So you’re a blogger and get free stuff, I should blog too. As bloggers, we often hear those words or something similar about what we do on a daily basis.
Have you ever tried to explain to people what you actually do?
“I am a blogger, I get free stuff because I want to spend hours creating the perfect post and testing out products. I will share on the brands required Social Media platforms numerous times to advertise the products I received for free.”
Now if anyone actually believes we do all that for Free Products, then give your head a quick shake. That is furthest from our reality. We may have received a product at no cost out of pocket however there is heaps of work to do. The time and energy and research we put into a post with great content needs to be compensated.
As bloggers, we like to create great content to share with our readers on topics that are of interest to us and hopefully our readers. We want to keep them coming back to read more. We need to form a virtual bond in order to know the interests of those readers.
What Bloggers May Do:
Create new content a few times a week
Research for reference material
Form a Social Media presence on all platforms and share content
Manage comments and spam
Maintain website
Track Stats
Build relationships (Brands,community)
Attend conferences for valued information
These are just a few of the many things we do on a daily basis. Most blogs have a particular niche, where they write about similar topics. Do you have the passion to write about the same topic and keep your readers coming back, can you write a pitch to a brand with a similar niche why they should work with you?
A bloggers life is busy, we aren’t just bloggers, we are an individual business,our blog is our company and for some it is their source of income and others it is just a part time gig. We have to work for everything we do, hard work doesn’t come free. We have rates and should be paid respectively for our time.
Do you still think we blog for Free Products? Do you have the time and energy to do all this for free? I know I don’t and I know I am not alone. My time is valuable time and I can’t waste it away, can you?
Do You still want to blog?
Mama Bear’s Haven is a Canadian lifestyle blog created by Tammy Bell in 2012. She loves cold brew tea, chocolate and taking pictures of nature.There's recipes, parenting tips and crafts.
Writing and blogging is the best job in the world. I love what I do. But it is far from easy and simple. First of all most people think they can write, but they truly often are not good at it. Many people spend hours striving to improve that talent so they can blog. That’s work. I write multiple posts a day and I research them and fact check and the photography and food styling alone is challenging. Plus the outreach takes time. With some contacts I actually spend maybe two weeks getting to know them and back and forth and there are others that are years developing. Some of my biggest opportunities here at Thrifty Momma’s Tips have worked out after literally 12 months of us chatting back and forth, emailing and finally agreeing on a contract. That’s all time invested in blogging. This is not an overnight get rich quick scheme.
I totally agree, I am not rich from blogging, well not yet anyway. I am not the best writer but I try my best. But I do love what I do. I am like you and am constantly researching what I want to post to make sure what I am saying is right.
I have had people say this to me but once I begin to explain the number of hours I work on blogging they are turned off. I do think some bloggers are about the free stuff but they are few and far between.
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I recently was reading comments on a youTube video and they all mentioned how they love getting free stuff. So I joined the thread and made my point, as much as everyone loves free stuff, it does not pay the bills. I think some people don’t see it as a job, for most of the bloggers we know it is our job. Free stuff is always nice and those that just want things for free should just enter contests.
it’s probably why a lot of blog don’t last more than a few months, building a blog to the level that brands recognize you have a valuable reach takes a lot of time and hard work.
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I agree 100%, this is a great post and needed to be said. I don’t know how often I have had to explain what blogging is about. It’s not easy and there’s no “freebies” here. Everything is well earned. I do love my work and it’s my full time job now. As with any business you have to work it and give it 5 years to be really successful. For those who think a blurb on a website is going to bring them new found wealth they may want to think again. Love it!
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When I talk about my Blog…”What IS a blog?” Most frequently asked question… “I’m not a writer, so I couldn’t do that!” Most frequent comment…
Thanks for sharing!
GAH! I hate that question. It’s exhausting. If you knew the amount of work behind blogging, you wouldn’t believe it was FREE STUFF! Blogging is a lot of work, time and energy. Anyone who gets FREE STUFF has worked their butt off for it! Great post!
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Like everything else in life, it’s not everyone cup of tea; if you want to do it and can then go for it!
Great post! While I may not have paid dollars for the product I reviewed, I paid with time and effort.
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You should be paid for your time and effort, not just with product. If the product doesn’t meet your minimum rates then you should ask for compensation on top of the product. Always ask!
I totally agree with you on this. Most have no idea how much work blogging really is, especially if you are doing it as an investment to make money.
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I definitely don’t blog for free stuff. I blog because writing is like breathing to me. And when I come up with or find ideas I love, I love to share them!
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