I’ve been kicking this post around in my head since last week when a co-worker pointed me in the direction of a Huffington Post article about mommy bloggers and our super-secret powers as consumers.
There’s a good bit of argument in the blogosphere about whether moms should monetize their blogs.
Some feel it’s a bait-and-switch.
Someone writes an article and readers show up and instead of reading the article, they’re bombarded with ads trying to sell them stuff and that’s just wrong because why shouldn’t moms just write about their lives for other moms and build communities without trying to sell stuff to other moms. ::stompstompstomp::
Y’all, I don’t get it. I don’t.
And I realize I’m perhaps the least qualified blogger on the block to be talking about this, but it’s bugged me for a while and since this is my little corner of the Universe, I feel like here is as good a place as any to discuss this.
I mean, maybe I’m not doing it right. Or maybe I’m not looking at it right.
One of the stats I saw floating around the interwebz yesterday (because it was International Women’s Day) was about how women comprise 53% of the world’s population but hold about 1% of its wealth.
And some of us are up in arms about the fact that others of us sell ad space on our blogs to maybe afford a sitter or a new pair of shoes or a latte because accepting advertisers or conducting a product review or two is selling out to the masses and relegating us to the role of the 1950s housewife? ?
Does that make sense to you? Because it doesn’t make sense to me.
In fact, it smacks of the good ol’ “Mommy Wars.” One Sanctimommy staunchly opposes selling ad space in the name of god-only-knows-what and shouts loudly from the top of Mt. Google that if the rest of us sell ad space we’re wrong and doing a disservice to women everywhere! That we’re preying on our fellow moms as consumers and furthering a materialistic society that says moremoremore! And that we’re wrong.
Really?
Because I see product reviews and ad space as…uhh…product reviews. You know, the kind that happens face to face on the playgrounds and in the office and on the phone when you find something awesome and you’re all “ZOMG! You have GOT to try this! It is awesome!” Seriously? You’ve never done that? You’ve never tried a product and loved it so much you wanted to marry it and have its product babies and told all your friends?
We’re living in an age where friendships and relationships are forming and growing online with increasing frequency, so it doesn’t seem out of the scope of normal behavior to say “Hey, people who know me and trust me! You need to try this!” because I think it’d be a product that would interest or benefit those people when they are people I know online.
What’s the keyword there?
Trust.
Sometimes, a mom receives a product in exchange for a review. But not in exchange for her opinion. Because if she did that she’d be a dishonest sell-out (and I realize there are women out there who do that and THEY are likely the ones who should be receiving scorn if scorning moms is what you want to spend your time doing.)
Which is not exactly what we’re talking about here.
Back-ish to my point.
If you trust yourself and your own integrity and you know why you’re doing what you’re doing and you’ve built a community of trust with your readers wherein they can trust YOU, then your readers can trust that when you review a product or promote a business, you’ve done so with the honest intent of sharing a product and/or a person in which/whom you believe. One in which they can believe, too.
Anyone who knows me in real life knows that I will never sugar-coat my opinion if I’m asked for it. It’s a strength. And a weakness. So if you’re looking for an honest opinion, I’m your girl. (<–Shameless self-promotion, party of one.)
What’s wrong with that?
Why do we tell mothers they can be worker bees in the hive OR mothers, but not worker bees in the hive AND mothers? Why do we tell mothers that they can only attempt to bring in a little extra money if that bringing in of extra money occurs outside their homes in already established businesses and not from the comfort of their couches and yoga pants (and desks in the office, as is the case with many moms I know. Including me.)?
Because, let’s face it. We’re not all making millions from blogging like The One Blogger to Rule Them All out in Utah.
Am I alone in this? What do you think about monetizing blogs?
There was once upon a time when I thought bloggers who accepted advertisements/reviews were sellouts and ended up catering to whoever their advertisers are. Then I realized that most bloggers only start advertisements after they’ve been well established and they don’t (usually) change anything about their blogs except for advertisements/reviews are added. Plus, I enter their giveaways and what not so why am I complaining about what they do? So I climbed down off my high horse and got over myself. Now I just wish I was popular enough to get advertisements too! 😉
I’ve never thought of bloggers as sell-outs for accepting product reviews and sponsors on their blogs. It just makes sense to me. If you do something, and are good at it, why shouldn’t you find a way to be compensated for it?
I know. It’s dorky that I ever thought that. It was the very early days of blogging and I didn’t know any better! ;o)
None of us did 🙂
Ummm…MAKE THAT MONEY! No judgement here!! Plus, product reviews just might be one of my favorite parts about reading blogs. For instance, one time I read Katie’s blog “Cleared for take off” and she talked about this heat protection spray that tames flyaways and I went to the store and bought it on my lunch break! I freaking love that stuff! Now, my hair is more flyaway free than ever thanks to blogging!
Do you think it helps or hurts that you have a personal relationship with Katie?
I have actually never met Katie (Randi read her blog and suggested it to me) so I guess I took her advice without an established trust?
I don’t even know how to get ads on my blog but when I figure it out I will.
I agree with everything you said.
I’ve not been wildly successful in this venture. :/
To make it simple, I agree with you.
To make it simple, thanks 🙂
If someone wanted to pay me to run an ad on my blog, I’d be all about that! People know ads are ads… I do think sponsored posts and the like should carry a disclaimer, but that’s as far as my opinion on the matter goes.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sponsored post that didn’t carry a disclaimer. Uh, but then I may not know it was sponsored…so…yeah.
I’m with ya. And if anybody read my blog, I’d monetize it. Alas, I’m in no position to do so.
You have a great blog! We just have to get you writing more! 🙂
Thinking back to before I became a blogger and was just a consumer. I remember looking for info on products and doing Google searches. Without really knowing anything about blogging or monetization I would search out blog reviews. That’s because I found them most reliable and informative. Did I feel betrayed later when I found out that those bloggers had probably gotten free product or even gotten paid? No. I was simply happy to find honest, thorough reviews. The fact is that if monetization didn’t exist there would be fewer of those type of reviews and we would just have to trust what a company had to say about their own product. I only think a blogger is a sell out if they try a product and knowing it sucks still writes a glowing review.
I mean, aren’t we, as bloggers, also consumers? It makes sense to me that the real-world voice is the one you most want to listen to, because, like you said, without bloggers writing reviews, we’ve only got the company’s word to take for it.
Honestly, I don’t know what I think about this because from what I’ve seen you’re not going to make enough to quit your job but maybe enough to pay for your hosting site. I’ve placed some ads and done a few things but haven’t seen any return on them… so I’m up in the air about it all.
I think if selling ads makes it so that this pays for itself, I’m happy with that. Otherwise? I’m up in the air, too.
I agree with everything you said here!! I think (as long as they aren’t obnoxiously in your face) ads are awesome…and a wonderful way for mommy bloggers to make some additional money.
See? And that’s what I think is great. What’s wrong with moms finding a way to bring in a little bit of extra money doing something she loves?
1%? 1%?!! Holy crap. Seriously? That’s screwed up.
Anyway… I’m very new to this mom blogging thing but I’ve been reading a few for a while (including Miss Utah’s – I remember when she added ads and people shot her down and I didn’t get it. So what?). If I don’t like ads it’s because of the aesthetic, not the money. And mostly that’s actually bad design rather than a problem with the ad itself. Clutter=bad. If someone wants to – and can – get money from her blog, big whoop. I honestly don’t care. I don’t see it as selling out. It’s her space and she can do with it what she wants.
Sometimes I read product reviews and sometimes I don’t. (But, to be honest, there’s a small part of me that thinks that if a blogger has an ad or a product review it must mean she’s made it – has a big enough audience to warrant it. I don’t know how valid that is – like I said, I’m new.)
My blog, for now at least, is my space to write and think and find community. So I’m not looking for ads and I’m not “PR friendly”. Maybe I will be in the future, but I’m not seeking it now. And I certainly don’t begrudge those who do.
Yes, 1%. Holy crap is right.
And I, too, thought “Wow…she’s BIG TIME” when I saw bloggers doing product reviews. But now I’ve done a couple and I certainly don’t feel like I’ve made anything except a comfy little corner for myself in the nether-regions of the internet.
I’m new to blogging, but totally with you and grateful you raised this. If someone values reading a blog, then I’d like for them to have whatever incentive it takes to keep doing it, and have no problem with them being compensated for their time. Time isn’t free, and I think this is really liked to many people’s misconception that being a Mom means not being very busy. As if!
I know what a click-through ad means, and if I’m going to read a blog regularly I hope I’d have enough trust and understanding of the person writing to trust their sponsorship/link-to decisions.
Glad to have found your blog. Keep it up!
That 1% statistic is amazingly disturbing. I wonder what it is for just the US?
Katie
Those are my thoughts, too. Time isn’t free and we tell people all the time to find a way to make money by doing what they love. I love blogging. So shouldn’t I be able to make a little money at it? Shouldn’t any body? (And by a little money, I truly mean a little.)
I have no idea what it is for just the US, but to consider that worldwide, we’re only responsible for 1% of the world’s wealth? Wow.
I see zero wrong with making money from your blog.
I have ads to pay for my hosting fees for all of my blogs. And to be honest, anything I have left from that? Usually gets spent at the very shops I am advertising! Ha!
I have been approached to do some product reviews, but none have fit what I think my audience would care for. Although I was approached to review maternity clothes. That would be fun…but I am not pregnant. 🙂
Getting free product is fun…but let’s face it, there are not very many people getting super rich or scoring REALLY awesome products unless you have made it big with your blog traffic or you have an AWESOME relationship with a company.
And if you have either/both of those? You’ve worked for it and have earned it…just like any other job.
This is how I feel. I got approached to let someone guest post on my blog who talks tech-stuff. And this? Is not the place for that, you know?
I’d like to be able to make some more money from ads now that I’m self-hosted. If I can get this to pay for itself, I’ll be happy.
You’re so right. I WANT to know what other mamas are using. What things they love. Otherwise how else will I know to try something? I don’t want to waste my money on crap and I’m so not in the know to be able to find cool products. So I love reviews! And if the mama happens to make a penny or two or keep a product? Who cares. More power to her.
So good to read this post AND the reactions are especially interesting. I agree with MamaRobinJ about the aesthetics. Assuming I can control the content of the ads, the main thing I worry about having ads is cluttering up my blog. It may or may not bother others, but depending on the size / colour / placement of the ad it could bug me a lot.
Uh…. who is “The One Blogger to Rule Them All out in Utah”?
I think if you have the right layout, the ads won’t clutter the blog. It’s all about the layout, and yes, to a certain extent, the ads themselves and how aesthetically pleasing they are.
And “The One Blogger to Rule Them All” is Dooce.
Has anyone ever noticed that keeping a domain up and running ain’t free?
I see nothing wrong with monetizing a blog as long as it’s done in the right way for the right reasons. I don’t want popups, but I see ad space on the right of this blog and that’s fine with me. I don’t mind product reviews or contests. I’m working with clients right now to connect with mommy bloggers to reach out.
Bottom line? Don’t make your readers feel they’re losing value. Don’t promote products you hate. (I’d say think of your audience, but moms come in all shapes and sizes!) Don’t turn your site into a walking sales lot. If you can handle that, I’m totally good with monetizing your blog.