Comments on: Are you a blogger? or a marketer?

By: are bloggers journalists?

are bloggers journalists? — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:53:24 +0000

[...] answered this question a while ago for a piece for AdWeek, but it came back today on twitter after @Macala posted an [...]

By: grechen

grechen — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:17:06 +0000

there aren't a whole lot of fashion blogs that do that, but there are definitely some – they started popping up in the last year following on the whole \”you can make money online\” push by make money online bloggers who don't actually advocate starting a blog to make money online, but who make a lot of money telling you that LOL

By: jennine

jennine — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:06:26 +0000

ah… i see… that makes sense, though i don't think i know of any blogs that do that… unless i'm really naive, or it' just not the kind of blog i read. but yeah, it's definitely an issue that's come up a lot as of late.

By: grechen

grechen — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:41:15 +0000

great point – i guess i should clarify that by marketer here, i mean marketing for someone else. as bloggers & entrepreneurs, we have to market ourselves, the problem as i see it comes when we move away from that, and move towards primarily marketing for others.

i don't think if you accept a freebie or write a post about a company you are being "bought" by them – unless thats ALL you do (post about things you got for free, or about companies who pay you). that's where i think the difference in WHY you start writing a blog in the first place comes in: if you start out wanting to make money you're going to go about blogging differently than if your goal is to write and inspire people. if all you do is post affiliate links, or rave about freebies you receive, then yes, i think you've been bought….

By: jennine

jennine — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:29:45 +0000

such a great post.. thanks for sharing this!
i got into blogging because i wanted to blog. however, since i have a background in graphic design and marketing i use those skills to market my blog. though i don't necessarily use it to market product, more to market my own editorial perspective.

i'm not so clear on what constitutes being 'bought' by companies. some people say it's accepting freebies, others doing sponsored posts. i have worked with both of them, as well as completely funding my own original content, and the truth is it's not easy to be in independent blogger and not work with companies unless you are doing it strictly for a hobby, or not generating original content.

that said, i only work with companies i like AND benefit the readers, and i've been offered tons of things and passed on it.