The blogosphere is abuzz with posts (see Caitlin’s here and Kath’s here) about Bloggers and Freebies and if they’re a “do” or “don’t.”
Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with any one accepting freebies. Celebrities and athletes do it all the time, so why can’t a less famous blogger? Now, I do think that with those freebies, comes some responsibility for the blog author to let their readers know about any freebies or discounts and to strive to maintain an honest opinion of said freebies/etc. For me, I wouldn’t want to lead my readers astray suggesting they buy something I didn’t personally like or support simply because I received that item for free.
I think there’s enough debate going on that I don’t need to go on and on about this.
So, to try to sum this up short and sweet, here’s how I weigh in with me and The Chic Life and the “freebies”:
- I will let you know if I got a product for free or at a discount. To date (unless I’m forgetting something here), I’ve only received 2 freebies: that Buitoni pasta for a Foodbuzz Tastemaker feature and most recently, some coupons for Stonyfield Oikos and other style yogurts (and a re-usable tote).
- I will only blog about items that I feel fit within my blog’s general theme/style.
- I like to follow the Golden Rule – If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all – as much as possible. In fact, I try to avoid being a “critic” because of my preference to follow the Golden Rule. I do like to share products/magazines/recipes/etc. with you guys that I personally love or enjoy in the same way I’d tell a friend about something I think they’d like. If I don’t like something, I’d rather take a more factual (i.e. “this bar is made with rolled oats and maple syrup”) POV or simply not talk about something instead.
- This blog contains a hodgepodge of my thoughts. I always try to say what I mean and mean what I say.
Whether you’re new to TCL or a long-time reader, thank you so much for stopping by and spending some time here at TCL with me. As always, I try to be as honest and true to myself as possible with everything I say/blog here on The Chic Life and plan to maintain the same level of integrity going forward.