Protect Yourself and Respect Your Mom Blog Value

By Wendy Piersall from Mom Blogging For Dummies

The diversity of the mom blogosphere makes it difficult to give a one-size-fits-all answer to what is too little compensation for a blogger. Brands will respect your value as much as you respect your own value.

A new stove may be a huge deal to one blogger, while another won’t work on the campaign unless that stove also comes with a fat, juicy check. The important part of this equation is not who deserves the stove the most, but who can deliver the most value to the brand.

Some bloggers feel that they need to pay their dues and do more for less. Other bloggers may not even be interested in getting paid, and just love writing and getting a free gift card every now and then. Where you draw your line in the sand to ask for compensation or not is a very personal decision.

Most experienced mom bloggers didn’t initially know where to draw their own lines in the sand, either. They figured it out through experience. Many times, they could only know where to draw the line when they realized they had already crossed it and found they were being taken advantage of.

Conflict can arise when several bloggers vying to work with the same brand have different value structures in place. A hobby blogger may feel that an experienced blogger is acting like a prima donna for expecting so much. The professional blogger may feel that the hobby blogger is undervaluing her work, undermining efforts to raise the bar for all bloggers.

The reality is that some brands will utilize their tiny marketing budget by working with the cheapest labor they can find. And other brands will recognize they get what they pay for, and are willing to pay.

It’s not up to mom bloggers to change the blogging goals of their peers. You can only control your own actions. That may mean being more selective in the kinds of projects you are willing to work on, and it may mean you will get fewer freebies. Sometimes that means forgoing short-term perks for long-term success.

Blogging about a brand or product always gives value to the brand representative — and whether or not the brand is paying you, the reps are getting paid to work with you. Even when you are a newer blogger, you are providing some publicity, social media exposure, and a blog post that will stay on the Web practically forever.

This is what sets professional bloggers apart from hobby bloggers: Brands will respect your value as much as you respect your own value.