The Ugly Side of Sponsored Work

As a blogger or influencer (depending on which term you prefer) I work with brands and other companies on sponsored work. Nine times out of ten I enjoy working with the brand and have no problem agreeing to the terms. Especially since the terms are all laid out prior to me beginning the work. I have had two instances over the years where two major brands asked for more than what the agreed upon contract stated. With one I had no problem doing the one or two little tweaks they asked for.

The other time I ended up having them refer to our signed contract. I get contracts with pretty much every sponsored campaign I work on. I have one, maybe two groups I work with that doesn’t have contracts but I have had no problems with them ever (knock on wood.) I also do sponsored posts. Some I write and there are others who send me articles and I add pictures and a few things then post them. A request to work with me is what triggered this post.

I received an email asking for my rates and such. So, I responded with my standard response which includes my rates and a couple of requirements. Things such as article length, image sizes (if they are sending me images), etc. Nothing major. Most of the time I end up negotiating with whomever sends the email. I am okay with that as I know this is how the business I am in works. Not to mention most brands and people want to get something for the best possible price.

The response I received back was a simple “I pay $5, here is the article. Post it within the hour.” When I read that I was ready to respond with some truly ugly words. I’m all for negotiating or having a response of my prices aren’t in the budget. I’m all for working together to reach an agreement. But to tell me what you will pay and when I need to get something posted before we have agreed to work together is beyond rude. Why bother asking for my rates if they were going to ignore them altogether.

Not to mention $5 is less than minimum wage. I’m certain the person who wrote the article got paid more than that. I told them that I would not be working with them and to please take of their list. They responded with the article again and they needed it posted within the hour. They acted as though I had agreed to the $5 by responding to their email initially and they expected the work to be done. I have no idea where send me your rates translates into I will work for you at your price. In fact, I went through my email five items to ensure I hadn’t worded something that way. I haven’t I assure you.

So, I sent them another response that included screenshots of the original message. Explained what they asked (I shouldn’t have had to do that) and that I hadn’t agreed to anything. The response I got back was a bunch of name calling and how I would never work for them again. I hadn’t worked for them originally!

I’ve been blogging for a while but even way back when I first began I wouldn’t have taken $5 for post. Would I for a good cause? Yes, I might. I might have even agreed to it if they had presented a good argument for why I should. I work with a well known influencer brand that occasionally has share a tweet for $5 and have done that. With that brand it is more about enjoying the work they bring me that is more money than the $5 at the time. I have done articles for free in the past for worthy causes.

While I am more than okay with coming to some sort of agreement when it comes to working together please respect that I can decline the work. Brands and other sponsored posts companies should work with the influencers to come to a better term. Being demanding will typically get you nowhere.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT SPONSORED WORK ON BLOGS AND FROM INFLUENCERS? PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.