After reading Do Bloggers Really Deserve to Be Paid? at Mom Blog Magazine, I was not really sure why there was any controversy in this area – regardless if the blog was for mommy bloggers or any other niche blogger.
I do not care how long someone has been online, the blogging did not go mainstream until 2005. After that, the scene exploded and advertisers finally started catching on to the power of having bloggers write sponsored posts or paid reviews.
However, I think since then, a lot of bloggers have failed to realize that it is more than just having a website that you deserve to get paid. It takes work to get to the point that your website’s traffic and influence becomes attractive to companies out there.
While the article cites that –
One side insists that their time is valuable, while the other cites a lack of budget for such expenses.
– there really is no issue still. Both sides either need to agree or disagree that the gig is a sponsored post in exchange for money, just a review, or not even write about the company’s product or service.
For the Sponsor/ Advertiser
If you are approaching bloggers to talk about your product, do not expect them to do it out of the kindness of their heart. It is their website.
In the case of funding, if you do not have it and are trying to market your products or services, you have no business approaching bloggers who have a clear advertising program that includes sponsored posts. Otherwise, bloggers doing it should be paid. Do research and select bloggers with a decent reach – and not just by their Twitter or Facebook fan page counts.
The problem is that there are a lot of bloggers wanting to make money, but not willing themselves to make sure that they are marketing their own site. Thus, it really is pointless to invest in paying them to review your product.
For the Blogger
Approaching a business and not getting paid for a review is a volunteer part on your own. Do not expect to get paid unless you have made the effort to market and build a good foundation of readers. When you are trying to make money, be clear on a few factors when pitching why a company should pay you to blog about their site, product, or even service:
- How you can deliver the product or service to your readers?
- How many people do you reach?
- How much are you asking for?
Unfortunately you cannot rely on those 10,000 followers you tweet out your posts to. You still have only so much reach there. It is your site alone that companies want to know about.
Bloggers should get paid for their time when writing sponsored posts, or product reviews for companies. However, it boils down to how the site’s reach and reputation can give back to.
There should not be any confusion or arguments in this matter. It is either both sides agree that it is a paid job, or not.
What are your thoughts?
As long as the blogger posts really quality content then he surely deserves to be paid because his or her efforts can't be in vein.
Well.. time is money. And blogging is a kind of business too. So why not being paid for doing the jobs? =)
The problem is that there are a lot of people who believe just because they started a blog, they should get paid. That is not the case. Advertisers are looking for bloggers who have a larger reach to get the message out. It is the bloggers who do not have that desirable traffic and reach that are complaining and arguing. Even paid to post sites like Social Spark and Pay Per Post have requirements on their opportunities to be able to write and get paid.
You got some real good points here, Nile. I agree with you that bloggers who do not have the commitment of really promoting their site for wider reach should never complain about not getting paid or not earning enough money. I believe everything that we do online, whether blogging or selling products or services, really need tons of commitment and hard work. So, if efforts are lacking, then nothing will be gained as well.
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Bloggers are no different when promoting endorsements than asking celebrities or sports figures to give a shout out to your product, bloggers for the most part have their own "audiences" smaller in scope and more targeted than general entertainers and are better for product or target focused promotions. By all means a blogger who is established, has a following and a reputation should be compensated for their services, however bloggers should also promote the stuff they really like without requiring or demanding compensation as I do as well.
I wouldn't have thought this was a controversial area at all. It's just normal economics. It's all a matter of supply and demand. A blog is a resource that the blogger builds. Depending on the quality of the content and the uniqueness of the writing style, the blog can become a scare resource. The laws of supply and demand would necessarily justify paying the blogger depending on the quality of his blog.
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I like the part with bloggers who have a website and waiting to get paid. When new bloggers will realase that blogging is passion and hard work, if u don't offer that you can not get the money?!
a lot of work is actually put into a blog.. when a blog becomes an authority site then people will certainly take notice and listen.. so I think bloggers wit quality content deserve all the payment they get.
Thaks Nile for your thoughts. It comes down to the fact that unless you offer some actual and "tangible" value to others you won't get paid. You really have to run the extra mile in order to be outstanding and earn what you deserve.
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I think it's up to the advertisers / companies to decide whether bloggers should be paid and how much, after all, they are going to spend the money. What bloggers need to make sure though, which has been repeatedly noted in the comments is that they work (hard) for their blogs reach to widen. The more people they can reach out to, the more credible the content, the more chances of making (a lot of money) compared to the typical day to day bloggers who blog about what's been going on in their lives.
One thing that scares me though is that more and more bloggers are going after money, thus can easily be manipulated in promoting stuff, just as misleading as some advertisement with some pretty face or cool hunk on television. In my opinion, it has always been an asset to bloggers and blogging in general that the words that get posted on blogs are unbiased and not manipulated, but it won't be true for too long or too many.
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Well put, a blogger can't expect to get paid until they've put the time and energy into building something great. Same thing can be said for an author, anyone new to the game won't get paid until they can prove their skill.
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I don’t think asking whether bloggers deserve to be paid is an appropriate question. As any economist will tell you, the market price is determined by supply and demand. If someone is willing to pay the bloggers then by definition they deserve to be paid!
As for me bloggers should really be paid especially if he or she shared very informative post that will benefit most of the readers. Personally I am willing to pay for something that will benefit my lifestyle and the likes that is shared by bloggers or I had read in a blog.
loggers are no different when promoting endorsements than asking celebrities or sports figures to give a shout out to your product, bloggers for the most part have their own “audiences” smaller in scope and more targeted than general entertainers and are better for product or target focused promotions. By all means a blogger who is established, has a following and a reputation should be compensated for their services, however bloggers should also promote the stuff they really like without requiring or demanding compensation as I do as well.