Comments on: ‘Sponsored conversations’ and Knitting Blogs

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:48:54 +0000

I think as long as you’re up front about how you obtained the product, it isn’t a problem. Although, what if you hate it? That might be tricky. I personally would feel icky about dissing a yarn (e.g.) on my blog if it had been sent to me gratis. And do you send it back, or give it away?

By: Cara

Cara — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:19:25 +0000

Just wanted to say that I have never blogged about anything I love unless I really really love it. No one’s ever paid me or compensated me for my opinions in any way.

By: Marnie

Marnie — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:01:42 +0000

I am pretty comfortable with how I approach blogging about products
1. Yarn: Almost all designers get free yarn here and there and I don’t think there’s anything inappropriate about accepting free yarn. Because of the magazine model for producing knitting patterns, almost all the most popular patterns have been knit from yarn supplied at no cost to the knitter or publisher. I think it’s par for the course.
2. Book reviews: If I’m asked to do one, I will decide if it’s a book review I’d like to do and if it is, I will clearly state, at the top of my post, that I was approached to write the review. I also have no objections to stating my genuine opinion of the book, good or bad.
3. Link backs: I delete emails simply asking me to link to someone. I will link to a company on my links page if I have had a good experience with them and like their products. For instance, I always link back to the Golding website when I post about my spindles. Honestly, if I didn’t, inevitably, someone would ask about it and I’d have to send them a link anyway, but even for just general fiber arts supplies, I like to link to companies who I think offer good values to customers and good customer service as well. I won’t name names, but there’s a site I know of that has a great selection but dreadful customer service so I don’t shop with them and I don’t link to them. Anything that is an outright advertisement, appears in a clearly designated spot on my blog.
In all cases, I feel that two rules apply to any situation where I might be potentially advertising for a company or product.
Firstly, I am honest about my relationship, if any, with the company or individual. If I’m reviewing my best friend’s book, I’m going to say as much. If I was sent needles for free, by a marketing director at a company, I’ll say as much. I don’t ever want a reader to feel mislead.
Secondly, if someone sends me something free it’s my prerogative to review it honestly. If someone sends me a book and it’s got major errors in it, I’ll say as much. If a yarn bleeds all over my hands, I’ll say so. It’s sender beware and I’m happy to state as much before sharing my address with the person.
My 2¢

By: Christy

Christy — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:26:59 +0000

Yarn Samples: I know a lot of people who would say “The worst they can say is no.” If you look at it from the yarn producer’s standpoint, they may stand to sell a whole lot of yarn to people who like your design and want to knit it in the same yarn, even the same colorway. For a yarn producer, it *is* a risk. It’s generally part of the marketing budget, but it is a risk. What if your pattern makes their yarn look like cat barf? What if your pattern doesn’t sell well because you’ve chosen the wrong type of yarn for it because you got it free?
As an “indie dyer” (I don’t really like that term, but it’s the accepted nomenclature), I get requests to donate yarn for this thing and that, and I think about each and every request. We’re a small company, and really, affording to be able to send away skeins of yarn for no profit (and paying shipping on top of that) isn’t in our budget. We’ll accept sometimes (like sponsoring the fingerless gloves group newsletter, or donating to one of the festivals we go to), but most of the time, it’s not worth it to us to do so.
A larger producer may see it as less of a risk, as they have more capital, and the loss of even 10 skeins of yarn doesn’t hit their bottom line so badly. A larger producer may be less choosy about where they send their yarn, figuring that if they send it to the right designer, it may end up that they sell 100,000 skeins instead of 50,000, and they’d just have to order more of that specification.
I think as long as you state that you have accepted this yarn without paying for it while you’re designing your whatever, that it’s ok to do so. As long as you’re up front with people on where the yarn came from, and don’t try to hide it, it’s probably an ok thing to do.