paid for. Yes, we got a free product. Big woopee. A $10, $25, or $50 item for all the hours we put into reviewing an item, writing up the post and promoting the giveaways. The main reason most of us do it is because at one time it was fun. Lately, for some of us, we miss just blogging about our family and our life. We want a break. Trisha is not suggesting that every mom blogger do this, just those of us that are feeling burnt out on reviews and giveaways.
That is why, for the week of Aug. 10-16, I will not have any product reviews or giveaways. My posts will just be about autism, my life, and whatever off the wall subject that interests me at the time. I hope you approve. If you don’t, just let me know. I don’t want to upset any of my readers, but it is only for a week.
13 comments:
welcome to the party my dear!
trisha
Yay! I'm participating too and it will be a nice break
All those "make money with internet"-sites suggest you can buy a 7 room house with garage when blogging.
Forget it.
I haven't done a paid post for ages and I have to pay my site from my own money, not from what I made with the site.
Hi...
This is certainly not spam but it takes exception to your position. However, as a longtime PR professional I will say that your decision to contact product providers in advance of a potentially negative review is a very gracious gesture.
Ok...here's my take. Do you want a break? You got it! The "Mommy Blog" movement is a joke as far as I'm concerned I would never submit a product to be reviewed on my own accord. Unfortunately, I've had clients that have insisted and I find it to be a complete waste of time.
So you have to spend an inordinate amount of time reviewing and writing about a product...that you get to keep? Really? And what about those on the other side that spend the time to do the research, create the pitch and then if there's a green light, take the time to prepare and send the package? Knowing of course, that the free product won't be returned, a review might not show up and if it does it is usually written so poorly and reaches such a small audience that it doesn't move the dial in terms of sales.
There is somehow this conception out there that opening up a blog somehow is an instant "legitimizer,' that somehow the blogger is now considered an integral part of the media landscape. Believe me, other than a handful of the top blogs that is hardly the case. Real PR pros see the Mommy Blog world for what it really is. And when you look at the Alexa numbers for most every Mommy Blog out there it's not hard to see it any other way. And so as not to be too rude I'll let you insert your own thoughts as to how many publicists view the category.
If you feel that Mommy blogger's taking a break from product reviews is going to bring the consumer market and PR machine to it's knee then feel free. But let's get real here. The reality is that "Trisha" from Momdot is using all of you so she can drive traffic to HER site. You MUST get that, don't you?
So in conclusion, although I doubt this will be positioned, please take note that THIS publicist will NEVER submit to another Mommy Blog even if a client demands it. I only work with people that have their livelihood on the line from here on out.
That said, I am hopeful that your site gets some eyes and provides some useful information and insight. It's an important issue.
Thanks.
The Improver,
I welcome all views on my site, presented respectfully. That being said, let me reiterate what I said in my post. The PR blackout weak is not aimed at making any kind of statement to the PR professionals we work with. It is just to remind ourselves of why we love blogging.
As for what you said about Trisha, getting traffic to her site is important. I agree, but she also helps us get traffic to our sites. This in turn helps PR and their clients.
If you found my site because you saw my HARO request, than you know I am working on a post from the PR standpoint. I like to show both sides of the story, even if I don't agree with one side. In the end, I let my readers make up their own mind.
I think it is a shame that you have decided not to work with any Mom Bloggers, but that is your decision. I respect that. Thank you for taking time and giving me your opinion.
We will have so much fun this week! I think it is hilarious to read a PR that DOES NOT work with mommy bloggers and his opinion. I would love to see what other PRs think that regularly work with us!
The Improver,
I have to say I am sorry you feel like mommy bloggers are not worth working with. I think you are one of the few people who feel like this. Your clients insisting on it have the right idea.
If you have only had negative experiences, then you need to do more research on the blogger. I have had several people ask for my stats before they agree, and that is perfectly fine by me. I have been turned down by some, and I understand.
As for doing the research and actually sending out the product, etc, I bet you get a paycheck for that, don't you? You wouldn't do all that just to get to keep a free product, would you?
As for MomDot only doing this for the traffic, you are so wrong there. She actually just took off all of her stat counters and has stopped keeping track of her stats because she decided it's not worth it to her. She would rather have a community of women helping each other, than high amounts of traffic.
I can tell you this was not meant to put down PR folk at all. It was for US the bloggers who are getting burned out. All it is is a vacation. You get vacation time don't you? Why shouldn't we? That's all Trisha is saying. Take a break, get some peace for a week, and then come back. How is that so wrong?
The Improver is the kind of PR bloggers don't want to work with. If we're that disposable, the companies need to stop having their PR reps sending us e-mail upon e-mail every day. Not all bloggers go looking for the opportunities. A lot of them end up in our inboxes day after day. Sometimes when a blogger doesn't respond even within 12 hours, that blogger is then harassed for a response with follow up e-mails. Oh, and let's not forget the PR Reps who spend so much time preparing those pitches that they're only a few lines or have the wrong name in the salutation when bloggers receive them. Oh, and the PR Rep that I mistakenly gave my Yahoo messenger ID to and was then harassed about a product review at 6am. I had JUST logged on.
And also for PR reps. Would you even in your wildest dreams contact print, tv, or radio media and ask them to run a press release for nothing in exchange? I got one in my inbox today that I could be entered in a site's giveaway. Oh boy! I write up this blog post, direct people to your site, and I *might* get to win a prize? I don't think so. When you're giving a blogger a product review, you're essentially buying ad space on that blog. Ad space that never leaves the internet. Ad space that shows up in search engines for all time. And for what? Maybe a $50 product? Come on. Could you get a tv ad for that price? I don't think so. Print ads are printed once, then they're gone, and at what price?
Yes, bloggers are more instrumental in reaching a younger demographic than most companies realize. When I'm making a major purchase, where do I turn for research first? The internet. In particular if it's a product for my home or my children, I want to see that other parents have used it and what they think of it. I've bought products based on blog reviews and giveaways I didn't win.
Yes, a few ruin it for the many - on both sides.
The street runs both ways. I hear all these PR reps whining that they're so over worked and underpaid, but none of them are doing anything about it. Maybe they're just jealous that some bloggers have decided that they can and will stop being used and abused.
I am USING people to drive traffic? LOL! Thats funny. I dont make enough money off of "traffic" to use anyone. And perhaps you missed my post a few weeks ago about removing stats and starting our own revelations on taking back our blog. We are not asking bloggers to do what we ourselves are not willing to do.
You know nothing about me, but one thing my community knows is that I give back hoards more than I would ever take. We started as a way to advertise MOMS for free on the net in blog and boutique listings and we blog based on our experiences and mostly personal, with a touch of PR.
We always do is listen to what bloggers around us are saying and that is that they are stressed. You may be uneducated in that you dont work with mom bloggers, but really mom bloggers need to be educated on how to fine tune their working with PR. The fact that you believe a post is worth a free product just shows how ignorant you are in this realm. Atleast you make a paycheck from packaging up the items, but for many PR reps, we are the ones that ensure that their clients needs are met.
MomDots relationships with our PR are strong, our relationships with our bloggers are even stronger, but what I want everyone take from this, no matter what side you are on, is that you shouldn't be blogging for anyTHING, you should be blogging for self.
The fact that its caused so many PR to stress shows how valuable bloggers truly are to the web. I am not here to break that value, but to make it stronger by asking the blogosphere to care more about where their time is going.
Had you taken more than 3 seconds to read any of our resource papers or past articles on PR and bloggers, you would know that perhaps we care too much, but unfortunately, our bloggers are #1 and are PR are 2nd at best.
To reduce our blog or belittle it to traffic is very ironic.
~Trisha
And at least I make sure I do everything under my own name and without a shred of apology...instead of a fake name with no information.
I have very little respect for that kind of "opinion".
Grow a set..
Well Hassiegirl, I'd like to thank you for proving one of my favorite quotes to be true. It looks like, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much" is alive and well.
That aside I am highly curious as to how I should "grow a set." Is that one of those uni-sex phrases? I looked back at my post and really didn't see how I identified myself as male or female. Maybe any kind of dissenting opinion just screams "man" to you.
Sorry sister...you missed.
And in terms of my remaining anoymous I think that actually speaks to my professionalism. The views expressed were my own, not my clients. But as soon as I see something out there other than "Haasiegirl" or "Trisha" I'll consider passing along my real name.
Hey...here's an idea to stop all those PR hacks from giving you free products. Why don't you think about not writing product reviews! That would take care of the whole problem, wouldn't it? But then again, you wouldn't be able to provide all those wonderful giveaway prizes which increases your traffic, right? OK...scratch that one.
You might as well eliminate the 'advertise with us' option too. I mean, you're obviously not concerned with providing strong numbers to your potential advertisers so there really doesn't seem to be much point.
An in conclusion, I'm also sorry to hear that you and some of the Mommy bloggers are stressed Haasiegirl. I mean, why would anyone invite that in to their lives, especially if they aren't getting paid for it? I guess the desire to be heard outweighs the negative, huh? If it doesn't I'm sure the solution is pretty obvious to you, right?
I didn't intend to get in to a 'back and forth' on this and do appreciate the open-minded and fair words offered by Tammy. Of course, when you look at her content and obvious goals it just stands to reason.
Just like your response was EXACTLY what I thought it would be. Hang in there Haasigirl. Don't let the stress get you down and my best for your continued enjoyment of the products you receive.
I didn't get to see the whole thing that was on GMA. I saw bits and pieces.
Hey Improver,
YOU are WRONG, whatever your gender is. How you got to be in public relations with that kind of attitude, I will never know.
You say that Mommy Bloggers make poorly written review posts & that you would never work with them. Really? So Mom's who have blogs are what? Scum? And stupid?
Way to shoot yourself in the foot. One thing you have forgotten is that Moms (& Mommy bloggers) make most, if not ALL of the purchasing decisions for their families.
Calling us stupid & greedy is not the best tact to take here.
As for Trisha Haas (Hassiegirl), the OWNER of MomDot.com "hiding" her identity, well, that is just grasping at straws. Click on her name & it will take you to her site. She does not hide, nor does she do anything JUST FOR TRAFFIC. Try searching for Bloggers Give & you will see that it is a site that she created to GIVE BACK to charities that desperately need donations.
You have either never met anyone with as big a heart as Trisha has or you are so jaded that you cannot recognize it when you see it. Either way, putting down Mommy Bloggers is going to come back to bite you, sooner than you may think.
And just one more thing, try checking your facts before you make such ignorant and sweeping statements about something you clearly know nothing about.
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