As much as I love blogging and all the hustle that goes into content creating, there are numerous occasions when I am confronted with questions that may sound normal to you but to me as a blogger it is repetitive and sometimes offensive. It's not that I have a problem in answering those questions or have an intention of turning one down, but when the questions start to feel like a slap of sarcasm/humiliation for choosing BLOGGING as a career- it just feels heartbroken.
Anyways, it's not about being a whiny beeaaatch today, it's about putting out the questions that we get asked all the time.
I won't deny that 'blogging is my passion and after my family, I live for this', but nothing comes without a price or perseverance. People have their own opinion about influencer marketing, which I totally respect, but there are a few things we influencers have heard in the past, are hearing it today and will continue hearing in the future, which can get annoying. We get asked a lot of questions, slammed with a lot of free opinion, but the top five things that bloggers are tired of hearing are listed below.
" This must be easy !!!!" - Wearing fancy clothes, applying pretty makeup, strutting in high heels, eating restaurant-style food and posing for the camera is sure easy, but have you ever thought how that fancy dress, red lippie, those cute heels came together in one frame?? Buying clothing is easy, but brainstorming looks, visualizing it, planning other details, and even sometimes failing to deliver the vision, ain't easy. There is constant pressure to set yourself apart from the herd. Fashion truly is about how you style it and not just buy it and hoard it. As easy it might look to you, one definitely needs a village to nurture this growth, to cultivate continuous readership and to ensure consistent engagement. When I say ' a village', I mean you doing everything: brainstorming, creating, editing, publishing, promoting and all, basically filling all the positions in this one-woman business. Unless you have the extra resources to hire people to do it for you, you are on your own. And hello weather........how could we rule out this element !!!! Imagine working in sub-zero temperatures, when you absolutely can't feel your toes, your fingers and pretty much everything is numb. It is not pleasant.
" It must be nice getting all that free stuff !!! " No complains, who doesn't love free products. It is one of the perks of being an influencer, but for bloggers, it doesn't come free, free? At the end we have to pay taxes on all the good and services we receive. Moreover, these products come with a lot of strings attached, specially when you are paid on top of the free product. You have content to create around that product, advertise, promote and track sales to be able to get compensated further. Eight out of ten times, I get paid besides the free product and I appreciate it, coz hello peeps " product is not going to pay my bills ". I have a household to run and taxes to pay. IRS will not be happy to see ' a pair of sneakers' or ' those cool pair of sunglasse s ' as my paycheck. So, free is always not hassle-free.....
"Can you actually make money of this ??" You don't start making money right off the hook, there is a lot that you need to do before you see the Benjamins flowing in. When I started seven years ago, I really did not know the avenues to monetize my blog, but with continuous exposure and with the help of some awesome group of ladies, I can now pitch my share to run the household, and also take care of my blog's expenses. If you ask me ' how much I make ?", I'll have to excuse myself from answering that coz you don't randomly go asking people about their income. BUT, I'll assure, enough to keep the ball rolling...So, if next time you see me drop a product affiliate link in your feed, click on it, buy it if you like it, who knows.... that might just earn me a commission ....!!
" I have this awesome product to gift you in exchange for some exposure, but I don't have the budget to compensate you for your services, will you promote us?" Well, let me first congratulate you on your achievement as a business, but we all are here to do business and earn a living. Blogging is my business and I make a living out of it. Your free product, I am sure it is great, is not going to pay my bills or taxes. And give me a break: 'you are a business and all businesses have a marketing budget.' It is a big question mark on your authenticity and credibility as a business, when you say " you don't have a budget." No offense to anyone, but I am a small business and I have a marketing budget. So be respectful and compensate us, even if it is a small amount, we gotta take care of our business too. ' I promise, if we both are happy collaborators, I will give my best to bring you the best. '
" Hey, your picture is great, you've styled our product well, can I repost/regram this image ?" In case the product is from your sponsor and you have a contract, per which you have given them the rights to use your images for their promotional purposes, no one else has the right to use your image royalty free. All your content is yours, your hard work, it is your licensed content and no one should use them without your permission and without giving you all credits. I understand, it brings you all the traffic and visibility, and we all live for it, but make an arrangement before you let the brand repost your stuff. So please, the next time you want to repost my stuff to gain some exposure for your business, do so with my permission.
What are some of the things you are sick of hearing, as a blogger, all the time????
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