The other day on instagram stories I shared a bit about a skincare product that I have been using and absolutely love. I mentioned that the product was sent to me to test out, but that the post was not sponsored, and I had a few questions about this. A lot of you were baffled that being sent a product doesn’t = sponsored content, so I wanted to get on here and share a bit about the behind-the-scenes of blogging, what is considered “sponsored” and how it all works for us. Everyone is pretty secretive about it all, because maybe they don’t want to be considered a sell-out, or maybe they feel it’s better to keep everyone in the dark. I do worry about the perception of bloggers, because from the outside it looks like the wild wild west in here, and to be honest, it is! There is A LOT that I’ve learned along the way, and I’ll share some of it with you here now.
What does #sponsored mean?
If content is described as sponsored, this means that I am being paid to talk about the product. There is a contract in place with a “scope of work” listing how many posts I owe the brand. There is usually an approval process that happens as well. I will shoot the content, create the caption ahead of time, and will wait for it to be approved before I can post. The BIG million dollar question is “how can you give an honest opinion on a product if you’re being paid to talk about it” and my answer is, you do your research WELL before you sign that contract. That is so so important to me. When I first started being compensated to blog years ago, I made the mistake of once taking a campaign talking about workwear pants that I didn’t look into or research beforehand. The pants fit AWFUL and while I tried to back out of the campaign, I was locked into a contract. I told myself never ever again, because I wanted to cry I felt so trapped. I truly feel a responsibility toward you all to be truthful, promote things I believe in, and do my due diligence before agreeing to a scope of work for a brand. It has to be a product I use, love, and feel comfortable promoting.
How does sponsored work even come about?
Usually the brand approaches me to work with me. I also have an amazing manager who saves my life every day, and him and I will work together pitching to brands around upcoming trips or holidays, etc. If there’s a product I really love, or a campaign I want to make happen (like the big one I’ve been teasing that I’ll announce soon) he and I will collect contact emails, and reach out to brands to pitch me. But the norm is that a brand will send me an e-mail to try to recruit me for a campaign they’re launching. Generally they e-mail me about a month or two before you see the content live, but sometimes its months before and other times it can be a day before. It varies!
How did I start to book paid work, and how far into my blogging journey?
A lot of you asked me this question, and I know a lot of people start to blog with the intent to make money now. My journey was VERY different, because I’ve been blogging since the beginning. I remember the first time I was sent free product – it was in June of 2011, and Francesca’s Collections sent me some clothing to style. It was maybe 3 months after I started my Lookbook.nu account, and I was SO SO EXCITED. I never ever imagined I’d get anything for free, so it was pretty wild. I also started to charge for ads on the sidebar of my blog, $30 a month or something like that. That was the first way I made money from blogging. I didn’t start to “book campaigns” until WAY later, and remember the market was much less saturated back then. I think my first few sponsored gigs happened in 2014, around Miami Swim Week, and for the Forever 21 blog. Then when I moved to NY in 2015, I began to book more consistent work, and work more focused on instagram, and less on the blog. I didn’t have enough work to feel comfortable leaving my 9-5 job until SEVEN years into my blogging journey. So it takes a lot of time!
What isn’t considered sponsored?
PR companies generally send tons of packages to magazines, bloggers, actors, etc. to try to get free press. Their thought process is that most people WONT mention their product, but if somebody does than it’s a win! I am not in any way required to share free product, because there is no compensation, no contract and sometimes packages arrive randomly that I didn’t even expect to receive. SCORE! I usually test out the products sent my way, and mention the best of the best to you all. I don’t mention everything, because I don’t want to feel like I am constantly selling you things. BUT if something stands out particularly, I usually put it on stories! This content is different than sponsored + paid work.
How much content is sponsored?
I am pretty strict about this one, and try to make sure only 1 or 2 posts a week are sponsored. It does a disservice to companies if I am constantly talking about something new every day. I don’t want to be the girl who cried wolf! I also enjoy sharing pictures from my life! That was originally what drew me in to blogging in the first place. Around the holidays my amount of sponsored content increases, because everyone is buying gifts and it just makes sense that brands would have more products they’re looking to promote. I have rules around it – When I am planning my content calendar, I will never put 2 back-to-back sponsored posts. I only post once per day, and make sure there’s at the very least one post in between sponsored posts. I also try to throw in a giveaway, or some way to give back on weeks there’s additional sponsored posts.
In my experience, it’s better to focus on the ratio of sponsored content and to make less money, than it is to be greedy and lose the trust of my audience.
How much sponsored work do you turn down?
TONS. For one, I turn down a lot of work that requires me to be somewhere, like night events or travel jobs, because I have Hudson 5 days out of the week. Most of the jobs I take on are fairly local, and flexible with timing so I can shoot at my own pace. I also turn down 80% of the jobs having to do with Hudson. I am REALLY picky with mom campaigns, and try to only include one per month at most. In all of 2018, Hudson has only been in 2 campaigns – Joy Album + for a JCPenney Carters sale. I am also very choosy about lifestyle campaigns, because I know how muddled a feed can get if every post is talking about a different kind of skincare or meal service every other day. So I turn down a lot!
Does the company tell you exactly what to say about the product?
No! They usually send over creative direction that they had in mind (which is pretty loose, like maybe spring focused, or make sure there’s no logos, etc.) and some bullet points on the product itself, like if it’s all-natural, or of it’s newly launched. Then I am able to make it my own, which is the fun part! I love how creative I get to be in shooting and talking about products I love and use!
How can I get sponsored?
I think the best way to “get sponsored” is to post what you love, in your own style, and tag the brands you love most. Brands are always looking for new talent, and they are usually interested in audience engagement, and originality! MY best advice is to be consistent, post on a few different platforms, and make connections with other bloggers who are just starting out!
I hope this helped you learn more about the big question marks behind sponsored posts! Let me know if you enjoy these kinds of posts!