A Blogger’s Worth

Since attending the Type-A Mom Conference, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about where I’d like to take my blogging.  When I started blogging a year and a half ago, I intended to use my blog as a platform to practice regular writing and to have my writing be seen. Since then, I see blogging as so much more. Blogging allows people to connect, to utilize their talents, to learn new things, and to grow. These things are especially poignant with respect to moms who blog.

The Blogger Town Hall Meeting, at the Type-A Mom Conference, was an open discussion among conference attendees regarding working with brands, receiving compensation, and discovering one’s worth. The idea of my worth as a blogger was a big takeaway for me. There was discussion on whether it was enough to blog in exchange for product samples or whether bloggers should be compensated monetarily for the service they provide companies, businesses, and brands.

Amy, of Mom Spark, expresses her opinion on this issue on her blog in a post called Product Reviewers are Bloggers, Too, and I agree with many of the points she makes. If you’re a blogger who is happy blogging for “cupcakes” or other product sample, that is wonderful. Receiving free products and finding out about new initiatives is a significant benefit to blogging. And, as Amy points out, who is anyone to say that isn’t enough or that product reviewers aren’t “real writers”?

I’ve seen a great deal of this disparaging attitude among bloggers who feel that blogging for free product is selling out. I do think that many of these opponents do have the best interest of their fellow women at heart. They want to see that bloggers are fairly compensated.

As a former college counselor, I worked with many students who decided to go back to school due to career dissatisfaction. A big reason for being unhappy in one’s job is the disconnect between what she’s giving and what she’s receiving; her ideas about work and the rewards she gets from it are incongruent. In other words, if you’re unhappy in your career, it may be because you’re not getting enough of something. That something could be money, recognition, or self-fulfillment.

If you’re feeling that your worth as a blogger is being compromised, I recommend taking some time to evaluate the reasons why. Many of us may feel we’re being taken advantage of, that we’re putting more work into our blogs than we receive in compensation. Again, compensation doesn’t have to be money.

Try not to compare your blog to others’, and don’t let the negativity of some bring you down. Write a list of what you love about blogging and what might be lacking. Then come up with a game plan of how to fix what’s wrong. If you’d like to make more money from your blog, look into selling direct ads or joining affiliate programs you believe in. If you’d like more interaction in your community, put forth extra effort to reach out to others on their blogs, Facebook, or Twitter. Consider starting your own blogging support group. Get together with your best blogging buddies to support each other and to brainstorm ideas that will benefit everyone.

Type-A Mom founder, Kelby Carr, has recently launched a new initiative to connect mom bloggers with companies who want to work with them. We’re a very powerful demographic in the economy today. Momtent will match bloggers with brands who wish to pay them in order to receive reciprocal benefits.

If you’re content with your blogging situation, that’s fabulous! Share your excitement with others. Tell naysayers why you love what you’re doing and what you get from it.

What works for you? Have you been thinking about your own worth as a blogger?

Photo of woman and money, copyright hyperbolic pants explosion on Flickr.

Mary Davis loves blogging. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have three of them! Visit her at Everyday Baby Steps, Adventures In Freelancing, and Never Too Late For College.

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