Let’s Discuss: Paid for Blogging? Is it really that unethical?
Posted by in Let's Discuss! | UncategorizedHey Everyone!
So before you start lighting up those torches and sharpening those pitchforks, this isn’t reality, I just want to know what you think and I want to give my own opinion of the situation as well. I might be walking on very thin ice here, so don’t take my opinions to heart, I will want to hear yours.
Well just a formal welcome to the first roseannebeauty forum. Here I encourage you to comment your own thoughts about the situation at hand. Today’s situation is about blogging for money, being paid to blog, the works.
What do I think of it?
The reality is that people are already being paid to blog, people are making a livelihood out of it and the average famous blogger makes $100 US a day. Most of your famous lifestyle bloggers like Xiaxue and others are being paid for most of their posts not just being sponsored (I know for a fact), but beauty bloggers aren’t. The reason why is because we think that you would come after us with pitchforks and torches if ever we got paid for a single review.
Why is that so?
Simple. We think that you would think us unreliable money hungry assbuts who would instantly lie to you if we received any monetary compensation for what we do. It ruins our whole image doesn’t it? Or does it really? That’s my question because I know for a fact that my values are strong enough that I would never do that and you’ve seen it and known it. So my question is, why would receiving money for what we do change anything?
If a singer who once sang for free started receiving money from his albums sold be less reputable than if he didn’t and didn’t receive any money for a talent? It’s just something to think about really and it’s been on my mind because you know that I’m totally honest and real to you so the reality of the situation is that everyone I’m talking to is like “roseanne, start monetizing” I don’t know how and I want to one day make this part of who I am but I can’t because we all have this perception that we would be less reliable even if we told companies that NO WAY am I going to lie, but have the power to charge companies a fee for a review.
And you know what, beauty bloggers, we should start charging.
Do you know why companies are asking bloggers to do reviews, given free products and invited to nice events? Because we are the next advertising outlet that costs thousands of dollars less (we are free) than putting up an advertising print ad on a bus or a television ad after your favourite tv show, plus we are able to reach thousands of people. You might think – Roseanne, are you complaining? Are you complaining about all the free stuff you get? Hunny, it’s not a bed of roses because roses have thorns. Sure we have the ability to say yes and no, but most of the time, it’s hard to say no especially if you’re thinking of establishing a network. Companies give us product, we review them but its not really all fun and games. You got to try it out for a long time, figure out a way to show you guys that it works or doesn’t work and then edit, watermark and then post it and answer comments. Do you think I was really enjoying that facial when I was doing it – nope, I was taking pictures and trying to remember every single piece of information I was given. It’s not as easy as you might think and it takes more than a few hours. It feels like a full time job, but how much are we getting – nothing.
But don’t get me wrong – I’m not money hungry. I do what I do because I love doing it and I love helping people, but it’s just what seems fair. And I do enjoy a fair bit going to events and meeting people, and seeing what every company has to offer. But with the onsugar tracker, I’m seeing more sponsorships than special interest because I feel like we beauty bloggers feel pressured. With every interest, sparks something that eventually turns into a livelihood.
The trademark of a good blogger is someone who is opinionated and outspoken. If that blogger is weak enough to be strayed for a few dollars in their opinions, they’re not very good to say the least. I’m not saying you should accept money willingly but charging a fee for an honest and I mean honest review is a different story with the ability to tell companies, hey, this is my fee for any review but look, I don’t do dirty water I tell the truth and I will review your product regardless of whether it gives me good or bad results. It’s only fair compensation in my opinion.
But this hasn’t been talked about before. I know I’ve probably pressed a few buttons I shouldn’t have pressed but I think you know that I’m very vocal and I have personal opinions that I’m not afraid to share, especially if you follow me on twitter.
Now, I want to know what yours is. What do you think about bloggers charging a fee, being paid, the works? Total honesty here. I’m sure there are bloggers out there who do it but don’t tell their viewers and I find that fishy because you know that here, honesty is the best policy. So, I’m being honest here and that’s what I think.
And no, I haven’t accepted a single dollar for what I’ve done.
Of course the bad side is that you’re scared that theres unreliability now and maybe making it okay would make it hard to seperate the good from the bad. And you would never know.
Weird huh?
Love,
Roseanne
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Wow this is indeed a topic to talk about esp when it comes to monetary issues. To me, I am okay with bloggers who receive money for their works, provided its true and reliable. If soemone is paid for just trying to help the company or so to build up reputation, i dont think that would be appropriate. true enough, honest is the one key thing people look for. However out there, there are still others who dont see it that way. I totally respect those and you who have the passion to blog and update the latest or best review. In fact, I enjoy reading them and anticipates to read them each time. Also I see how many bloggers come together as one community to do meet up and stuff, totally heartwarming :D Beauty bloggers ftw!
Hey Rosanne, good to hear your take on this.. And kudos for discussing about it! I also believe that to bloggers should be paid for trying pdts and services. This will allow the companies to really go through a selection process and not just invite any blogger to their events. I have diacussed with some marketers about this casually and one concern that they raised it that our reviews will lose credibility once we are paid. That made sense, but doesn’t quite justify the time we put in to build the blog or write the article.
Right now, I choose brands to work with. And I do not review every product that I receive. I guess that’s only fair, since i am not paid to write about them..
Hi Roseanne!
This is interesting! But I don’t really have a stand. haha! I think being paid for blogging is just like any other form of advertisement in the magazines, on television programmes etc. More often than not, they use really exaggerated terms to lure us into buying them. Sometimes, we’re lucky and we get a good product but sometimes we just get tricked =( I think the reader/ audience’s diligence in seeking out more reviews before actually splurging on a product plays a part too! At least I don’t believe in magazine ads now! hahah!
But blogging being more personal in my opinion, will lose its interactive connection if every single post is sponsored/ paid. But I like how you managed to build up your ‘honesty is the best policy’ image and how it’s evident from your posts and videos. I think you should monetize too Roseanne! If the idea of trying out a product without a guaranteed positive review is made known to companies before hand, I guess it’ll work? But then again, I understand there’s this dilemma faced when if every single product is not up to standard and companies will be wondering whether u are just hankering over their free products.. Geez, I’m confusing u..haha!
Anyway, I think it all boils down to the readers. Smart readers can surely discern truthful and untruthful reviews. Cliche as it might sound, actions do speak louder than words. So will we believe a bare- faced Roseanne reviewing a mask or another famous Youtuber who applies a mask on a face already piled on with makeup?
Cheers!
I agree with Ms Glitzy.
Being bloggers, and our blogs are our own hard work, we shouldn’t get companies dictate our content — that’s why I choose to feature only certain products which I believe works or people are interested in.
I have been blogging for several years, and have been having a good time writing and rambling way way before all these companies see the potential of social media and started tapping/ exploiting it — so I would prefer a more beneficial and transparent kind of exchange/ transaction.
As long as your readers trust that you are always honest, there is no harm in being paid or receiving stuff for review purposes.
But, I hate doing FREE PR for companies that hire PR to do their marketing. I ain’t nobody’s free labour.
Currently my blog is still my own hobby, and I don’t really want to go down that commericial route.
Hmmmm, do I make sense? LOL. I like the increased exposure, but I don’t want my blog to be a dumping ground of endless sponsored entries. Yup. That’s about it in a nutshell.
I always ponder if receiving free gifts from companies to try qualifies as “paid” due to the products’ market value and I remember you having a bad experience from a circle lense company because you gave their product a bad review. It was as if companies expected you to give positive reviews if they gave you the full-size product for free.
I never trust beauty bloggers affiliated with fashion magazines as they often sound “fake” and didn’t seem to go in detail on the result on their skin or what type of skin they have and just mentioning how great the product is and to go and get it.
I blog to help my friends and cousins who are clueless on cosmetics. And I guess giving good honest product reviews from local blogshops makes me their PR indirectly.
But if you’re paid by companies, it puts pressure on you trying their products first before doing what you wish to publish or talking about your personal favorite products, I think.
However it would be nice if beauty bloggers get paid if the products the companies send us to review gave us nasty breakouts or skin irritations,
I have not received a single dime from any channel and I have also ponder in recent times if sponsored products should be counted as “payment”. I have receives emails from blogshops to have me review products they are selling, which sounded ludicrous to me. Furthermore, when I forward a disclaimer that I do not condone sloppy reviews and skincare products will take at least a month before I can write a review, and to have my reviews posted along with the products, they stop correspondence altogether. I have no desire to be anyone’s mouthpiece unless 1)I have tried the products for a fair amount of time 2)worthy to talk about and has beneficial effects. Subsequently I have seen other so-called “bloggers” who have advertised for those blogshops and all I can do is shake my head.
I resent companies who keep churning out free sponsorships and LYING about the exclusivity of their events etc. The advertisers have gotten their marketing strategies ALL WRONG! How much credibility can you get from those first-impression “reviews?” Most I’ve read contains a bunch of camwhore pictures and some captions here and there. WHAT GIVES?
Blogging is a personal hobby, and it keeps my brain from rusting. Getting paid or not can be subjective, depending on the creditability of the writer. I can only say for myself; I have tried the products personally for a fair amount of time for each review I have written. All that is in black and white are my own opinions, and sometimes I have breakouts and scars to prove. /rant
i’m not a beauty blogger but i am an ardent reader of beauty blogs and in my opinion, in a few simple words, once $$ changes hands, the magic is gone.. just my 2 bits abt this issue.. :)
I absolutely agree with the makeup blogette’s and amyrleex’s points. Both are totally valid. Personally? I feel that once money/sponsorship plays a part in the exchange of featured posts, and the like, I will immediately presume, that, because this was a paid review, the honesty and integrity behind that review will be transparent – no matter how honest of a person you are.
I’m an avid beauty blog reader, and I enjoy the reviews made by beauty guru’s, because I know full well, that what they boasted about was their true and honest opinion. And I do understand how time consuming it is to write/film/edit a review on a product you love or hate, and it does absolutely feel like a full time job. I guess if one is truly passionate about beauty blogging, then one would assume it wouldn’t matter, because free products would act as monetary compensation for the reviews written. Eh…it’s just a really fine line, because for one definite thing, it would depend on the blogger/reviewer and their reputation. Hmm.
If you were to ever get paid to do these types of posts, I could honestly say that I wouldn’t mind at all. Because I know, from videos and posts you make, you always, without fail, give an honest review. and see? that’s due to the reputation and brand you’ve built for yourself!
I agree with your take on this situation. I can see what it is like from a reader’s perspective and even I sometimes do raise an eyebrow if someone gets paid for something but yet from a bloggers point of view it would be nice to receive a reward for the time and effort spent. I’ve never gotten money for anything because of the scary idea of what would happen after.
And I agree with Sophia that all this started out with being a hobby and it should actually stay that way. I guess with companies, especially big brands, coming around we almost feel obligated to write about them when we shouldn’t have to feel that way because the companies are the ones saving thousands and thousands of dollars on print/media advertising.
I guess this would be an on-going right/wrong issue but it’s mainly important to just do what you feel is right and ethical and be honest regardless (:
Wow what a great topic Roseanne. I personally blog because I take it as my hobby and I’ve never been paid to blog for any companies or blogshops. I do kinda agree to some extend that some companies out there are having this impression that if you’ve taken products that they sponsored you must give them a positive review. I personally encountered this before and this company seems to “boycott” me from their lavish events and sponsorships.
In my opinion, whether you’re being paid to blog or not, as a beauty blogger you should give your most honest reviews, along with the intention of providing correct information to your readers and not just to think of personal benefit (in this case, the chances of being invited to exclusive events, sponsored products or even money).
I don’t mind getting paid for writing reviews, but face the fact, if I wrote a negative review because I really don’t suit the product/don’t enjoy the facial/don’t think it’s fantastic then what’s gonna happen next? Chances are and I’m quite sure of, the company would ask me to re-write my review when they’re vetting it or even refuse to pay me then and I can dream on having further tie ups with the company.
Just my honest opinions. :)
I really value all of your opinions here an although I can’t respond to you individually because there would be so much to say, I’m very happy that we are all sharing what we think!
Although sometimes it feels like we are lab rats, sacrificing our own beautiful faces for their new products regardless of a good or bad, for the sake of our blogs – we do have a choice. We do. But I still stand on fair compensation. It’s just like a scientific analyst being paid to discover the chemical breakdown and whether a product is ok for commercial uses – it doesn’t guarantee anything but the company still must pay for that breakdown for their product to be released in the market. But I do understand, it feels like a turn-off but at the end of the day I reckon it’s about who you trust and just like a journalist receives an income from a magazine, at the end of the day, it’s the same thing. Companies can’t expect a good result and I think before any sponsorship occurs I make sure and you should too if you are sponsored that the company understands that the review published can be negative or positive depending on the results. Perhaps money isn’t the main issue at all, it’s honesty. It’s an issue that has so many sides, it’s hard to talk about all!
Thank you so much for your response!
Actually, I have never thought of blogging for the sole purposes of posting reviews / products recommendations, back when I first started, I just love rambling about stuff I like, and I still do, so I steer away from companies that expect a certain format or schedule for my entries — it should always be about whether I want to even mention them or not.. and if I don’t get anything free or watever to talk about, then so be it, because, like I said in earlier comment, I still have my own original content, my own hauls, my own fave products to rave about, and I don’t need to be sent stuff to ‘generate’ content or readership on my blog. that said, I do recognise the ‘flattering’ effect that being sent stuff can have on bloggers, esp those who are relatively new, because it means that companies out there ‘value’ your opinion enough to want you to say something about their product.
And of cos, not to mention, ‘bad eggs’ out there who spoil the market by raving about every sponsored item they receive…that creates the skepticism that the ‘audience’ out there have of sponsored reviews.
I always think, when deciding to accept anything for consideration, is this something I would normally purchase on my own if I like it? is this something that is appropriate in line with the ‘vibe or style’ of my blog,? if the answers are NO, then I won’t accept anything.
Ultimately, if we feel like we should be paid for our efforts, then it is time to re-consider what’s the motivation of your blog, it is becoming a job/chore/obligation because you want to be paid for the ‘effort put into trying out the products and reviewing them’ — cos then the hobby do-for-my-own-fun-and-leisure part is completely lost.
ok, I have a different opinion on things as I personally own 2 blogs, my beauty blog and my personal blog whereby I am actually paid to attend events and do event coverage. These mainly involves new product launch, new services available out there etc.
As for my beauty blog, I started it mainly cause of interest, and to be part of the beauty community where everyone just share their thoughts on one common interest. After reading so many inspiring beauty blog out there, it just spur me on to start one of my own. To share with people on what I have felt on certain products and etc. Product sponsorship came in after awhile and to me it is somewhat like a recognition that companies actually bother to approach me to review their products. But where it comes to a point that many people are also getting sponsorships, I came to realize it had in a way become a cheap mass marketing strategy by the companies.
It had came to a point where I choose only to do those that I have interest in trying out and to share. As someone who studied media, I follow through my stand on being honest on my opinions on the products. If it doesn’t work, I’ll say it or i’ll not blog about it at all.
Like you mentioned, this work is not glam at all. Even my mum questioned me about trying out so many different products, won’t that harm my skin when it’s already quite bad? We all only have one face, sometimes we need to reject certain companies when we already have too much at hand. I don’t understand how some ppl can accept so many skincare sponsorships at the same time frame.
Honestly speaking, it’s so much easier doing my haul posts, raves, NOTDs etc. For sponsorship reviews, I tend to put in more effort and it kill more of my brain cells when I think of the presentation etc.
Of course it would be nice to be paid for the effort that we have put in, but in a way I think that the products itself are already somewhat compensation. But of course, it will be best to inform the companies to prepare to receive negative reviews if the products don’t work on us.
Still, I think that it will be great for beauty blogging to remain as a hobby more then a livelihood thing. A sponsored post in awhile will be nice, especially products where we would seldom try or buy as a consumer. Anyways, when we first started, it’s all about wanting a certain product to finally hauling it and reviewing it where all the fun is. XD
Nice to hear your thoughts both of you! Blogging is a hobby of mine for sure but there are times when I want to take it a step up, advance, do something with my passion. That sorta thing but I do get what you mean! and Sophia that’s so true, asking yourself whether it goes with the vibe of the blog is so important!
Haha, pardon me for my spelling mistakes in my earlier comment.. typed it out on my iPhone.
I do think beauty blogging can become a “livelihood”, not just a hobby. It’s a matter of life choices, and how you choose to monetise it without affecting your credibility. I guess if you have gained enough foothold and sufficient readership, you will be able to charge advertorials and companies have no choice but to pay for it. Just like how a particular company told me they do not do sponsored reviews/advertorials but they eventually did pay for an advertorial written by a well-known blogger.
Forensia: you are paid to attend events? wow!
I agree Ms Glitzy! I think a passion can become a livelihood and it’s your decision whether you want to take the next step up!
I think for sure you should get paid for it. Because blogging is about your personal opinion and tips it would only be fair. Good luck in you quest I wish you the best of luck :)!!!
http://annaspassionforfashion.onsugar.com/
Ms Glitzy: my paid events are from Nuffnang, just small compensation for the effort.
Of course it would be great to make a livelihood out of our passion. That’s the ideal thing that we all are striving for ain’t it? To have a career in the area of our interest. XD
Of course, when that happens, we shld be clean cut to our readers about it and I’m sure they will be understanding and knew that we are still honest though we’re being paid for it.
heya.. im an avid beauty blog reader.. just my 2 cents here.. personally for me i do not mind not being paid and if a company sends me a product to review, i will make sure that i try it out for a fair amount of time and lay out the pros and cons of such product as a consumer.. no point laying out all the plus points when as a consumer, the product is not to your liking.
of cuz, the company r indirectly using beauty bloggers as a PR tool. in fact, i hv to admit that i did buy some products which are highly recommended by beauty bloggers around the world.. see again, free PR tool works! haha
all in all, it depends on the beauty blogger’s “inner beauty”.. see whether they have it or they dun! :P
Great input makeupjunkett! :)
well, blogging for money is actually great. Its just very important to make sure that company is reliable like onsugar. Its NOT, I repeat NOT a get rich quick scheme. Blogging for money is something you do for yourself- its like a little business in a way because even sites such as vimeo pay their users, and youtube does with google adsense as most already know.
I all for this and like makeupjunkett said it depends on the blogger, and like what ms glitzy said it can become a “lively hood. it all depends on how “popular” the site is and how many clicks the ads get.
When a blogger blogs for beauty, it should not be treated like a popularity contest, or just a way to make “free” money.
I am all for this. Its just very important that the ad companies or the sites that pay are reliable sources.
thanks roseanne
p.s
the site mylikes.com pays too. Just be careful about where you go to hook up your payments
3 thoughts come to my mind:
1) Beauty bloggers should not turn commercial.
I won’t take a review post seriously if it is a paid one, not matter how honest the write claims to be.
2) Getting lots of sponsored products does not equate to great blogging/bloggers.
I am drawn to following posts of a beauty bloggers (eg Laura of lollipop26) because of their lovely personalities and their personable writings, not because of how many products they get sponsored.
3) If products are sponsored, the obligatory post should be an introduction of the product void of any personal opinions or review.
Beauty Blogging is a hobby. I am drawn to beauty writers who feature products that fit into their liftstyle and personality, Companies hire celebrities, like Charlize and the Ja’dore perfume, that work because people want to emulate the stars so they buy into that kind of advertising. So unless one has a personality as big as famous bloggers like Xiaxue or celebrities, one should not do paid post because the $$$ shouts out more to me than what the writer wants to say.
Great comments redberried and brittanysbeauty! I guess we all have our own opinions!
I love it! Could perhaps be a tad more polished, but it’s far better than what we use at the moment, nonetheless