It seems that the mummy blogger/PR relationship is really hard to get right -- even for our US counterparts. GeekMommy wrote an excellent post this week about Why Mom Bloggers Aren’t Flipping for Just a Sample of Your Product. You really need to read the full article, it points out that mothers that blog are doing a job and that PR should respect this and stop assuming that we will do things for free.
First, we need to get straight that mummy bloggers are not reporters. We don't get paid for what we do. We don't have an editor. We don't have a graphic designer. We don't have an IT department. We do it all ourselves in our spare time. We might write about your product if we like it and think it is useful, but come on, quit asking us to do competitions and giveways for free.
The mummy blogging phenom is really just starting to take off here and there are some major differences between the regions. For one, most mummy bloggers in the UK are just getting up to speed and would be happy to receive sample products as a thank you for our time. But we aren't even getting offered that. When I pushed back on a request to hold a free competition from a household name brand, I got this response:
"We would like to hold a competition for XX for your readers. We’ve contacted a few bloggers that are happy to hold this competition for free. Please let me know if this is possible."
Er, no. And they wanted me to cover the cost of postage (!)
What really annoys me is that this perpetuates the stereotype that a mother's job does not hold value. So you blog in your spare time. That's nice. I'm executing a £5 million campaign for a new product and would like you to plaster my brand all over your blog and I want you to write about it. For free. OK?
Of course not all PRs are clueless. There are some excellent ones out there that get it. But it's a steep learning curve for everyone.
I can hear it all now zipping round the eithernet -- you don't know what it's like to be in my shoes, my boss told me to "go after the mummy blogging community" and I'm doing the best I can. I can't read minds.
I started my career in PR and did my fair share of pitches so yes I do understand (I think this is payback for all the bad pitches I did!) However, with some thought and planning this can be a win-win situation for all parties. If you still don't know how to get the most from mummy bloggers, hire me and I can help you through it ;-)
Photo credit: Velveteen Mind
