I recently wrote a post about why bloggers shouldn’t work for free. It bothers me no end that new bloggers are being 
convinced to do this almost daily.
I thought that post would be the end of it, but then I realised that being asked to work for free is only the tail end of it.
What about those opportunities that come along that do pay, but don’t pay anywhere near enough to make it worth a blogger’s time and effort to do it? The ones that are actually insulting.
The fact these offers still keep floating around means that people must be doing it.
And it bothers me that bloggers are undervaluing themselves so much. Every single day.
You know what makes me want to scream?
The amount of times I see newer bloggers saying “A brand has contacted me but my stats are too low/my DA is too low to ask for money for sponsored posts”.
Just no. It isn’t. Really.
Why The PR Has Contacted You
There are two scenarios here for why you have been contacted, both of which are good reasons to not undervalue yourself and your blog.
1 The Mass Email
The brand has sent out a mass email to every blogger the PR spots, often hundreds of bloggers. If this is the case, then you should definitely go in high.
If every blogger they contact comes back willing to work for free or for pennies, that means that hundreds of bloggers are all going to be talking about that topic. People who read blogs regularly will soon see a pattern emerging and they’ll stop reading those posts after the first couple.
You want to be extremely well compensated for running a post you know is going to lower your stats (or just say no).
2 Your Readers Are Their Target Audience
The brand’s PR has actually done proper research and recognises your blog is a good place to reach their target market. They recognise your value – how bad is it that you don’t too? In this case, the brand wants to work with you. They want to tap into your audience. That means they see your blog’s worth.
You don’t need to worry that your stats or DA or lower than other people’s. If the PR has researched you properly, they already know your stats and DA and they still want to work with you.
Why You Are Valuable to Brands
Take a look at any big website. You will see adverts. On a website that gets hundreds of thousands of hits a day, they have a reasonable click through rate, but the conversion rate is often low.
Now think about blogs. The clickable ads will again get a reasonable click through if the blogger knows their readers habits well enough to know what will appeal to them. But again, the conversion rate is often low.
So brands look for the next step. The step where you, someone your readers like and trust, talks about their brand or product in a favourable light.
Think about your own habits. Are you more likely to buy something because there’s a clickable ad in amongst ten others on a faceless site, or are you more likely to buy something because someone you like says hey, this is great, try it?
And that right there is why your blog is advertising gold. That right there is why you should never underestimate your worth to a brand.
If a PR person doesn’t see your worth, they’re either bad at their jobs, or they hope that they can convince you that you’re too new to be of value to them. What bullshit – if you had no value to them, then they wouldn’t be contacting you.
Why You Should Value Yourself Enough to Say No
Firstly, you should value yourself because you matter. Your opinion matters. And your blog is the place to share that.
As L’Oréal say “because I’m worth it”.
Here are a few other reasons to say no:
To Keep Yourself Open to Better Opportunities
I’ve heard people saying that they’re worried if they don’t do X, Y or Z, they’ll never get more opportunities. You’re much more likely to get better opportunities if you blog isn’t full of sponsored posts. You should always have good, informative content that isn’t sponsored and keeps your readers coming back. Brands may worry this isn’t the case if every other post is a sponsored post, and if you’re working for pennies, you’re going to need a high volume of sponsored posts just to make any real money.
Your Blog Deserves Better
For most of us, our blogs are our babies and they deserve better than someone who thinks they aren’t worth much. Ask yourself what advice you would give a blogging buddy with the same offer. Would you tell them they deserve more? If you would, give yourself a break and see that you too deserve more.
You’re Setting Yourself Up to Be Undervalued Long-Term
One that really annoys me is when PRs want you to work for next to nothing and then promise you regular work. If the first post is lower value, and then you will be paid more, it might be worth it (make sure you have this promise confirmed in writing before you agree to it).
If they aren’t putting the rate up after the first post, that doesn’t mean the steady income is worth it, it just means you’re being undervalued long term instead of as a one off, which surely is worse.
It’s so important that bloggers recognise their worth. The PR people are certainly being paid for their efforts, and they wouldn’t accept pennies for their work, so why the hell should you?
If something isn’t worth your time (and the access to your audience) and the brand refuse to pay you a fair price, then just say no.
What do you think? Do we undervalue our worth as bloggers too much? Let me know in the comments 🙂
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Totally agree! Fantastic post! I’m sick and fed up with the $10 offers coming into my inbox one even suggested she would give me $5 for coffee and cake if I posted her poorly written article for free!! I know these are the SEO types and not the PR’s but I’m afraid that new bloggers will take up their offers for a quick few pounds. Some of them are so cheeky!
On the other hand the PR’s I’ve been working with recently are absolutely lovely. I have my set rate card packages but have jigged them around for what they require.
Xx
Thank you 🙂 The SEO ones are so frustrating! As for the $5, not only is it an insult, but where does she go that you could even get a decent coffee and a cake for $5 lol!
I’ve worked with some lovely PRs too, in fact, there are more good than bad, but the constant slew of ridiculous emails makes it easy to forget that sometimes. I’m the same – I have set rates but I’ll changed them around if someone wants something a bit different x
This is a great post. I have a new blog that is a couple months old now and I def feel like I’m not as good as others but I have still applied to pr’s for things I think are suited and work with my blog topic. (Lifestyle/self-discovery)
This post will definitely help me in the future 😄
Thank you, I really hope it does help you 🙂 Just try to remember that you bring value to the brand, not the other way around!
My “worth” as a blogger isn’t really an issue because I don’t take money to do anything for anybody, least of all strangers. Every so often I get a “form” email offering me money to plug products, websites, etc., and I don’t even reply to them. I never feature guest posts, and only post about things that interest me. Let others do whatever they want, but my blog is not for sale.
That’s a good way to make sure you don’t undersell yourself 🙂 I wouldn’t accept just anything to make money but if it’s something I would talk about/recommend anyway, then I always think why not. I also like offering guest posts to other bloggers as I think it’s important to give something back to the community.
Very true! I rarely accept anything nowadays, partly because I don’t have time and partly because my time is often more valuable free rather than being used on blogging about something commercial my readers might not even care about! Great post 🙂
I only accept things I know my readers will like – it does seem like a waste of time posting about things you know won’t appeal to your readers!
Love this. I’m just starting to work with brands and even if it means I get passed over, I’m sticking to my guns and asking for what I know my work is worth. #AnythingGoes
That’s great, so good to hear!
As a newish blogger this is fabulous advice. I think most new bloggers would jump at the chance of making money but you are right that sometimes you need to think carefully before taking it! #Anythinggoes
I think it’s important that newer bloggers value themselves and although any amount of money is tempting, its harder to start out working for pennies and then convince brands of your worth than it is to go in as you mean to on.
I still struggle with working for pennies.
#anythinggoes
You’re writing is fab! Don’t settle for less than you deserve!
Great information! Especially for us newbies! #anythinggoes
Thank you, I hope it helps!
This is absolutely true, but I also would add that sometimes it might be beneficial to take less than usual in order to develop a relationship with a new firm. I did a post for 1/2 of what I usually get and told the contact that was the case. They liked what I did and when the next op came I reminded the contact of this and received what I feel my reach is actually worth. I have something else with them this week. Just something for newer people to think about. I’d never say do anything for free for ‘exposure”, thats a scam they use to pretend that they are going to share your post with some imaginary huge audience.
Personally, I would only do that if I had a written agreement that more work would be coming at my actual rate, but it’s great that it worked out for you and definitely good to have another perspective on it.
The exposure one always make me laugh – you know because the PR spinning this line is obviously working for free 😉
I made the mistake of writing a few posts for free in the beginning of my blogging journey. Once I stopped though, I stopped getting emails. I’m okay with that though because I’m going to be picky about what I promote on my blog. The whole sponsored post thing is still new and confusing to me too so I’m extra cautious. #anythinggoes
I think I’m probably too picky to be honest, but I’d rather only promote things I actually think my readers will enjoy.
That’s great advice Debbie, always good to be advised by an experienced blogger such as yourself. I think so many companies expect us to advertise them for free and have no idea how much work goes into these posts. #anythinggoes
Thank you! I do think that’s part of the problem – people who’ve never blogged think it’s a ten minute job to throw a post up!
I accepted some low paid sponsored posts but then read that others were getting 5-10 times as much so asked for more and never heard back 🙁 #anythinggoes
Yeah, you will find this happens – some companies look for newer bloggers who they can take advantage of and then when they stop allowing that to happen, they disappear, but really, if you’re not getting what you’re worth, then you’re not losing anything
Very interesting post! Definitely something to consider 🙂
Hi Debbie,
thanks for this post. I totally agree. I tend to work out how many hours I am likely to spend on a post so that I can work out what my hourly earnings would be. I have a full time job as it is. Unless my hourly blog earnings are significantly higher than my hourly work earnings (I get pension and sick leave with work) then I won’t do it.
I also ensure that the brand fits well with my blog and things I feel strongly about.
Pen x #Anythinggoes
It’s great to hear that you make sure you’re not selling yourself short! I only work with brands I like too 🙂 x
I had someone offer me $5 the other day. I nearly spat tea out. I wouldn’t even switch the laptop on for that! #anythinggoes
Lmao, why do they think anyone would accept that?! You have to laugh don’t you!