This isn't a post that I was planning to write, however a bit of Twitter drama from last night and some bitchy remarks on a certain forum have made me think that it's something that I should probably address on my blog.
Sponsored posts. I'm sure you've all seen them, you've probably even published one yourself on your blog. There's a lot of opinions on them, not everyone likes them. If you don't like them, then fair enough. You can keep on scrolling or unfollow a blog if you don't like what they're featuring, but you should keep your negative opinions to yourself. Constructive criticism is okay, however publicly slating people who feature sponsored posts on social media is ridiculous, especially when you have no clue about their financial situation.
You may have noticed that I've been featuring a lot of sponsored posts on my blog over the past couple of months. I don't need to justify my reasons for this as it's my blog and I can post whatever the hell I want. I will tell you though, that I booked a holiday to Paris in July when I could afford it, however budget cuts meant that my hours went down a lot which meant that I couldn't even afford to get to work most days. Luckily, I was offered a new job which is a lot closer to home and I have been getting a lot more hours. This is going to be better for me in the long run but unfortunately I've gone from being paid weekly to not being paid at all for almost five weeks and when I do get paid, it will only be for three weeks work. If I hadn't been taking on sponsored posts, I wouldn't have been able to pay off the rest of my holiday, save up any spending money, I wouldn't have been able to pay my bills or get myself to and from work for the past month or so. I also wouldn't have been able to have a social life.. I didn't even do anything for my birthday because I couldn't afford it, I chose to work instead!
Like I said, I really didn't need to justify my reasons for doing sponsored posts but maybe this will help some people to understand that not every blogger has a full time job or a stable financial situation. A lot of us are students or graduates trying to get a decent job. It's also nobody's business how other people spend the money that they earn. A lot of hard work usually goes into sponsored posts, they're not all copy and paste jobbies. I often spend a good couple of hours researching and taking photos for sponsored posts.
What's wrong with earning a bit of extra cash through your blog? Posting one sponsored post that's a bit off topic doesn't matter when I regularly post 5+ times a week with fashion and beauty related content. If you were going on holiday in a couple of days and someone offered you a quick (and completely legal) £50 to post something on your blog, I'm sure not many of you would turn it down!
I think it's about time that everyone chills out and stops slating other bloggers for what they choose to feature on their blogs. It's none of your business how people choose to earn their money or how they spend it, so keep your negative opinions to yourself.
A fun, and easy way to make quick cash. The people who slate sponsor posts are usually the one that never get asked.
ReplyDeleteAh the good old sponsored post debate. I certainly don't do them as much as I use to and I only ever do them if they really fit my blog. Like you mentioned you don't have to read them and most of the time I never do. The one thing that does annoy me about them is when they aren't disclosed that they are sponsored and everything about the post screams that it is.
ReplyDeleteI read some of this 'drama' on twitter and it made me laugh a little. Sponsored posts have never bothered me and I can only ever see it as a good thing for a blogger, especially if it is supporting them financially. I'm fed up of seeing people saying sponsored posts are a 'sell out' etc. because like you say its your blog you can write/post whatever you want and £50 sounds good in return for a blog post!
ReplyDeleteHannah
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www.daintyandivory.blogspot.com
how come i always miss the drama on twitter?! i really don't see anything wrong with sponsored posts, especially if what you're promoting fits in with your blog/is something you'd recommend anyway...at the end of the day it's like you said, if you don't like it don't read it x
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you here - it's your blog and you can write whatever the f*** you like! If people don't want to read the sponsored posts, they can skip over them. I never understand why people feel they can dictate to other bloggers what they can and can't put on their own blogs - bore off! x
ReplyDeleteHERE HERE. I have featured a few sponsored posts recently for pretty much the same reason, I'm off to NYC next month and I want to save as much money for the trip as possible.
ReplyDeletetbh if a post is clearly sponsored I don't normally read them and choose to comment on other posts on the same blog instead, but I know this and also know that people probs don't read mine!
Who cares if you post once sponsored post about cat food or nappies or whatever, just go past it!!
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Funny thing is the people who criticise people who write sponsored posts are often other bloggers themselves. It's your blog you can do with it what you want, I wish bloggers would embrace all bloggers whatever they write and whatever the reasons for starting their blog.. maybe it's jealousy?
ReplyDeleteAgree 100% x
ReplyDeleteIf someone waves £100 infront of my nose, I'd probably post about dog biscuits. It's more than a day's wages for 15 odd minutes of effort!
ReplyDeleteYES! I work full time but am paying a mortgage as well as paying debts off. I am in a constant struggle with money and literally cannot afford to turn down sponsored posts. I don't get many offers but when I do I will always say yes if the money is right, I just see it as a 'blogger perk'. Nine times out of ten the money actually goes back into my blog because I will buy something to blog about! x
ReplyDeleteLeanne - A Slice of My Life