Voices of 2013 Blogs and Brands Panel (L-R) Brian Giesen of Social@Ogilvy, Lousia Claire of Brand Meets Blog, Stacey Roberts of Veggie Mama and me. I had the great pleasure of attending Voices of 2013 on Saturday. I've been light in step ever since, I've felt so buoyed by the experience. It's been good not only for my blog (inspiring!), but for me to meet so many like-minded people, and awesome birds that I only usually get to chat to on the interwebz. Maybe you might not know, but by day I work in PR. It's night time when I don a cape and mask and start blogging. I was delighted to sit on the Blogs & Brands panel as a blogger. Even if I did get covered in nervous rash sitting up there. So on the day, while we talked about sponsored posts, we didn't get to talk about paid reviews. And what I think of them. Or more likely - what I don't think of them. Because at the heart of a review - it's meant to be an unbiased account of what you think of a product. But if it's paid? Well then it blurs the lines doesn't it? It becomes a bit of cash-for-comment - because really, are you honestly going to bite that hand that feeds you? Will you look a gift horse in the mouth? (How many more cliches can I work into this one paragraph?). How can a review be unbiased if you're being paid to post it? The cold and quick answer: it can't. Or can it? I'm interested to know if you think that you can maintain an unbiased review while being paid by the brand. Because me? I don't think so. I think the lines are blurred, I think you're cosying up with Alan Jones, and your reader is going to be pretty annoyed to find that your writing paid reviews. This stinks of lack of integrity.
Nielsen research shows that 71% of Australians look at web reviews before buying. That's a huge figure - a lot of Aussies looking for credible reviews to guide them. Now let's imagine if all the reviews you're reading are fictional. How to navigate your way through all that crud? There's more power in honesty, integrity, and your readers will want to keep reading what you have to say. But if you're being paid to share your scoop de la scoop about products? Well who wants to read more PR guff. Not me! And I work in PR! You need to give your audience more credit - they are smart and savvy. They can sniff out when something's not right. And if all you share are glowing reviews, then something's rotten in the state of Denmark.
image is courtesy of the impeccable Cheryl of BusinessChic. THANK YOU CHERYL! (I'm in the pink - like Barbara Cartland).
It feels like long ago, but remember when I spoke at ETSY Success as part of the Vivid Festival? I promised I would post when my video had gone live on the ETSY site. And well.. I've arrived.
Now you can relish in how truly dorky I am. Truly. Dorky.
I can't watch myself because it is excruciatingly cringe-worthy. But I'll post it so you might be able to glean some PR tips if you need them...
Ok so this is me, with Jo Walker, the Editor of Frankie Magazine. Please keep in mind that just moments before going on stage, I was tempted to get in the lift and disappear for the afternoon.
Well that was the weekend that was folks. I'd been looking forward to Etsy Success for many weeks, and now #BOOM it's over.
I had such a blast meeting so many creative people, 300 of them, all buzzing in the one room. It was electric. It was such a coup to be part of it - one which I am grateful for. I got to meet so many excellent people - and on the flip side, endured the hangover from hell.
Someone really should have stopped me.
Hangovers are not my friend (are they anyone's?), and given I am a lightweight in the booze department, I feel they are totally unwarranted. I barely have a slurp of champagne before I've got to start tossing back the Nurofen.
But back to Etsy Success. The success of Etsy Success is really down to the people. I've said it before - Etsy has enabled so many creatives to come together and create a global community and business, that they would otherwise not have. Sure you can have a blog, and create community from that, or a Facebook page, but Etsy truly is the meeting place, the marketplace for creative geniuses to come together and share. And sell.
As a buyer, Etsy is like falling down Alice's rabbit hole. I can click through for hours finding more and more gold, right from the comfort of my couch.
In the coming week I'll be posting some more info on DIY PR. I promise I won't mention the goldfish again.
This weekend I am lucky enough to be involved in ETSY Success – part of the Vivid Festival. I’m talking DIY PR – a really, really practical guide to getting yourself out there. Because let’s face it, promoting yourself can be awkward.
Together with a host of ace speakers, such as Wee Birdy, the editor of Frankie Magazine – Jo Walker, and the CEO of ETSY, Chad Dickerson, it’s going to be a jam-packed day full of tips, tricks and case studies to help build creative businesses. I am a long-time ETSY fan, and am really looking forward to this event both personally and professionally, as well as meeting some of the cleverest minds in the biz. You can still buy tickets for the day here – and let’s face it – a day spent in the salubrious setting of the new MCA building, overlooking Sydney Harbour? Super fantastic. Plus there’s bound to be some top learnings from the day. You can see how the day looks here. If you can’t make it – the event will be filmed (eek!). You can read more over here.
Yes. You Gotta pay the writer. Suck it up. If you want us, we're worth it, then pay us.
You'd never go to the car mechanic and think they'll do it for free, right? A lawyer? A doctor? Nope. I studied writing at uni. I paid my time for Patsy Cline.
Same principle applies to writers.
This is via my awesome friend Carrie. Thank you Carrie!
In the last few weeks I have been gazumped by PR requests. Email after email vying for space on my blog.
I often find myself in a quandary.
As a blogger, sometimes the information is totally irrelevant. I don't want to know about it. And I fathom a safe guess that my readers don't either. So I politely decline. Or lately, I just ignore (which seems terribly rude, but I have time-VS-email issues people - as I am sure you do too).
I've worked on my blog for over four years. I'm not just going to toss it away to be one big merry commercial. I must maintain its integrity. For my readers - and most of all, for myself.
And on the flip side, I've worked in PR for almost 13 years (my oh my, old old old).
I know what it's like working in-house and agency side. Clients want results. They don't want to hear excuses. They want their brand in bright lights, they want column inches, they want pixels. They want the world.
So I really want to help those who are pitching to me. I do. I want to help them.
But if PR pitches to bloggers continue the way they are now - things are going to roll backwards. Or implode.
The blogger in me questions every pitch sent my way. And I use the word "pitch" incredibly loosely here, because most of the time, all I am receiving is a generic:
"Dear Blogger"
or
"Dear Lexi, [insert gushing paragraph here about how much I love your blog]"
or
"hi PottyMouthMama"
or worse to me still - an embedded email that I can't even view half the time. Or just crap. I mean come now - seriously. Read my blog. I don't want to try your doggone baby purees because - I do not have a baby. And you could lazily scroll through my top posts to discover this for yourself. I'm not asking you to do my family tree and trawl through reams of geneaology. Nope.
Even worse. Inaccurate emails. Emails with titles: Interview Opportunity. And then I scroll through to look for who the interview is with - and there's nothing. Or some dubious subject matter. I could rattle off a heck of a lot. But for everyone's benefit - I won't.
I've just asked to be removed from their mailing list instead.
I know working in PR is busy. You have to measure your success. You must be accountable. And you have clients barking at your heels. But respect the blogger.
So this is to those working in PR who want to learn about pitching to bloggers. Who really value quality content. Who really value an engaged audience. And who really want to do the right thing by their client.
1. READ READ READ: Read the blogs you want to pitch to. Would you pitch blindly to someone in 'ye olde media'? If you answered yes, then you need to step away from your emails, and take a good hard look at yourself. I don't mean read four years of PottyMouthMama - but really, just become familiar with what I talk about, who I am, and if you truly think your brand is something that's going to fit in this space. And then you can start to build a relationship. KEY POINT!
2. WHO'S THAT CHICK? Find out my name. It's not rocket science. There's a reason why direct marketing companies pay thousands of dollars to access databases so they can tailor their communications to recipients. My name is not 'Blogger' - thank you Mum and Dad. It's not even PottyMouthMama. It's Lexi.
3. STOP SENDING GENERIC EMAILS: Please. For everyone's sake. You're wasting a lot of emails, as well as your time, my time, and everyone else's time. If you send out generic pitches - look at your ROI. Bet you're not getting much bang for your buck.
Don't do blanket mail outs. Tailor absolutely everything.
In my role as PR Manager, I've chosen to work with a handful of bloggers who I respect, trust and admire. Unfortunately, I don't currently have a budget to pay them. However, I offer them unique angles, I offer them exclusives, sometimes I might send them a gift. But I never ever expect anything in return.
Your client is not a charity - and the blogger owes you nothing.
4. EMAIL BOMBING: I get a lot of emails every week. I'm not being cocky. A lot of them are spam. *Shudder* And some of them are from PR professionals, forwarding their original email because they haven't heard from me, and they want to check I received their email. And they've done a search and I haven't written anything about their client/product. Why not?
Why not?
Because I don't want to. Because it doesn't fit with my blog.
There should be no sense of entitlement.
Unless I want to. Unless I think my readers want to hear from you. Otherwise, I won't write about it.
5. SPONSORED POSTS: I started writing sponsored posts for shoe money. Clearly I don't buy a lot of shoes because I don't do a lot of sponsored posts. And I will only ever do a sponsored post if I truly believe it's cohesive with my blog.
The struggle with keeping my blog pure - and the need - and sometimes want - to make a little extra pocket money - it's a fine line. But when I do a sponsored post - I try to maintain my voice. I try to keep it relevant.
6. PRODUCT REVIEWS: If you want me to review your product, well then it's a pretty good idea if you send me a sample. I am on the mailing list of one PR practitioner - and at the end it always says: "if you want samples, let me know". Not once, not twice, but at least four times I have replied saying "yes please send me a sample so I can try it for myself and legitimately write about it". And each time she replies "Sorry all the samples are gone." Well then BOOM! I'll make your emails be gone from my inbox. Simple really.
7.TIMING! Inviting me to an event is nice. It is. And thank you. But give me a bit of notice. Four days notice to drop everything for lunch? Yep. Not coming. I've got a busy life and I can't shuffle things at that late notice either. Same applies for sending me media releases. Don't send them to me on the day whatever you're spruiking happens. I'm a busy woman - as are all bloggers. I'm not usually struggling for content. And I won't drop everything to bang out some paras on your product on the day. Nope.
**BONUS TIP: If you are inviting me to an event, please make sure I live in the city the event is taking place in. Unless you're willing to cover my travel and accommodation costs.
