Time and time again I see bloggers undervaluing their worth, and quite honestly – it makes me mad. Whilst I understand that everyone blog’s for their own reasons and everyone is free to make their own decisions, it’s important to note that as a collective, if you undervalue your worth, then you undervalue the worth of your peers.

Independent Fashion Bloggers has a fantastic movement called The IFB Manifesto – which effectively amounts to stating – if you want us to work, pay us. It’s a good read and a good ethos to blog by.

Since launching our Partnership Programs (a series of affiliate programming, ambassadorships and ad deals) the one question I’ve been asked more times than I can count is: “What do I charge?”. The following is a guide (and please note the word guide) to valuing your work as a blogger.

Free Product:

Now don’t get me wrong, a free dress, a nice purse, a tube of mascara can all go a long way to making me happy, and as my best friend puts it – “well who needs to get paid – that’s what I spend my wages on anyway” – but the fact of the matter is, mascara does not pay your rent, or your credit card bills, or your student loans. Regardless, if I’m offered something free to try/wear/use then I generally accept graciously.

When accepting product I do so under the condition that I’m not obliged to write about said product. In my opinion, this is the only way to ethically accept product. If I like the product, I will, of course, write about it. If I don’t? Then I use my “positivity clause” – wherein, if I have nothing nice to say – I don’t say anything, I don’t see the point in wasting my time and editorial space on that kind of negativity (besides, what would I tweet about?!)

The free product realm enters a confusing space when it comes with requirements. The second there’s a requirement the free product becomes something that isn’t a gift, it becomes compensation for work, and until I can pay my bills in mascara that’s not the kind of compensation I work for.

Sponsored Posts and Advertorials:

Generally if you’re creating any kind of post that has requirements from the brand you’re working with, then that’s sponsored content (and should be clearly labeled as such). Pricing sponsored content is a sticky area and is often dependent on what is asked of you. A good place to start is a basic CPM rate – CPM means “Cost per Mille” – or cost per 1000 views. A good CPM is on average around $10. So if you’re getting 10,000 pageviews a month, a good base rate cost for you would be $100.

Past that you can look at the content you’re being asked to create, perhaps add in a cost per image, or even a cost per word. Being flexible is often key, perhaps you really love the brand or you think there’s a bigger partnership down the road. So perhaps with your 100,000 pageviews – you don’t want to charge $1000 right away. It is down to personal choice and what you’re willing to work with. But sponsored content should always be rewarded, and not with a free pair of a jeans.

Banner Advertising:

The CPM model works well here too and your price can be variable according to the sizing and placement of the ads. Advertising is something I see undervalued a lot in the blogosphere (to the point where I removed all banner ads from my site) again it’s about finding a point you’re comfortable with and finding brands you’re comfortable working with. Perhaps you want to market your advertising to independent businesses such as Etsy sellers – who would maybe be priced out by your CPM model that a big e-tailer could easily afford. There are variables to keep in mind when pricing advertising – but be sure you know what they are.

Guest Posts:

A common request of bloggers is to guest post, and it’s often something that’s offered to us as though it’s a privilege. “Come, create content for us, do our job for us, because you’re soo lucky!” Guest posting for a friend or for a blog that get’s substantially more hits than you do can be excellent way to promote your brand but what if you’re posting for a brand? The reason they’ve asked you is not likely to be from the kindness of their heart to help promote you – it’s to use your influence and skill to promote them.

Look a the content you’re being asked to produce and decide is this an hourly rate project (image heavy, graphics etc) or if this a per word rate and have those rates ready in your head. Find a per hour and per word rate you’re comfortable with (I’d recommend a bottom and and a top – my minimum per word rate is 30¢, my minimum hourly rate is $25)

Paid Appearances and Other Projects:

This is the most subjective of all blogger positions, as it’s the hardest to quantify. As with every position find something you’re comfortable with and go after it. If you’re not comfortable hosting an event for a new wardrobe – say so. If you’re not comfortable doing that styling challenge for a gift card – say so.

Finding a minimum “get out of bed for rate” or developing an hourly wage for this kind of project is worth doing if you’re serious about making money this way. Sometimes the opportunity is worth doing for no money, sometimes it’s not. But only you can find that level of comfort, and if you can’t and you feel like you’re being taking for a ride constantly – then perhaps it’s time to find a manager who can make those decisions for you.

Kelsi Smith.

Image: Highlights Magazine via MyFDB.

Filed under: Education by Kelsi
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Reward Style is a new and simple affiliate program, that make’s it easier for you to make money, and keep making money, as opposed to be a “one hit wonder”

We posed some questions to Reward Style’s founder Amber Venz:

How was the concept of Reward Style born?

I started my fashion blog, VENZedits.com, in April 2010 as an extension of my personal shopping business- I wanted it to be my fashion diary and styling portfolio. I started out posting 3 times a day and I was telling all of my secrets to my readers. I quickly realized that I had cut myself out of my own business- my clients were now buying the products I suggested off of my blog and not booking appointments with me anymore.

I decided to monetize my blog so I did what any blogger would do- I went to every blog I knew and snooped around to see how they were making money. I ended up becoming a member of about eight ad networks. I had a spreadsheet with the logins, passwords, which ads were where; it was an administrative nightmare and a total time-suck.

After about seven months of that, I teamed up with a technology company and explained to them what I was dealing with and we developed rewardStyle.com.

This site was built around what I needed as a blogger: I wanted all my advertisers in one place, one login, one reporting system, one check. I wanted to get paid like I used to as a personal shopper, the ability to compare commissions between stores on a single product, a way to track my click-to-sale conversion so I could see what all of these links were worth to me.

As a small start-up, we listen to what our users need. You want to be able to link to ASOS? Let me call them. You wear a ton of J.Crew? Good news, they called us. You do not want to have to bit.ly your links to see what is working? We will build you an analytics page right into our site.

Who is rS available to?

rS is an invitation-only monetization tool for fashion, lifestyle and beauty bloggers around the globe. We work with bloggers who are looking to make money on their content and are blogging at a professional level, meaning their content is original, gramaticaly correct, visually pleasing and consistent. We consider a number of factors in our decision process including reader engagement through social networks like twitter and facebook, number of posts per week, and if the content is a good match for what rewardStyle has to offer.

 In what ways can bloggers use rS to monetize their blog / social media outlets?

We provide fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers with relevant product links for whatever products they have decided to talk about, feature or wear. These links allow bloggers to get paid online the same way personal shoppers do offline. My background is in personal shopping and if I took a client into a boutique, I would get a commission on whatever that client purchased. This is the concept we have taken online. If you direct a reader to a retailers site, we allow you to get paid a commission on whatever that reader purchases at that site for a pre-determined number of days (generally 30 days, although this term varies by store).

Bloggers are working as personal shoppers by styling and suggesting products and we, as bloggers, are keeping the masses shopping by creating a desire for products. (You are welcome, retailers.)

Everything about rewardStyle is performance based; we allow bloggers to get paid exactly what they are worth to these brands and retailers.

Who are your top e-tailers using RS?

We are currently working with about 300 fashion and beauty advertisers- here are a few of our top performers

- Shopbop

- Net-a-Porter

- J.Crew

- Asos

- Madewell

- Neiman Marcus

- Zappos

- Endless

- Outnet.com

- Topshop

What are your top-grossing blogs using rS?

Top-tier bloggers- household names- use this tool. Only rS users are given access to the list of top 10 grossing bloggers each month- it is a perk of being a part of the program.

How can I apply to rewardStyle?

Email amber@rewardStyle.com and let her know that you are a member of Two Point Oh LA.

Filed under: Education by Scott
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image via Bob Wong

Many bloggers ask me – how do you get press releases? Well, a vast majority of the time it’s an organic process, you network, you build relationships, you outright ask PR agencies to be added to their lists. All of these work just fine – but sometimes you still wonder, how did that journalist, hear about that product or that event, and you didn’t?

It’s likely they are signed up to a database that PR agencies pay to access so that they can reach out directly to you. There are a few companies that do this, but the most reputable is Cision. I asked Yvette Pistoria, Social Media Manager for Cision, to shed some light on how bloggers can work with Cision – and provide PR companies with direct access to them, and this is what she shared.

Working with Cision by Yvette Pistorio.

It can be difficult as a blogger to find out the latest news and get the ‘inside scoop’ from industry professionals. As a new blogger, you sometimes need to make connections with PR professionals quickly and Cision can give you a great start to building those relationships. As a blogger, you can update your profile with your beats and determine how you want to be contacted to get the content you’re looking for. You can also use Cision to find leads and new sources, scout career opportunities and hear industry buzz that will help you make new headlines.

A few other ways that media members use Cision include:

·         Subscribe to CisionWire and get the latest news releases from Cision clients as they’re posted.

·         Sign up for our media updates for journalists to stay current on key media changes that impact your industry.

·         Looking for writing opportunities? Want to see what other news outlets are working on? Try searching our free editorial calendars tool to identify hundreds of thousands of editorial opportunities in publications globally.

·         Sign up for Journalist Tweets, a tool that will help you connect with other members of the media. Sign up for tweet alerts by topic and learn about emerging story ideas, or find out about calls for article submissions.

But how is the information you provide us used?

PR and communications professionals come to Cision to find media information, target their pitches, connect with audiences, monitor coverage, understand public perception, respond to crisis and measure and analyze their results.  They use our products to help make connections with media members, find media and outlet information and target pitches. Our solutions help PR and media professionals effectively manage every aspect of the communication lifecycle. Our ultimate goal is to help the PR and media communities connect and do their jobs better and faster.

How does a blogger join?

Simply go to our Media Members page to update or add your outlet and media profile!

Thanks so much Yvette!

Kelsi Smith.

Filed under: Education, Uncategorized by Scott
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