In June, I wrote a lame-ass blog post where I alluded to a PR pitch I received that was g-d freaking awful and made me want to crawl through the computer and shake silly the account person at the marketing agency who sent it. I was tired then, and could only allude to the awfulness.
No more.
Because isn’t it ironic that today, while sitting with my friends in attendance at the wonderful Windy City Social Media Masters Summit, where we were learning about how large companies like General Motors, Con Agra, Kenmore and Edelman (a former employer) are handling social media outreach in the RIGHT way, I got another bad pitch by another grunt from the same marketing agency on behalf of a very large company who is doing it ALL WRONG? (The person at the agency, that is.)
I thought so. I’m using names now.
Someone named Emily (who apparently replaced Lindsay the old account person) from Lead Dog Marketing sent me, and apparently, the rest of the momosphere, a PR pitch today on behalf of Toys R Us to join their “I Want To Be A Toys R Us Mom” awareness campaign for the newly combined Toys R Us and Babies R Us megastores (There’s one down the street from me. I love it. Isn’t that ironic too? I also worked on the Toys R Us Account for Edelman back in 2004 so I know the company well. At least the old company.)
The email said in part (paraphrasing):
“As we celebrate each grand opening, we are looking for community and online partners to help spread the word so that local area families can take advantage of grand opening savings and fun. Because your blog/website reaches moms and Chicago-area residents, we’d like to extend an invitation for you to be our promotional partner during the Toys“R”Us grand opening celebration …
Ok, fine… then the kicker:
As our partner, you have the opportunity to be involved in raising awareness for our “I Want to be a Toys“R”Us Mom” campaign. This viral campaign encourages local moms to visit our microsite, iwanttobeatoysrusmom.com to download a ‘secret coupon’ and bring it to the store during the grand opening weekend to reveal their shopping discount; up to 50% off one item! And if that is not enough, the first 100 Moms to arrive at each Grand Opening will receive a special ‘Toys“R”Us Moms’ gift bag bursting with gifts and offers.
We are seeking your partnership to help drive local moms to the iwanttobeatoysrusmom.com microsite and create buzz about the grand opening, using tactics like email blasts/newsletters, social media posts, strategic banner ad placement and news or editorial features highlighting the grand opening weekend.
You will also enjoy benefits, such as logo placement and information about your blog/website on the webpage affiliated with your grand opening market on the iwanttobeatoysrusmom.com microsite, the opportunity for exposure at the grand opening celebration with on-site table presence, as well as free Toys“R”Us gift bags, give-a-ways and more.
We look forward to discussing this exciting opportunity with you in more detail. In the meantime, please see attached Partnership One Sheet for additional information.”
I was shocked. I not only rejected this pitch 3 months ago when I got it (so take me off your pitch list please), I have a fundamental issue with the approach and expectation of what the agency expected me as a blogger to do on behalf of her client Toys R Us. I’m calling it predatory PR. It’s a predatory practice when the PR agency who’s getting paid by a big time client asks YOU, the blogger to do what she’s getting PAID for (advertising/ marketing/ local PR/ social media) for free or for cheap. Liz already wrote about this once. But I’m saying it again.
This pitch and the ask of it is outrageous. I tried to be nice to Lindsay about it the first time around by telling her I only do giveaways/contests/banner ads if they’re in conjunction with a PAID advertisement. You PAY me, and I will help to PROMOTE you. It seems easy enough, right? She responded with this:
98% of our partners are on-board through barter, as it is added value to provide this incentive to their mommy viewers, members…We are offering incentives to mommy bloggers with huge reach in the millions. Can you send me your reach?
I think that your mommy viewers, followers, members will be quite happy if you tell them about a $100 value gift bag that will be given away for free! Our first city is in Colonie, NY and the moms are going nuts over it!
We’d be happy to feature you with your logo, a click through and 300 characters of copy on our micro-site. Just think how many moms will have access to that site!?!? We already have over 20 million impressions from our already on board partners.
Let me know if you’re interested in barter.
Thanks,
Lindsay
The only thing I’ve ever bartered for in my life is sex in exchange for my husband allowing me to watch “The Bachelorette” finale in his presence. But I digress.
Hmmm… so in exchange for a link and 300 chars on the crappy iwanttobeatoysrusmom.com microsite (which has a page rank of ZERO according to Liz so the 20mm impression numbers have GOT to be made up) you want me to post on my site, put up banner ads and host a giveaway? Back in June, I nicely said no, not for me, shoved my anger away, did a lame ass post and shut the hell up.
But now that they’re back, and apparently aren’t paying attention to their initial outreach, there must be a call to action. The promise of “links on a microsite,” “on-site exposure (which, if you read the fine line in the attachment is “limited”),” and giveaways are not enough. There might be some of you who find glamour (like a whopping 20 of you) in all of this. Maybe it’s exciting to be contacted by a big, brand-name company that has products you and your kids like. Maybe you just don’t know how lame and circa 1999 microsites are. Maybe you love, love doing giveaways and you accept any pitch that come your way.
I do not believe that in these brand/ blogger exchanges there is all right or all wrong on either side. I think Lindsay and Emily probably work for a good agency, but are unfortunately uneducated in the practice of social media outreach. They think their offering is good enough that if they spam pitch 20,000 mom bloggers some will stick and that’s good enough. I can’t imagine that they’re pleased that only 20 sites bit on their campaign. So they’re at it again. I also think it’s safe (hope) to say both Toys R Us and Babies R Us don’t have an inkling that this is going on underneath them.
I also think the problem lies with us. There are a lot of naive bloggers out there who just don’t have the PR experience that others and I do and who cannot see through the BS that is this campaign. For example, Akron Moms (I’m only picking this site because that’s the example Emily used in the email) got really excited about the promotion (back in June, mind you) and posted it on their site because they actually believe they are a “sponsor” of the Toys R Us Grand opening in Parma and Chapel Hill. Akron Mom, you weren’t a sponsor of anything. You are just a pawn in this bad pitch campaign.
And, poor Melissa. She participated too and all she got was a bag of crap samples, no links and a bunch of rude email exchanges. Michelle got zilch, she said. Shannan complained about the rudeness of Toys R Us’s agency. And there are many more stories.
That’s why I stayed up two hours past my bedtime to write all of this down. Because there are uneducated PR folks like Lindsay and Emily out there preying on either naive, too nice, or too willing bloggers with the promise and glory of links and badges. But that’s not enough anymore. It doesn’t cut it when there are real companies and real dollars paying real money elsewhere.
As Lucretia put it:
.@Mom101 @tothink @selfmademom @mommyinstincts @PBinmyhair – sadly, some still think giving away milk for free increases cow sales
Lucretia M Pruitt
LucretiaPruitt
I think the bloggers expected the best from the company and agency but got let down instead. They got preyed on and it’s up to us well-educated bloggers to keep the conversation going to stop it from happening again. At least in this instance.
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I’m so glad I found your post and thank you for writing it. I’m pretty new to the whole blogging world and you have given me some great insight into working with big brands.
You forgot to mention that your friend Kim was on a brand/blogger panel at the Social Media Summit and cautioned the audience that blogging for links is NEVER worth it. But you are tired, so all is forgiven. It’s painful to see companies called out like this, but they made more than a few blunders the first time and it’s shocking that they dared repeat this.
You are officially off the D-list now!
I only said D-list because you say that. I never thought you were on it.
Thanks for this write up, lady! Truly, when I took to Twitter tonight to rant/vent about this, I had no idea so many had been “wronged” already by this exact pitch and PR company. I was simply so insulted by the pitch itself, and so sad that beginner bloggers receiving this would take the bait, that I had to speak out.
It is predatory, it’s embarrassing, and it goes counter to the whole message we old bloggy ladies like you and I are trying to convey: know your worth, stick to that number, whatever it is (and it’s different for everyone) and don’t be swayed by some poorly trained PR people making you feel like “everyone is doing it”. It’s seriously like a guy pressuring a girl to sleep w/him on the first date, and threatening to move onto someone else she doesn’t say yes. That never leads to a long term relationship, and the guy never wanted one in the first place. Predatory.
The pitch I got included not just the post and ad space, but an in store appearance and inclusion in a newsletter. I can’t imagine ANY business doing what they expected of us, and still stay afloat. But of course they don’t see us as legitimate businesswomen. Just clueless mommies.
I think it’s worthy to note, that you and I and a handful of other bloggers were on a panel in 2007 in a room FULL of PR professionals, talking to them and answering their questions about reaching out to mom bloggers. I can’t believe that it feels, most days, like we are still at square one.
Lucretia, I discounted this PR offer initially too, (I checked the Page Rank 0 first too, believe me!)
But, I did not receive the same offer that you assumed was the only offer. you can read my full posts-I received Gift Card compensation, and received gift cards to award at the event for my local moms club – promoting my blog, and my local club – i do lots of giveaways for people I meet in at personal events- I enjoy that!
I’d prefer you edit your post regarding my Akron ‘pawn’ status, in that your assumption that I traded a microsite web link for promotion is simply incorrect. Kindly, Cindy @ AkronOhioMoms
I dub this #FailsRUs. It’s short.
Great post! Love that you called out the guilty parties.
I wanted to add one thing. Some times, bloggers will agree to a paid promotion believing the money-for-time exchange to be fair. Then the scope of the project shifts and the bloggers are being asked to do so much work for the original price. I’m in a situation like that right now. It’s frustrating, but I need the money. Unfortunately, the amount of time I’m spending on it has left me with so little time to work on other opportunities.
I might have to do some calling out soon, too…
Thank you for writing this! They so needed to be called out! I need to add I also received a gift card with my bag o’ samples. However the whole campaign and dealing with Lindsey made me feel dirty, and since Toys R Us won’t donate to any institution with religious affiliation I marched the gift cards directly to my son’s school where they could really put them to good use and I could passive aggressively “stick it them”.
Another thought…
this is definitely a case of a company fishing for paid media, w/out having to pay. In the case of Cindy, above, it looks as though some bloggers were able to negotiate compensation that was fair to them, but other bloggers were told unless they had page views in the millions, there was no compensation. Clearly a predator mentality.
I also find it highly interesting the blogger the PR company used as an example in their pitch email, was actually compensated (although I do not consider gift cards adequate compensation for this huge package of services) and not at all an authentic “example” of the campaign they were pitching. Sneaky.
It’s the same formula response Cool Mom Picks received when we submitted an advertising proposal and were told moms were “happy” to do it for free. With the same BS 20 million number. (interesting that it hasn’t gone up since then?) I would imagine that they somehow are taking the perceived yearly page views of each of those sites on the microblog and (fuzzily) getting that figure. It’s not the number they reach, it’s the number they’re telling their client they’ve reached through those “partnerships” and their free advertising.
That’s what makes this predatory – it’s a misleading number presented in a misleading way, to make bloggers think ooh, 20mm people are going to have access to my blog link!
C’mon.
Also, I’m wondering what a “mommy viewer” is. I’m imagining they’re like those X-Ray glasses you used to see in the back of comic books. In which case, I want one.
I am one of the Moms approached for the Colonie opening and we were not going “nuts” over it! In the original email I received there was a mention of gift cards, I asked Linsday and her response was {annoyed sigh} “other Mom bloggers are doing this for free”. I responded that I do not do work for free, my blog is my business and “other companies pay me for advertising” I told her I didn’t appreciate the way she talked to me and I didn’t think her company was the type I would like to work with so I wouldn’t be participating. {After that conversation she immediately started following me on twitter – maybe to see if I would say anything?}
As my Mom said “she’s not going to work every day for free, why on earth would she expect you to?”
Funny thing is that I have a hyper-local blog thatwould specificly target local Moms for that grand opening.
I know it wasn’t Toys R Us/Babies R Us, but …
I took part in that promotion. And now I totally feel like an ASS!
It doesn’t surprise me a bit. I have never had good experiences with Babies R Us/Toys R Us. As a customer, I’ve been frustrated to the point of going to corporate over a furniture order of several hundred dollars. Corporate did zilch and eventually the store sent me a $10 gift certificate “for my trouble”.
Worst. Company. Ever.
To me this is the casting couch of the blogosphere. If only those participating would see it for what it is.
Too many want want want more and only want to do it a short term way. (both brands and bloggers.)
Steph
Great post! I’ve done paid and unpaid (foolishly in the beginning!) gigs where a link on a microsite was one of the “benefits” and I’ve never seen a huge influx of traffic from microsites! If that is one of the perks on any PR pitch, it almost certain it will be deleted.
I’ve also heard about this company, though, I wasn’t personally pitched by them. I know of people who have successfully negotiated for some sort of compensation by the company. However, it wasn’t offered upfront and it does feel predatory when companies do such things.
Thanks for posting this. I actually spoke on the phone with the PR rep after receiving this pitch for the Cincinnati market. I was potentially interested in working with them, but not for the terms in which she’d noted in her email. The conversation consisted of her demanding things from me — how many blog posts – how many Facebook updates, etc. Then pushing me to start doing her job right away.
After speaking with her I hung up and decided I wanted nothing to do with the whole matter and send her an email alluding such. Unfort. she kept me on her spam list, making me have to ask her multiple times for removal.
At my last job I was in charge of social media and blogger outreach and this sort of behavior makes my stomach hurt. I really feel bad too because when I was in NY for BLOGHER I had a chance to meet the PR people for Toys R Us, who actually work for the company, and they were amazing. They deserve better.
Thanks for posting this. I got it in my email and deleted BOTH of them as soon as I read them. I thought this has to be some kind of joke. What kind of blogger would actually jump at this. WHAT A JOKE. They must really think we are all a bunch of idiots.
Thanks for posting this I hope it helps other bloggers who don’t know any better and those that do know better also.
Very well written!
I am totally distracted by her repeated us of “mommy viewers”. “Mommy viewers”? Really?
Excellent post, Sara. I hit delete on these pitches without so much as a second thought because they seemed so completely crazy (and so very poorly written). But I’m glad you took the time to call them to the carpet on this nonsense. I hope someone from TRU corporate sees what their PR agency is doing and realizes they’re generating more negative impressions than positive.
I just want to ask people not to rake this PR girl over the coals. She’s a coordinator, meaning she’s entry level, and is delivering the info she was handed.
Something has fallen apart in the process at what seems to be a very decent marketing agency, whether it’s a dismissive attitude towards the parenting market (oh sorry, “mommy market”), or a client that’s tasked them to meet unrealistic goals. From a professional standpoint, I’m curious as to why, after their approach was rebuffed by lots of bloggers several months ago, and they have yet to sign on more than about a dozen “partners,” why they haven’t rethought the strategy.
Two thumbs up!
I must admit I’ve been swayed by promises of page views in the past and honestly when you start doing social media leg work for PR firms for nothing than you get nothing in return. Unless it’s a cause or company near and dear to your heart (and does anyone out there really LIKE Toys R Us..that place sends me to the brink of insanity), then it’s not worth it.
I have to echo mom101. Lindsay and whatshername were doing their jobs, and they most likely don’t have access to advertising dollars. The fact that they offer barter at all is pretty distasteful to me actually, since if they had a good story in the first place, they wouldn’t have to bribe people to write about it.
The pitch didn’t seem particularly outrageous though, especially considering how many bloggers seem perfectly happy to work quite hard in exchange for canned vegetables or free Velveeta. Why would Lindsay expect anything different? (Unless of course she had researched her individual targets. Ahem.)
My response to these things is usually, “I would be happy to discuss advertising options with you, but I do not write product/company promotional posts.” And that is usually the end of that.
Hi… I’m not a mom, but a PR gal and blogger extraordinaire. Quick question… several people mentioned that you felt the PR rep in this story was trying to get bloggers to do “her job.” But PR is about getting hits and press and inbound links, so isn’t asking you to write and link her job? I totally get that the “offer” wasn’t much of an offer and it sounds like there were a lot of undue demands and such. But I often find this difficult because I’m in PR – not advertising – and so when we have something we want written about (same as we want Parenting mag to write about the website) we don’t have the budget to pay each person to write about it (nor would that be very ethical on your part). I’m trying to reconcile the fact bloggers want compensation with the “PR not advertising” budget model and with ethics that include many people (namely journalists) who refuse to be paid for something they write about because it taints their objectivity. Just some things I’ve been thinking about. I’ve heard a lot of various answers and so far no one seems to be able to agree.
After the pitch was forwarded to me I couldn’t believe what I reading. Toys “R” Us is clearly giving the PR firm a ton of money to reach the mom market and to think the moms will work for free to promote their client is a massive failure. This tells me and all of you that the firm has no idea how to correctly work with bloggers, which is a real shame because there is so much they can do with this campaign.
If anything, they could simply invite the moms to a red carpet Toys “R” US opening without all the crazy promotional expectations. Too bad — they have a lot to learn.
Thank you so much for writing this, and for being willing to name names. Most of us mom bloggers don’t have the experience in PR that you do, and may easily get distracted by the Toys R Us name, and forget that we are being asked to do something for nothing. And really, email blasts? Do people still do those?
I really hope that Lindsay and Emily are just uneducated in social media, rather than thinking mom bloggers are just that stupid.
@mom101 that is true, however just wanted to also point out that I’ve noticed a common thread among several of the bloggers who interacted w/this PR company (I believe it was two different pr coordinators who’ve been doing the pitching), which is that they were treated poorly on top of this terrible pitch. And it happened either after they accepted the campaign or while trying to negotiate.
I think it’s adding to the sting for a lot of them, but that’s just my observation. I’ve never had interactions with them other than receiving bad pitches.
What’s sad is that as long as there are desperate/ignorant* bloggers willing to accept these crappy deals, PR companies will continue to offer them and expect bloggers to take them. *sigh* Thank you for sharing this.
(*Ignorant of the blogosphere/good marketing/PR practices)
Wonderfully said. I’m becoming increasingly appalled and frustrated by the overabundance of pitches in my inbox daily offering little, if any, reward or compensation. I wonder how these folks would feel with big name brands emailing them like this to drink the “partner with us for free” kool-aid.
Wow…I am pretty new to the blogging world and am glad I saw this! They probably get lots of us newbie’s to do it for free because 1) they are working with a big name and we are thrilled they even contacted us and 2) because we are likely to believe them and their “numbers”! Love your blog btw and thanks for sharing!
I think what I like best about this post is the genuine concern for conversation and education – and not a total burning-at-the-stake for any bloggers who accepted this deal in the first place. I do think so many of us are trying to figure this blogging thing out as we go, and sometimes we have to learn the hard way. I appreciate your perspective and experience on this situation.
Also, I have to say that I recently learned what happens when a good company uses a PR firm that’s perhaps a poor fit, and I was overjoyed when the company actually responded to the situation and changed direction. I hope Toys ‘R Us gets a clue soon and does the same!
I did not get this pitch… luckily. I heard about it from you and others though. Very glad to not have encountered those PR folks!!
I have been trying to make myself do better about rejecting giveaways, etc. that are just not worth it. Hearing this helps!! It certainly pays to not market yourself as always cheap or free, or that is all you will get!
Kris
@Mom101 I want to chime in with @ToThink said as well. I worked with this women (Lindsey), she was rude, condescending and borderline unprofessional. I would be wary to work with this firm again based on my experience with them. The pitch was “just doing her job” they way she responded when given my ad rates and my declining the offer (initially) was all on her and it was rude. She only changed her tone when she emailed the day before the opening weekend begging for one post, with the information in exchange for compensation.
@Shannan Hyacynth and I debated after our experience trying to get in touch with Toys R Us to let them know just how bad the pitch and the experience was but figured if the outsourced it they didn’t care so much, If you have a contact I would be happy to pass my experience along to them.
You know those naive bloggers you mentioned? Yeah, I’m one of them. And I have no excuse. Yes, I’m fairly new to the blogging world but I’ve spent my time in the corporate world and as a marketing professional. I guess I get so excited and get caught up in the “Ooh, someone noticed my BLOG!!!” feeling. So now, I shall become a subscriber and follower and whatever else so I can always hear those words in the back of my mind “YOUR TIME IS WORTH SOMETHING”
@Allison Bass f you continue reading comments you will see @jennifer James’s idea to invite moms to a rec carpet opening, like a media opening before the public comes in- that is an exciting opportunity.
It’s also important to note that the “ask” went beyond “share this with your readers” to post this on your sidebar. That is advertising, not editorial. A blogger may write about a community event because it’s content, but posting a sidebar ad is a different beast.
It appears Lindsay is out of the picture and Emily is the one who sent this round. I sent her some questions and she politely answered me, noting bloggers look at this as content for their site and “a business development opportunity” When I wrote back noting that it was not really a business development deal as the company had more to gain even from a link exchange than I (they have PR 0), she politely closed the door on the convo, but I stuck my foot back in and asked her to show my email to the person who came up with this exchange. Unlike what people seem to have experienced with Lindsay, our exchanges were professional, if dissatisfying.
Well this is the liveliest conversation I’ve had on my blog… ever! Sorry I’ve been out of the loop today, but wanted to chime in on a few things to a few folks:
- Akron Moms – I will never, ever change a post because a reader wants to “look” better or thinks I reported something innacurately. You can correct me in the comments but I won’t change what I saw in the post or in my emails.
- Sugar tv – just remember your worth as a blogger – always!!
- Mommyologist -I don’t think you were the only one who was duped by this campaign. It was easy to think that it was going to be good for your site.
- Allison – I understand what you’re saying. I think it’s fine if you’re pitching bloggers to write content, but it’s quite another when you’re pitching bloggers to host banners, run promos, do giveaways, make an in store appearance – all for nothing. That’s not content, that’s an integrated marketing campaign.
jjames – I agree with the red carpet idea, but I don’t want to lambaste Lead Dog Marketing. They are probably a decent firm who hired a low level person to deal with us “low level” mom bloggers, as @Mom101 said.
- Stacey – YES YES YES
Thanks to all for your support and keeping this discussion going!
I think some people who are commenting need to know more of the story and what was asked.
I was asked to do 3posts for which they would provide the content, send 3-4 email blasts for which they would provide the content, and place an ad on my sidebar.
If it had been an interesting “story” that I could “write about” that would be one thing, but they were asking for something completely different.
This person also followed up the emails with phone calls and was not pleasant at all, very short when answering questions and then would call a few days later to ask the same all over again.
If you are doing your job, there is no reason to be rude.
We don’t know whose idea it was to do this approach, the big guy or the PR company. But, it didn’t go over too well.
I received the same email and I read it as free pub for ToysRUs in exchange for “exposure.” I’m not a PR pro but I do have a brain (despite my three kids) and it seemed pretty obvious to me what the deal was. A banner ad, email blasts, etc in exchange for a spot at a table (?) at the store for the grand opening (opportunities are limited!) and other promotional assets possible upon discussion.
I think the discussion about whether ToysRUs are aware of the marketing campaign is interesting. I (not knowing the how PR side works, my career was in journalism) assumed TRU tells the agency what they want and how they want it to happen. Apparently I’m wrong.
I had not yet responded to the pitch but perhaps now I will. I’m interested to hear what the PR person will say.
I’m a blogger/freelance writer with a day job in PR. I think the hardest thing for PR to wrap its collective head around is that bloggers are not magazine editors. Sharing content with a member of the media – online or print – to suggest that they write about the topic is OK. That is what PR people DO!!!
BUT some PR and brands (including this one in question from what it sounds like) ask bloggers to go above and beyond the call of creating editorial content: running giveaways, contest, social media integration. If blogging is your hobby and you think it’s fun, sure, do it for free. But as a blogger and PR person I think there is absolutely some value in it that should be compensated in real cash-money, not yogurt coupons.
I work in PR (not for Toys R Us) but for a variety of other clients. I think some of the disconnect is that most PR professionals have been trained to believe that all “placements” (ie a mention on a blog or in a newspaper) is earned (ie free). Anything paid is an advertisement. I mean, isn’t that the big different between PR and ads? Third-party confirmation?
PR pros have traditionally worked with writers to supply (hopefully) relevant news and information to share with readers. Writers need content and PR peeps need to get the word out about their clients.
That said, I think the ask in the e-mail was WAY over the top. If I’m handing only PR for a client, I recommend NOT paying for placements because then it gets into that greyish advertorial area. But if I’m letting you know about something cool that your readers would like to know about it, I think you would be happy to mention it on your blog. Banner ads are clearly advertising and all that extra stuff is ridiculous to ask you to do for free.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that a fee shouldn’t necessarily be required for any mention on a blog. Editorial placements are OK! Just don’t give it all up for free. That’s it – sorry for being so long winded!
@country-fried mama
I think you missed Mom101′s first comment, where she actually did agree this was a predatory pitch. I happen to think that if they don’t have advertising dollars, they shouldn’t be asking for advertising, so not having the money doesn’t excuse their behavior. Also? I think the amount of work involved was way past “include this on your blog” and was VERY outrageous.
Just because we see pitches similar to this a lot doesn’t make them any less outrageous. This pitch (and really, it was a pitch for a campaign, not just a PR mention) happens to be on the worst end of the spectrum, along with the fact that it’s been peddled around the ‘sphere for months. It’s great that you’ve crafted your response to these things, but the fact is many women don’t know to look out for this, don’t know their worth, and are sucked in by the likely dishonest traffic numbers, empty promises and the framing that this is a good deal for them as a blogger.
We talked about this at Type A Mom last year. We bloggers who have some marketing experience and business savvy and see VALUE in what we do, must continue to turn down these “offers” and stand up for ourselves and for each other. The lowest common denominator hurts us all. Kudos to you for writing this.
Thank you Christina and Maris for weighing in from the PR side. Yes, there is “free” content that is pitched all the time that I or various bloggers may write about because it fits well within a story or post we are working on. That’s how the traditional PR/ journalist relationship work. It just goes sour, as we are all reiterating when the nasty word “advertorial” comes into play and when there’s the really fine, grey line between posting valuable content and posting campaign-y shlock.
Sing it sister. Enough is enough. And, to my pet peeve, where do these people get off talking about us as “mommies?” My “mommy readers?” I though that was a euphemism for my new transition bifocals!
@ToThinkIsToCreate: Reading the comments here, I see that yes, the amount of work and space TRU asked for was outrageous. I wasn’t aware of the backstory. But the barter system to me in general seems outrageous. “Give me a decent present and I will write something nice about you.” I don’t like it. “Give me a fair amount of money and I will place an ad on my site that clearly is an ad” makes me more comfortable. But it also makes me pretty much uncompensated, so I don’t expect to sway anyone.
I know blogging is different than journalism, and I don’t claim to be a journalist because I blog, but I was raised on a steady diet of “don’t mix editorial and advertising” as a j. undergraduate. And so, while I think the TRU campaign sounds slimy, I can see why the PR company thought it would fly. When so many bloggers say “yes” so often, why would any company stop asking?
Thank-you!!!!!! You are living in my brain and I 100% agree! I tweeted a similar thought this week – why aren’t social media sites treated like traditional media. No one would dream to ask for a free magazine ad!
Cindy @ AkronOhioMoms – Based on your comment – you’ve confused me with the amazing woman who writes this blog (seriously? That is *such* a compliment to me). Which makes me wonder how closely you read this piece as she simply shared a tweet I had made about not just this campaign, but any similar one.
Everyone else: keep the conversation going. Let’s remember that PR stands for “Public Relations” not “Press Release” — and the PR firms and professionals that are getting it these days are the ones who realize that the model that worked with siloed print media doesn’t work in the blogosphere and are adjusting accordingly.
I’ve been on both sides of this equation as well and can honestly say that we’re not at the point yet where we can sit back and expect people to know what is & isn’t appropriate unless people on BOTH sides of the situation speak out when it’s done wrong. And when it’s done right.
OMG Joanne- you are so funny. I think the barter move was such BS! Who cares about barter anymore?? It’s not the Internet circa 1998.
I’m disappointed that so many people had a bad experience with this rep! I really adore her.
I participated in this op and was compensated very well (in my opinion). When she sent the original pitch I replied with this is what I’ll do, and this is how much I want for it.
I would never agree to work for free, so I am not against what’s being said, I just had a very different experience!
Well, I had quite the experience with this company/pitch myself which dragged on for over 2 months. While I’m not going to trash them publicly, I will say my experience was not great, but did get rectified after contacting the PR company owner myself. It’s sad that it had to come to that, but my days of being a doormat are gone.