Are We Giving Away Our Economic Future?

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 gave women the right to equal pay for equal work and yet today millions of us are giving away our social media skills that directly benefit for-profit companies. We discriminate against ourselves when we don’t charge for our airtime up front. It’s not a direct correlation, but the point is the same, let’s not go backwards.

This becomes a bigger issue as the Information Age replaces the Industrial Age. How are we going to make a living when we undermine the policies created to prevent this from happening?  This includes the guys as well, but consumer companies don’t want male bloggers, they want female bloggers with lots and lots of female friends. And they don’t want us just for our writing skills, they could (and do) hire people for that, they want us to bring our friends, engage them in their products, and SEO our work to pull in readers for decades. They want our influence.

The for-profit company spokesperson often pitches, “If you don’t do it, there are plenty who will and get the rewards.” Saying yes after that offer is like saying that you would rather be standing at the front of the breadline (even if there is no bread) than to be free to do something more productive, such as writing for yourself free of editors and contracts.

So let’s talk about these “rewards” – what are they exactly when cash isn’t one of them?  Top of the list is notoriety, the thrill of being seen as one of “them” a top blogger featured in ________________, always good for the self-esteem. Building a body of work is another, but isn’t that what our blogs do already? Paying your dues… again we paid our dues or they wouldn’t be contacting us. And the all-time favorite, “It will drive traffic to your site and give you exposure.” Oh pa-leeze, it may help the ranking of our sites to be linked to a big brand, but the real traffic benefit goes to the company. As Megan@happiestmom said in her comments on Babble.com, “You can die of exposure.”

That said, there are real reasons to say “yes” when someone comes knocking.

1. Their mission is your mission. Regardless of the pay scale, your online reputation is priceless and isn’t for sale or rent. Make sure your name is attached to people, places, things, companies, and organizations that you believe in or don’t do it.
2. They are doing things to make the world a better place and it won’t take any time.  It may not be your mission, but if it only takes a minute to tweet or LIKE, why not do it? Everything you touch goes on the big tally board in the sky and is sold to business. Consider it pay-it-forward work — by supporting the good gals and guys you’re telling those tracking the metrics that you appreciate companies with ethics, socially responsible work, low impact products…
3. You’re a student. WRONG not for free! Interns are protected by law to be either paid or receive college credit for their learning time. When you are self-employed, only you can look out for you.
4. They’re a friend/start-up company/non-profit. All heart-tugging reasons to say yes and it feels good to help people out. When it stops being an equitable exchange of energies, however, politely move on.
5. Their platform will expand your platform. If you have an on-going business with products and services that you sell on your site or a mission to promote, the answer is MAYBE. There are many time-sink considerations as well as platform expansion. Once you’re featured on a site, you have to continue to feed the beast. Is that where you want to put your time? Are the returns worth it? Can you cap the commitment to once a month, i.e. just enough to claim that you’re one of “them,” but not enough to drain your energy.  What about that contract, does it tie you to them for years and ONLY to them? Print the fine print and read it.
6. Strategic Partner or Affiliate. What are the long-term effects of this marriage? The next economy is being co-created now; choose your partners wisely.
7. CASH, PRODUCTS, TRIPS, TANGIBLES… YES! But only after the above considerations are met.

We recently hosted a survey to see how Social Media Mavens were being paid in today’s market. Go there if you’d like to add your anonymous information to it.

The responding Mavens averaged 500-25,000 people a month.  Their Twitter and Facebook followers fell in the same range, if readership was high in one, it was high in all.  Very few mavens employed Google+.

Most are paid to produce product reviews, or blog posts with embedded product mentions or links. They also are paid to speak or network on behalf of the company at public events or conferences.

THE FREEBIES

All the Mavens have done things for free and are finding that it is no longer financially sustainable. How sad would it be to lose these women’s opinions and solutions due to lack of funding at a time when lobbyists are paid millions to influence congress to do nothing? Social media is great for pushing ideas around, but first you need the ideas to push.

It was interesting, but not surprising that they “volunteer online” work an average of 4 hours a week more than offline volunteer work. They monitor rating services, write blogs and Facebook posts, tweet… doing it for increased ranking, fun, eco-activism, creative expression, free conferences, personal brand building. Only one person said that she NEVER gives away online work to for-profit companies; and all are being more selective as to who they give their time to even if it is a non-profit.

FOR PAY

Having their sites monetized and ready to make the most of additional traffic was a key pre-step — Google Ad Words, Share-a-Sale and Blogging Ads were the top services used beyond affiliate marketing.  (Check out the survey or the full list)

Onsite ads paid out anywhere from $50-$100 a month

Site sponsorships were all over the place, $1000-$5000 monthly being the highest with Sponsorship ads bringing in $50-$250 a month.

Per Post writing ranged between $25-$800 with $300 as the average. (Our bad, we didn’t ask how many words came with the price.)

Weekly Retainers came in between from $100-$500 a week up to $2000 per month for full social media management. Services included tweeting, Facebook postings, and blog posts.

OTHER PAY FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION:

Cash Cards, but only if the card furthers your mission. If you promote organic food, then getting a Starbucks card (that sells maybe one kind of organic/fair trade coffee in a bag if you can find it) may not be a good fit of intentions.

Free Products or Coupons, again, only if the products further your mission and if they are truly something needed. We have closets full of stuff we don’t need.

Barter for Intangible Services that have a low/no impact on the planet such as haircuts, spa treatments, kayaking…

The Cost of Trips and Conferences, only if they cover conference tickets, hotel, transportation, expenses, and your time. Boondoggles are fun, but at some point you have to feed your family and unless you ask for a wage up front, you will have nothing new to give the grocer.  What sales rep would accept an office and travel expenses only to not be paid when they closed a sale? When they send you to a conference they are hiring a “sales rep” and a Social Media Maven with an established network who knows how to make friends and influence the market with a single word.

WHO IS FILLING YOUR STOCKING?

Every minute on this planet is precious. Your ideas and writings take effort to generate. For the first time in female history, you have the power to be published, affect change, and co-create a living wage all at the same time. How cool is that?

Remember, when a company contacts you for free services, it’s because you have already proven yourself as a hard working Social Media Maven capable of achieving high-ranking value, followers and links. That’s what they want, the numbers and the influence. The first question out of your mouth should be, “Are you a for-profit company”? If so, then let them know that you are open to all equitable payment arrangements and link them to your advertising page (see Beth’s for ideas).

What’s the worst that can happen? You either get more free-to-be-you time or you are paid. Companies spend millions on lobbyists, advertising, and stupid stuff, it’s time they truly value the women who are greasing the consumer skids for them and spreading social good that will benefit companies for decades.

What you do in the end is between you and your banker. It’s my hope that this provides some guidance on issues you may not have thought about.

You owe it to yourself to be compensated fairly; by requiring payment, you honor those who worked for a discrimination free, equal-pay, and living wage world. Lastly, think about the next generation. If we set the precedence of working for free now, then what hope do our daughters and sons have of earning a living in an Information Age where social media is the norm?