Blogging for a Purpose

Most people start blogs for a purpose: to keep family informed about what is going on, to blog about a specific interest (cooking, decorating, sports, etc.), to share information about a specific industry (health care, advertising, banking, etc.) and many more reasons. However, lately I've been reading blogs from normal people, not The Pioneer Woman, Young House Love types, just normal people who blog a lot, and they have been asked by companies to "review" products and write about them (Allyson this is NOT you! I love your Etsy finds of the week because you choose to do it as a way to help others - a totally different thing). To me, this takes away a little bit of the author's authenticity.

Now, some of you may say "Tessa, you have an advertising background, isn't 'Word of Mouth' advertising one of the best tactics?" and to that I would say "yes", but only if it is authentic. Knowing that someone has been asked to pimp a product on their blog or their Twitter page is not very authentic. In fact, (I'm going let you in on a secret that may make me shallow)I used to follow Kim Kardashian on Twitter because I think the Kardashian family is absolutely ridiculous and it intrigues me. However, the ENTIRE family started tweeting about some weight-loss drug that they were paid to promote. Then, a while later they were ALL tweeting about some new cupcake company in LA, who just happened to be supplying the cupcakes for a family wedding. Well, as a result, I quite following them because all it was was advertisements, not a personal look into their lives.

So, this takes me back to the bloggers. Most of these bloggers are just normal people who were sharing pieces of their lives and now all of the sudden, because they have large followings, they are being asked to review and write about products. It's just not my thing. Had they started out with that purpose, maybe I wouldn't be so critical.

Also, I know that the Pioneer Woman started out as a random blogger who just wanted to share her life on a cattle ranch, but she has taken steps to purposely market herself and I like her for that. I think she blogs with a purpose and she tells the reader when a giveaway is sponsored by such and such or when she's cooking recipes for brand XYZ. She doesn't act like she's just taking the time to review these products or share these giveaways because it is coming from the bottom of her heart (which sometimes she does because she's just that cool!).