Well today certainly has been an off day! I don’t know if its hormones or the weather or some crazy mix of factors but I felt AWFUL. Literally fighting back tears the whole day! And I have no idea why! That’s the most frustrating part! Still feeling a little off…but in an attempt to keep my mind off things I have interesting post for you all tonight!
Blogging is relaxing for me anyways, so I figured it would be a good idea to go ahead with what I had planned…
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What are your thoughts on sponsored posts?
Lately I have been seeing them more and more throughout the blogworld. They’re pretty easy to spot. Either there are 15 bloggers at once with the same giveaway going on, a disclaimer in tiny print at the bottom of post making everyone aware that compensation was involved, or the entire post sounds like some sort of advertisement!
I don’t particularly like them (and even sometimes skip the posts if I am able to spot them right away)…but I understand the attractiveness of them for bloggers. I mean hey, who doesn’t like easy money?!
I loooove doing product reviews and that stuff is always free…so I can understand where people are coming from when they take advantage of sponsored post opportunities.
What I don’t like however, is when it is clear that the blogger put no thought into whether this product they are promoting relates to their readers and offers something pertinent to their blogs content.
An example…for someone who rarely drinks “diet beverages” to all of the sudden start touting praises about a juice alternative, its pretty clear they are just in it for the mullah. I mean seriously…it becomes pretty obvious.
I myself was recently contacted by a company to post about their products (I am not going to share the names of either to protect their privacy…I have nothing against the company or brand or products whatsoever!!) and after much consideration actually turned down the sponsored post opportunity.
Initially I was all gung-ho about the opportunity. But the more I thought about it…and especially after reading the content they wanted me to post…I decided it just wouldn’t be right to go through with it.
I feel I have a responsibility to you all. I basically would have been posting about something that I had never tried myself and would have had to recommend it to you all. And that’s just not right.
My blog is about honesty and integrity…and personally I want to be able to whole heartedly stand behind all my content!
That’s why I have no problem giving bad reviews of products, that’s why I make sure to try every product I receive before sharing it with you all…heck! that’s why I have a blog in the first place! To share MY thought and ideas…not to be a puppet to share some companies stuff!
Now don’t get me wrong…I do believe some bloggers out there do actually back some of the sponsored posts they share. (There are a TON of great companies out there that I wouldn’t hesitate to write about because I love and use their products so much!) But from what I’ve been seeing lately, a lot of the posts just seem…out of place. Like they don’t really fit with what the blog usually stands for. And that’s when I begin to question the blogger’s intentions.
I wanted to post about this not only to draw attention to the issue…but also to hold myself accountable. I’m sure I will get more offers in the future for sponsored posts, but I want to make sure I stick with my values as a blogger. I owe it to all of you! I mean, you come here everyday and actually care about what I have to say…that makes me feel amazing! And I appreciate it so much. So I would never want to jeopardize the connections I’ve made by putting out content that doesn’t truly come from me.
So what do you think?
Have you noticed a spike in sponsored posts recently around the blog world?
Do these posts make you view the blogger’s any differently?
Do you think blogger’s have a responsibility to their readers to only post about things they actually believe in?
I’d love to hear your insights on this!!
Stay tuned tomorrow for a yummy recipe! It’s carrot cake time up in here!!
TGI(almost)F!!!
Kaila
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20 responses to “Honesty>Money”
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I completely agree with you! I think it’s great to do product reviews and stuff but only if you are truly interested in the products. Honest is also everything! I would never post about something and lie about it.
Yesss I’m so with you. I don’t do tons of product reviews and what not just because it’s not my thing. If a company contacts me and I think it would be something I would actually be interested in, I’ll roll with it, but I don’t usually go attacking a company for samples or write about it if I don’t believe in it. I’m not so bothered by the occasional out of place review but more the blogs that become ALL review/giveaway/product and no content. I stop following them!
I haven’t noticed too many new blog advertisers but I have gotten a few emails that I have turned down. It’s just not worth it to me if I don’t use or like the product being offered. Plus I would feel like I have to give reviews.
I normally skip product review blogs.
i totally agree with you! i get tired of reading the same blog post from like 12 bloggers about the same product… it’s frustrating because i feel like they’re all saying the same thing because they feel like they’re supposed to. i’m definitely not against reviews in general at ALL, but sometimes it’s frustrating when the blogs i usually love post about something that’s obviously sponsored.
I agree with this! It always confuses me when I see a healthy living blogger reviewing something random – like a beauty product or something. I’m thinking “What does this have to do with your blog??” It really only makes sense to review products related to food and fitness if that’s what your blog is about!
I couldn’t agree more! I don’t think it makes any sense to post product reviews on things that don’t interest you. And, when reviewing any type of product, I think it’s crucial that you’re 100% honest. No matter what that opinion might be!
I hope tomorrow is a better day for you! Try to stay positive. (:
Wow good for you and your honesty! I totally agree. Blogging should be something people do because they enjoy it…not because they are getting payed for it. And I’m so sorry to hear you had an off day. Those come sometimes, the days where the smallest thing just makes you want to burst into tears. Noottt funnn. But tomorrow is a new day! SMILE 🙂
great post, I do agree that their has been an incease in product reviews from some bloggers. I mean some are genuine, and are good reviews and something I would buy but others seem to not fit with their blog persona.
Rock on! I love your thoughts on this!
Aw, sorry you havent been feeling too good lately! Everyone has those days, dont let them get you down!
I agree that its important for bloggers to give their honest opinion in a product review post!
Very interesting topic! I love doing product reviews because I like to keep up with new stuff out on the market. I do however only post my true opinion of them and have never been given money to talk about it. So I’m not so sure I would be comfortable with that opportunity either, unless like you said, it was for something that I really truly loved. I think you have the right frame of mind, girl. Keep rockin on. 😉
P.S. I hope you have a wonderful weekend with lots of TLC. Relax and enjoy, you deserve it!!! <3
I hope things pick up for you *hugs*.
Sponsored posts…hmm, difficult for me to say, simply because I can only dream of being sent free stuff. My blog doesn’t exactly show me in a ‘marketable’ light, and I do get rather jealous of my fellow bloggers being sent lots of expensive and delicious foods in particular. I think as long as the product fits the tone of the blog, it’s okay. But I do agree that there have been some ubiquitous product placement posts that seem horribly awkward and out of place, and in those cases I do lose a bit of respect for the blogger.
Good for you for sticking to your beliefs. You have so much integrity – there are bloggers 5-10 years older than you that could learn from your example.
xxx
Agreed! First, I’m a little jealous they’re famous enough to be contacted, and secondly, I feel like they’re doing a disservice to their readers. Like the Orville Redenbacher popcorn going around right now. I don’t support them because of their past with freaky ingredients and basically creating popcorn lung. It seems these bloggers are completely ignoring this (plus microwaved popcorn is pretty much not healthy…it’s okay, but fresh popped is so much better) just to get the lucrative deals out of it.
I love doing product reviews, and I love reading the too. Except when every sentence is punctuated by “!!!!!” marks, and nothing but loving words. I understand some companies don’t want negative reviews out there, so will ask bloggers to just drop the reviews, but I feel only positive reviews compromises the blogger’s integrity.
I don’t put it against bloggers to do sponsored posts, but if that’s all they do, I might stop reading their blog. Product reviews and giveaways that don’t pay the blogger in anything other than samples to review are fine because it IS their opinion and I find it helpful. I’ve never seen this, but you mentioned it, and yeah if a blogger said that they don’t like to drink diet drinks and then started doing sponsored posts about how great diet drinks are, then that’s really annoying. Sorry you had kind of a bad day! I had a bad day too, well actually a very emotionally tough week. TGIF! 🙂
If I see a blog post about a review I pretty much ignore that post… I dunno, they bore me more than anything else! Unless it’s about a book or something, then I would probably read it.
Totally agree. I find myself straying away from those blogs when that happens!
good for you sweetie…i also find these kinda posts irritating! however – i love discovering new products so it’s not all bad 🙂
I agree!! whenever i do product reviews id say if i didn’t like something about it and try to be as honest as possible. I’ve never been paid for a blogging post 😛 it’s super bogus when people say stuff just to get cash.
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