This is by far one of the best blog posts I have ever read. I’m not just saying this because I like Luvvie and admire her accomplishments; I’m saying it because she spoke so boldly about what many bloggers feel.
Hopefully, brands will listen…and pay!
Here are a few things Luvvie said that really stood out.
Quote #1
You want us to work for free and our compensation is “exposure?” Listen. Exposure is not currency and we surely can’t take that to the bank to pay our bills. I can’t buy shoes with exposure. Shoot, exposure won’t pay my hosting fees. Unlike MasterCard, it is not accepted everywhere (or anywhere).
Quote #2
Are you going to make money off this campaign? Odds are, you are. You want us to work for free even though we’d be making you money, placing you in front of our audience and doing work that will take us hours (and sometimes days to complete) on your behalf. But you want to pay us with exposure.
Quote #3
It’s incredibly frustrating because a lot of these brands are big names, Fortune 500 companies, have huge budgets for seemingly everything else but anything they want to do through digital. Asking us to work for “exposure” is basically donating our time and unless it’s for charity, that is not worth it.
Quote #4
Many of us are doing work for companies where millions are being spent on campaigns but those companies just don’t want to spend thousands on US. THAT is a shame.
Quote #5
We’re so afraid of charging what we’re really worth because we fear that people will walk away. I say good riddance to bad things.
Hey, bloggers, read #5 again. Yeah, I’m talking to you!
Okay, I could go on and on but I won’t because you really need to read it yourself. Hop on over to Luvvie’s blog and read the entire post NOW!
Image: Luvvie