"I Hate Sponsored Posts" Part 1

"I HATE SPONSORED POSTS!"

I was reading this click-bait article (5 blog mistakes you're making!) and was about to click out since the advice was the same stuff we've all heard (bad fonts! crazy colors!) when I saw the sentence above practically screaming from the comment section.

Hate? You hate sponsored posts?

I'm not cancelling dinner plans or anything to stay home and read them, but hate? That word never came to mind. But what did come to mind?

This post.

Did all bloggers feel this way and I was completely clueless? I had to find out.




I spent from June 2015 until February 2016 very, VERY informally finding out the thoughts on sponsored posts from other bloggers. Most of this was through observations, conversations, and emails. I talked to bloggers and am very generally putting them into two categories: those who earn money from blogging and those who don't (most of them wanted to).

And now I want to share in this 4-part weekly series what I found. I will share 1 statement from someone who dislikes sponsored posts and then my thoughts (as someone who earns a blog income from sponsored posts). I want to get a positive conversation going that will benefit all types of bloggers.

Disclaimer: In no way shape or form is this formal research, nor is what will be expressed here is how ALL bloggers feel. That's where YOU guys in! Let me know your thoughts!

Note: To thank the bloggers for their honesty, I am not revealing names. As I told them previously, they are welcome to reveal themselves in the comments. Thanks again for everyone who spoke to me and for being completely honest.

Statement 1:

"I hate sponsored posts! They're annoying! 

If a post is sponsored, I won't read it. I won't click on it."

Let me ask you this, what if someone thought you were great at something you LOVE to do. And they wanted to pay you for it, like those amazing recipes you whip up, your creative crafts, or the funny stories about your kids.

Would you turn them down? Maybe.

But think of what you could do with that money: gas for the week, the kids' lunches (that whole Pinterest-lunch creative idea plan stopped at week 2 of school, so back to the cafeteria!), your cell phone bill, helping out others, etc. Whatever it is, this money would pay for it.

Would you turn it down then? Maybe.

There is nothing wrong with refusing income or freebies on your blog.

There's nothing wrong if you never earn one dime on your blog, despite wanting to.

And there's nothing wrong if you do.

When I asked bloggers "what do you think bloggers spend money they earn from sponsored posts on?" I got two very different answers. From majority of those who want to earn money but currently aren't:

• shoes, clothes, trips, luxury items

And from those who earn an income:

• pays bills, takes care of family, goes back into the blog

Interesting, isn't it? Is it because many bloggers (not all) have other employment in addition to blogging? Is it because some bloggers sometimes wear designer clothes on their blogs? Fancy cameras/pics? Instagram? I couldn't get a consistent answer on this. Regardless, it's no one's business what is done with money nor how it's earned. 

The one thing we all have in common, whether we have 1 follower or 1 million, is that we are bloggers. There's a certain kinship there, things that only we can relate to with our fellow bloggers. One of the best parts of that is the support system. And sometimes I wish there was more of that, and less competition. Less comparison. We are bloggers, yes, but we are people, too.

So why are sponsored posts disliked? I'll talk about that next Tuesday.

Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 of this series

Do you dislike sponsored posts? Or any type of income-earning (affiliates, ads, etc)?

Extra Elle:

• Saturday morning Charlie and I got up early (weekends are the ONLY days he wakes up early, when I want to sleep in) and headed to Starbucks. He loves the attention he gets and the fact that there's a pet supply store next door. I think it might be a new weekend tradition to do when the weather's nice.