Should Bloggers Be Paid?

There has been so much talk lately surrounding blogging and brands, what services should be paid for and what shouldn’t.

In all honesty, I’m left scratching my head with all the different points of view!

Brands have now realized the power of social media and are using it to their advantage.  But where do bloggers fit in?

I recently attended a conference with the hopes that I would connect with some great brands.  And I did.  But I was left feeling that the conference benefited the brands much more than the bloggers.

At the roundtable discussions, brands were focused on picking bloggers’ brains on how to help their social media campaigns, rather than brainstorming ideas on how bloggers and brands could work together.

I’ve also recently been in contact with a few PR companies and larger brands and have been left feeling disappointed.  While some are open to ideas, I am still finding many to be focused only on offering content and/or giveaways.  As soon as I respond with “I’ll send you my rates” or “compensation” is even mentioned, the door is quickly shut.

Why?  Perhaps because certain brands think they can find someone else out there to do it for free.

Brands pay for traditional advertising such as print, radio and television and now websites.  Unfortunately the lines are still blurred when it comes to social media and blogs.

Although I didn’t attend the Blissdom Canada conference this year, I followed the #BlissDomCanada Twitter stream and learned a few things.

The session I would’ve liked to attend the most was on monetization.   One thing I picked up from tweets is if the return on investment is in the company’s direction, blogger should charge for the post.  If the ROI leans on the blogger’s direction, then blogger would not charge.

Here is a brief list of what I’ve learned so far, whether it’s right for you or not, I think it’s a good list to start with:

Product Reviews:

The consensus seems that bloggers should not accept payment for reviews.

Sponsored posts:

Sponsored posts may be paid but should be disclosed fully in the post.

Giveaways:

It’s wonderful to get free product to giveaway to a lucky reader.  Smaller giveaways may be simple to execute.  But a good Public Relations company should realize the time and effort it takes to post and promote a larger giveaway.

Some say payment depends on the blogger’s status as well as the amount of work involved.  If the contest or giveaway is elaborate, perhaps an administration fee is acceptable.  Also, those bloggers with a higher profile may charge more.

However for such bloggers who are just starting out, and want to build readership, contests and giveaways attract readers and increase website traffic. 

Also, sometimes it fun to giveaway something fabulous to your readers!  Especially if the prize is worth it.

Promoting Events and Brands: 

When a company asks you to tweet or post about a new contest, product, cause, new show, event, I’ve heard many say:  don’t do it for free. 

At the same time, I feel that if you believe in a product, cause or even an event that you love and feel passionate about, I don’t think there is anything wrong in promoting it personally.  But when you do it as your brand? 

This is where the confusion lies for me.

I guess if a larger company is looking to spread the word about specific information that will mostly benefit their brand, then compensation should be made. 

I can see a problem arising if one blogger is promoting events and products without compensation while others do it for free; then it will really make it difficult for those who are looking to monetize their blog.  The company’s return on investment is high while yours remains low.

Bottom line:

The bottom line is, if you get some return on your investment of time, resources, blog space, that is ultimately what matters.

I think every blogger should obviously decide… but then there is the whole factor of some brands realizing there are bloggers out there who will do stuff for free, which makes it more challenging for those who are actually trying to monetize their blog.

I’ll leave you with this quote from Christy @ImFreckles, who says:

“I believe there is value in our voices. Women bloggers are often referred to as influencers and if we have so much power to sway others then why isn’t that worth something more than a few gifts now and then. I think it needs to be a collective shift in thinking in order for it to stick. We as online influencers need to stick together, support each other and demand to be valued.”

Some informative links:

http://www.urbanmoms.ca/moms_the_word/2010/10/giving-it-away-for-free.html

http://www.shasherslife.com/2010/11/bloggers-cashing-in-blissdom-canada.html

http://www.5minutesformom.com/27081/when-and-what-should-a-blogger-charge-for-their-services/