I have been contacted by a blogger

[Former_Member]

For $35 she will feature my shop and provide backlinks as part of a Mother's Day Gift Guide. What sort of questions should I ask this blogger before proceding?

thanks for your input :-)

[Former_Member]

If it's not a blog you're familiar with, you should ask about traffic to her site. You can also see her blog traffic ranking on Alexa.com
You should ask how many words will be in your write-up, for $35.00 it should be at least 150 words and include a product photo. Also, ask how many shops will be listed in the guide.
If it's a very popular blog that will possibly result in a few sales than keep questions limited simply because of the popularity of the blog and getting mentioned.
Good Luck!

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

That's a lot of money for a blog feature. You'll probably find that most sellers here will say don't bother because it most likely won't generate sales. The blogger has nothing to lose by charging you $35 to post a few links to your shop. How many items will you have to sell to make your $35 back?

If you're still interested in getting more info from her, ask her for her blog traffic stats (number of followers and daily/weekly views.). See if she's done a gift guide in the past and what kind of results it got. Ask for links to past gift guide posts so you can see how many comments they got. Convo Etsy sellers that paid to be in her gift guides to see if it generated any sales for them.

[Former_Member]

You're right, Judy. If it's Apartment Therapy, I'd pay $35, but a blog like that does not charge for write-UPS to begin with. Usually successful blogs make money from advertisements and should not be charging you.
I write for one of the nation's leading blogs and did a full write-up on an Etsy shop and the shop never followed up to let me know if it resulted in any sales. I do not charge although I sometimes will ask for a product sample to check quality and workmanship.

[Former_Member]

Thanks so much for your insight! The blogger said this:

"We are putting together a Mothers Day gift guide and would love to feature you. We feel you would be a perfect fit.We know product reviews can be expensive. After all the cost of supplies, time and shipping. Sometimes having a blogger do a product review cost to much money and time. So this year we are making it simple. For $35 we will do what we call a virtual product review. It consist of pictures, link backs to your shop, details about your products and anything you would like to add. It's a great way to get your product out there. We currently have 8,000 daily email subscribers and 3,100 google connect. And about 2000-3000 new visitors a day!"

Thanks again for helping me consider this option :-)

[Former_Member]

I was featured by 3 different and large blogs during the Easter season. All three contacted me and none of them requested money.
You'll find the ones that want money tend to contact newer sellers without a lot of sales. More established shops know they don't need to pay to be featured.
Hope that helps.

[Former_Member]

If you just copied and pasted that, I would consider the number of punctuation and grammatical errors they have in a message to you. If they can't proofread their own material, what must their blog be like?

Sorry, I'm on a proofreading rampage today.

[Former_Member]

I did a post on how to choose blogs on my site.

$35 can be reasonable or outrageous depending on how good a fit the blog is for your product.

Personally I'm surprised at the amount of bloggers who contact Etsy sellers. When you have 2-3k views and 8k subscribers, it should be the other way around. Unless the store is extemely compelling... and in those cases, the feature is free.



PS Google penalises sites that sell links.

[Former_Member]

@ Adyan - I did notice the grammar :-/
@Blaire - How do I go about FINDING blogs? I have been wanting to find one to feature me but I don't know where to start. I would love to read your post, would you please provide a link to that?

Thanks everyone....I knew something felt funny about the $35 charge...but I'm new to this ;-)

[Former_Member]

@Blaire - I'm on your Dirtsy blog now and found the blog post....looks like some great content! I am looking forward to diving in and learning some new stuff :-)

[Former_Member]

http://dirtsy.com/choosing-the-right-blog-for-your-giveaway/

Mandie, try some home/decor blogs. A lot of them are looking for products to feature for mothers day right now. The Huffington Post was accepting pitches for products with floral designs a few days ago.

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

Adyan Farrar from JaneandJoshua says
If you just copied and pasted that, I would consider the number of punctuation and grammatical errors they have in a message to you. If they can't proofread their own material, what must their blog be like?

^^^^^^That!

[RubyRobinBoutique]

What a scam! Loads of great bloggers out there are more than happy to review a product for free or in return for keeping the sample you send. I do a lot of guest giveaways on blogs and find that the best way to get exposure through blogs, I donate a pair of earrings and get a tonne of new followers for very little output.

[aliciawatkins]

Yes to the posters who are saying the grammar is a red flag.

I wouldn't pay them a penny.

[Former_Member]

Thanks for all of your thoughts and advice! I have chosen to steer clear of this blogger's request and I am just so glad my gut told me to reach out to all of you!

thank you again

[MythOfTheWild]

NOOOPE, don't do it at all. Not for cash. This is a big mistake. Bloggers like these are generally bad people, and there are SO VERY MANY bloggers that would do exactly this for free. I would keep away from them, especially as they messaged you first. This implies that they're messaging lots of other people too, to make money, and will not do your work justice. I honestly don't think it's worth it, not to mention that $35 is one of the highest prices I've seen for this type of thing.

Honestly, it's not a scam, but it's almost there. You do NOT need to pay money for this type of thing. The only time paying money is worth while is if you're buying an ad space and a post comes with it, but even then, ad spaces are overrated, especially on a sidebar, or on a blog that displays 20+

[lippybrand]

I would not pay to be featured either. I have done trades with bloggers before- send them product for a feature and even that I am very cautious. I don't know if I have made sales from it or not... Checking my stats I see that I have gotten minimal views.

[Former_Member]

Just don't. If it's a reputable blog and worth your time, they won't need to contact you, it'll be the other way around. Blogs that contact you are almost never worth your time or money. Especially your money.