WE’RE IN IT FOR THE FREE!
Okay, so it seems to be a bone of contention between bloggers and those other individuals involved in content creation and brand development, that bloggers are seen as just in it for the free stuff. Alright, so say that it our most defining attribute, okay?! Now what?
What are you mad about? You delight in the samples you’re given when you’re walking down the grocery isle, thrown at you during some nondescript activation, and even when its attached to a magazine you’ve bought. So why cant we be chuffed at getting free goodies?
You think we don’t deserve them because we don’t work for it right? That somehow you – the ‘regular’ individual that you are – deserve it more simply for existing as a more quintessential consumer. You think we get things, and market things – but are existing as something other than a consumer, for some reason.
You think we wake up, get an email or phone-call begging for us to use or wear something for free, in exchange for publicity right?
It seems so far-fetched to imagine a creative spending all night slaving over a pitch to a company, waking up to rush to their 9-5 job, and trying to squeeze in blog design, content and editing during momentary reprieves throughout the day, right?! It would be impossible for these brand-chasers to analyze their insights, deduce what their findings mean for who they work with, and subsequently constantly redefining the key objectives of their posts without ever losing sight of the unshakable nexus of why they blog.
Spending weeks doing due diligence, trend analysis, market research etc. for the singular purpose of a single blog post or tweet, seems unfathomable right?! “Noooooo! Bloggers are in it for the free shit” right?!
Its not like creating entirely new content is exhilarating; that there is not something rewarding to imparting knowledge to an audience you have found a unique way to attract into a topic you are considered an authority on. Maybe : developing your writing, graphics or modelling talents; photography, directing, or simply feeling and connecting, are the purpose.
Yeah, I’m in it for the free. The minute I decided to chat to any one reader about the fact that I like cinematography, the creation of fashion style, experiencing lifestyle etc. was the moment I embraced the possibility that there would be companies and individuals with a like-minded agenda to spread the knowledge – and so they send some stuff, and I use some stuff and I gush about the stuff, while others read about the stuff and decide whether they like the stuff enough to buy or be involved in the stuff…Aaaaaah, the cycle of serendipitous modern capitalism.
Are you telling me its okay for you to watch an ad, deliberate about whether you want/need it, give someone something in exchange to get that thing; and that we bloggers are somehow in the wrong for doing just that? Except we create the ads in as much as we buy into the premise like regular consumers.
sigh
Cant satisfy nobody in this world…which is why I don’t ever aim to. Remember what I said in my post about Vogue:
“This may not be the motivation of other bloggers, but the truth of the matter is that blogging’s definition and purpose is ever-changing. It is for the vagabonds and the thinkers, the attention-seekers, scatter-brained ideas people, lonely hearts, trend-followers and those just working through things. Blogging is for the business-minded too, the trend-setters, as well as those that feel most alive through a lens. You cannot judge bloggers for their right to define their own personal brand of blogging…”
