Last week a
very wonderful and talented blogger announced another round of an annual artsy
swap. I participated in this swap last year and I loved it. The only difference
is that this time she charges a few dollars for participation, because it is so
time consuming for her to organize it all.
This really
got me thinking about artsy stuff, blogging, money and time and how more and more
blogsy people are starting to look for ways to generate either money or
recognition or some other form or reimbursement from their blogs or whatever
they offer on it. And frankly...I'm getting a little annoyed by it. In fact...I'm
apparently so annoyed that a week later I'm still thinking about it and
wondering if I should write a post about this or not. As I'm writing this I
still don't know if I should, so if you're reading this it means that I decided
to share my (not so) little rant just to see what you think about all this.
First of
all let me say that there's nothing wrong with wanting money for your time (if
you're a professional it's even a given) or recognition for your work (that's
just common decency). The costs for the above mentioned swap for instance are very
small. Really, what am I upset about? I can afford it, it's worth it, the hostess deserves it. Of course. But my
naggy voice won't leave me alone and says "If as many people were to
participate as last year she would make as much from this swap as I make in three
weeks at my regular job".
In my experience
art swaps are free, they fall in the range of art trading, you just don't ask
money for them, unless it's for material things like stamps and envelopes. It's
a matter of principle, it's an act of love. I can see that hosting a swap with
hundreds of participants takes a lot of time, but asking money for it will not
in itself diminish the amount of time it costs. The asking of a fee will however
probably help cut down on the amount of participants, but then that wil also
cut down the amount of time required which kind of counters the reason for
asking money for it in the first place. Wouldn't it be smarter to limit the
amount of participants or to go for a different system where the participants
do more of the work? I don't know... and it's none of my business of course. It's
this person's swap and she can do it any darn way she wants. And no, it's not
my intention to diss this person at all (she's a great source of inspiration to
me and thousands of others), it's just what got me thinking about this whole subject
about money, reimbursement and artsy blogs.
More and
more I feel like I'm confronted with the following kind of stuff:
- A whole group of bloggers promoting and praising a book (or class, or blog) of one other blogger and all acting as if they're doing it so spontaneously, when you just know it's just a publicity stunt.
- Bloggers giving away a freebie if you link to their blog.
- Bloggers giving away a freebie if you become a follower.
- Bloggers using their blog just to promote their Etsy shop over and over again. That's what sidebars are for, people! (I'm not talking about someone who mentions their Etsy every now and then, I mean people who only post when there's something new on Etsy.)
- Bloggers mentioning their online class in every post they publish.
- Bloggers referring to their posts as 'content'.
- Bloggers reffering to their projects as 'services'.
- Bloggers reffering to their art as 'products'.
- Bloggers giving away awards to other bloggers but only if you follow this and that rule and so promote them and at least three other bloggers (I wrote a whole post about awards here).
- Bloggers doing giveaways if you put their 'button' on your sidebar.
Nothing is
free and everything comes at a prize. So much marketing is going on that I'm
getting frustrated by it sometimes. Why can't a giveaway just be a giveaway?
Why does it have to boost your amount of followers? And why would you want those
kinds of followers anyway? People that become followers because you give
something away are not the same people that become followers because they love
your blog!
A positive
opinion about a book because the author asked the reviewer to promote it is
worth nothing really. I want real opinions, both positive and negative! I want information that's not biased.
Whenever
one well known mixed media artist has something going on you can bet that ten
of her colleagues will tell us about it on their blog too, which is annoying if
only because you want original posts, not the same thing on ten different blogs.
I'll scratch your back, if you'll
scratch mine. It's not the promotion in itself, it's the way it's orchestrated,
faked.
I like
people who promote something simply because they came across it and loved it. I
like people who give stuff away for the sheer joy of knowing that it will end
up in the hands of someone who adores it. I like people who trade art, because
they love to exchange little treasures with like minded spirits. I like people
who keep blogs just to share what they do and inspire us, or to get feedback on
their work, and who don't worry
about things like 'building an audience'
or how to artificially upgrade the follower count. I like blogs where people
post information without asking anything in return, just because they thought
you might find it useful.
I guess it
comes down to two questions: why do we make art (or do crafts) and why do we blog about it? As
time goes along it feels like I'm moving in the opposite direction of most
blogs. More and more this blog becomes and act of love, something for the sheer
enjoyment and connection it gives and so does my artsy stuff. Less and less I have the need to be receiving
anything for it. Yes, of course I love it that my follower count goes up. Yes
of course I'm over the moon with every positive comment I get. Yes, of course I
was thrilled when I was published last year. I have an ego too! But I don't
want it to be the focus of my art and my blog. While this is happening to me it
seems more and more bloggers are trying to choose the more professional route. There's
a reason artsy business classes like Kelly Rae's are doing so well. But it
influences the simple honest quality of the blogs involved and that worries me
a little sometimes.
The blog
often no longer is a place of expression and community alone, it becomes an
instrument for promotion and marketing or even a source of income. This is understandable but it still
makes me sad and even more resolved to just keep things the way they are on my
own blog (no awards, no advertisements, no tutorials for a fee, honest book
reviews, giveaways without strings attached to them, etc.). No, this will not
make me famous and generate thousands of followers, but that's not why I
got into it in the first place, so who cares?
I know I'm not alone in this and I need to believe that there are
still many bloggers out there for whom the joy and love of the work itself
trumps the marketing or the need to be reimbursed for their efforts.
Now I've
written all the above I am decided to post it as is. I run the risk of being
misunderstood, but so be it. I am very interested in your responses and
opinions even if they are completely opposite to mine. If you've read thus far I am in awe by your
patience and thank you for your attention. ;-)
Hope you're
all having a wonderful artsy week! I promise my next post will contain some pictures again!