I am upset, offended & I need to speak on it. Much like President Obama has had it with critics that ‘pop off’ with their opinions, the struggle is real in the blogging world too.
Today I received an email from a PR person, asking me to consider placing a product she reps in my upcoming Holiday Gift Guide. She reached out to me, please keep that in mind. She included links to the product, and I went to the website to check it out. Once I saw what the product was – I was sold. It’s a personal safety product, something that my family & yours could use. In fact, the PR person said this was something that could “honestly SAVE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY’S LIFE.”
When I first started blogging, I’d review just about anything. Brands & PR reps send bloggers items to review all the time. A $.50 bag of potato chips? Sure, I’ll review that for you. A $1.00 bottle of juice? You bet, I’ll review it! When you’re a newbie blogger, you are eager to prove yourself & flattered to receive email from brands and PR. You don’t know any better…period. Those reviews are time consuming. You have to try the product, take photos of the product, edit those photos, think about & write a blog post, share that blog post, and do it all in a timely manner-while remaining authentic and true to yourself & your readers. All this for a $.50 bag of chips!
I quickly learned it just wasn’t worth it. My time & effort and the space on my blog is worth more than that-much more. My readers deserve better than that. I’m pretty picky about the items I review now, it has to be something of real value and it has to be something I truly believe my readers will be interested in buying. I no longer review $.50 bags of potato chips. If a brand wants me to review a product, that product needs to be worth X amount of dollars. If the product is not worth X amount of dollars, I will not review it- it just isn’t worth the trouble. If a brand wants to partner with me on a sponsored post for an item, then we can both sit down and see if the product will be a good fit for my blog, if it isn’t-I won’t write about it, sponsored or not.
After seeing the safety product the PR rep reached out to me about, I emailed her back. I told her I’d love to review the product and asked what she thought about sending me 4 of them. Remember in order for me to review an item, it needs to be worth X amount of dollars. Many bloggers will ask for X amount of product, if the product price is on the low end, to make it worth their while. We don’t get paid any cash money for reviews, so most of us have a bare minimum that the product(s) must equal before we will agree to write about it. I advised her that 3 of the products would be for the 3 adults in my family (if I’m going to save my family’s life, then 3 of them will be needed) and 1 of the products would be used as a prize for a Holiday Giveaway I am participating in with 11 other bloggers.
She got back to me stating she didn’t think she could send me 4 products, “Unless of course, You, Your Husband, And Son will be doing a review on video. That’s the only way I can justify it.” I replied back letting her know if she needs a video review from them, then that’s what we would do, and I would make it happen. My husband regularly gives his opinion on the cars I review, so I knew he’d be down to review the product on video. In fact, my exact words to her were: “If you need a review from all of us, to justify 4 kits, I can make that happen!” She also asked me about the Holiday Giveaway I’d be participating in, so I told her 11 other bloggers were involved, we were going to be giving away prizes for all members of the family from baby on up to Mom & Dad and that the prizes would be mailed out by Dec. 18th. I also sent her a link to my blog.
She emailed me back, asking for more info on the giveaway- where would the content live, etc. As I was about to provide her with the blog urls of the 11 other bloggers, I rec’d another email from her, and the tone of it was not something I’m accustomed to:
“WHERE do you do product reviews on your site? I don’t see a “review” page? What you’re asking for is a bit unethical. The mere fact that you came back saying that you’d say whatever you had to say to get the product was a dead GIVE AWAY. I hope you’re NOT getting product for you and your families’ personal use. Shame on you.”
Shame on me?! This person knows nothing about me, yet she felt she could “pop off”? You don’t know me like that! First, I didn’t say I’d say whatever to get the product – I said if a video review from my husband & son were needed, then I would have them provide one. Big difference. Anyone can go to my blog, type in the word “Review” and see reviews I have done in the past- even if I don’t have a “review” page. As far as getting product for my family’s personal use, anything I have received, I’ve posted about, whether it be on my blog, twitter, IG, or FB. Furthermore, if she DID know anything about me, she would know I go above & beyond not only to help other bloggers, but people in general. I’m one of the first ones to speak up for those that can’t speak for themselves & advocate for them. I’m the first one to answer a call for donations, whether it’s money or product, I’m the first one to give away items that ARE sent to me for review. I believe we are all put on this earth to help one another & live by that daily! If she would’ve taken a look at my SM channels, she would’ve seen the brand new MC2 doll I just gave away, or the backpack full of school supplies I took to the school children in Turks & Caicos, or the stack of 21 dresses I bought for a little girl who lives on the island, a little girl I’ve never even met! And that’s just stuff I’ve given away to others in the past few weeks… weeks! I advised her to ask around, find someone who DOES know me before verbally assaulting me.
After the year I’ve had (my youngest having 2 surgeries, contracting Meningitis while recovering-my Mom having a heart attack while in a care facility for Alzheimer’s, spending 12 days in ICU & then dying, me not being able to attend her funeral because I was in the hospital for an entire week with my son while he was being treated for Meningitis- my MIL currently in the final stages of Alzheimer’s), I’m in no mood for these type of shenanigans.
Rant over.
(My hummingbird photo has nothing to do with this subject, I just enjoy looking at it!)
