The Raw Deal That Content Creators / Influencers / Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) / Bloggers STILL Get From People / Brands / Businesses To ‘Tell Their Stories’ For FREE!

I am genuinely alarmed that there are (still?) people / brands / businesses who expect a content creator / influencer / key opinion leader / blogger to show up for a launch event (at their own cost) to ‘tell their story’ free of charge.

As in, they want you there, but don’t think 3 or 4 hours of your time to help them ‘tell their story’ in a compelling and meaningful way that will generate awareness + engagement + sales is worthy of financial compensation.

The most amusing part is many such people / brands / businesses will give you a gift bag with a notebook, water bottle, t-shirt, cap, and maybe even a powerbank or laptop stand (if they are generous) and that is considered ‘rewarding’ enough.

The worst part its the same sort of people / brands / businesses that seem to be doing pretty well commercially and therefore its within their purview to compensate, but they claim to have no budget?!

Indeed, from experience, in the early days of social media, it was super cool for a top-tier brand to validate the excellence of your content and reach out to you to attend their events for free. The recognition was priceless — and we all felt honored to do so. We mattered! However, in the current context, its insulting!

Something is very wrong with this warped way of thinking where the said content creator / influencer / key opinion leader / blogger is expected to attend ‘free’ engagements due to the ‘access’, ‘visibility’, or ‘networking’ opportunities they will (purportedly?) get in the process.

Going forward, it seems to me that the said people / brands / businesses will get a rude awakening when no one decides to show up (at all!) since the power of attention has truly shifted from legacy media to social media and those who are its best storytellers are worth their weight in gold. Mark. My. Words.