29 Comments

  1. 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

  2. Sam

    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 😄

  3. 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.

  4. 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 🙂

  5. oldhouseintheshires

    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.

  6. 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 😉

  7. 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

  8. 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

    • 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

  9. Pen

    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

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