Why working for free doesn’t work

If you’re a blogger, you’ll be asked to work for free. Companies will ask you to review sample products. You’ll be invited to run press releases. Here’s why you should turn almost all of it down.

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The True Value of Your Time as a Blogger

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you know it’s not just typing up some words and hitting “publish.” Blogging takes time, effort, and sometimes even money.

There’s research to do, photos to take, editing, social media promotion, and maybe even answering comments or emails from readers. All of that adds up to hours of work.

It’s easy to underestimate how much your time is worth, especially if you started blogging as a hobby. But here’s the deal: every hour you spend working for a company “for exposure” or “for a free sample” is an hour you could’ve spent growing your own brand, building your audience, or working on something that actually pays the bills.

If you start thinking about your time like a business owner would, it becomes a lot easier to say “no” to freebie offers.

Working for exposure

Once upon a time, a professional hula hoop performer told the story of being asked to perform at a $1000/plate event for Oprah Winfrey for free. The producers suggested that the exposure would be well worth her time and expenses in performing.

But if she’d already gotten enough exposure to come to the attention of Oprah Winfrey’s people, how much more exposure could she possibly need to get paid? All the exposure she’d worked for so far was netting her $0.

Therefore her career as a hula hoop performer was worth $0, so she gave up and found herself a more ordinary job. I consider this a sad story. Hula hooping for a living would be awesome!

Companies will offer you the chance to do hours of work for them in exchange for a mention from their social media. Measure your time spent by a reasonable hourly rate. Is this mention likely to bring enough traffic to pay for itself?

Press releases as “free content”

Companies will also offer you the glorious chance to publish their press releases, pointing out that it’s “free content” for you. But this doesn’t work the same way for bloggers as it does in traditional media.

Take product placement in TV shows. A brand lends a show some furniture they can use for a set. They get to film their scene without buying or hunting down the furniture. The brand gets mentioned, and then the brand gets the sample furniture back. Everyone benefits.

But this concept falls apart when it comes to websites because free content don’t really help us. Very few blog readers want to read press releases, and Google considers them duplicate content. In most cases, we do just as much work on “free content” provided by a company as we do on our own fresh, original content.

And yet, we think we should do these projects because we’re building a relationship with a brand, right? But the relationship we’re building works a lot like the hula hooper’s experience with Oprah: it’s all about what you can do for the brand and not what the brand can do for you.

What Brands Really Get When You Work for Free

When brands get bloggers to work for nothing, they’re getting a huge deal. They get real, relatable voices sharing their product with personal stories and genuine photos.

That’s way more powerful than a regular ad. If they paid for that kind of marketing through other channels—like hiring a copywriter, photographer, social media manager, and placing ads—it would cost them a ton.

But when bloggers accept “exposure” instead of money, brands don’t have to pay what that work is truly worth. This ends up hurting not just you, but other bloggers too. If enough people work for free, it lowers the bar for what brands expect to pay anyone. In the end, nobody wins except the company.

Why “Exposure” Isn’t Currency

You can’t pay your rent or buy groceries with exposure. Sure, sometimes working with brands can get your name out there to new audiences—but ask yourself: do these audiences stick around?

Do they become loyal readers? Or are they just passing by for one brand post and then disappearing?

Most of the time, the traffic from a brand’s mention is a quick bump at best. Unless their audience matches yours exactly and is super engaged, you probably won’t gain much long-term.

And if your own blog is already attracting brand attention, it’s a sign you don’t need their exposure—you’re doing just fine on your own.

The Importance of Setting Boundaries

It can feel awkward at first to say no to offers, especially if you’re just starting out and want to build relationships. But setting clear boundaries shows brands—and yourself—that you take your work seriously.

Think of it like this: if you walked into a bakery and asked for a free cake “for exposure,” you’d probably get laughed out of the shop. Blogging is no different. Your work has value.

Have your rates ready. Decide what kinds of brand partnerships you’re open to (if any). If you’re willing to do reviews or sponsored posts, set rules such as only writing honest opinions and always disclosing sponsorships to your readers.

Exceptions to the rule

When brands approach me to promote them for free, I politely decline unless their offer benefits me, too. Let’s say you’re a gardening blogger and you’ve talked about a particularly stubborn weed you can’t get rid of.

A brand offers to send you a revolutionary product to help with it, and you like the sound of the product. In this case, you might benefit from giving an honest review of the product, along with an affiliate link for your readers to buy it.

That is, if the brand wants an honest review. I’m finding more and more demand positive reviews. Which means you’re just writing their glowing press releases for them.

Brands need to realize that they must fit in with us and deliver us something we can use either with minimal effort or maximum benefit. We do not exist to provide them something for nothing.

Don’t you need brands to like you?

Am I afraid of upsetting brands with this talk? Not at all. I make my money with display ads, affiliate sales, and I’m working on some products to sell (courses and/or ebooks). I don’t do sponsored posts and I don’t care if I ever hear from another brand.

And I don’t recommend sponsored posts as much of a business model because targeting keywords and affiliate opportunities brings in more revenue in the end.

But even if you want to do sponsored posts, it’s important to establish yourself as someone who won’t just be used. If a brand thinks a performer who’s had enough exposure to come to the attention of Oprah’s people can be bribed to perform for “exposure”, they are not even on a nodding acquaintance with reality.

I’d rather work with brands who get the concept of “quid pro quo.” On my other sites, I get approaches from small companies who seem to get this – they customize their approach to actually be of use to me, and often get it right.

I also get approaches from companies both small and large who think they can hand me a press kit and I’ll take over from there, providing them with targeted traffic in exchange for… a press kit. Wow. Thanks.

How to Build Real Value Without Brands

There are lots of ways to make your blog profitable without relying on companies giving you freebies. Here are some ideas:

• Affiliate Marketing: Write about products or services you truly use and love. Use affiliate links so you earn a commission if someone buys through your link.
• Display Ads: Once your blog gets enough traffic, ad networks like Mediavine or AdThrive can pay you for simply displaying ads on your site.
• Your Own Products: Create ebooks, courses, printables, or even physical products related to your niche.
• Email Newsletters: Grow an email list and offer special content or deals to subscribers.
• Membership Communities: If your readers want deeper access to your expertise, try adding a paid membership option.

All of these put you in control of what you promote and how you earn money.

Red Flags When Brands Reach Out

Not every email from a brand is worth your time. Here are some warning signs:

• No Personalization: If they don’t use your name or mention anything specific about your blog, they probably sent the same email to hundreds of people.
• Demanding Positive Reviews: If they try to tell you what to say or insist on only positive coverage, run away.
• No Compensation: If there’s no mention of payment or they offer “free exposure” as payment.
• Unreasonable Requirements: Some brands want multiple posts, social shares, professional photos—all for nothing.

You can spot these red flags pretty quickly once you know what to look for.

How to Respond Professionally

When brands ask you to work for free, have a pre-written email to send them. In that email, point them to your pricing for sponsored posts, if you do sponsored posts, and any rules you have (for example, no guarantee of a positive review).

If you don’t do sponsored posts, you can write back explaining that or just ignore the email. The point is to let them know they can’t get something for nothing. The more of us who do this, the more brands will realize they’ve got to pay like everybody else.

If you choose to respond, a simple response might be:

Thanks so much for reaching out! I charge [$X] for sponsored posts/reviews and always give my honest opinion. Let me know if that works for your budget!

Or:

Thank you for considering me. At this time, I’m not accepting unpaid collaborations but would be happy to discuss paid opportunities in the future.

This makes it clear that your work isn’t free—and that you expect fair compensation.

Why Saying No Opens Up Better Opportunities

When you say no to lowball offers or projects that don’t fit your values, you make room for better ones. Brands that truly value what bloggers offer will respect boundaries and pay fairly. Plus, by focusing on what really matters—your own content and audience—you build trust with readers. That trust is worth more than any freebie from a brand.

The more bloggers who stand up for themselves, the more likely it is that brands will come around and treat us like the professionals we are.