The Wall Street Journal just did a great piece on how bloggers are now becoming the target for PR firms, as bloggers have the ability to create the buzz for new products by just showering bloggers with free stuff. They even highlight mommy bloggers as being a great resource to hype up their products, television shows, & movies.
“Who says you can’t buy love? Trying to tap into the burgeoning power of blogs as promotional tools and fed up with the jaded attitudes of professional critics and TV feature writers, studios and networks are flooding bloggers with free stuff in hopes the flattered recipients will reward them with positive coverage. Flowing into the trough is everything from fancy gym bags and toasters to video iPods and free trips. Some networks — in the spotlight this week as they unveil their fall schedules to advertisers — have even borrowed a term from the technology industry to describe the strategy: blogola.” WSJ
As a mommy blogger, I have had the opportunity to review tons of great products out on the market. Being on the mailing list of these public relations companies has been a dream come true for my family. Who wouldn’t want to try products before they come out? Who wouldn’t want to be able to give their opinions (good or bad) on things that they receive and provide feedback to companies on what moms really want?
We get probably four to six requests daily to review products and of those requests I may pick one or two. I try to pick products that fit well with my audience and the ones that I think you all would enjoy hearing about. Some of them are affordable and some are not, but I like to also highlight ways that moms can organize or run their homes more efficiently. I try to do my best to pick work-at-home moms and support what they do, as so many people have supported me in getting our site to this point. I try to share without compromising my integrity and always disclose to the companies that it will be a very honest review, which may/may not be very flattering.
Do you guys enjoy seeing products featured here? Do you take the opinion of mommy bloggers into account? Are moms selling out by featuring products on their blogs? If the tables were turned around, how would you respond to an outpouring of free stuff?