This was originally posted by Alyson Woods of Alyson Is Neat
Trust me, search engine optimization and online marketing are extremely tricky and hard to understand. I want to attempt to bring to light some recent situations and concerns happening in the blogging community. First and foremost, my job is internet marketing. That’s what I do, on an every day basis. I go to conferences and get to meet some of the most gifted people in internet marketing. There isn’t a whole lot of crossover between online marketing and fashion, but I’m going to start building that bridge.
Your voice is important. Your audience is important.
Last week, @_IFB tweeted: “if bloggers don’t talk, companies will continue to take advantage of them. #justsayin”
Let’s get real for a second. There are companies out there, reputable companies out there doing some pretty shady things on the internet. Unfortunately, there are too many bloggers out there hoping to make a little bit of money off their blogs. Basically, what these bloggers do not realize is that by taking these companies low ball offers for links or content, they are pretty much whoring themselves out as well as damaging the entire fashion blogging community. I know that is harsh, but its the truth and the truth is harsh. Let me get on my soapbox for just a second and say: your voice is important. Your audience is important: Your audience is worth more than the $25 a company paid you to post sponsored content. Please, know no matter how low your traffic is; your voice and your potential audience is worth more than that.
Common Points of Negotiation
How do you know if a company is trying to take a advantage of you? Let me give you a few tips.
They should offer you:
1. Money or product equivalent of $50 or so dollars if you are beginner upwards of $1000 if you have a large dedicated following
2. Editing freedom over the content you write or they write
3. AND (oh yes these are all things they should be supplying) a link from their site to yours.
You should offer them:
1. The option of writing content yourself
2. An honest review
3. AND an anchor text link (anchor text means that you link to their site through a keyword that company is trying to rank for).
I definitely realize that this asking price isn’t cheap. But considering the advertising prices for print are incredibly high… this cost is relatively low. Companies receive a lot of bang for their buck because unlike print ads, sponsored content is searchable, trusted, greatly benefits your online presence, and isn’t used to line the bottom of a bird cage a month after print (yeah, I just said that).
What is your experience with advertising and blogging? Do you feel like companies under-appreciate the influence of the blogging community and the exposure provided by the blogging community?
Is this $50 a month for beginners?
I’m curious to know if there are any benefits from sites who do not offer any money or products but host links to fashion blogs on their websites. Usually it’s a very small section with hundreds of blogs. In exchange, the blogger hosts a link to the company’s website.
I’ve been approached by several smaller companies, and I’ve yet to see any huge increase in traffic or benefits from this exchange. I wonder if there are any negative impacts involved in this trade?
.-= Beth Musni´s last blog ..Skull Tunic and Lookbook =-.