Hey guys, I've been wanting to write a blog post about this for quite some time, my good friend Victoria wrote an epic post a while back all about advertising and the online world, go and read it here. Everything she said was correct and I wanted to delve into my own thoughts on ads today. This was inspired after someone commented on one of my sponsored Instagram posts today (so thank you for inspiring my topic!!!) I love hearing from my readers, it's good that we communicate and I appreciate any feedback. But, I really wanted to seriously bite the bullet and talk about this topic as I've put it off for far too long now. Let's discuss...
I was very fortunate to fall into blogging. If you've read my blog post about blogging full time and freelance life, you'll know exactly what I do on a day to day basis (and how much I adore it!). I didn't know money existed through blogging nor did I know PR's/gifts existed. To be honest, I don't really mind, I love blogging and always have done. I started my blog because I have a genuine passion for so many things and wanted to share this with the world. I never expected anyone to read it and somehow, it's turned into a career, I am forever grateful for that opportunity.
Accepting sponsored work: I'd like to start this by saying I actually turn down more sponsored work than I accept and only write about things I genuinely love. Anyone who knows me will know what I love, and what I don't love. The great thing about hearing from brands though? It means I get to discover new brands I may not ordinarily pick up/try and you guys can too.
Here's an example: I absolutely adore Clinique. I have written about them for free (because I adore them, genuinely) for years and years (just like most beauty brands, gosh they've featured everywhere with me because I adore beauty!). I have used Clinique for years. Same with The Body Shop. Look at Starbucks, I have drank their drinks for years. These are all very well aligned with me and I genuinely adore them. So when the above brands contacted me in the last year and asked me to work with them? I was blown away - of course, why would I turn that down? An offer to work with brands I adore? Yes please.
This is where integrity comes into it. I feel very fortunate that my integrity has never been questioned apart from today (one small Instagram comment), but I think to question whether someone is genuine or not is completely wrong. I have seen a few tweets flying around (not about me) with the whole 'you got paid to write about it so clearly don't like it debate' and it seriously irks me, so I want to get one thing straight - just because someone is paid to write about something, it does not mean they do not genuinely love it. I can write about a brand, be paid and still genuinely love it. Just like I can write about a brand, not be paid, and genuinely love it. Who cares. At the end of the day, I am an honest person and I know that I would never say I love something when I don't. You guys would find out anyway because if it was actually rubbish, you'd then go and buy it and be like? What Em? It was rubbish. There's definitely no lying over at Emtalks headquarters! I think it's sad that anyones integrity or passion comes into this, but I totally understand some people aren't honest, I can promise you I am.
The way I see it? It's amazing that such epic brands are wanting to work with normal people. Not just me, but all other bloggers. If I'm honest, I find it overwhelming and genuinely touching when a brand wants to work on sponsored content with me. Particularly when it's a brand I have loved and cherished for years. It means they appreciate and value my work and what I do. Even when it's a brand I have never heard of, it's pretty epic that they're trusting myself/other bloggers to try it out and be the first ones to talk about their brand. I am always open to new things.
Why not be proud of how far blogging has come? I totally agree, some people may just be 'in it for the money' or 'for the ads' (we aren't talking about that today because I don't have time for negativity) I can tell you, hand on heart, not this girl. I think I speak for myself and my friends when I say: we only work with brands we love and I hope you can appreciate that. I refuse to feel nervous to post sponsored content because 'it will get thumbs down on YouTube' or people 'might think I'm lying because it's paid for'. Hand on heart, I adore everything I write about. I put 110% into everything I do, I spend so many hours (way more than the 9-5 day) making content, just because I love things. 
Lastly, I wanted to say thank you. I won InStyle magazine's Top Lifestyle and Travel blogger and without you guys, that wouldn't be possible so thank you for always supporting me, sponsored content, non-sponsored content, you guys have stuck around and everything I do I make sure it's 100% honest and guess what? I'll continue to do that.
So, let's celebrate blogging and celebrate the fact that so many people have made careers out of it. I think it's fabulous that brands want to work with us and it's a shame that a few people (those who don't put #ad etc) can ruin our integrity. I promise, myself and 99% of the blogging population are honest and only love the things we talk about. I'm very bad at hiding my true feelings so definitely wouldn't even be able to be upbeat about something I didn't love!
I love you guys, yes you reading this right now. So thank you. Thank you so much.
No matter what anyone else says, just know that from me, you're only ever getting genuine content across all my channels. I know you guys will trust me with this one because if you're still following me now, then you're lovely and loyal. So thank you, again!
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Lots of love, Em x
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