As a blogger who does reviews and a person who networks with many other similar bloggers, I have had some awesome experiences with companies and those that represent them as well as interactions that were not so good. I asked in my networking groups what some of the biggest complaints and what some of the best experiences were.I wanted to share this in the hopes that as this industry of companies seeking exposure with bloggers is constantly evolving, some things could be said that may change it for the better.

To be clear, I do not want to sound ungrateful or make the bloggers who shared their thoughts on the subject sound ungrateful, but we just have some rants and raves that need to be put in the open. Hopefully this will help communicate what works and what doesn’t on our end.

Rants:

1. Please do not pitch us, telling us you have products for us to review and when we respond back, ignore our email. We know that you are busy, but if days go by and we still don’t hear back from you, it feels like a waste of time for both you and us. Many times, I will write a company back expressing my interest and get a pitch for another similar product the same day, but I pick you to work with. If I don’t hear back from you, I may have missed out on working with the other company as well. This time waster makes neither company happy and it makes me feel like I just wasted a bunch of time for nothing.

2. If you make an arrangement with us to send a product, please do so in a timely manner. We know there are times when you can’t for whatever reason. If there is a hold up on shipping, please just drop me an email to let me know.

3. When the product gets here, it may take weeks to get your review posted. This is not because we are just too lazy to get to it. It is most likely because there were already products here being reviewed that were here before yours. Also, it could be that your product requires us to use it over a period of time to reach a solid opinion. I have had companies send me a product and 2 days later ask me to hurry up and get my review posted. This is not only unfair to us, but unfair to the companies that have products here before yours. If you have a deadline, please make arrangements beforehand. Most of us can squeeze you in for a deadline date.

4.Please don’t expect us to work for free. For many of us, this is our job. This is how we support our families. Most bloggers have rates for posting about a product or service that they are not receiving for review. This is because we get hundreds of pitches a week asking us to cover a product/service. Blogging takes most of us a full day’s work. We don’t have time to post everyone’s material for free, nor should we. This is our business. You get paid to promote, why shouldn’t we? Most bloggers are not only reasonable in their rates, but they are often willing to negotiate a price. If you are asking us to promote your product or service, you are asking us to advertise. Blogging advertising rates are extremely low cost compared to other avenues of advertising. Consider too, your post will stay up permanently on most blogger’s sites. That is of great benefit to a company, unlike paying for a banner that is not searchable and is only for a set period of time. I have seen products I reviewed 6 months ago show up as a recently searched item that landed them on my page.

5. There are no guarantees of sales or of number of fans you will gain through a review or giveaway. Please don’t demand you get sales or a set amount of fans. I can’t make people like your Facebook page and I can’t force my readers to buy your product. I can make sure they hear about it, however.

6. Before pitching, please take a few moments to read or look at our blogs. Most bloggers have a media kit that lets you know simple things like what they blog about and the blogger’s personal stats such as if they are married, have children or pets. Make sure your product or service would be a good fit, otherwise you are often wasting your time. Also, please, for the love of bob, don’t address us as “Dear Mommy blogger, Dear Blogger, Dear incorrect name..” It tells us you didn’t even look at our blog.

7. Don’t ask us to not disclose we got the product for free for review, use dofollow links or violate the FTC or Google’s rules. Doing so can risk us getting the blog we worked hard on get shut down and face steep fines. Your company can face hefty fines as well.

8. If you work with us on a giveaway for our readers, please ship the prize out in a timely manner. It is devastating to have to tell fans that win and want to know where their prize is 2 months later that you can’t do anything about it because the company is ignoring your emails. It makes us look bad and it makes your company look terrible. It’s a great way to lose a potential regular customer and who knows how many people they will tell? No blogger wants to be that middleman that gets looked at bad because a company is not fulfilling their end of the deal.

9. Please understand that most of us have families and busy lives. We have sick kids, crisis’s, and hiccups that may prevent us from getting a post out in a timely manner. While we take our job seriously, our families must come first.

10. If you have a product you want us to review, please mention all your details in the first email with us. There is nothing more annoying or unprofessional than using tactics that get us to agree to something, only to lay out the “small print” after we have the product or agree to it. We feel tricked and treated like we are not smart enough to know how to do our jobs. We feel you are trying to pull one over on us. Don’t over pitch more bloggers than you have product available for. Its annoying to reply only to be told you no longer have products but here’s a free “High res image”.

Raves:

1. I love a company that “Gets it”. They understand that not only is the product our compensation, but that it is a lot of work to write a post and promote it. Generosity and ease of working with a company often gets rewarded with extra promotion, positive talk in networking groups, a sale to myself down the road and a willingness to go the extra mile for you.

2. I love companies that remember me for other opportunities. If a blogger does an excellent job, the best compliment is to come back and ask them to work with you again on another product. We need high fives, too!

3. We love to answer questions. I love when a company asks me questions about the review process or myself. I like to make small talk, too.

4. I love when a company gives me feedback on a post I did. Tell me what you liked! Give me a pat on the back if you think I did a good job! If you got sales from my post, I want to know about it so I can cheer you on as well!

5. Companies that reply in a timely manner and make things right when a product does not perform well get brownie point from most bloggers. We love your professionalism!

6. The best companies I have worked with have been ones that cut out all the “PR lingo” and just talked to me like a human being in emails. Most of us are friendly and fun and full of life! We love our blogs and we love what we do. Don’t be afraid to crack jokes, make light of things or ask me about the weather! I believe you can remain professional and still be laid back and fun.

7. It is absolutely wonderful and encouraged for you to share our posts on your social media accounts. You know your customers and you know they would love to hear all about you, so please feel free to share!

8. Thank you for allowing me to be creative with my posts. Blogging is not like advertising in the way that it is more like a personal testimony. By all means, if I got a fact incorrect, feel free to point it out to me, but don’t tell me how to write my stuff.

9. Honesty and integrity is very important to most bloggers. Thank you for allowing us to give our honest opinions! That is after all, what a review is.

10. You are absolutely awesome if you tell me what posts of mine you liked or you address me as my name appears on my site or mention my blog’s name. It lets me know you chose me to work with because you pay attention to the details of who I am.

Bloggers and PR professionals, do you have anything to add?