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There have been many blog posts this week (MomCrunch and Momfluential to name two) about Mom Bloggers, Mommy Bloggers, Bloggers who are Moms, who blog for free, why that is just a horrible thing, and why we do it.
First, let me be clear that no one should ever use the term Mommy Blogger. Why? Because it is personal. It is like your child calling you by your first name. It is unprofessional and it a personal term used by kids towards their Moms. Added to the fact that you never hear about Daddy Bloggers, just Dad Bloggers, so let’s be consistent shall we?
Second, there is a difference between a Mom Blogger and a Blogger who is a Mom. Mom Bloggers write about Mom stuff. That is the focus of their blog. Then there are Bloggers who write about travel, food, technology and social media. Oh, they happen to be Moms, just like many male bloggers are Dads, but those men are called Tech Bloggers or Food Bloggers, not Dad Bloggers (unless they write about Dad stuff). Again, let’s be fair shall we?
On to my point about the various posts regarding Bloggers working for free. While I agree with the sentiment out there that we should have standards in the Blogging industry about payment for our work, I disagree with the fact that we always need to be paid. Let me share why.
In every other industry, there is a class of individuals called “Interns”. They typically work for free in exchange for experience, exposure, and reputation building in that industry when they start off in that profession. When they get some experience and entry into that market, they start landing paid jobs. When they do well in those paid jobs, they get paid more, etc. Blogging doesn’t have anything formal like interns. What we have are certain bloggers (usually new bloggers) that choose to work on a campaign without payment for experience, exposure and reputation building. As they build their reputation, they get paid. See the parellel?
I think the real issue is not about Bloggers working for free, but rather brands, PR firms and companies not seeing the difference. Many Bloggers have done their time. They have been blogging for years and have built their own brand, experience, exposure and reputation. They should be paid. Then there are newer bloggers like me, that don’t get paid on certain campaigns because I don’t yet have that Blogging reputation. So I choose to participate in those unpaid campaigns, because it can show my ability to review technology products, toys, or hotels. It basically builds my resume. If I do a good job, the brand may recommend me for another paid campaign or the PR person may select me for a paid opportunity going forward.
So the onus is on those PR firms and brands to pay Bloggers that have built their exposure and reputation, whether in a niche or a platform, that would benefit the brand, while realizing that the Bloggers they select for non-paid opportunities now, may not always work for free as those Bloggers build their blogging credentials.
The reality is advertising and marketing departments are going through a change. Some faster than others. The ones that ‘get it’ realize that social media dollars go further than a one time paid ad in a magazine. If you pay 50 Bloggers a sum of $100 to write about a new restaurant, the Bloggers’ posts can be viewed by thousands with tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram photos, and more, expanding the reach that goes beyond the December edition of “ACME Magazine” with your add on page 52 in the upper left corner.
Thus, companies need to allocate a budget for Bloggers and not just for traditional print or radio ads. They also need to realize while they may not pay the interns in their company, they do pay the people they hire (with that person’s past experience benefiting the company). So with regard to Bloggers, there should be a similar philosophy.
All in all, I think many of the recent posts about Bloggers working for free are valid, and I agree with many of the points. This is just a realistic twist on reality in the Blogging community. Rather than demanding payment, we should be educating brands and PR companies instead, and having all these posts about this subject is a huge step forward in that dialogue and that ability to effectuate change to benefit everyone.
While this post applies to a variety of conferences, it focuses on the BlogHer Conference. Often known as “SwagHer”, 
