Flaky PR People, Bloggers are not Beggars

I've been in contact with a few PR representatives that are pushy or dodgy, but for the most part, they are professional, kind and understanding. In the business of PR and marketing, you can't really afford to be anything less because you are representing a company, a brand and an image.

I have had PR representatives ask to send me items for review but eventually backed out without ever informing me. I don't have a problem with them changing their minds because perhaps they've found blogs that better represent their products. I don't know and I really don't care. I just wish they would let me know instead of continuously reassuring me that they will send whatever it is they were going to send when they know for a fact that it such a package will never arrive at my doorstep. Why contact bloggers just to ignore them?

image via jpublicrelations

I don't really know what happened with SASA. They wanted me to review their products one minute and decided during the long process of preparing the package that they were not going to send it. (I simply tossed out the BB cream editorials.) A similar thing happend with Eyeko, but to an extent I can understand. They send out their temporary interns to ask me to review their products. The first girl who contacted me was kind, smart and made things happen quickly. After she left her position, I was left in contact with very confused interns. The conversations got messy, weeks turned to months and I eventually loss all interest in working with their company.

The flaky PR people are at least polite in their emails. I have encountered some representatives that are pushy, sarcastic and downright rude. They're nice only when their products are reviewed favorably but turn sour as soon as things don't go their way. I know we bloggers are not magazine editors. We're not famous celebrities. We're people - like you. So treat us like you would like to be treated or don't email us at all and we can all go on with our lives.

How can I be annoyed when I am getting offered free products to review? I think some people think bloggers just sit around to wait on free things. I have a life, a job and a career to fulfill. Blogging is not glamorous and receiving unprofessional, impersonal pitches are not fun. I blog because I have fun doing so and because I like my readers, not because it pays well (or at all). It takes time and effort to test a product and to write reviews. I do not accept money or rewards to write reviews. If I spent my blogging time working my real job, I would be a lot richer. I don't want a $100 pen holder that I will never, ever use. Just because you price it at $100 doesn't mean it is worth that. To me, that pen holder is barely worth a dollar and my blog readers don't necessarily want to hear about it. Do you see where I am going with this? I respond to pitches when I am genuinely interested. So please don't waste my time. Bloggers are not beggars. We write reviews because we want to share the experience with our readers and not because we have to or because we feel indebted to a particular PR representative or conglomerate. We're grateful only to our readers who are genuinely interested in what we have to say.


And while I'm at it, let me add a last bit of advice: Pay your interns. They'll work a lot better and like you a little more. These interns represent your company and image more than your advertisements.