My moment of realisation came on a plane. I was invited to a press trip to Monaco and was sitting on a plane with journalists from The Times, The Express and many other global publications, when it struck me, I had put myself on that plane. Being invited on a prestigious trip with a global brand, I did it myself. I didn’t have an employer with a higher profile than me putting me in the situation, I did it. I worked hard, raised my own profile, got noticed and put myself on the plane and I smiled to myself; this was my moment of realisation.
This is why you need your moment of realisation;
Why Bloggers rock & why you should value yourself
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We juggle
Most bloggers balance blogging with other things. Be it paid employment away from the home or simply the demands of being a parent, it is a constant juggle and we all do it. We don’t just do it, we achieve great things too. Our voices have made a real difference. Bloggers have raised vast amounts of money for charity (Team Honk, Save Syrian Children), helped to change laws, raised the profile for various causes and made people feel like they are not alone, the value of which should never be underestimated. We do all that while doing countless other tasks too.
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We hustle
As bloggers it is rare that a brand comes along and offers us a lovely opportunity on a plate. In most cases we hustle and work contacts, we are self-starters that make things happen. This is not always easy, but day after day we do it.
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We are creative
When we work with brands we are creative in the content we produce; many of us produce videos or put an unusual spin on the content we produce. We don’t just write basic posts, we create engaging content to highlight the brands we are working with. The creativity of bloggers never ceases to amaze me.
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We are jacks of all trades
Most businesses have different departments, finance, IT, HR, yet within our blogs we are all of these things. If we have a financial issue we can’t just fob it off on John in Finance we have to learn how to deal with it ourselves. If we don’t know how to do something we learn. This attitude results in us having a wide range of skills including photography, videography, finance, IT, social media, PR, the works!
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Our content has longevity.
When we post content on our blog it has longevity, unlike a newspaper which will be tomorrows chip wrapping. These posts whether they are a week old or a year old can still be searched for and found by readers. This should be valued, a brand can reap the benefit of a post years after it has gone live. One of my top performing posts which still gets searched for now is a review of Peppa Pig World. I also have a highchair review that gets hits even today, because people don’t care if that review is 2 years old, it is still relevant to them.
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We are both consumer and promoter
When we write about a product and brand we are seen as both a consumer and a promoter. The brand itself is seen as simply the promoter, but readers know that we are individuals who make our own purchasing decisions. Although we maybe acting on behalf of a brand, we are seen as more ‘human’ than the brand, which often means we are trusted more. Our readers know we are honest and wouldn’t promote something we wouldn’t buy ourselves.
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Building Social Networks takes time and effort
Say a company want you to tweet something out and you know it will only take a couple of minutes, do you do it for free? The length of time it will take is irrelevant; the point is that it might have taken you years to build your social following and that is what the brand should be paying for, not that fact that it is a quick job or not.
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Our Readers Trust Us
As a blogger your readers invest their time in following your life and because of this investment in time they often feel as if they know you. As a result of this assumed closeness they trust our advice. With this trust comes a responsibility to be honest and transparent with what we recommend on our blogs, so that we respect the trust of our readers.
Various studies have shown how trustworthy readers think bloggers are; one found blogs to be in the top five sources of trustworthy information. Research Now found that 84% of people have purchased products based on their appearance in blogs. I know I have bought things after I have spotted them on a blog. People are more trusting of bloggers than of newspaper articles, which they assume will be less objective. Among consumers aged 18-34, Blogs were the #1 most valued resource in making a purchasing decision (above friends and family, which is the most valued resource for anyone over the age of 35). Interesting stuff!
Consumers want to learn about a brand from a third party, not directly from the brand. A brand will be perceived as biased, but a third party who knows about the brand and likes it enough to chose to promote it is very powerful.
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We Are Niche
Unlike traditional publishers our audience is really targeted, so brands can reach their exact market, rather than wasting resources targeting a more general population who will not be interested in their product.
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We Have Influence
As Bloggers we are classed as “mid-level influencers”, not huge influencers like Beyonce, no we occupy the middle of the spectrum. Studies show that mid-level influencers influence the buying public more readily than the top-flight influencers.
Blogger rock right?! Do you value yourself as a blogger? The next time someone asks you to work for free, you know what to say. Value yourself and demand fair pay for your skills.
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