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With more and more companies turning to mom bloggers as a way to delve into the minds and social networks of mommy buying groups, it raises the question:
Do you take a Mom Blogger whom is on the payroll for a company, seriously?
Everyday moms that are blogging put out product recommendations, reviews, giveaways, and pat boutiques on the back through twitter, link love, forums, and more. And thankfully they do, otherwise my business would have fallen on its back way back when. But what about moms who do paid reviews? There are so many networks out there that offer paid links like:
And its very easy to get caught up in making a few dollars. How do I get paid, what can I do to make money at home, yadda yadda. In fact, I credit infomercials for making it look like you can make $5000 from home every week via the Internet. The fact is, you wont be doing that as a paid reviewer or blog writer, unless your Perez Hilton ($18K a week to be on his site) But what you can do for a mere $5 to push a product in a post, is ruin your credibility with fellow online followers.
But I put the question out there first, do you believe paid bloggers? As we recently learned Dooce and Pioneer woman are on the payrolls of Federated Media and putting out their opinions on the Target website, Christmas Wrapped. And with an Alexa rating of over 1.2 million, we are pretty sure their traffic isn’t really bringing it in. Newsflash to Target: We don’t want internet celebrities telling us which coasters they like. In fact, I can pretty much say I would never go out and purchase the items “recommended” by these bloggers, (that read more like an ad, then an endorsement of a great product).
I don’t want to be sold EVER when I am reading a review, I want to be TOLD. Meaning, dont “sell” me something, tell me why the product is great, when you got it, your experience with it, I want to see real pictures of it, I want to know that your family used it and loved it …or hated it. What I am pretty sure we will never see, is Dooce hopping on her Target website saying she just had a terrible experience at Target today with thier customer service. Or on her blog.
Even McDonalds has Moms out to tell us what to buy. From the McDonald’s Moms Quality Correspondent site, they say ” Here they are – six real moms from all over the country, selected to represent you by asking tough questions to get real answers. They will help keep you informed as they continue to examine McDonald’s from the inside out.” These women are given a laptop and are paid for their “expenses” but McDonald’s insists they are not paid.
I believe that by buying a review or consultation, you take the integrity out of who is saying it. Trust me, if Target was signing my $5000 a month ad check, I may be recommending them all over the place, but who is going to say ‘Trisha said go to Target, it must be great, lets go’, instead, y’all are going to back up and say..how can we trust you now if someone is paying you to say it. Now, if I get on here and said, today I went to Target and bought this amazing toy and the store was so clean, you are going to understand that experience because its sincere.
What companies have to realize is they have to keep it real. Moms are the smartest, and most influential, buyers out there. Please don’t insult us by assuming we would buy something because you found the biggest (already highest paid) bloggers on the net. Now, I get it, they have a lot of traffic in one swoop, but it makes more sense to take on several control groups across the US that represent a variety of online places to create a global atmosphere of women working together for a wonderful company. That is where the difference will be made. Your going to turn more people into actually customers, by giving actual experiences, otherwise its nothing more then one big long infomercial.
When I run a review, I have a formula. I talk about first impressions, the item, the company, and then make a
clear list on the things I like AND the things I didn’t like. The way I figure it, is if someone from here goes out and buys the product I’m talking about, I want them to know that I already listed the things i loved and didn’t love right there. Now the things I usually have negative to say are minor, but almost every product is going to have a plus and minus for every family, so I do my best to identify for both sides. I encourage any reviewer that is on the MomDot blog staff to do the same.
If a product is really bad, chances are you will never see it on MomDot at all because we don’t waste your time. I have twice let companies know that I could not recommend a product after using it and if they wanted me to print the review, I would, but it would not be positive. Both companies were receptive regarding my opinion. One chose for me not to print at all and one gave me the choice, and I chose not to waste any one’s time in the write up.
Recently Walmart joined the ranks of bringing on Mom Bloggers to assist with their image in the market place. But this isn’t the first time Walmart has touched blogging. In 2007 Walmart hired a couple to go across country and stop at Walmart locations and ‘blog’ it, but once the public got wind that the bloggers were paid, readers stopped coming. In fact, it was dubbed a “Flog”, a Fake Blog. The long and short of it is, no one wants a month long ad that reads like a blog. Its nice to see Walmart with its hands back in the pot doing it the RIGHT way this time.
Reviews in general can backfire. There are bloggers everywhere that take on reviews and products to test for their family. They do it for the products, for fun, for the feedback, to assist the marketplace, and in some cases, for payment. MomDot has been asked several times to include paid information in our posts and you can be rest assured, those have been turned down. I think what bloggers have to remember is to keep with your own integrity. Dont get so caught up in a product or a few dollars, that you end up hawking Casinos on a site that you talk about your family (and oh yes, they do hit us up all the time).
I think one way companies are going wrong is that they have found mom blogging sites to be a huge resource of advertising and in some ways, utilizing our traffic to reach consumers on a level they would otherwise never touch. Because of this, its very easy for a site to be taken advantage of, which can lead to a negative reaction in the marketplace you are trying to reach. I don’t want to be used by a company for $10 at the end of the month. Its insulting to myself and my visitors. For the record, I do agree with paid front page ads that don’t interfere with posts, but I cant personally stand ads that run throughout posts, scroll over words that popup, and more. I do believe moms should be able to use their site as a resource and many do very successfully. I can personally attest to several expenses that come out of our families pockets if we don’t take paid sidebar ads. But basically, I don’t want a blog to READ “sell out” when I approach it.There is nothing worse then 10 google spots, 4 pop ups, and banners in between the posts.
The key to companies working with mom bloggers is to allow those bloggers, paid or not, to be able to be completely who they are. The reason blogs are so popular is because they allow a normal person to live in a narcissistic little universe where we can pour out our opinions, whatever they are, in our own space and in a way, regulate how we are perceived. Bloggers, for the most part, are genuine in who they are. I had someone recently tell me they don’t like my blog because they are a christian. Ok. So I am assuming it was implied that i am NOT a christian (untrue, btw). And in one way, I got her point. We do some racy things here all in good fun. But I am who I am, what you see, is what you get. Underwear and all.
What we saw in the Motrin Fiasco is how quickly a chain reaction can work. It can also work that way for 
companies to put products in front of our faces. No offense, but I have never got a ‘tweet’ from a blogger on the payroll of ANY company, for any reason, whatsoever. In fact, Dooce follows 61 people on twitter and over 20K follow her. And this is the person I am taking advice from for Target? Its like Beyonce selling Direct TV.
I have a base here of 50K visitors a month and last month had 200K page views. It just seems smarter to find people that belong inside COMMUNITIES and don’t SELL us, don’t pay us, but rather SHOW us why we should be sharing you with our visitors.
But not for $5…because your company is worth it.
~Trisha[/private]
I think that people have to do what they have to do. I personally enjoy reviewing products and giving my honest opinion. When I have not liked something I let the company know and many times am asked about what they can improve on. I do that as a courtesy because I am not going to lie and say I like a product that I do not like.
I think many families are trying to make ends meet. If a person chooses to run paid posts that is their prerogative and it is mine to close the browser and move on.
Interesting post.
What I find irritating is when people review things that are not relevant to them – the mother of older kids reviewing baby products, someone who does not play video/computer games reviewing them or the strangest one was a review of NetJets by a homeschooling blogger who had never and by her own admission would never use the service.
The reviews need to be genuine to be credible to me.
Personally, I don’t accept advertising on my blog nor do I(or my team of reviewers) do paid review posts. However, I say “to each her own”. As long as the blogger is upfront that a post is paid or sponsored, I don’t have a problem with it. For some (I’m not talking the “Dooces” of the blogosphere), that extra “few” dollars helps to put food on their tables and I don’t begrudge anyone that – especially in this economy!
My blog started out strictly personal. Then after joining here at momdot I saw the world of product reviews. As much as I’d love to try every one of them out, and it’s come to the point that I get several offers per week, I only accept the products that I know would be somehow beneficial to me. I would feel odd accepting money to review a product…I have better things to do that write commercials.
This is a great post!
I’ve approached and been approached by companies and people with products that fit me and my website. I’m not after just anything, I’m after things that suit me and people like me that I can wrap myself around, you know? Tried pay per post, and it was ridiculously dumb, I have done one sponsored review post with Sponsored Reviews, but it was for gift baskets, something I’d actually wanted to do as a business one day, so I felt I could give a good feedback on the site and what it offered, as a connoisseur, if you will. I was approached to do another one, but the website is sub-par, so I’m not going to. I won’t support something I don’t get a good feeling about. I also won’t support something that, after reviewing, isn’t on the up and up or works as it should. I will call it like i see it, and I will let the person/persons know who I was in contact with before I do anything, to see if they want to proceed.
Way to go, woman. I wholly agree with you.I like what Walmart is up to with these now 24 moms. Genius idea, whomever was behind it.
Wow, great article. As a company trying to engage “bloggers” I have tried to make our product stand for itself. As the director of marketing of a family-friendly ski resort (Park City Mountain Resort) I have always believed that people need to have first-hand experience before they can have an opinion – whether it’s a reporter from the Wall Street Journal or a mom writing on her own blog. I have realized that, like myself, people are more attune to third-source credibility vs reading what a company says about themselves in an ad or on their website. I think what you do here is amazing and I will continue to follow and learn what is appropriate from a company. I would love to hear if you have anything to say about Park City Mountain Resort and how we could better reach out to you. In fact, I’d love to have you visit. Let me know if ever find yourself in Park City, Utah.
Thanks,
Krista Parry (aka @krista_parry)
Soon to be first-time mommy
we all got laptops because we were supposed to be keeping journals while we were on the various trips. we met many, many people and took lots of notes. not all 5 of us had laptops…so, really, truly, it was super helpful to have. on the McDonaldsmom.ca website you can read all five of our journals, see photos and videos and get some more information.
(i’m not saying it wasn’t nice, but i certainly didn’t feel like i was being “bought” with it)
I loved reading this one. It caught my eye because I do some paid posts here and there. I’m a member of most of the sites you listed, but I am selective about the jobs I take from them. If they are not something I truly believe in, then I don’t write about it, and I use disclosure badges. I also limit how many I do because I do not want to become a blog full of paid reviews. I don’t do them a lot, and I won’t do them all, but because I’m a member I see a lot of the jobs and do frown when I come across a blog that I know is one advertisement after another.
This was really interesting to read and got me to thinking. Thanks.
I have a little something to say about the mommy bloggers “clique”. When your blog grows, so does your relationship with other bloggers. It doesn’t mean that you’re in a clique..it just means there are a million more people out there that you didn’t know and now meeting..and perhaps becoming good friends with. It’s an experience to get to know everyone. I was a complete nobody in the blogosphere when i started out. I WORKED HARD to get where I am today. Lots of better blogging, expanding, networking..in fact, the trip to Blogher is probably what made a huge difference in who I am approached by these days.
If you work hard, it will happen. If you don’t, it won’t. I spend countless hours doing what I do and after almost 2yrs, it’s finally happening for me. Instead of being jealous, be happy for someone else’s success. Maybe they deserve it.
I agree with the comment about the same “mommybloggers” getting chosen for everything. They always direct you to some great post on another blog that turns out to be–guess what? In the same mommy blog clique. It’a like high school all over again.
I don’t do paid reviews, but I’ve been guilty of using “Mr Linky” on some of the bigger mom sites to try to draw some traffic, because I am trying to build my own audience. I’ve been seriously rethinking the direction my blog has ever-so-slightly started to head. I’d rather connect with a smaller group that fits me, than trying to fit myself to the same cookie cutter image.
And that brings me to twitter. Come on, people, why do I feel, again, as though I am listening to the same few bloggers pat each other on the back and engage in their own private conversations, spread oh-so-innocently (not!) over the social media world.
I must be following the wrong people, because I see no real engagement, again, outside of their inner sanctum.
Thanks for the opportunity to rant.
** sorry, Trisha** not Tricia!
I found this post very insightful. Thanks Tricia, I am always interested to hear your perspective on this topic. well done!
Ali, if there is only one blogger, I have two questions
1) Why would everyone get a laptop
and
2) how is the word getting out to the regular people about the ‘investigations’ and ‘questions’ these moms are finding out?
just wanted to mention a few things.
i’m one of the Canadian McDonalds Moms. There are 5 of us and i’m the ONLY blogger. and i can assure you that i’m not a “popular” blogger. and that i haven’t and wouldn’t try to SELL anything to moms about McDonald’s on my personal site. most of the talking about the McMoms i’ve done on my site was to open the floor to ask other moms and readers any questions that they wanted answered by McDonalds execs. it was a good way for them to have their voices heard. and many moms had good, thought-provoking questions that i took with me to Chicago and to Edmonton.
i do all my journaling for McDonalds on a separate site. and i can assure you, all five of us were chosen for a reason. We are there to ask tough questions. to be skeptics. there is not a single one of us in the bunch who just stands there, soaks it all up and gives up all food for McDonalds. we are smarter than that.
and no, i’m not paid. yes, i did get a laptop and my travel expenses are paid for…but remember that we are leaving our homes and families and jobs to do this. so, i can assure you, not one of us is in it for any sort of financial gain. we are all in it because we WANT TO KNOW. we are thrilled that McDonalds has a program that opens its doors and invites us in. who wouldn’t jump at that chance?
I hear ya!! I’ve signed up for a couple of the sites that will pay me to post. I just can’t bring myself to do it. Not only are the products something that I’m just not interested in, but I really do not want to lie about things.
Plus I find it super annoying to read about the same thing in like 20 different blogs a day, knowing full well they were paid to do it. I just skip over it with an eye roll.
Thanks for saying what I didn’t have the nerve too, lol!! (and you said it much nicer than I would have too….)
I was just pondering these very thoughts myself today. I’m personally tired of the already highly paid bloggers getting even more and more lucrative jobs with companies and some bloggers that work very hard and are just as good, if not better, get passed over simply because they aren’t in the “popular mom blogger’ clique.
I can spot a pay-per-post a mile away and am ashamed to say I fell prey to doing that on my blog a couple of times. I stopped, because I know my readers aren’t stupid and it’s insulting to them.
I do product reviews, but I am very selective. Quite frankly, they take up alot of time and if it isn’t something I don’t think my readers, my child, or myself will be interested in, I pass. I’m slowly watching more and more great blogs turning into nothing but review blogs and it’s sad.