As a blogger, there’s nothing worse than opening a PR email and thinking it all sounds pretty fab, only to find the classic excuse of having no budget but offering exposure on social media. We read it, we sigh, we tweet something about exposure not paying the bills and we either kindly (or not so kindly) decline the offer, or just ignore the email altogether.
Now I fully agree with this stance on exposure being considered a form of payment, especially when I think about the amount of time that goes into writing, editing and taking photos for a blog post, but I’ve been thinking a little bit about exposure, and how despite bloggers as a whole complaining about it when brands offer it, we also crave the exposure that brands can give us.
I mean, if you’ve put together a killer outfit, nailed your hairstyle and spent half a day trying to get that perfect Instagram shot, are you trying to tell me that you’re not gonna be tagging every single thing you’re wearing down to your setting spray? Sure, we do this a little to avoid the inevitable ‘ooh where’s this from?’ (even though at least half of the comments will still be asking that exact question), but I know that I for one would be lying if I wasn’t hoping that said photo will be spotted by at least one of the tagged brands. I also have no shame in saying that there’s a little part of me praying that I might get a regram, not only for the great feeling of knowing that they loved my post so much, but also because hey I might gain a bunch of followers from it.
So why do we pretend that we don’t care about social media sharing? We all need exposure – I mean, it literally means to be put in the light – but it seems to have become a dirty word in the blogging dictionary. Yes it’s an unacceptable form of payment for hours of work, but it does still offer a lot to a bunch of people who make their side hustle (or even full time hustle) from putting ourselves online to be seen..
Lottie Does 
Completely agree with this post. It’s even more frustrated when as a ‘small/hobby’ blogger I’m not looking to earn income from my blog but it’s a nice ‘perk’ and when I do work with brands and PRs you don’t even get an acknowledgement from a post or a retweet!
More importantly as you say the right ‘exposure’ or shout out can increase your stats significantly which in turn give you more of a platform to earn more from your blog if that is what you desire.
Victoria x
FlorenceandMary.com
I completely agree with this – the right exposure gives you more views and followers, which will lead to more paid brand deals. I do understand that there comes ‘a point’ where you need to stop accepting them!
https://lizziedailyblog.blogspot.co.uk/
I think it’s a different kind of exposure when it’s natural and from the bloggers side – it’s a more genuine kind of brand share rather than I should do this because I agreed to if that makes sense?
I think exposure is good when it’s a product you genuinely like/love. I think that bloggers complain more when it’s a random company offering them exposure, especially when it’s a company that they don’t really know/have never heard of? Like if a company like Anastasia Beverly Hills or Two Faced sent me a product, and they wanted me to write a review for exposure, I would totally do it, because I genuinely love their products, and just appreciate the fact that I am saving money on a product I would have bought myself anyway, but if a random watch company is offering me a free watch (or a discounted watch), and they want to pay me in exposure, that’s not really going to fly with me. I might not be rude, but I am definitely going to decline the offer. Great post Lottie! You really got me thinking with this one 🙂 xx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com