The most ANNOYING thing somebody can say to a blogger…

Right, I get it. Being a blogger and the blogging industry and digital media is a serious WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT minefield if you haven’t got a clue about it. I find myself daily explaining to people what I do for a living and why I spend most nights out and about, with a camera constantly in my hand taking more photos than a tourist and spending my whole life checking my emails, talking about my blog and thinking about what I’m to write about next.

Please NEVER EVER EVER say to me ‘oh it must be nice, you get all of that for free’ and if you’re a blogger never ever say that you’ve had a free meal or free merch, it literally shows the rest of the industry you don’t get the concept of what we do.

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I get nothing for free. You heard this correctly. Yes, I may be sent gorgeous candles, fantastic makeup, I go to events and eat delicious food, drink as much prosecco as humanly possible AND then have to drink my best friends too because she’s so polite to say she doesn’t drink but this all comes at a price!

My time.

I’m currently writing this after spending my whole day, sending emails, organising events, writing numerous paid posts (with real money, I have very expensive taste – I don’t do stuff for ‘free’), attending a gorgeous event and it’s now 00:30, I have a train to catch in the morning but for now, my day continues, it’ll continue for at least 2 more hours as I write and schedule.

Bloggers and business

Don’t get me wrong I love it but it all comes at a price. Yes, I write posts in exchange for products and food & drink but this is only a small part of my business. This is the social aspect of it, to network, to build relationships and secure opportunities for a longevity partnership with the company and other brands.

The more attractive you are as a marketing entity, the more attracted people are to working with you. Literally, catch me any time of the day and I’ll probably be talking about blogging or media.

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It consumes my life, you will never ever hear me discredit myself or anybody else by saying ‘they got it for free’. They worked for it. They were there taking photos of the food, they were there checking in on Facebook, they were there redrafting their post to get it perfect, to grow their business.

It’s a complicated world and if you want to truly understand how it works and how you can make money from blogging and how lucrative it is I have all the time in the world for you, the more people that just get what I do for a living, the less time I spend explaining and the more time I can spend at events!

Nothing in life is ever free and your time certainly isn’t one of them.