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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 agree. I love to review products, but I want people to know how I truly feel about a product. I won’t say something I don’t believe, and if I didn’t like it, I didn’t like it.
It is tempting for the money, but I agree that it is not worth it. That’s why I’ve never done any paid reviews.
It almost seems like (to me) that being a “paid” blogger/reviewer for a company is sign of prestige. I also think that a lot of SAHM’s like the idea of being able to write up a blurb for a company and receive some extra cash – or at least, I like the idea. Blogging is a weird thing for me. I do it because I love to write and I really don’t care who reads it, yet at the same time, I would like to know that SOMEONE is reading it.
I have been tossing the idea of signing up for one of those paid blogging things back and forth. Reviews = readers and extra cash. But if they are only paying $5 a review, I’d have to do a substancial bit of blogging about products which would take away from my main blogging interests like role playing or my family.
Like you, I’ve found that when someone sends me something “to possibly review and share with your readers” they seem not to be interested in my review if it’s negative. I’ve never posted a “paid review” at this point, nor do I expect to. But if I did? It would be utterly transparent. Posted at the beginning AND end that it’s paid.
I always post if an item is something I found and paid for on my own or was sent for review. But I wouldn’t waste my reader’s time either. I don’t run a “product review” site – I’m a life-blogger. That means I write about my life. Sometimes, that means I share something like a product I really believe in – or an experience that I want to share.
I loved sharing about the Flip camera that Pure Digital sent. Did they send it because I’m part of Walmart’s Elevenmoms? Yep. Did they send me one to give away to a reader? Yep. Did I love it and talk about it the same I would’ve if I’d paid for it myself? Yep.
Is that a ‘sponsored’ post? Well, to me, yes – and I disclosed it repeatedly. But I didn’t get paid a single cent to write about it… and I know for a fact that Pure Digital sends them to many different blogs for the same type of review & give-away.
There have been some things that were sent that have been way outside what I would blog about – or something I deemed not relevant – and a few I just couldn’t recommend at all. Would I have felt “obligated” to cover them if Walmart were paying us? Yeah, I think I would. But you know, I wouldn’t have been involved under those conditions.
Sorry to ramble. What I should say is that you hit it EXACTLY on the head for me. This post is 100% on target (no pun intended) from where I stand.
I don’t have problems with things like the recent Izea/Target giveaway that many prominent bloggers are involved in (like Chris Brogan, Loren Feldman, and Wendy Piersall) because they were receiving the same thing as they are giving away – a $500 Target gift card. Do I believe they would’ve turned it down if not able to endorse it? Yep. I do.
But no, I don’t tend to buy the ‘opinions’ of someone that are paid for by the company they are advocating.
It’s a fine line – but a definitive one.
Thanks for writing this!
Lucretia (aka @GeekMommy)
You get an AMEN from over here. I’m all for paid ads in clear advertising areas but not paid reviews.
Amen.
Reading blogs that read like a commercial, or are just plain “braggy” about the stuff they supposedly get as perks makes my stomach turn, and I don’t return. Especially the ones that fill their posts with that junk in exchange for lack of content.
I don’t even consider them blogs.
Well put. If I ever recommend or review a product it’s because I really, really believe in it. I have to love something to throw it at my readers, and I appreciate when they extend the same courtesy. If there’s too much business crowding up a blog I just keep on movin. That’s just not what I’m looking for. But if they’re having a good time and don’t feel like their approach is too agressive then more power to ‘em, I guess.
This was an AWESOME post.
I don’t have a single ad on my blog… but it’s because I don’t know what to do, and haven’t cared enough (yet) to do any research on it.
I have done a few reviews, which I’ve really enjoyed, but they’re all honest and unpaid.
I totally see your point.
Great, great post.
Thanks for the info!
Great post! I have wondered if the era of Mom Blogging Reviews is on it’s way out for this very reason. I am glad that I have a separate site for reviews, so if my regular readers want to visit they can. However, they don’t have to sift through the reviews. I love trying out the products and feeling like I have a voice in the marketplace. I also LOVE giving away products. But sometimes I wonder if companies are taking advantage of Mom Bloggers for cheap advertising.
I turned down a review network that said negative reviews were “out of the question,” because this showed me they didn’t really want my opinion. Actually, my first official review was less than glowing, and I thought I might be ruined. But I felt good giving my honest opinion.
I was tempted to do PPP. But, I didnt because I see the same posts EVERYWHERE and I didnt want the Mom Buzz to be the same. I want it to be unique, with stuff I find. Although, I am a member of different review networks … because it is fun to try new things! But so far I am not making money of THAT.
Trish – excellent post and analysis of what we’re seeing in the Mom blogging space. Like you – I also won’t waste my time writing about products I don’t like that I receive -I only write about the stuff we use, love or that I think my readers or “mom” audience and their children will love. As a review blogger we’d lose our credibility and be totally spammy like you suggested with random pay per posts or if it was not clear if we (and in my case my children!) really like something or not.
Walmart has definitely gotten it right this time as far as us not being paid to be a part of the 11 Moms group. And hopefully other Moms see us as real Moms just sharing our real opinions. And as Lori said – we are never required to write about any products we are sent which I also think is huge. Cause you know we’re only going to write about something we love or think you’ll find interesting.
However, I do think there is room for monetization when you talk about sponsored promotional campaigns – if you are transparent and only do authentic campaigns that genuinely fit in with the content of your website. And I think that many mom bloggers out there – including me – would love to be given those opportunities to be a spokesperson for a brand we believe in, or to share information or giveaways with brands & products that make sense with the content of our sites.
I think you are absolutely right about being honest in posts. I too have told people that I cannot give their product a positive review. And like you, they have either opted not to run it or have given me a choice. I don’t take money to review products, but I don’t have a problem with people who do, as long as they are transparent about it and are fair in their reviews. Readers catch on over time. This is a very well thought out and well written post. I will give it a Stumble!
I wish someone would pay me to do a review! I just got some chocolate from shespeaks the other day. It was good so I did a small review on it. I’m with you on this though. It’s very obvious when you are reading a blog and the person is being paid or receiving some type of compensation for the review they are posting. It doesn’t make me go buy it because they said so but it might plant it in my brain to try it someday. It’s a great form of advertising for these companies.
I don’t do PPP, though I have been paid for writing reviews (by the website/blog/publishing company, NOT the product). If somebody is being paid by a company to review that company’s product, then what they really are is a paid spokesperson, not a reviewer. Nothing wrong with that, as long as it’s transparent. But believe me, it’s worth a lot more to the company than $5 a post.
I did paid posting in the olden days…..my blog got spammy. I decided to quit. I learned that I wanted an authentic, trustworthy relationship with my readers–it was important to me.
These days, IF I do a paid post, it’s absolutely transparent. I make sure my readers are very aware of the fact that it is a paid post. Of course, it’s been a long time since I’ve done one but that’s where I stand on it.
I would also like to say that while we might be given a few things from Walmart, we are definitely not paid…at all. I’ve only blogged about one of the things I was given which was really given to us from Dell through Walmart (the Dell Mini). I blogged about it because I LOVE it! We don’t have to write about anything at all, it’s our choice. I love that! I think Walmart is getting it right this time around for sure!
And I absolutely love Target (especially cause they always have cute cowboy stuff!!!)…but I would rather go by what everyday moms have to say or recommend than those of a higher blogger status…just my opinion.
Great post Trisha!
I am signed up for PPP, but have yet to take any opp from them. I simply don’t have the extra time between blogging for myself and providing reviews from companies that I can firsthand say that I’ve tried myself and provide straight forward reviews about. I know about bloggers who have provided reviews and have not tried the product before the review and that’s just as dishonest or even more so than paid reviewers who haven’t had the opportunity to try out the product in the first place.
I admit, I do some PPP blog posts, but I pass up a lot too. Like I’ve been passing for 2 weeks on one to “turbo charge my ride.” Yeah, I’m not interested in that, and neither are my readers. The majority of my reviews so far are ones for products I buy or services I’ve used and just wanted to spread the word so other people could use a great product. I get so tired as a mom wasting time on crappy stuff that gets good “technical” marks, but then come to find out when real people use it, the product sucks. And while I enjoy some celebrity blogs, I’d have to take any of their product reviews with a huge grain of salt.
I have my advertising on my sidebar from BlogHer. I do some reviews also. None of mine have been paid yet. I HATE, LOATHE, can’t stand some of the reviews that are posted on blogs. It is true SPAM.
Especially when I see some of it on my regular blogs. They are talking about their kids potty training, and the next post is about some random thing, like men’s boots. Seriously, why would I believe that crap.
I do read alot of blogs, and some are very informative to me. I can’t remember what site, but I saw one about a video camera yesterday. It’s a camera that was on my Christmas list. I am thankful for that review, but it made me realize how bad I wanted that camera.
Totally agree! If companies can not prove by products alone they are not worth our time! What better way to get the word out then to use the product yourself. Getting paid only get said what they want not what it truly is about. Now granted if Dyson paid me I could still be honest, because they are awesome! But McDonalds let see heart attack, high LDL, high blood pressure and obesity that should be how the articles read but pay some one and you get something totally different. How can that even be close to credible?
I write paid posts and I want to point out that the reputable companies encourage you not to take opportunities that you can not blog honestly about. A lot of sponsors require you to be neutral and some only want to create buzz.
I can honestly say that I have never written a positive post about something I do not feel positive about. I have passed on many opportunities, whether they paid $5 or $20. Plus a lot of the opportunities just want you to work the anchor text into a post that you would normally write anyways. They aren’t paid links, in the paid-per-click sense, but used for search engine purposes.
I have people who visited my blog before I started taking paid posts and they still visit me regularly. I do a very good job relating topics to my personal life. If I can’t do that, then I do not take the opp.
Was that really long-winded? ;P