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Jory Des Jardins also blogs at Pause.
Of course I've been reading the many reports about BlogHer, and a huge topic seems to be the growing commercialism (or recognition, depending on how you view it) of the event by mainstream advertisers. I don't think it would be fair for me to use my forum as a BlogHer Business Contributing Editor to defend or argue any points regarding BlogHer's decision to have these sponsors represented. What I'd like to focus on is the concept of selling out, because I think that's what is the real issue at hand, and one that I've often thought about as a blogger and writer. It's also a key concept to achieving your most meaningful work.
I was blown away by Alembic's post on this topic. She looked at how women's blogging, as it was represented at BlogHer, is maturing into more commercial ventures for some, but more globally into making change happen via one's blogging. And she points out that aligning with sponsors doesn't necessarily translate into buying into that sponsor's messaging; it could mean partnering to effect change. I felt she nailed a key distinction that I like to make for myself when I'm on the cusp of a decision to play ball or stay small.
For example, as a consultant that introduced social media best practices to companies, the clients I often wanted to work with were the criticized stalwarts, the orgs whom the public perceived as not "getting it" but who really wanted to better understand social media. I don't feel like a dweeb saying that these kinds of clients are a pleasure--I get to open a new world to them and potentially leverage their corporate muscle to promote technology that facilitates greater authenticity. I don't believe that independent bloggers are the only forces that can emanate authenticity. If we effectively partner with forces larger than ourselves and know what we untimately want to achieve with that partnership, then we're leveraging great resources to effect change.
I think of Dove Soap's "Real Beauty" campaign. It's possible that someone at their ad agency said, "Let's do a campaign that puts regular-sized women in the spotlight in order to get regular women--our customers--to think highly of us." It's possible that there was no deeper meaning behind that campaign than to sell more soap. But can you argue with the results of growing de-stigmatization of realistic body types in the media? It's a step in the right direction, and one that I would support.
Likewise, if a company wants to better understand a community/idea/notion that I support, even if it's because it wants to make more money, not for some higher purpose, I will still consider that company as a partner if it will help me get my message out.
So then, where would I draw the line? When that partnership detracts from me transmitting my message.
My quintessential example as a writer is my still impending book deal. I want one--I won't lie. And I want to be paid well for one. In fact, I turned down several offers that I felt wouldn't pay me enough for the time that I knew it would take me while I was building a business with little to no pay. Money is important. But as I was going down the road of shopping my book and making alterations that the bigger houses required to make it fit more within parameters they were comfortable with, I started to feel conflicted. I knew that the end result wasn't going to be my best work, or my most important work, but rather a dilution of my concept, one so severe that it would conflict with what I wanted to achieve in the first place. I decided to go back to the drawing board, to re-establish my bottom line. Where am I willing to go to get my work out to the world? And when will I scoop up my marbles, say "thanks, but no deal" and go back home to my blog? I'm not certain yet, but I do know that in many cases bigger isn't the only way.
In addition to practical concerns I felt that taking a low-paying offer would have said, in effect, "Don't bother paying me much; my message is not that important." I understand that wasn't any publisher's intent, but I really do believe that our search for meaningful work is deserving of a higher advance, because it would translate to a higher promotional budget and getting the book into
