I have had the great pleasure of meeting some amazing and inspiring mummy bloggers during my time of blogging and I know all too well how much we pride ourselves and our blog. Blogging is not easy, it takes time and dedication and our blogs become part of our lives. We share our own lives, problems, family and offer support on them in the hope of helping others.
While mummy bloggers are targeted all the time by PR and business companies they are a long way off from actually getting it right.
We are not lazy mothers sat in our pjs behind our laptop screen, OK yes I do 90% of my blogging in my PJs but we are also very shrewd business women too.
I am in a generous mood today so I will play nice and not name names;
An email arrived earlier today from a very well-known catalogue company; I am guessing hundreds of other mummy bloggers received this too.
The promise was if I wrote about a certain celebration and linked back to the costumes that this catalogue was selling then they would put me in the draw to win one of three costumes they are giving away.
The problem here is;
I do not have any spare time today to research and write you a personal post that will fit in around what you are trying to sell.
You are not going to send me the product to see for myself if it’s worth writing about; I will not advertise products that I cannot add my own personal thoughts on
After emailing back to clarify I cannot do this, I received a reply that I could win one – well I know at least 2,000 mums and dads who blog so the chance of me winning 1 when you only have 3 are pretty slim
Another email with promises of a fantastic guest post, I always welcome guest posts but the problem is the guest posts are written for the business in mind. They are not slightly bothered about my readers of my blog, they are dedicating a whole 500 words to how great they are, while throwing in a few meaningless tips.
I know nothing about you, your product or your company so why would I want to give up a limited slot to advertise for you in return for what?
I am not blogging to make money, I do not want any financial gain but I do want to be spoken to and treat with respect.
Please stop taking mummy blogger for fools because we are not, having children did not mash up our brains. We are here to provide a service and most of us will help you if you actually stop and take us seriously.
The reason you have already contacted us tells us you need us.
Yes I love reviews, if the product actually fits with my blog. I had one PR sk if I would review a penis enlarging thing ? I have never written about the size of my husband’s manhood.
What do you think Mummy Bloggers what is your biggest PR pet hate?
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About The Real Supermum
There is absolutely nothing wrong with blogging in pj’s. If any thing its a must. My pet PR peeve is when they send you the info and just assume you are sitting there waiting for their email and will put the info up. They don’t ask before hand but just send the info and then add they can send more info if needed.
@MummyBarrow @LoveAllBlogs Ladies I ask your thoughts http://t.co/fip8ce0s
Well I haven’t actually had anyone getting in contact with me yet about reviews, PR opportunities, nothing like that whatsoever. But if I was going to do something like that it would have to be entirely on my terms otherwise I am not interested!
How well said
my pyjamas give me my power! This is the exact reason I just don’t want to start doing reviews on my blog – feels like a huge nightmare waiting to happen… I bet they wouldn’t send that email to a journalist now would they. Shows a lack of respect for bloggers full stop. Love a rant 
x
As a PR (don’t hate me all at once!), it’s interesting to read this post. I think the PR industry has a lot of rethinking to do – it’s only very recent history that there were bloggers and especially bloggers with such large audiences. The PR industry and its clients suddenly stood up and started to take notice but there seems to be a misguided opinion that bloggers need content and will “run anything”! It’s all about education and posts like this certainly help! I have always respected bloggers – in many cases their audience is so targeted and so perfect that they are actually far more valuable than more general magazines and papers – hopefully it won’t take too long for everyone to realise it!
By the sound of it i think the people behind these emails really needs to re evaluate their title – Public relations. Yes they have a product to sell, yes they need to advertise but to me they are failing in their jobs by not doing THEIR homework correctly and personalising emails. It’s common sense that if you want to sell something, you have to make/word the product to fit into someones world. After all it is the public you want to buy your item.
Sending a bog standard email is hardly imaginitive !