Ramblings…sponsored posts: should I or shouldn’t I?

It’s something that I’ve been thinking of lately. Payment for a post. Of course, I would only select products from companies that align with my values. I’m not complete sell out, just a little to medium sized one.

I receive requests on a daily basis, asking me what my “rates” are for a post. And to be honest, I say no and decline. And also…I have no idea what my “rates” are!! I’ve never asked for a payment for a post, and it kinda feels weird thinking about it. Like how much is too much? How much is too little? Should I even be asking for money from a small business? Do you care if I do a sponsored post? Am I a business now? What the f*ck is an influencer? Does this make me a sellout? Or is it okay to be compensated for my work?

I started this blog and my Instagram page to chronicle my journey of living a lower waste lifestyle. I do all of this on my spare time (end of sob story)! I didn’t expect people to follow along, I guess I just wanted my shy(ish) voice out there. I wanted a place where I could write about how I’m trying to be a conscious consumer, or at least “more” of an conscious consumer. Heck, I just wanted to be a better human, and thought other people might want to as well. I also wanted a place to keep myself accountable. To stay on track – publicly!

It brought (and still does) brings me joy running this blog and my Instagram page. Of course, it doesn’t all the time. I have my moments with it. Particularly, as someone who spent a year away from social media before starting up my socials again – could I be spending my time more productively elsewhere? It’s something I reassess on a monthly basis.

But, I genuinely enjoy coming up with products to review or talking to businesses about their manufacturing processes. I’ve learnt so much. Not only from the businesses but also from the community in general. It’s such a supportive network, which I love. And it brings a little warmth to my heart reading messages from people telling me I’ve helped them along in their journey. For once, in a really long time, I feel like I have purpose.

A part of me is hesitant to dip my toe into sponsored posts mostly because I hate disappointing anyone, particularly, a loving and caring community such as this one. I’m a pushover and a huge people pleaser. It’s a horrible (yet, also, awesome) part of my personality. I’m more understanding because of it. I play peacekeeper a lot. But sometimes, it also means I don’t take the risks I need to because I’m afraid that I’m not pleasing everyone.

Sponsored posts are contentious. How can you promote a conscious lifestyle and promote products for cash? It seems pretty ridiculous and also like a contradiction. Isn’t your blog about Simple Living??? 

Well, yes and no. The “ish” is there for a reason – to show that I’m not perfect. I’m full of contradictions, but mostly it shows that I’m imperfect and I’m still very much a consumer – we all are. Being alive is to consume. And honestly, my blog has never been about perfection, and trust me I tried being “perfect” and that just made me horribly unhappy.

While I have received some products from companies (which I fully disclose), I don’t actually get paid for my reviews or my Instagram posts. I come up with the ideas for reviews or for a series, mostly because I think people might find it interesting and mostly because I, myself, think it would be interesting. I’m 100% honest with my reviews and try my best to go through a number of tests that you would actually do in real life. For the very few products that I do accept as “gifts”, I only choose products from companies that I feel people will be interested in, and of course, and the company must align with my values.

I should state that I am an recent affiliate of Biome but to be honest I don’t really feel like I am one, as long before I became an affiliate I was shopping almost exclusively at Biome to buy my “low waste” products. (Oh, I get it, the irony of buying something to reduce waste)! Does this constitute as a sponsored post? I personally don’t think so, as for one, I’ve made $0 from it and most of the products I’ve reviewed from Biome are actually products that I paid for myself. So, if people want to know where I got a product, why not share an affiliate link on my blog? (Even though I forget to add the links almost 90% of the time)! So, I don’t actually feel like I’m selling out on this one, but you might differ on this statement of course.

But, sponsored posts are something that I’m considering. I would love to do this full-time, and the only way is to get paid (yet only for things I’m passionate about). For now I have a office job and work fairly standard hours. So, I’ll continue to run this blog and Instagram on my own time. But will it be run on my own money like it currently is? I honestly don’t know. I hope if you see a sponsored post from me in future, you realised it’s not because I’m selling out (only like 49% selling out), it’s mostly because I genuinely believe in the product and feel that it could bring some sort of value to your life, and heck, it also has to bring value to my life as well. And yeah, of course, it will align with my values!

Side note, have you seen this new Mercedes with Nike wheels car? It’s amazing, it’s cured my acne and now I can travel at the speed of light.

*Sponsored by Nike and Mercedes*

*Kidding, not sponsored. But maybe it is*

*Stop confusing people, this isn’t a sponsored post*

*Or is it?*