blogging4jobs

---

Swag Hoarders. Ethical Blogging Practices at #BlogHer11 Posted: 07 Aug 2011 04:17 AM PDT I also serve as a writer for SmartBrief.  This article I wrote was originally published here at the Social Media blog where I’m covering the BlogHer woman and mommy blogger conference.   The mommy and woman blogging subculture amazes and perplexes many at the same time. Blogging and building your brand is big business for bloggers especially when it comes to women.  According to eMarketer, blog advertising will reach $746 million by 2012. This doesn't include sponsorships and product reviews which fuel much of the relationships among public relations firms and bloggers. Product reviews are fueled at conferences like BlogHer, held in San Diego this week with nearly 3,500 woman and mom bloggers in attendance.  These bloggers are bombarded by choice by brands offering product samples, promotional materials, and contests in the hopes that they'll blog, tweet, and Facebook their product testimonials and endorsements.  These testimonials happen to be big business for the brands, many of them represented at mommy and blogger conferences like BlogHer and BlogWorld. Fifty-five percent of social media moms said they made their purchase because of a recommendation from a personal review blog or website. The opportunity for bloggers to gain sponsorship and advertising dollars is big business, but it's the swag that drives the mommy blogger madness.  Much like the Black Friday shopping frenzy, women rush the expo floor and attend invite-only brand parties leaving arms loaded with bags of  conference swag.  "My swag from conferences like BlogHer makes for really great Christmas gifts for my nieces and nephews," says Tamara Walker, who blogs at Momrn.com.  I met up with Walker just before dinner as she walked to drop off her three bags of swag to her hotel room before heading out again to three or four more events later in the evening. The race for swag is part of what makes conferences aimed towards bloggers special.  Wendy Piersall, author of "Mom Blogging for Dummies" says, "Brands at conferences like this (BlogHer) know not every blogger is going to write about them.  Brands have a formula in place.  That's the nature of this kind of conference.  Hoarding swag is in poor taste yes, but it's not unethical." Swag hoarding and the unethical nature that Piersall mentions came under fire two years ago when an exchange between a brand and a blogger went viral at BlogHer.  The shoe company, Crocs was handing out shoes to bloggers and ran out which made one female blogger very unhappy.   She threatened to ruin them if she didn't receive her free swag. "This makes all mommy bloggers look bad when you do this.  It garners the wrong kind of attention."  You can't just take, take, take, and not offer any value back," Piersall says. Photo Credit Jaesonme.

You are subscribed to email updates from Blogging4Jobs To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610