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I never thought blogging would be so much hard work. I first started it as a hobby and a ministry. As my blog became more popular and getting more attention from the media I found I was constantly being contacted by companies for product reviews and giveaways. I thought how cool, this would be another way to help my readers. Then I found that the more I did, the more I found how companies were taking my readers and I for granted.
I do not feel comfortable pushing a product that I am not familiar with or that I have never tried.So I do not feel that it is too much to ask for a sample. I mean to me I would feel like I am lying to my readers if I had not actually tried the product myself and that is just not cool. I feel like I have built a relationship with my readers and I plan on it staying that way. Plus its more than just a review its building a long lasting personal relationship with that brand as well.
Sometimes I feel insulted when a brand approaches me and all they send is just a press release and nothing else. What am I supposed to do with that? No hi, how are you, with a set of instructions. Just a press release. My blog is not to be used of as free advertisement. Its for my readers! If I see something that is going to help my readers then I am all for posting it but I do not want my readers to feel like all I am doing is shoving advertisements down their throats.
My readers know that I do have some paid advertisements on my blog and they are all for it because they know its what keeps my blog going and also helps us pay for Daniel’s medical care(You can read the “About Us” for more info).
I also think its horrible when companies ask for personal information from my readers. That is a total invasion of privacy and I won’t do it! I had to turn down a really large prize this week because a company said the only way I could hold the contest is if I gave them all the information from the people who enter. Are you kidding me? Well that was a no brainer! I said no way!!! Obviously this company knows nothing about social media. While I am sad that I could not give this great prize away to a lucky reader , I think my readers will be more pleased that I said no and that they will know that I care about them and that they can trust me.(lol I hope most of you already know that)
While talking to other bloggers at SXSW and also on Twitter I found that I was not the only person that feels this way. So what do bloggers what companies to know?
1. Doing a giveaway is a lot of work. We sometimes have to process through hundreds of entries to make sure all rules have been followed. Not to mention all the technical emails and questions you get.
2. You cannot give an honest product review w/o ever have tried it or received a sample.
3. When you email a blogger your first email/pitch can make or break wether they want to work with you or not. Think clearly about what your offer is. This could be the big decision between you and the delete button!
4. Do not just send press release emails with no instructions or personal comments. We get 100’s of emails from companies all the time and we do have to pick and choose what we use because we cannot bog down our readers with this type of info. So make it worth your while, or should I say ours?
5. When asking for a product review or giveaway do not make the blogger have to come back to you to ask for a sample.
6. We will only blog about what feel comfortable with. Also be aware that we do post negative reviews as well. But most bloggers will contact you ahead of time to let you know. This keeps are reviews all the more real. Therefore you and our readers get more out of it!
Below is a list of comments that were given by some of the people I follow on Twitter.
We invite all of you to share your thoughts and comments as well.
cbusinessmoms@consumerqueen doesnt make a whole lot of business sense to expect a blogger to advertise your product without offering something in return.
cbusinessmoms@ConsumerQueen we’d be very disappointed in a company who wanted to do something like that. sounds like poor marketing practices to us.
beautyandbedlam@ConsumerQueen Also,we work hard to develop a relationship with our readers.It’s a trust issue. would never give out their info w/o permiss
beautyandbedlam@ConsumerQueen There needs to be a give and take unless it’s a charity, non profit, “cause oriented” organization.
beautyandbedlam@ConsumerQueen Would a TV or radio station give advertising for free? Never – you blog is your brand, and for many, your business.
malenalott@ConsumerQueen big bloggers should treat it like media. Charge cost per impression plus co. provide contest prize.
CEOAmbyBaby@ConsumerQueen Sounds like a free search for info. E-mail lists can be quite costly.
tjstaab@ConsumerQueen I would have turned down holding that contest too. You do not give our your readers details, it’s so wrong on so many levels
the_wild_gypsy@ConsumerQueen I’ve only done my own giveaways or ones with other small bloggers. I’d never be willing to give out my readers info.
CEOAmbyBaby@ConsumerQueen Go ahead. Sounds like a team- led by souls trying to be someone, instead of inventing something original or doing the work.
PRamble@ConsumerQueen Obviously they have no respect for privacy from what I gather of the convo.
ReizaM@ConsumerQueen Ohhh, giving away the info is too much. I would be livid if I found a blogger did that. Wouldn’t enter if that was required
aranarose@ConsumerQueen Exactly! I don’t think people realize the time and effort that goes into hosting a contest!
aranarose@ConsumerQueen That is so true! Even a *small* contest is very time consuming!
my2gs@ConsumerQueen I totally agree! Thanks for being one of the ethical ones!!! ❤
fringies@ConsumerQueen Interesting… I guess I should be more careful w/ blog contests I enter. I hope that everyone would do the same as you.
CPAMom
@ConsumerQueen this just happened to me. A very large company asked me to do s.th. 4 them w/ nothing 4 me (free advertising). Uh, no.
CEOAmbyBaby@ConsumerQueen That’s bold. Glad you stuck to your ethics.
aranarose@ConsumerQueen Then how is it worth my effort? How can I get excited enough to excite my readers about it?
CraftyMamaof4@ConsumerQueen Wow Thats crazy I would never give any info out! I also wont do a review unless I get the product.
jareason@ConsumerQueen no way would I do that either I think that is overstepping their boundaries
my2gs@ConsumerQueen Some people must not protect their readers b/c I sure get a lot of unsolicited email newsletters.
fringies@ConsumerQueen Yikes! That is asking too much. Thanks for protecting us!! 
workoutmommy@ConsumerQueen I tell companies that I can’t review a product I don’t own or use. same w/contests–how can we promote what we haven’t tried?
Disclosure Policy
Thank you for maintaining integrity in a world that lacks so much of it! I’m grateful for your loyalty and honored to work with you! ~Frugal Fraulein
May I post the first part of this with a link over here to read the rest? Excellent post, much needed!
Yes -please do!
Good writing. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed my Google News Reader..
Matt Hanson
I’d like to nominate you for a Key Player award at http://learntocoupon.com .
http://learntocoupon.com/KeyPlayers.html
Gracias! THANK YOU so much for this article and for caring for us!!
Good Job!! Buen trabajo…!!
Ditto to everything you said. I especially get so frustrated with all of these “press releases.” And they expect me to post it on my site? I guess they think I’m hurting for things to post and will just post advertising for free.
And I can’t believe someone asked that you hand over everyone’s information. Not cool at all!
Thanks for your insight. I appreciate your candor and appreciate all of the work the bloggers do and the information provided to the public. Truthfully, I can’t understand how anyone can expect a review of a product you haven’t used. For me, any blogger who would write a review without having used the product would violate an integrity to the readers. For a company to expect that seems ethically wrong. Thank you again.
Amen. Well said.
No way am I handing over my reader info without a very compelling reason!! This is a great list hopefully some businesses/marketers better understand mommy bloggers now.
I have just started blogging within the last couple months, so I have not had the experience of product reviews or giveaways. But, I can tell you that if it is a product that I have not tried, I will not be telling my readers about it. Blogging is built on honesty and if a reader can’t count on you to tell them the truth, then they won’t stay loyal.
~Liz
I’ve done giveaways on my blog, Connecting2Give (http://www.connecting2give.com) and until I did those, I had no clue just how much goes into them. They are time consuming! I hope to do many more on that blog, as well as on Lemonade Mama, but companies need to realize that as much as we love doing giveaways, they are hard work, and a product sample is really fair, and inexpensive, compensation for that hard work! If I’d gotten an hourly rate for the work that I put into the giveaways at C2G? I’d have probably made enough to pay my bills the next three months…
And I don’t think a lot of companies realize just how GREAT giveaways are for raising awareness and bringing in new customers. I recently bought a WonderWash, after having seen it on the giveaway at Resourceful Mommy. I’d never heard of it before that, and it fits my needs PERFECTLY. Giveaways are such a great way to get the word out about a product, with less cost than more traditional ways of advertising.
To ask a blogger to do a giveaway without a product sample is, to me, a bit silly. First, if I can review the product as part of the giveaway, it makes it so much easier for me to build hype. I’m a hyper-excited person anyway, and if I’m excited about a product, I will happily tell everyone about it not just on my blog, but on Twitter as well. So if I’ve got the product in my hands, and can really share the benefits, I can get more people excited about the giveaway, and bring that much more attention to the company.
For whatever reason, companies seem to think blog giveaways are easy, and they aren’t. I spent hours upon hours prepping the recent giveaways at C2G, and after that experience learned a lot, but I know it’s hard work!
Great post! I love working with companies if it is mutually beneficial and if they are UP FRONT! I have a lot of value to provide them, and am not into using my valuable time to simply do them “favors” – so when a company asks me to do something for them instead of WITH them, it can be offensive. There are a few who are doing it right and it has been a pleasure working with them.
I think their is a fine line to walk between big business and mom bloggers – relationship is KEY, I have not dony any “real” giveaways on my personal blog yet but I am about to do my first and I so excited about it because I have emailing with the company for two weeks and I feel like I know them not just the product. We all know what a huge and powerful we have on each other and so do they – but what they fail to realize is that the power of our words is SO much stronger when we feel invested in it for one reason or another! In my case…I now not only LOVE the product but really like the people too and you better believe my post will reflect that.
I am not sure my comment is what you were looking for but it is what came to head as I was reading!
Have a fantastic Monday
Terra
I’m so glad that you put this post together.
I think there are so many fantastic companies out there who are willing to work with us as bloggers to promote their product. Then, there are companies out there intent on spamming us without even taking the time to look at our blogs and see what we are all about. If a company is going to pitch to us, they need to know ‘us’. They need to take the time to visit our blogs, click on a few tags/labels to see what kinds of things our families are interested in, the ages of our children and pitch appropriate products to us.
I quite often promote products on my crafting and party planning sites based on seeing them on sites such as Etsy and not physically receiving a sample of these items … you know, cute greeting cards, handmade products etc.
However. When it comes to ‘mom’ or ‘kid’ products I am not about to promote something that I or my children have not had a chance to test first. I would be lying to my readers if I suggested they purchase something just because it was pitched to me. Sure there have been times when somebody has emailed me and asked if I would mind promoting ‘their’ companies contest and if I think my readers would enjoy entering then I’m all for it, but I’m not going to promote the latest household gadget, toy or sunscreen unless I and/or my children have given it a good once over.
As for companies asking for the personal information of contest entrants that just shouldn’t happen. Obviously they can take the time to read through the submissions on your site and visit the blogs of entrants if they so desire and that has happened to me a few times when I’ve entered contests, however I would not hand over the details of my readers and run the risk of them being a tad cranky at me once their inboxes are being filled by companies emails.
Kudos to you for sticking to your guns. I’m small potatoes enough that I don’t get these kinds of offers, but by no means would I or any blogger that I’m acquainted with do a review of a product that they had not used, nor publish a press release just to fill up blank space on their blog.
Here’s an opinion from the flip side – I’m one of those who grovel for the reviews (ok, not grovel, but inquire about an interest in reviewing). I would never in my life consider someone reviewing my product untested. You’d lose your credibility with your readers, which reduces your traffic, and kills my exposure. So where’s the benefit in THAT?
That being said, I do often have the blogger ask for a sample. Not that I’m unwilling to give the samples (which I do quite happily), but my first communication is only to find out if there’s an interest and a willingness. If the response is positive, they’re usually asking for the sample(s) before I get an opportunity to offer them up. I personally feel that offering samples to someone who isn’t interested feels more like a “sales pitch”; I’d much rather know that they have an interest, and even what types of products they’d be most interested in reviewing so that I can send them things they are most likely to use.
Well said! I can’t in good conscience promote something that I know nothing about. The things I post are things that I genuinely think will enhance the lives of my readers. I’m not willing to give up the trust they have in me by giving their personal information to another company. Sad that there are seem to be so many strings attached these days!
Melissa: Thanks for the for this–it’s a good topic and a good post. Makes sense to me.
It’s unfortunate that companies pitch you by sending you a press release. That makes it pretty obvious that the folks behind these pitches are thinking about visibility instead of an honest review and dialog that may result from it.
That said, kudos to you for bringing it up.
Thanks again,
LionelatDell
I say keep up with your ethics. If you started promoting just any product, you would be selling yourself out. And if you sold our info it would be breaking our trust. I thought with all the CAN SPAM laws that came out that marketing departments learned that you can’t just send people emails that they haven’t opted in to.
My blog is newer so this month I did my first real prodiuct review with a giveaway…but guess what I am in no way paid, product or otherwise, just found a product I love ( bananagrams) and wanted to share.
I certainly appreciate when anyone helps keep my information private. It can be so easy to turn over the information just once for a great prize but it speaks volumes about your character that you said no AND told us about it. Way to go!
Thank you for keeping the integrity of your blog and for honoring the privacy of your readers. We do appreciate all of your hard work and dedication. Yes, we like the prizes, but if they don’t earn your respect, they won’t get ours either.
I applaud your high standards! thank you for all you do for us!
More and more companies will be trying to tap into the blogosphere, because it’s a cheap way to reach a lot of people. I don’t think it’s too much to expect samples for yourself, for your time. I think a lot of blogs are going to end up charging for their time when they really begin to get overwhelmed with submissions.
I think it would be very wrong to give your readers’ information to the company “in secret,” but if you feel good about the company and what they’re offering, I think it would be okay as long as you’re very up front about it. Then readers can choose whether or not to participate.
Agreed – I’m not sure what some of these PR folks are thinking but free advertising is not what I am here for either. I honestly enjoy doing reviews but I have to have the product to be able to review it.
I for one (well I see more!) am glad you took the time to post this. I am also thankful for your honesty and integrity!
I remember talking about this at the ConAgra Round Table. During the conversation I was getting a followup email from a pr company “shouting” at me for not replying to the pitch that they sent the week before! Another from a book company asking me if I received the books they sent for review…I never received an email from them before so I never agreed to review their books. I guess it was a trick to get me to respond.
One company tried to entice me with offering “giveaways”. I am still uninterested in their service and hope they leave me alone, lol!
As for getting something in return…do magazines mention products and run promos for free? Why should we?
Looks like that want it all for free, our personal information to use as they please and advertisement. It’s wonderful to know we have such great bloggers as you that think of your readers confidentiality and Trust in your blog. Thank You for all you do and don’t do for us readers~!
Great post! I typically write a weekly post on marketing to mommybloggers. I’m going to link bank to this.
This is such an excellent post, and a post that probably all bloggers would agree with. I’ve put a link to your post on my blog, as I think it is definitely worth sharing.
http://eightymphmom.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-heart-these-posts-you-will-too.html
Thanks for keeping it honest and aboveboard. I’m glad to know you are treating our personal information with such care!