At the Australia Beauty Bloggers’ Weekend last year, the second and final day was ended with a keynote speech by Bahar Etminan. What she said was actually very interesting, and it sparked a lot of mixed opinions amongst the bloggers. She spoke about breaking into the beauty business with blogging, ways of monetising one’s blog, how to run it like a business, and more. The main topic was about blog monetisation.
Her speech infuriated a number of bloggers who didn’t think that blogging was all about the money, but about the passion for blogging, and that not everyone was ready to quit their jobs to be fulltime bloggers. They were not wrong. Personally, I didn’t care for her speech much, not because the content wasn’t good, but the overall tone wasn’t really my cup of tea. But she did make a very valid point. If we put so much time, effort and money into our blogs, shouldn’t we get something out of it? And if that “something” is money, would you say no to it?
I follow a lot of American blogs for beauty, fashion, lifestyle, food, blogging and technology, and a lot of them make money out of it. Perhaps not enough for some of them to quit their day job, but certainly enough to supplement the family’s income. The more I read, the more baffled I become. Many bloggers charge a fee in order to write a review for a brand. Hang on, but don’t they also get product to review too? And they actually ask for money on top of that? How’s that possible?
This topic was also brought up at the Nuffnang Blogopolis 2011, where fulltime bloggers speak about blog monetisation, and how they do it for their blogs. There are a number of Australian bloggers who monetise their blogs, and they make enough income to pay their rent, bills and to eat. As I was one of the very few beauty bloggers who attended the conference, I didn’t understand how that could be done for my niche. It was my understanding that if you even ask for money from PRs along with product request, you would surely be blacklisted (and the word will spread that you are THAT kind of blogger). Nikki Parkinson of Styling You brought up a point where beauty bloggers cannot take the same route as bloggers of other niches because PRs rarely have the budget to pay bloggers to do write-ups and reviews. I had no idea.
It’s a very interesting topic to discuss and ponder upon because to many, monetisation is indeed a dirty word. Bloggers will surely lose their credibility if they start asking for remuneration for their reviews and write-ups. They’re labeled as a sellout. Their reviews will be biased towards the payment they receive. See, that was what I thought years ago.
That was until I realised I’ve been spending so much money on magazines which run heaps of advertorials. What I read, the products I see and want to buy … all of which are paid for by their advertisers. Essentially, the magazines’ views are biased, and yet, I buy them. I read them. How is that different from reading blogs of bloggers who get paid for their writing services? Do you see where I’m getting at?
It isn’t black and white. Monetising one’s blog does not immediately mean that the blogger is a sellout. If you are a fulltime blogger, then you must make money out of your blog because if not, how are you going to eat, pay your rent, etc? I think it’s how the blogger monetises the blog and what he/she does on the blog that defines the character and integrity of the blogger. It takes time to read, understand and follow how each blogger works, what his/her values are, and in time, these will be revealed on the blog.
Personally, I think it’s difficult for beauty bloggers in Australia to really go fulltime because unless you’re a writer (or doing something else) on the side, it’s definitely not easy to make enough from blogging alone to live. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s not easy. That’s why I admire bloggers like Kimmi from The Plastic Diaries, who’s a fulltime beauty blogger in Australia. I don’t know how she does it. Whatever she’s having, can I have me some too? 🙂
As for me, I spend a lot of time blogging, I do. I work on my jewellery and I blog. Do I make enough from the blog alone to survive? To be honest, I don’t. In fact, I consider it a big achievement to even contribute to the utility bills with what I make from blogging alone. If I can even get that far.
At the Nuffnang Blogapolis, Lady Melbourne (who is a fulltime fashion blogger) remarked something along the lines of “what’s the good of just getting free product? Can shampoo help me pay the rent?” It’s a harsh truth, and definitely something to think about.
What do you think? Do you think blog monetisation affects a blogger’s integrity? Does it contribute to your opinions of the blogger? Do you monetise your blog in any way, e.g. Google Adsense, text link ads, image ads, affiliate links, etc and have those helped you in any way? I’d love to hear your views.
I always thought that people who are a member of nuffnang earns a lot since its based on the number of views right? i also know a few people who are blogging fulltime (so jealous, i wish i could earn enough money out of it) , but usually these people are a member of a media company and they get products from pr’s and stuff..
Elisa: It’s interesting because when I was a member with Nuffnang in Malaysia, I think I earned about 2 bucks? Removed the ad code and when I came with Australia, I thought things might be different and I joined Nuffnang Australia. 2-3 months and not a single cent earned. I realised I was wasting precious space advertising for them for free and thus requested that they removed me from their database.
They do have a number of bloggers who earn quite a lot per post, but not every blogger with them gets the same treatment. It’s sad because the concept is interesting but the execution leaves a lot to be desired.
There’s some thought-provoking stuff here. I used to get ticked off at bloggers who ONLY blogged about products they were paid to blog about, but then I thought more about it, and it’s true, they need to pay their bills. I see it as biased, but then I don’t see mags as biased.
This hurts my head.
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Chelsea: I think now that there are more fulltime bloggers coming up, I have to remember that blogging is now their job, and one way or another, they have to make money out of it. I suppose it’s how they write that counts. There will definitely be prejudice because when money is involved, the reviews will have to positive.
Money sure does funny things to people don’t they? Honestly, you can tell a blogger’s integrity by the way he/she writes. If the post is sponsored and clearly-marked as sponsored and the blogger is objective enough to note both pros and cons of the product, I’d find that a lot more believable than say, a 2-page splash on Vogue magazine. I don’t mind so much if a blogger has financial gains from it – we all need to live, we all find what we do best and we try to get some financial gain from it. I guess it all boils down to:
1. What’s your pure motivation for blogging
2. Would you allow the dollars to cloud your judgement
If a blogger is making enough to be a fulltime blogger, hey, why not. I don’t fault others on how they make a living. Ultimately, it’s up to us to make the judgement call if we want to believe what the blogger wrote (just as we want to buy in to the ads in the glossies)
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LeGeeque: Aww Vogue. The magazine with half the amount of ads to the actual content, and we (or at least, I do) still buy it.
Personally, positive reviews alone bug me. Whether they are paid or not, product given for review or not, surely there must be something that’s not quite right with at least one product you’re using. I know of bloggers who only prefer to write positively and if they encountered something that didn’t work for them, they just wouldn’t blog about it. But but but … isn’t that what beauty blogging is about? You talk about the good AND the bad stuff?
Anyway I digress. It’s true, you can tell of a person’s character by the way he/she writes. I just hope the money and/or free products do not cloud the person’s judgment.
As long as the blogger continues to write integrity, it doesn’t really matter if she makes money from it right? Nothing wrong with money – we all have to live and a lot of us like nice things too!
I think of it not too differently to my job as a cosmetics brand manager. I get paid to promote my brand – but I make sure I (i) come up with great quality products, (ii) promote the good products more and (iii) promote in ethical manners ie not spammy or use my own blog to do so
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Tina: Haha you told me that after I turned down that sponsored post dilemma 🙂 I agree with you, nothing wrong with money and dammit I like nice things too.
Ahh that’s a good way of putting it. You are, after all, of “the other side” 😛 Good on you, on those 3 points. That’s how every blogger should aim for too.
Have you read this from The Bloggess? http://thebloggess.com/heres-a-picture-of-wil-wheaton-collating-papers/. Particularly like this: please take us off the mailing list of bloggers-who-are-so-desperate-for-content-that-we-assume-they’ll-write-for-free-about-pretty-much-anything-we-hand-them.
I’m all for monetization but do it strategically and that means don’t sellout. You have to set your own guidelines and decide what is more important to you as a blogger. At the end of the day, it is a personal decision, and I don’t see the need to justify. Oh come on, my hosting fees per month isn’t cheap so why should I always host content for free as they eat into my database and bandwidth?
But being paid for a review is tricky; it might be easier for certain niche but not beauty. It’s not something I want to do; I would have to put it as an advertorial anyway.
Sesame: Hahahaha yes I have and I loved it! How bluntly-put and it hits the nail on the head.
Agree with your points. I have to get some sort of monetisation done if it’s just to at least cover my hosting and domain fees. Unfortunately, there are people who don’t understand that it costs a lot of money per year to keep a website running. I was one of them until I started self-hosted blogging, and then it’s like woaaahhh. Have to pay again?!
All paid beauty reviews would be, in my opinion, classified as advertorials. As long as that’s clear on the blogger’s review, I’m fine with them. I had a bit of a moral dilemma a few months ago when I was approached to write about a particular beauty product with quite a significant fee. I know the product, I think it’s great, but because I didn’t like how the company worked, I turned them down. Sometimes it comes back to me as “you fool, you could have made a lot of money writing just one post!” but at the end of the day, I’m glad I turned them down.
I know…it has happened to me too and sometimes such decisions are painful to make but you know what, the “pain” is only momentary and you’ll feel a lot happier not taking it up…not selling out! I wouldn’t want to post about a company I don’t believe in even though they pay me lots. At the end of the day, we also have to answer to ourselves.
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Sesame: I agree. Yes, it did hurt I lost the campaign and the good money, but at the end of the day, I’m actually glad I didn’t do it because I wouldn’t have respected myself for it.
I am not against monetization, because I believe that I can choose to read and not read, or even boycott.
BUT, I am against advertising without telling so. The reason why we are okay with magazines is because we do know that they are advertisements! At least, I do. I am consumer literate enough to know that everything inside is an ad, and that’s why I see so much L’oreal, Lancome, Dior, etc, INCLUDING those crappy magazine awards.
I have boycotted a certain blogger because I believe him to be sponsored for a good number of posts, but he always never tells, and in fact, claim to be objective.
I don’t really believe paid reviews, but I am fine with exaggerated advertorials, because I believe that one should be paid if one can add value. In this case, the company deems that Blogger A can add value to their sales, so they are willing to pay. Only question is, how much?
That said, I do not get paid for anything. I do put up AdSense, but it’s as good as nothing. haha, so I presume that what I write does not adds value for those who have the money (the companies). That’s just that.
Jyoan: Ugh, there are so many ads in magazines these days that I wonder if it’s even worth my money subscribing to some of them anymore, especially Vogue. I’m always flipping the page just to get to the content!
I’ve had AdSense for about 3 years now I think? And only 2 days ago, I received an email that I am finally, after all these years, getting a cheque from them 🙂
Don’t be disheartened and think that your blog does not have value to companies. There are a lot of beauty brands who are still pretty old school and don’t really believe in how bloggers can add value their brand. That or they prefer the really massive blogs. Still, these blogs had to start from somewhere so who knows what’s going to be like for you some time down the road? Just keep doing what you believe in 🙂
That’s primarily why I ended all of my mag subscriptions, I felt most of the magazine consists of ads & the other half of biased articles with a few decent features in between. I’m all for making money with blogs but I thought it was done mainly thru ad placements. I’m new to blogging & have so much to learn but when it comes to reviews, I only offer & want to read honest reviews. I’ve followed some bloggers & vloggers & once they become a spokesperson or start accepting payment for reviews, I can sense it, because the tone of their reviews change & they start heavily promoting that brand. I’m not for sacrificing my integrity and voice for a buck. I would’ve stayed in corporate america if that was my goal.
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VNikol: I know what you mean. It’s always my belief that when money is involved, the review can only be positive. Which I think is fair, because the brand is paying them to talk about their product in a positive light. But I think there’s a way to do it that doesn’t feel like it’s brand and product worshiping, you know what I mean?
I absolutely agree though it must be harder than we think because the majority of bloggers accepting payments for reviews rarely give honest ‘negative’ feedback. I have seen a few that positively position negative feedback despite accepting payments but seems few & far between. I’ve even noticed some of Michelle Phan’s fans (highest paid You Tube vlogger earning 200k+/year) expressing disappointment with how her videos have changed since she partnered with Lancome & other major brands. It’s a big turn off when you see that happening. If I accepted payment for a review I’d have to be pretty darn clear about my terms and have it included in the agreement, anything else is unethical. As bloggers, we have to remember the importance of readership because we’d be nowhere without it.
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VNikol: I haven’t been following Michelle Phan’s blog for a while now, not since she became really famous. Golly, didn’t know she was making that much a year! It’s very sad that things have changed. Good for her for being able to make a career out of it, but on the other hand…sigh. You’re right, without the readers, the blog is nothing 🙁
Very interesting 🙂 I’m not against earning a bit of money from blogging. I’ve gone through the whole blogging for money spell right at the beginning when it took off, and I will not deny it was good times back in the day. I earned enough to get my blogs started. Then it got to be too much work and I left it and never went back to it.
These days, I just rely on image ads through ad networks. It pays my hosting bills (despite what many think, unless you are blogging from a free platform, it costs money to run a blog) and if I’m lucky, I get to indulge a little along the side.
I will agree that in the beauty blogging niche, its not easy to accept payment for a review. For a review, I’d say its wrong because we are supposed to be impartial and to tell the truth. However, if it is for an advertorial or a write up in general terms, I don’t see anything wrong with being paid. Its when sponsored content overwhelms personal content that I draw the line.
I could never think about giving up my job to blog full time. I love and I enjoy blogging, but I don’t think it offers the same challenges as my day job, plus when this becomes my sole income source, it will be work. And when it becomes work, its no longer as much fun. Also, I don’t have the type of personality to schmooze in the beauty industry 😛 Still, if someone could make a living off their blogs, I take my hats off to them. Its hard, and I salute them for making it a success.
This was meant to be a short comment. Ooops 😛
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Paris B: Me too. Ad network, one or two Google ads, and that’s it. I told you about the sponsored post opportunity that I turned down; that was my first “big” one. Other than that, I think I’m happy the way I am. Of course, if I get more opportunities to write about something I love (and I get paid for it), well, that’s the icing on the cake. If not, hey, no biggie, I still love what I’m doing.
I think it’s difficult though, for beauty bloggers to go down that fulltime road. At least, in Australia it is. Fashion bloggers can afford to do so, but for beauty bloggers, well, the brands ain’t got no money for us 😛
I guess we all want to have some form of tangible compensation – you know, other than satisfaction from publishing an awesome post – for what we put so much effort into creating. Look at xiaxue, she’s the highest paid blogger and she’s not afraid to show that she’s paid well. Her paid product review posts may be highly biased, but she makes them so entertaining, and that what makes her posts so fun to read. You just have to be okie with her bombardment of the 90% self-portraits in her posts. =)
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Bun Bun: Oooooh I know what you mean about Xiaxue. Her blog’s not my thing (okay let’s not even go there :P), but I know how she writes her advertorials, and you’re right, she does make it very entertaining. Years ago, she wrote about Cellnique’s Pro Sebum Gel (obviously an advertorial on her part), but damn she’s convincing. I purchased my first bottle after that, and now I think I’ve used about 6 😛
Taking her post as an example, you can turn things around on advertorials. Make them highly interesting. She didn’t bang on and on about how freaking amazing it was at that time, but showed a lot of photos of her before and after she used it (yeah, heaps of self-portraits), and her words made it fun to read.
I’m not against making money from blogging, after all we all have bills to pay. And we all put a lot of time and effort into it, so if we can make some money from it, why not? But it all depends on the way you monetize your blog. As long as the blogger discloses he/she’s being paid to write a review or a post and lists both the pros and cons of a product, that’s fine. It’s when they sacrifice their integrity for a few bucks that I stop following them.
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Gio: Disclosure is so important, isn’t it Gio? I think it’s important that we have a good, strong disclosure/disclaimer policy on our blogs to tell our readers that yes, we do accept remuneration for certain things, but it will always be disclosed and we’ll always be honest 🙂
I don’t think there is anything dirty about monetizing your blog as long as you are honest in your reviews and make sure to disclose when it’s sponsored content. But I have noticed that most of the paid reviews seem to be biased, with hardly any cons listed in the review. Not that I am not in favor of making money, I feel that non-paid route is more trustworthy in beauty blogging .
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Harshleen: Paid reviews will unfortunately be biased. It’s only fair to the advertisers who are paying for it, because they’d want a positive review. Things get a little muddy when money’s involved, that’s what I always say. As beauty bloggers, I suppose the only things we can do is write truthfully, whether we’re paid for it or not. If the product is good, then say it’s good. Don’t have to apologise for it just because you’re paid because the product really did work for you. If it’s not good, then let the advertisers know and see how you go from there.
Geez, look at me, sounding as though I’m an expert when I’ve not even done sponsored posts in so long 😛
This is very interesting indeed. I don’t blog for money (don’t even have ads at the moment) but it would be nice to earn a bit of something since I’ve gone the self-hosted route now 😉 I was actually offered payment from a US marketing company to post an article about some plastic surgery services for one of their clients. It wasn’t spam, I checked. I can’t see how such content would work since the services are inaccessible to most of my blog readers. Also, when you receive payment, you can’t be particularly subjective.
In the end, it’s up to the blogger’s personal motivations and if a beauty blogger has enough means to go full time, then kudos to them. Personally, I’d stick to my day job and leave blogging as a pastime.
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Lyn: Ah I know what you mean. Years ago, I used to do sponsored posts for stuff like, I kid you not, online gambling, accounting software and the like. This was years ago, back when the very thought of getting paid $10 for a short 2-paragraph post was so cool 😛 When I finally realised where I wanted to take the blog to, I opted out of all these services and websites. I don’t regret it, it’s a learning curve 🙂
A great post !! I love the way you have put both sides and brought it out in open to discuss. The comparison with magazine makes real sense. I think people will read the blog as long as the reviews are genuine and blogger is upfront about the fact that its a paid post.
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Maddy: Thanks love. I like open discussions like this. It’s good to know what y’all think 🙂
I agree. As long as the blogger’s honest about it, I have no problem at all following him/her.
Great post as always, Tine. I was thinking about this yesterday when I was responding to some PR emails. I’m always grateful for the free products they offer for us to review, and so far the PR reps I’ve spoken to are OK with us giving our real opinion (as opposed to some who get free items and give positive reviews just so that they can keep getting free items – sorry if this is worded harshly). I was wondering if there will ever come a time where I would ask a PR rep, “Can we get some form of monetary compensation for this?” Right now I don’t, simply because blogging is a hobby that I enjoy and also frankly speaking, I don’t have the stats to back me up, e.g. 3 million blog views a day, etc.
Additionally, I have tried to monetize the blog in another way. As you probably know, free WP themes and hosting do not allow for Google Ads. I managed to get permission for an affiliate link at the very least but admittedly it’s a half-hearted attempt to try and monetize the blog.
In terms of monetization affecting the integrity of a blog and blogger – I look at bloggers like Christine of Temptalia and while I know she gets paid, I also feel that she is honest with her opinions. It’s very clear in the way she writes, her grading system, etc – I think you know where I’m coming from. And then there are other bloggers who somehow make it so clear that they’re giving good reviews simply because they’re paid to do so. So I guess it varies from a case-by-case basis; it’s unfair to just say that “If you get paid for your review, you’re biased/untruthful/etc”.
As with all my long comments, I hope it makes sense :s And I mean no disrespect to anyone. *cowers in a corner*
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Dom: Thanks Dom 🙂
In the US, things are done differently I guess. By law bloggers have to disclose if they are paid to do a writeup on their blog, and if they received any product for review. They don’t have a choice but be transparent about it. I think it’s a very good thing.
Oh don’t cower in a corner. Come come! 😛 *pull Dom out of corner*
I have a lot of respect for bloggers who manage to monetise their websites as I know how much hard work it takes to get to that point. I take a little bit of money for advertising but it really only covers my hosting and domain fees. I am really not keen on sponsored posts that read as an advertorial but I love a good honest review from the heart so that’s why I try and steer clear of sponsored posts because I want to have complete control over every word that is published on my blog.
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Megan: Me too. The amount I make from the blog covers my domain and hosting fees, but that’s about it. I too have a lot of respect for bloggers who manage to make a career out of blogging because it takes a huge amount of hard work and determination to go down that road.
Sponsored posts are a tricky one. It’s obvious when beauty bloggers start writing about accounting software (yeah, I’ve been there :P), but when it’s an actual beauty-related post, I’d like it if it was disclosed that the blogger accepted remuneration for it.
I don’t really think monetisation is ugly…we give so much of time and energy to the blog so monetising is not really wrong unless we do it on the expense of the readers. I do use adsense and infolinks and was deciding on to keeping infolinks or removing it as it does slow down the page loading.
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Swati: Thanks for sharing, Swati. I know what you mean, and I agree. We do spend so much time and money on the blog, that we should get a little something back, if not just to cover the domain and hosting fees. Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t do it on the expense of my readers, because without them, my blog is nothing.
I think people should do what they want with their blogs. The monetisation thing is dirty word here in the UK, yet if I was blogging in my native US I’d be fine.
I read different blogs for different reasons, the only thing I’m not keen on is a lot of flashing ads that make the blog load slower which can also be distracting.
This may be a strange analogy but it’s the same as when you are in high school – if you sleep around you’re a whore, if you don’t than you are frigid. Can’t win!
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Annabella: It’s different, isn’t it, in the US? It’s practically expected that you accept payment if a brand contacts you to write about them. Independent Fashion Bloggers (heartifb.com) even has a manifesto on this. No way can I do it here in Australia. I’d be blacklisted and my reputation will go down the drain!
You know what, Annabella, you have hit the nail on the head with that last paragraph. It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. At the end of the day, we just have to trust our instincts on where we want the blog to go. Wanna make money? Do it properly and do it right by your readers. Don’t want to do it? Fair enough. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong about this.
I know “money” and “monetizing” can be dirty, or at the very least, sensitive words to some people. But sadly, at the end of the day, passion may be a major driving factor for the “life line” of many blogs but it’s definitely not the only determining factor. Especially in the case of self-hosted blogs, there are hosting fees to pay on top of other random expenses.
When a potential advertiser/sponsor contacts me, I lay out my guidelines clearly to make sure their expectations match what I can only offer. Even in the case of sponsored reviews, I always stress the importance of realistic & honest reviews to the potential sponsor before any agreement. I firmly believe realistic reviews would benefit not just me as a conscientious blogger but their company as a credible, trust-worthy brand and most importantly, my readers as their potential future customers who can see through and appreciate their brand’s transparency. Sadly, while a few companies are receptive to the idea of paid albeit realistic reviews (and not the blindly skyrocketing raving kind), a lot still prefer to get what they are willing to pay for, which to me sounds like trying to buy my integrity. So I blacklist them in the same way they (probably) blacklist me, haha! It’s painful to lose good money but it’s more painful and self-damaging to lose one’s integrity.
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Vivi: Excellent point. It’s very important to lay out your policies and guidelines to the advertisers on what they should expect from you, which are honest reviews. It might be a naive opinion to some, but I’d rather lose money than lose readers. It takes a long time to build your reputation as a good and honest blogger, and money shouldn’t take that all away.
Hahaha I know what you mean by blacklisting companies. I do it too! 😛
I blog as a hobby.
So I don’t expect I would ever receive monetary compensation.
Same as those who play netball for example, as a hobby they don’t get paid, their reward for their effort is the fun they have whilst having.
My reward is my stats – I see that people are reading, and I see that I have a large number of regular readers and that makes me happy.
My ultimate reward was discovering one of my blogging idols has read my blog.
[Ms Critique – I thought I was going to faint!]
If a blogger CAN get paid to do what they love – go for it!
I just hate having to scroll past a thousand ads for content.
Keep side bar ads to a minimum, disclose that you got paid/supplied product and I will still read.
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Lexi: OMG tell me about it. I sat next to Cheri at the ABBW dinner on Saturday evening, and she was telling the Nivea PRs who were seated next to her how she loves my blog. It was like I died and went to blogging heaven right there and then. My face was so red that night, and it wasn’t even from the alcohol! 😛
my adsense account: 0.04 muahhahhahah
even though i blog, blogging is not really supposed to be paid because like many who said here, how can we be objective if we r paid? if we hate the product, and we r being paid, how am i going to go about to write positively about it? blogging is to express our opinions..its just me, when im approach to blog abt a product that i actually dont like or dont suit me, i reject to blog abt it..i have to, because i dont know what to say about it, so best dont say it i guess
if we want to write and get paid, then its journalism and editorial careers..im not against those who get money from blogging, they are a rare few, lucky them, but not all hobbies can make money out of it..i dont think blogging is that stage yet, its just an online diary, making friends, expressing our voice n views, and if there are pr companies out there that is OK to pay bloggers regardless a positive or negative review, then the blogging world will change all bloggers world 🙂
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Elle: It took me over 3 years to finally get a cheque out of Google. Hang on, make that 4 years 😛
It IS difficult to blog objectively about something when we’re paid to do so. Very few brands will allow anything negative if they’re paying you to write a review. It’s difficult, but not impossible. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of having lunch with a few bloggers who were in Melbourne for the Loreal Melbourne Fashion Festival. One of them was actually flown down to Melbourne, all expenses paid, lodging, food, etc, AND she does not even have to write about them if she doesn’t want to. All she needed to do was take pictures of the LMFF for their Facebook page. It was an amazing opportunity. In the end, she did talk about the brand, but it was because she really likes it before she was even given the opportunity.
Granted, opportunities like this are rare. A lot of brands are still very old-school, and do not believe bloggers are the right channels to promote their name. But I think it’s getting there, albeit slowly (especially in Australia).