If you are a member of our forums, or attend our Friday Night Lives, you know we discuss the power of Mom Bloggers in todays advertising, marketing and purchasing world. Before I was a partner here at MomDot, I started my own product review blog, The Not-So-Blog, almost a year ago. I have learned so much this year about all things blogging (mostly to the MomDot Forums credit), and I am quite proud of what I have accomplished in a short time.
The Not-So-Blog is my baby from the ground up, and I love it! I have made some great new friends and formed relationships with many companies who trust my skills as a blogger. Like any review blogger, I come up with a theme for a new giveaway series and pitch several companies to see if they are interested in being featured. Unfortunately, I have run into one company (I guess I am fortunate to only have one) who thinks my little blog is not worth their time.
Let me be clear: I know I am still a small blog in the bloggy sea, and some companies choose to ignore my emails. But, this time, I am insulted. Instead of explaining it all, I will just share the emails…..
May 14: The Pitch
“Thanks so much for getting back to me!
“Please clarify: This would require 2 wagons? Are you going to give one away? Or do I? “
May 21: Answers
May 29: The Insult and Counter Offer
“Hi Bridgette,
I’ve reviewed your offer from a marketing & Seo perspective. We see that your home page is a pagerank of 3. Also, a 1-month link to our site will not help us long-term. And since the profit margins are so low (about 7% for us on that item), it is unlikely to help us ‘during’ the giveaway promotion nor be worth it if done in the manner you proposed.
Here’s a counter-offer:
The only way we’d be interested in sending you a wagon for review would be a permanent link on your home page to that item, with the HTML of our choosing for the A/href tag & title text. This would be counted as an incoming link. In addition, we’d like a review, but no giveaway.
Other conditions for doing the above would be:
a) I’d need to see your site stats for 9/08, 10/08, 11/08 and 12/08 . (these are the months we really sell) The # of visitors would be the best number. If you could show a Google Analytics report or similar screenshot, that would be fantastic.
b) We’d like you to post the review in September 2009 and keep it up through 12/31/09.
c) The link on your home page to our site would be permanent, and I could provide you with $40/year for compensation for the link.
With your response, I can approve/disapprove moving forward with a plan.”
May 29: Accepting the Counter Offer
“Hi Bridgette,
After consulting w/ my SEO person, it seems the only thing we’re interested in is paying you $40/yr for a link on your home page to our site. If you’re in agreement, then I’ll have my SEO person write-up the exact HTML code for the link.”
June 4: My Rebuttal
Its just not worth it to send you the wagon. I do feel that $100 per year would be fine for a home page link, if the site were a pagerank of 5…but PR of 3 is only worth $40/yr to me...if you change your mind, please let me know.”
I have not responded. At this point, responding would just be perpetuating the argument, but I feel the need to defend myself and my “worthiness.” My blog is REAL. I am not just some chick out for a free product. I work hard on each and every post and take the trust of my sponsors quite seriously.
I am insulted that Classic Red Wagons, after wasting almost a month of my time, pulls out of the review because (from what I can tell), my Google PR was too low. What about those incredible blogs that the Google Gods have penalized and still remain at 0? This company needs to jump on the social media band”wagon” or be left behind! Major companies think my blog IS worth their time and are getting real results from a simple product review!
I just feel like my blog and I were belittled and I don’t like it.
And for the record: Classic Red Wagons has a PR of 2.
So, now I have to pick myself up and start over. Shameless pitch alert:
I have a spot open in my Summer Giveaway series for any outdoor toys for kids (wagons, sandbox, etc) if any company out there does believe in the power of the Mom Blog and would like a product review or giveaway on The Not-So-Blog, please feel free to contact me!
~Bridgette
I’m a bit confused. You asked a company to send you a $170 product (plus their shipping costs which I’m guessing to be about $30) in return for a review on your site. As you and Radio Flyer were hashing out the details it came up that you were asking for TWO $170 products (plus their shipping costs on both) and $40 for the ad and you are mad that you were turned down? I may be the minority here, but I think if they were the ones who started the conversation then I would be miffed when they reneged, but since you were the one who went to THEM asking for free product I’m not sure I can blame them. It sounds to me that once they saw your actual stats for past months they decided that the investment (which seemed to more then double from about $200 to over $400 over the course of the conversations) was too great for the volume your site receives. Most companies have policies on these things and the PR (like it or not) is a huge factor and line-in-the-sand as to where they will spend their money or not.
I’ve let this sit for awhile before getting ready to hit the “magic comment button” and I have re-read the post several times. I keep coming back to the part where you say “I respect your decision, as I know you are doing what you believe is best for your company.” but here you are airing dirty laundry for all to see. I like this site and I just hope you (and other “mommy-bloggers) don’t get burned by this from other companies who see how you do business with potential clients. I’ve already heard rumblings from inside the marketing world that this area of the blog world is not worth it because of the entitlement and the “don’t mess with the mommy’s” attitudes – and this feeds right into that stereotype.
how rude!
Wow Bridgette!! What an ass!! Good for you for posting this and for standing up for yourself. Your blog is worth much more than Classic Red Wagon. There must be plenty of other GREAT companies out there with wagons that would love the exposure from your blog. Its that guys major loss.
wow, he seems like a copmplete jerk! Why not just say he’s not interested, kwim
WOW – They don’t deserve anyone reviewing for them not even a PR 10 blog. I would never consider putting up a review for them now at all!
My response to the company would have only been two words:
FUCK OFF.
Wow Bridgette, this guy sure has no idea what he’s talking about or the true value and worth behind mom bloggers. Clearly he didn’t get the memo about our vocal nature and willingness to spread the word on companies/products…good and BAD in this case.
I am going to update this post tonight, but I just wanted to let you all know that Radio Flyer did contact me to apologize (even though they didn’t have anything to apologize for!) for the issue with Classic Red Wagons. They have offered me a review for the new Ultimate Comfort Wagon! How nice is that?!?
From what I can tell, Classic Red Wagons is not an authorized Radio Flyer affiliate, at least they do not appear on the list at Radio Flyer.
I’m so glad you posted this, Bridgette, but sorry that you had to deal with it. What a waste of your precious time – and it is precious! Writing a good review takes a lot of time and effort. And a positive thorough review would have been worth its weight in gold (and sold wagons.) Their loss.
I ALSO think that stats are NOT the bible as far as figuring out if a blog is a match for their product. It’s a shame they only looked at that. (and even then, your stats are good so it makes no sense)
I think the problem is that it sounds like they are learning as they go. Which is fine but you were their guinea pig, unfortunately.
Their THIRD email should have been their first (asking for stats etc)
It would have saved all involved much time.
THAT is what annoys me – they dangled that carrot, had you jump through hoops (or were covering all of their bases, which is good) and then went back on their word.
Sounds like they need a good system in place for social media.
That’s sad to hear about how you were treated, because I’ve had great relations with Radio Flyer (they gave away one of their trikes as a charitable giveaway on my site during the holiday season last year). Perhaps as a toy company, they’re more interested in having their items highlighted during the holiday buying season? (Either way, it wasn’t great the way things went down. Hopefully, they’ll read your post and reevaluate their future polices.)
What a big mistake on their part. This will only hurt them, some people don’t get it that influence goes far beyond page ranks
I can’t wait until this page is indexed. Perhaps they’ll regret having a negative, stuffy, corporate image rather than an upbeat positive review that has legs.
If their SEO wiz was so adept at SEO then why aren’t they in the first 50 results? And how can they allow this person to trump the marketing department?
A review not only provides a static link but it also gives them the opportunity to approach other channels and showcase that the fact that they were featured and recommended by a revered peer of their target market!
Maybe it’s the marketer in me but they need to reassess who they listen to when it comes to online media.
wow. what a piece!
You were so professional! They are making such a mistake not using you to advertise their products!
Good for you Bridgette for posting this! But don’t let them get you down, seriously they obviously do not have a clue.
I second what Sarah has to say in that I will defintitely shop elsewhere for my wagons!!!
Great post Bridgette! I’m sorry that so much of your time was wasted on account of this guy’s ignorance. Let him keep paying for the advice of his supposed SEO guru and see how far it gets him. I’ll shop elsewhere for wagons.
that’s retarded of them. but i agree, they need to find someone who knows what they are doing. because the dood they have now obviously doesnt.
Good Lord! My jaw is on the floor…
“Also, a 1-month link to our site will not help us long-term. And since the profit margins are so low (about 7% for us on that item), it is unlikely to help us ‘during’ the giveaway promotion nor be worth it if done in the manner you proposed..”
This guy has absolutely no clue. Even without all the margin percentages/numbers talk (of which I have no interest in, as I am a words girl) it’s SO obvious that putting your product in front of your PRIMARY audience…an audience that will not only get informed about said product from an honest review, but will then (as an incentive to win the product) go on to your company’s website to learn about your other products and then spread the word about your company to an even WIDER audience via Twitter and their own blog posts is a HUGE benefit that far outweighs the cost of two lousy wagons.
Does he realize that a postive review of his product would be available online forever? That all future online searches for that wagon would bring up that good review as well as any other posts that were done in repsonse to the giveaway? It’s such a simple formula that I think many people are reluctant to see just how powerful it is.
Sorry to be wordy, but fankly it pisses me off. Good luck with your customer outreach, Red Wagon folks. It seems they don’t even know where their audience is.
And one more thing, then I’ll shut up. Of course it’s relevant for marketers to want to know traffic stats, ranking, all that crap. But seriously, the information they need is right in front of them. Spending some time doing a bit of research into their blogging audience is the best way to see who’s got clout online. Look at the blog communities, check out the individual blogs, see who’s getting big feedback and great discussion going. Who’s getting 500 entries for a giveaway. Who’s genuine and has a great following. Who’s hosting and attending conferences. Who’s in several places at once. Get off your friggin’ high horse and do some research! It’s right in your face.
Oh man. I gotta go get some air.