If You Want Money, Fame, and Free Products... Then This Is Not The Industry For You!

I'm still fairly new to this business, the blogging business. Specifically, the beauty blogging business. But, with anything that we do, there are always pros and cons to the business. One particular con of mine truly disturbs me: The Bloggers Who Blog Just For Money, Fame, and Free Products....


I wish you all could see my face every time I come across an individual like this. It's usually the Kanye West Rest B**ch Face. LBVS!!! Why? Because it truly ruins the experience for everyone involved. Let me explain what I mean by truly breaking this down.

1. It ruins the experience for your followers. As someone who loves certain bloggers (Jaclyn Hill is my fav!) the reason I love her is because she is genuine. She gives her honest opinion and makes you feel like she's your best friend. I've used her code to buy things at Morphe not because I felt pressured to. But because she raved about them soooooooo much. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about on top of saving money. When you're blogging for fame and a check and free stuff *insert side eye* it's VERY NOTICEABLE!!! You try too hard, your personality never shows, and you look salesy. I have enough people trying to sell me something. I don't need bloggers who see a gold mine simply try to take advantage of me. Your followers want an experience. They want a friend. They want someone they can connect with. I'm sorry, but I cannot feel a connection with someone who's intention was never to connect with me in the first place. That's when you lose followers, thus ruining the experience for them.

2. It ruins the experience for other bloggers. So, you lost a follower because of your selfish intention. Great. Guess what happens next? They question ME!!! Yes that's right. Me and thousands who REALLY DO love what they do and aren't in it for the money are now being looked at sideways because YOU ruined that trust. You took advantage of someone for your own personal gain. Now we have to work super hard to convince them that we're not in it for the money. On top of all of that, it's a slap in the face. Beauty Blogging and the industry itself is something that we value greatly. It's not something that we take lightly. We invest in it because we love it. When I sit down in front of my mirror to create a look, it makes me happy. I am in my comfort zone, I am being creative. I am creating something for people to see. What is something new and fresh that I can do for my followers? That is the question I ask myself every single time I sit in front of my mirror. I also feel bad when I haven't done anything in a while. I feel like I have somehow neglected them. I don't ever want any of my followers to feel like I have forgotten about them. Do you know how much I get paid to do that? $0. Do you know how much fame I get from that? As much as people like it. Do you know how many free products I get for it? Seriously, I can count on 1 hand how many free products I have received. I continue to do it. Why? Because I love it and I love my followers. Having someone that is just in for money, fame, and free products is out right offensive to me and so many others who love what they do. It shows a great lack of respect for something we value so much. It's hurtful and disrespectful. And while we are on the subject of free products.....

3. It ruins the experience for YOU! Who doesn't like free stuff. I know I love free things. I received something free today that I TOTALLY wasn't expecting. Keyword there is expecting. If you are expecting to be sent free items from companies just because you take awesome pics, then you, my friend, are in the wrong business. I'm not lying when I say that I can count on 1 hand how many times I was sent something for free. Majority of everything I use in my pictures, I've purchased. At most, I had a discount. But I totally purchased them. Yet, I still rave about them. That's the experience you are missing out on! Do you know how awesome it is to discover a brand, buy their product, talk about it, and send everyone who loves and values your opinion their way to try it out for themselves? OMG!! What a rush to do something for someone else. The best part is, it comes back to you. I invested in Beauty For Real. They were the 1st company to contact me and ask me to be apart of their program. I invested in their product and fell in love with them. Not only have I sent people their way, but I have added their brand to my store. Have I received products from them that I didn't pay for? Yes. But did I ask for them? NO! It was a complete and total surprise to me and greatly appreciated. You lose that thrill of someone simply being able to thank you on that level because your motive is to bring attention to yourself. You don't get the opportunity to truly appreciate what you have because the intent was selfish. It makes what you're doing work as opposed to something that you love and you just so happen to make money doing it.


Basically what I am saying is, if this isn't something that you truly love, then don't do it. Find your passion. Don't just take something that you're good at and see others be successful from and say "oooo great way to make money." I say that with anything. There are greater blessings in blessing others than doing things for self gain. You will go farther in life if you do things from the heart as opposed to doing it for you. The secret to being a successful beauty blogger is simply loving what you do. I encourage everyone who wants to be a part of this amazing and talented industry to do it from your heart. Your pockets will flow naturally.

Much Luv,

Aly