Bloggers get FREE things all the time!

Bloggers get FREE things all the time!

That's what my friends always say about me getting sponsored products, trips and services. How much of the sentence above is true?

Wearing my "free" top from Mizuno/ World of Sports, attending a "free" media trial at Forest Adventure

If...

Trading my chicken for your fish is considered as "I-just-got-a-free-fish" then the statement above is very very true as well.

I traded a few free  instagram images for a free basketball and had a good time with the boys. 

What am I saying here? A lot of my friends find that "simply writing a few lines" on my blog in exchange for whatever free is a very easy task and more often than not I hear them follow up with "I also want to be blogger leh".

Please do...

I mean, please go ahead, blogspot is an "open source" platform that everyone can use so really, be my guest and just sign up an account to write. In fact I always encourage people to jump onto this hobby for the love of God writing.

That's really not how it works

It's not wrong to say that we are getting something that we didn't pay for but to be honest, saying that it's FREE it's really a little belittling our job hobby.

This is my wife, and I paid for her myself. Not sponsored. I mean I paid for the hat during St Patrick's Day.

Just to make it clear, we (bloggers in general, I know I can't speak for all of you) do not go around doing "sales" for ourselves (or at least I don't). We DO NOT see a pair of nice Nike shoe on the shelf and instead of paying for it we send an email to Nike and ask for it in return for an article. No, that is not how we work. Truth is we pay for things! And a shopaholic like me, I pay for a lot of things. #TrueStory.

There's really a lot of work behind the scene

It's really more than just "simply a few lines" or "some selfies". I mean beside the fact that we have to think of what to write with the products, edit pictures and what not, many out there have to think about what to write as well when there are no events or no products. It's really not easy to maintain a blog with a specific topic and keep those content filling up a site. People are paid in magazines to come out with content and not everyone is as lucky as me that I can write all the crap I want because my blog is just nothing more than a haphazard toilet roll journal of my crazy ideas and thoughts.

And on top of these, what about time bloggers spent to attend events? thinking of what to wear for events, spending money to buy things to wear for events, having an image, maintaining an image (not for me though), marketing themselves, maintaining relationship with brands/PR or anyone else in the industry.

Truth is, when you ain't keeping yourself "active", readers and our SEO machine aka Google forgets about you. I like to write and I feel happy when people is reading. That is the truth, I'm not going to say things like "I don't care if anyone reads my blog." If I don't care, I would have written this on a notebook and put it under my bed.

An good example of how bloggers shamelessly working hard to get attention onto their blogpost. Tagging people onto random things despite asking him not to. See, it's really hard work! Thinking of strategy and executing. Or we all remember our good old Janiqueel drama.

It's really pretty much like a job for many who takes it seriously and most of us get "paid" are in the form of products or services because client believe in "authentic word of mouth post" instead of paid post which I am totally not against cause for me I believe in paying for what you like and not going around to beg for products.

Of course, things get easier when it's simply a hobby but that being said it's still a lot of time and effort involved.

It's almost like working at Google

It's not like I'm not enjoying such perk's of getting some items or services every now and then because of my hobby but really, it's not as easy and neither is it free. If I have to put it into perspective, it's almost like the free lunch you get for working at Google. It's not exactly free (try walking into the Google office not as a staff and get something out. If you can achieve that, THAT is FREE) but yet you are not paying for it. It's the perks of doing something you like at the right place and of course, because you are doing it well.

Google, you get only the best. And also coconuts. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I am very awesome (maybe just a little) at what I'm doing or it is impossible for you to be doing the same, all I am asking for is a little recognition for our effort. It really ain't as easy as writing a few lines for free lunch. (There's ain't anything as free lunch).

So maybe in the future...

If you bump into another blogger friend and he or she mentioned that the product they are using is sponsored, why not try telling them things like how good they are at what they are doing instead of just belittling it with it's "simply writing".


Mr.Smith, writing is not THAT difficult but blogging these days ain't just about writing.