As style and fashion bloggers have we become walking commercials?
How invasive do you find marketing today?
I was trying to access my emails in Yahoo and honestly couldn’t because I had the most annoying woman in the corner of my screen rubbing what appears to be a plastic face mask repeatedly all over her face like a crazed robot.
It bothered me so much I had to leave my email screen. When I went back Oprah was there wiping her nose and crying and then Ellen was there reacting to something that she seemed terribly ashamed about.
ARGH!!!
Ad placements in my email drive me crazy.
Especially moving ads. I find them very annoying.
And yes, I know I’m a bit of a hypocrite because I do have ads on my blog, however I very specifically requested that no moving ads be placed on my blog.
It is hard trying to walk the fine line between trying to make a bit of money from the blog and keeping my personal morals in tact. Sometimes I feel like a walking commercial. Especially when I link to products. I get a very small amount of money from those links, but I’m still promoting consumerism and often that can make my conscious feel heavy.
Some of you might know that Melanie, Sue and myself are putting together a little blogger get together in July in Vancouver.
I’m getting very pumped about it…even more so now that I’ve just added some brief bios and photos for some of the attendees. This is a wildly diversified eclectic bunch coming from as far away as Singapore! It is going to be a blast!
We have been offered some sponsorship opportunities for the meet-up. The three of us are avid thrifters. We aren’t your “normal” commercial bloggers. In fact I think each of us is in our own way, is trying to some degree, to be environmentally conscious and not promote over consumption/fast fashion. It isn’t always easy trying to balance what is right and what is an opportunity though. Everyone deserves a chance to make some money and score some freebies, especially when you put so much effort and time into blogging.
In the end we chose decline sponsorship because it didn’t feel authentic or reflect the ideals behind the meet-up. Instead there will be a clothing swap which will hopefully divert some waste from our landfills. It’s a small step, but in what we feel is the right direction.
I plan on asking attendees what they think of sponsorships/goodie bags. If this should become an annual event we will be better informed.
How do you deal with trying to be environmentally conscious and blogging? Do you find it challenging?
There is a tension, I agree. If I want to earn a few dollars from my blog, I must use ads and sponsors. I am opposed to mindless consumption too. I try to promote companies and products with good ethics, but yes, there is that disconnect. xox
I hate ads (yours don’t bother me, I’m too busy reading your blog and admiring how good you look). I don’t buy magazines and can only watch commercial TV on catch up so I can fast forward the advertisements.
I’m quite annoyed that you’re trying to organise a girls’ get together and companies are trying to muscle in and turn what should be a fun day out into some corporate bean feast. Good on you for saying no and proving that all bloggers aren’t after a freebie. xxx
Ah… I am probably the odd one out. I hardly do thrift shopping (worthless in The Netherlands. No estate sales either.), I do buy quite a lot of clothes and shoes…. But… I give them away when I am done with them. Or brandnew when I have bought something foolish which doesn’t fit me or looks ridiculous in hindsight. I help the economy? And the poor shop owners? I never buy of brands who exploit people in third world countries. Here I am defending myself. I will stop that.
Greetje
Gee… that cost me a lot of time. Reading all the bios and clicking through to blogs…. I am exhausted. More tomorrow. But what fun. 6 weeks from now? Getting close! But first my June holiday. Starting … Today! Yeah.
Greetje
I don’t want ads anywhere near my blog, and have never yet been offered anything that I actually want by a company, so staying away from sponsored posts and advertisers has never been a problem for me! I’m glad you chose not to accept sponsorship – it’s a social weekend, not some corporate affair! The clothes swap sounds a much better, more personal idea.
And goodness, what a lot of folk are coming, there will be a huge posse of gorgeous women roaming the streets of Vancouver in July! xxx
So much of advertising is promoting needless consumerism, in one way or another, so it would be difficult to find the line between advertising and saying, “Hey, I’m encouraging you not to go out and buy more stuff just for the fun of it.” Promoting ethical companies only could be a good compromise…but there are so very few of them. For now…for the past couple of years, ever since we first made a plan to move in 2013…I’ve just not been buying much of anything at all. That helps me live out of a suitcase and it’s one way not to add to consumerism more than necessary (and shopping at thrift stores wouldn’t help with the living out of a suitcase thing…)
This is a topic definitely worth giving thought to…living in a city of 10 million has made me strive more for living “green” than ever before, because I see the effects of many people in a small space.
Like Greetje, I buy everything brand new and probably for the convenience aspect of it. It probably does help that I hate to go shopping.
I don’t mind side bar ads that bloggers have on their blog, the ones that bug me are pop ups and if a blogger’s post is always c/o or compensated. I don’t mind an occasional here and there but if everything is c/o are they just in it for the freebies?
Alice
http://www.happinessatmidlife.com
I struggle with this too, especially as I’m trying to make a career of blogging. I have to keep reminding myself to stay true to my style and only accept opportunities that I believe in and that align with my style and beliefs. I only just recently partnered with companies on sponsorships, one of which I initiated. Both are with companies I’ve worked with for over a year. I know their styles, their brand, their mission, and their quality/sizing/fit. I love these companies, but I don’t want to be a commercial for them. I want to be myself and feature brands that align with that. It’s a tricky line to walk, and one I’m still navigating.
I respect your choice to decline a sponsorship and instead offer a swap. I’ve read about these in cities like New York, LA, and London, and I wish we had something similar here in Nashville! If there was one within a few hour drive, I’d totally make the trip!
I hope your meet-up is inspiring, creatively nourishing, and of course – fun!!
<3 Liz
http://www.withwonderandwhimsy.com
I do not mind side banners, but popping advert is too much, but what I really dislike are confusing blogs. Like where I click next type of thing or the ones that only talk about brands.
Still it is their blog…
Thank you so much for your comments, my dear Suzanne
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I had my first pop up advert today in my email, ‘The Terminator’ of all things, freaked me out for a second! I don’t mind your side bar at all, it’s incredibly subtle – the Vancouver Blogger meet-up is going to be an extravaganza, I can’t wait for it! I love your decision for the clothes swap though, so much more intimate than a corporate sponsorship, I totally applaud you all for that – it’s going to be awesome! x x x
I like that you and the others considered what reflected your selves, the ideas you want to show on your blog and, well, your blog as a brand. In light of all those things, it sounds like declining the sponsorship made sense.
For me, I think that is what makes sense when bloggers are promoting things. I mean, we are people, but in a way a blog is a brand- it is a style and it is certain ideas that you are passionate about discussing. This may be why I don’t typically mind ads. The times when I do mind them, they are generally A) not relevant to the blog content and/or B) distract from the blog content, usually by having sound or moving or being placed in a distracting place (like between posts).
As for making money off of things that are not sidebar ads- Personally, I actually like when bloggers link to things; if you are talking about clothes I might want to check it out, so it saves me some of the effort of trying to track and item down (This is why I link; I’ll be honest and say I don’t usually bother with affiliated links in my own post because I am lazy, but I’ll still often link because I appreciate it when others do). Perhaps my admitting that does show that it promotes consumerism, but the flip side is- because those links are embedded into the content, you can also talk about what you do or don’t like. I feel like I’m more aware of choosing ethically sourced clothing and/or companies that give back than I ever would have been otherwise. I also feel that way about reviews of items, or even sponsored posts (though with the latter, I think it once again shows if the sponsorship does not reflect the brand); you can see the good, the bad and ugly of a purchase.
Most of these thoughts don’t really touch on the bigger issue, which is whether blogs promote consumerism. I find it interesting that a lot of blogs specifically focus on minimal or capsule wardrobes or on remixing or on thrifting but… ultimately, if it is still focussed on clothing, does it promote the buying of stuff? No good answers, but always good food for thought (as your posts often are!)
Rad! I think this is very cool. I love the idea of the clothing swap, too!
As for the ads thing, I don’t really mind it on blogs, because I understand that it’s a way for bloggers to make a little scratch on the side and I’m cool with that entrepreneurial aspect of blogging. If the ads are tastefully done (i.e. not a whole lot of flashing graphics and annoying pop-ups), I tend to hardly notice them. I’ve discovered some new places to shop through banner ads, too. So, yeah. I can see how they can be super annoying, but I don’t view them as the devil, either. Hehe.
– Anna
http://www.melodicthriftychic.com
Of course some company would see a gathering of bloggers as a perfect opportunity to flog their merchandise. Glad to hear you decided to turn it down and keep it a social and sponsor-free event. I don’t mind the occasional ad on someone’s blog, and people used to ask me quite often why I didn’t take advantage of some of the google ads to try to make a bit of money on my blog. I’ve had 3 sponsored posts in the 6 years I’ve been blogging, but if I was offered something really cool from a company I believed in and liked, in return for a blog post, I would probably do it, but not if it meant adding ads to my blog.
What a great topic to discuss! I think you know how I feel about this. I do respect that many bloggers depends on some income coming from their blogs, I do however worry that many of the sites that offer sponsorship promote fast fashion and are made in countries where we have human right issues ..
I did write an post about the landfills, too, and like to get my clothes 2nd hand when possible.
But I love to shop and recycle. I certainly respect that bloggers want income, too, for their hand work, so this is complicated.
I am so sorry I can not attend the party! Summer is sacrosanct family time for me.. I know that I will miss out! 🙁
Thanks for your timely post topic!
xx, Elle
http://mydailycostume.com
So glad to hear you turned them down, its not like they’re offering to pay our way, right? Thank you for putting together this fun bio of everyone, like Greetje said, it’s taking me forever to browse through each blog but so worth it. Looking forward to this get together.
I just wore a shirt that I wrote on, I am my own brand. I’m not paying myself to wear it. I wish I were. I suppose I could. O could pay me but he wouldn’t. Will people get annoyed that I’m flogging myself at them?
You raise questions everyone struggles with. I love this post but couldn’t comment at the time.
Pop up ads and ads with sounds (or websites/blogs with music) are annoying but for the rest it’s okay for me.
Ofcourse I’m against exploiting people and child labour, but for the rest I’m not that opinionated about consumerism. Nor about commerce.
You Blogger get together is going to be so much fun! Super cool!