Thursday, April 18, 2013

What's the drama?

Yep, there's more drama to be had here at babblingbandit.me. No, not more sex, drugs and rock n roll! I'm talking sponsored posts. There seems to be a lot of chatter around the interwebs about bloggers getting paid to give opinions on brands and their products or services. Readers seem to either love them or they hate them. It's controversial! It's divisive! It's dramatic!

I actually enjoy reading sponsored posts if they are for a product or service I'm interested in. I'm one of these people who doesn't buy anything major without having read good reviews about the product first. I scour the web for beauty bloggers' opinions on mascara or through tech blogs for reviews on the latest gadgets/computers/software. There's no way I'd buy any major appliance without having found a thumbs up from a blog or a review site.

I am also a total sucker for marketing and advertising. I love pretty packages and catchy jingles. I'm a shopping addict with a disgraceful love of consumerism. But I have little money in the bank. If I spend my cash I want to get the most out of every dollar. Reading reviews of products and services from bloggers that I trust can help me form a decision about a product.

You know what else I love? Free stuff. I've won stacks of cool things from blog competitions. I've won $100 worth of shoes for Noo, a lunchbox, some yum cha products, chocolate, tickets to Masterchef live (although the announcement email got lost in my spam folder), tickets to take the kids to see Elmo's show that's coming up in June, some pelvic floor exercise balls (yet to be tested). Oh and I won $500 for writing this post for the Digital Parents Conference sponsors RAMS. Sweet!

Blogging is my second love at the moment (after my family of course). I never really knew I could put words together to make sentences that form paragraphs that end up coming together to give you a story. My story.

Blogging takes a lot of time. I don't begrudge that time, I wish I had more of it to give to my space. I love spending time on my words and my pictures. I love reading other blogs and commenting. I love social media and being connected. I love the sense of community. I love the comments that I get that are so often filled with support and care for me. I've been overwhelmed by that support. I thank each and every person that comes to read what I have to say, not just the commenters.

I am lucky that I do have an income outside of blogging. My blog is my hobby not a business. For me to choose to do the odd sponsored post is not really all about money. Although the fifty bucks I might make to write a post like the one I did recently for Office 365 really helps. That's my coffee and cake money for a week! Of course, should my readership grow, then I may need to ask for a bit more than snack dollars.

I've enjoyed writing the few sponsored posts that I've done because I like being given a project. In each campaign that I've been involved in I've still given a little story of my life. I've never just rewritten the media release. I always mark clearly at the top that the post is sponsored so the reader can chose not to read if they wish.

Why am I going on about all this? If you haven't already noticed I've put together a little Work/Contact/Network page in the hope some more sponsored gigs might come my way. And there could be a few coming up in the near future. I just thought I'd put it out there to you guys. This is a PR friendly blog. Without compromising my voice I'd like to be able to work with brands. And, as my readers, I hope you don't mind that I do.


What do you think about the whole sponsored post malarkey? 

Yay or nay?




V.


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19 comments:

Kathryn OHalloran said...

I don't usually read sponsored posts. To be fair, a lot of them are for products I don't buy anyway. I have stopped following a few blogs because they seemed to become all sponsored post content and nothing original.

babblingbandit.me said...

That's fair enough. I don't follow bloggers that have purely sponsored posts either. But a few scattered in with regular content don't bother me. If the product is something I'm not interested in then I don't bother reading. V.

Kevin said...

If you can write a sponsored post that's transparent and entertaining then I have no problem with it, and would definitely read it

Teegs_88 said...

I'm like you and don't buy any major items without reading reviews about them first. I have done a few reviews on my blog and have had fun with most of them. It's pretty awesome to get free stuff in the mail, makes me feel a little bit special. Especially when normally the only mail I get is bills!

bachelormum said...

Hi Vanessa nice post. I find reading sponsored posts pretty boring most of the time so I avoid them. They r in essence advertorials. However I think it's a great opportunity to make a little extra money for a lot of bloggers and if it's written well I will read them anyway. Good luck! Kim

Robomum said...

I'm with you, if a post catches my eye and I'm interested in the product, I will read it. Or if someone I follow has reviewed something, I'll check it out. I don't have a problem with sponsored posts at all - I think it's cool to advise readers from the outset though. As you say, what's the drama? X

babblingbandit.me said...

Totes agree with you on that Kevin! Transparency is critical.

babblingbandit.me said...

Me too! I'm like a kid when I get a new parcel in the post. V.

babblingbandit.me said...

Thanks Kim! PS love your new look blog. Very stylish.

babblingbandit.me said...

I know! What is the drama? I prefer a little comedy myself. ;) V.

Rebecca Thompson said...

I am also pretty partial to free things and enjoy a sponsored post on products i am interested in. I don't get the problem and will also put my hat in the ring to be paid for a post of 6 :)
Becc @ Take Charge Now

EssentiallyJess said...

I love writing them, because I enjoy the challenge of wording something specific, into something I would normally blog about anyway, and that all my readers are still going to love. I don't like ading them when companies have given same product to 15 different bloggers and they are all saying the same thing. That's annoying

babblingbandit.me said...

Yeah, I must admit that I find it annoying when there's a lot of bloggers on the same campaign but I'm small and it is good practice. Maybe one day I'll be able to do exclusive campaigns... in my dreams! ;) V.

babblingbandit.me said...

It does provide good content I think. Gets me away from talking about depressing stuff too!

Emily said...

I don't mind reading sponsored posts and hope to have some of my own one day, if I can ever find time to seek some out! Good luck getting more, your blog is a cracker and no doubt will encourage others to send stuff your way! Em

babblingbandit.me said...

Thanks Emily!

Diet Schmiet said...

I also enjoy the challenge of writing sponsored posts because I just love writing. Having someone else tell you what to write kinda adds to the fun. I have been doing some ghost blog posts for a website type company here and some of the stuff (re Google Apps, eCommerce etc) I haven't been overly familiar with, so have had to research. I like that I can keep my informal (layman's) tone. When I worked in Govt I spent ages writing stuff for others, but couldn't let my own personality show through!

babblingbandit.me said...

The ghosting sounds fun! You rock the sponsored posts by the way. V.

Kylie Purtell said...

If its done well and something I'm interested in then I don't mind. At all. What I do mind is when people don't disclose upfront that its sponsored or gifted or whatever. That annoys me even if its been well-written. And I do love a good giveaway!

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