One of my businesses is that I review products and host giveaways for the same products that I reviewed on several of my blogs. I do not do any copy & paste, I insert proper keywords, I write in great detail and I promote the heck out of my professionally written reviews on numerous social media channels. I get companies a HECK OF A LOT business exposure.
I have been dealing with hundreds of PR and Media companies for the past 4 1/2 years. I would say that 80% of these companies are a real pleasure to work with and I have formed great relationships with them. These PR & Media companies appreciate the value of a professional blogger and what the blogger can bring to the marketing table.
With that said, about 20% of the PR & Media companies that I come into contact with are a BIG JOKE! Seriously, I get over 50+ pitches a day in my email box from companies here in the US and a few in Canada. I love working with companies & PR firms...but lately, I am getting really disgusted with the behavior of 20% of these PR firms.
Here is an example of what I have had to deal with in the past 3 weeks.
1. Hundreds of pitches of PR firms wanting me or my business partner to review products from sent .jpg images? Oh really!!! Hmmm, NO ONE can review a product from a high-quality image and be honest with their readers by doing that. Not only that...what is in it for the blogger? Nothing tangible at all.
2. Pitches roll in that offer one of us a product to review but....and yes there is a but...they want us to return it to them after the review!!! Sometimes this is at our expense and other times at theirs. What the hell? Again, nothing for the blogger's time, writing skills, social media pull, marketing efforts...etc. NOTHING!
3. We often get "pitches" that are labeled as "guest posts" and/or "story ideas" where they want us to give their client (the company) FREE advertising on one of our blogs by labeling it as a "story idea" or as a"guest post". What the hell is that about? Why not be honest and say "Hey, will you give my client some free advertising on your site?" Please quit disguising that junk as "guest posts" and "story ideas". Trust me...we are NOT desperate for content on ANY of our blog sites and we would rather give that CONTENT SPACE to a company who is compensating us with either a product or money. Get real folks!!!
4. We will get pitches saying "Can you post this for my client about their new product launch or sales promo and tomorrow I will ship out some products to you to thank you?" The problem with this is...we have been burnt WAY TOO MANY TIMES by never receiving the goodies!!! Oh yeah...people lie to get what they want!!! Well, we are now smarter about that!!!
5. I just love getting pitches from PR firms and companies offering to send me XYZ product to review for them, seriously...I love that!!! However...way too often these days when that product arrives to your home to be reviewed it is a sample one-time use packet of something! Wow...so the company can only send you a swipe pad or one-time use packet and not be honest with you that you are ONLY getting a one-time use sample? The reason they are NOT honest is because they know bloggers will NOT work for a .02 cent sample! Ugh!
I am really getting beyond irritated now with all of these unprofessional PR pitches hitting my email box each and every day!
PR & Media companies are being paid to push those press releases & pitches around...YES....getting paid! If you want to work with a professional review blogger who is also a professional ghostwriter with years of experience... well then...you have to offer me something in return! That is the bottom line!
Just like you all...I have a family to feed, a roof to put over our heads, medical bills to pay and so forth. Your ridiculous PR & Media pitches do NOTHING for me and my family!
No comments:
Post a Comment