Brands I’ve Worked With-Best and Worst and a Linkup

Top:  Shein // Pants:  Old Navy // Shoes:  Marshalls, Guess (old similar here only $14.99!)

Oh, this post has been a long time coming!  I’ve been wanting to do this since last year, because I actually wanted to finish off the year with a best/worst brands of 2017, but then I never did it, so now I want to do best/worst brands I’ve worked with in all my years of blogging since my 5 year blogiversary is coming up.

Now, this post is not meant to bash on brands, or be petty, it’s just my experiences with them and warning other bloggers.  I don’t like unethical behavior, and I don’t like it when I hear brands taking advantage of bloggers.  Some bloggers/influencers depend on their blog for their income.  They are full time bloggers and I’ve heard some horror stories of brands just not paying bloggers or just blatantly telling them we don’t have that kind of budget, meanwhile they have a celebrity like Kylie Jenner for example posting sponsored content on their Instagram.  I mean, come on now lol.  Now, my blog is really small, and my following is nowhere near these bigger bloggers, but because I’m smaller, I’ve been treated pretty crappy with certain brands to say the least.  Certain brands I think are scams and I’ll also get into that in this post.  I also wanted to touch base on some affiliate networks that I’ve worked with and what I think of them.

So, let’s get into this shall we?

AFFILIATES

Social Fabric/Collective Bias

I’ve had a lot of success with Social Fabric/Collective Bias in the past.  Lately I’ve had some trouble getting campaigns, but I’ve read in the forum that a lot of people have had issues, so I’m not sure why this year is worse than previous years, but it still doesn’t change my opinion.  They are basically the middle man.  I’ve worked with brands like Walmart, Blue Bunny, etc.  For a smaller blog like mine, the budget that they have has been really great for me.  When I would do a few campaigns I would be able to make a decent income, on top of that I get product to test out as well.  Not being a full time blogger, this is great because I get compensation for something that is a hobby.  It’s not paid per click, but their campaigns (they call them shoppertunities) are really specific.  So, if you do a campaign and you have to resubmit some things, don’t worry, I’ve talked to a few people and this is normal.

Final Thoughts:  Highly Recommend

Linqia

This affiliate is pay per click.  I’m not a huge fan of PPC affiliates BUT, I do love the campaigns that I’ve been able to do.  Thanks to Linqia I’ve been introduced to brands that I would have never tried before, so in the end even if I didn’t get compensated as much as another affiliate, I have started using a different product that I love.  They’ve also started doing videos which I think is a really good opportunity not just because you get compensated more, but you get to be even more creative.  Making a video is a little more time consuming for me than blog posts, because I’m still not familiar with video, and I’ve loved the ones I’ve made so far.

Final Thoughts:  If you have time to promote a PPC affiliate I highly recommend.

IZEA

I’ve been a part of IZEA for quite some time, but I never did a campaign up until this year.  They were really generous with their pricing, and what I was able to review was actually really awesome and I truly loved it.  I don’t see consistent income from this affiliate, which is why I don’t use it as much, but the one time that I did use them, it was a great experience.

Final Thoughts:  Generous with campaign budgets, but I haven’t seen a consistent flow of campaigns that fit my blog.

She Knows/Blogher

The ad income that I get is ok (very minimal) and I’ve done a few campaigns with them for Instagram where you get an extra amount of money.  It’s nowhere near the other affiliates, but you get paid to just post a link to introduce something.  I haven’t been accepted to their sponsored program, and I’ve applied several times over the past 5 years, so I’ve decided to give it a break.  I’ll just collect my paycheck off of the ads and call it a day.

Final Thoughts:  I won’t be applying for them anymore, and I’ll just use their ads.

RewardStyle/LTK vs. Shop Style Collective

Have you ever seen bloggers post on Instagram and either say shop my instagram, or if you see blogs that say shop the post?  Another sign of this type of affiliate is if a link has rstyle or api.shopstyle that redirects you to a product page.  This is how some bloggers including myself make some money.  Recently with Instagrams changes, LTK which is part of RewardStyle has changed a few things, so let’s get into explaining each affiliate and what I think of both of them.

RewardStyle/LTK

• Super exclusive-better if you get referred (if you’d like to apply and need a referral please email me [email protected])
• Only get commission if someone purchases
• Obviously geared towards certain brands/retailers
• Can link your Instagram posts to your LTK page (with Instagrams new changes you can’t just “like” the photo anymore and get it sent to your email, you now have to screenshot and upload it into the app or just follow the person on LTK)
• Have a lot of brands available

Final Thoughts:  I’m still very new to it, but from application attempts for a few years now, I know it’s really exclusive and definitely geared towards retailers like Nordstrom for example and to be honest I’m not a huge fan of Nordstrom because I worked there.  I haven’t had as much success as I would have liked to because it’s pay per purchase, not per click, however I’m still going to continue using it.  I have heard a lot of bloggers have great success with it though, so I think it all depends.

Shop Style Collective

• Doesn’t have the Instagram feature yet
• Pay per click, and you get a higher conversion rate if someone purchases, but you don’t make a specific commission off of the purchase
• Some retailers aren’t available
• The community is great for SSC

Final Thoughts:  I was approached by SSC to apply for their network and I really love their community.  I have had more success with them because it’s pay per click, so every time someone clicks I get a small commission.  I think if they had the Instagram feature and they had a different commission/earnings type for purchases they would blow RS out of the water because they aren’t as exclusive as RS.

RewardStyle/LTK vs Shop Style Collective Final Thoughts:  I use both of them.  I usually use the widgets from RS and obviously use my Instagram for LTK, but I use links for SSC.  I use each one for different things.  I would love to switch entirely to SSC, but they just don’t have as many brands and functions as RS.

Lipton Publicity

I’m not sure if you can call Lipton Publicity an affiliate, but they are also a “middle man” for a lot of brands.  I don’t get compensation for product reviews, but I do receive free product.  I know a lot of bloggers would tell me that I need to charge, but I’m such a small blog that I don’t feel it’s time for that yet.  Plus, I’ve been working with them for so long and they have been really good to me.  My contact is great, and I really enjoy doing product reviews for them.

Final Thoughts:  Highly Recommend

THE BEST BRANDS

Embrazio

I started working with Embrazio last summer.  I received a crossbody bag to take with me to Poland along with two bracelets.  I absolutely love their products and the company as a whole.  I was asked to be part of their kickstarter campaign for their backpack that I have been using every day since I got it in October.  I haven’t gotten any products since, but I would say they are a great brand.  They were the first brand to speak to me on the phone and go over exactly what they were looking for.  I truly love speaking and working with the founders of the company.  You can really tell that they have a passion for what they are doing, and as a creative person myself, I can truly respect that.

Final Thoughts:  Highly Recommend

Born Pretty Store

I haven’t worked with Born Pretty Store in a really long time, but when I first started my blog, they were one of the first companies to reach out for product reviews.  I worked with them for maybe about 2 years and then the communication stopped.  I’m not sure why, but sometimes companies just don’t have the budget for so many bloggers, or maybe I just didn’t fit what they were looking for.  My contact was amazing, and just nice all around.

Final Thoughts:  Highly Recommend

Shein/MakeMeChic

A lot of people have asked me on the side if I really love Shein/MakeMeChic products (I believe they are part of the same company) because I’ve worked with them so many times and I will say, all of my reviews on this blog are 100% honest.  Sometimes it’s hit or miss with these brands because they don’t have consistent sizing, but for how much you pay I really find them to be worth it if you aren’t in a rush to get something within 1-2 days in the mail.  Shein’s quality has really gotten better over the years and MakeMeChic has sent me some really quality constructed pieces.

Final Thoughts:  Highly Recommend

Aventura

I recently worked with this company a few times and they are all about being sustainable.  My contact is really great, and their products are really great quality.  I also love that they work with a nonprofit.  They are just an all around great company.

Final Thoughts:  Highly Recommend

THE IN BETWEEN

Cavenders

When I first started this blog I was all about incorporating cowgirl boots and that type of style into every day wear.  This caught the attention of Cavenders which is the store that I bought my first pair of boots at when I lived in Texas.  I absolutely loved working with them, and my contact was the sweetest.  Every quarter I would get a gift card to the store and a card with the sweetest note inside along with it.  Then I started getting cards with a very generic note inside with the gift card.  Which to me was no big deal because I understood that my contact was probably extremely busy and maybe she thought I wasn’t reading the cards, even though I was, and I was posting all about it on social media.  For Christmas I had received goodies from TX, and then two Christmas’s ago I didn’t receive anything, not even a gift card.  So I waited a little bit and the next quarter I still didn’t receive anything.  I emailed my contact in Q2 and it took her almost a month to get back to me after I had sent one email asking if they were still doing the blogger program and then a second email stating that I’m assuming they aren’t but that I just wanted to say it was great working with them throughout all the years regardless.  That’s when she replied to me and said they had changes internally and that they were now working with an outside agency but that she would send me one last gift card to me.  I had asked if I could reach out to the agency and apply and she had told me that they select bloggers on their own.  I’m not going to lie, I was really hurt by this because no one had contacted me regarding the changes and I was one of the original bloggers to work with them.

Final Thoughts:  It was great working with them for the two years I did, but I really did not like how they ended things, or lack there of.  If their outside agency were to contact me now, I honestly don’t think I would agree to work with them again just because of how they handled it previously.

Wanderer Bracelets

I’m sure last year you saw me posting all about these buffalo bone bracelets.  No, the buffalos were not killed to make the bracelets, the people who make them believe that no part of an animal goes to waste and when the buffalos would pass away they would use the bones for these bracelets.  I absolutely loved working with them and the company as a whole.  The community was great and they even had a Facebook group for all of the bloggers/influencers who worked with them.  Then, all of the sudden they said they were changing the blogger program and that they would give us an update as to what the changes were going to be and who would be selected to participate in their new program.  Well, what was really shady about the whole thing was that a few of us actually contacted them and were told that they would be rolling out their new program shortly and that each one of us would be contacted with a yes or no to their new program.  Someone had posted in the Facebook group and asked if anyone knew what was going on and as soon as a bunch of people started responding they shut down the Facebook group and no one heard back since then, except for their final Facebook post from the admin saying it was great working with you and everyone will be contacted.  I don’t like it when brands do this because we were out there promoting you for very minimal compensation  (because we had to promote a certain amount of times a week) and no one knew what had happened.  I ended up winning a $100 gift card as a customer, but I never used it.  After this happened to me as a blogger it left a bad taste in my mouth because no one had responded to me when I sent multiple emails.  Something just didn’t feel right.

Final Thoughts:  They were great to work with, until the end.  I wouldn’t recommend working with them.

Shopbop

Shopbop was very generous with their gift cards.  I was actually able to buy my Tory Burch flats and Hunter rainboots plus some miscellaneous items.  Their program was very particular and had specific deadlines which wasn’t bad at all.  They did also have a specific criteria of much engagement you had with the links.  I was let go from their program after a few seasons because my clicks were not high enough.  Which I totally understand, because why would you continue to have someone in your program if they weren’t performing.  I honestly knew I wouldn’t do well with their program, because I know my audience and I know that Shopbop isn’t a good price point for a good portion of my readers.  Plus, a lot of things on the Shopbop site I’ve actually found elsewhere for cheaper.  The price points just aren’t for my readers or myself.  It’s hard for me to try and promote and sell something if I don’t fully believe in it.

Final Thoughts:  They weren’t bad to work with, it just wasn’t for me.

Zaful

I’ve worked with Zaful a number of times.  Their quality isn’t as good as Shein, but it’s not bad for the price point.  I don’t mind working with them for product reviews.  The only thing is that after doing product reviews for them multiple times, they have recently started asking me to write posts for no compensation along with product reviews.  I have been declining because I just don’t have the time, nor will I accept no compensation for posts, when I have other brands that are paying full price for theirs.  There was also a situation back in September with one of the reps at Zaful.  She had not communicated something to me and then had reached out to me calling me horrendous names because my post had not gone live.  She later apologized and said that she never communicated properly with me.  I just didn’t like how the whole thing was handled.

Final Thoughts:  They weren’t bad to work with, but I just don’t like their recent changes.

THE WORST BRANDS

Mirina Collections

I know quite a few people who have worked with them and to be completely honest, I think they are a scam.  They sent me this entire great collaboration deal, but the one thing I didn’t like was you have to purchase the product with a discount.  I did it, because me being stupid I saw a few things I did like and thought the discount was pretty ok.  I received the items and they were not the quality I had thought they would be for that price.  They were decent, but to pay full price, it just wasn’t up to par.  I did write an honest review that the product wasn’t as great of quality as I expected but that it wasn’t bad.  The company promised so many things to the blogger once you joined the ambassador program and how they would feature you at least once (bla bla bla) and I was never featured.  I was never contacted, and I never heard from them again.  I saw that quite a few people had the same experience.

Final Thoughts:  I don’t recommend them.

Anyone who contacts you from Joracon

This brand has contacted me multiple times since 2014.  In 2015 I started charging more for sponsored posts because I saw that my prices were actually lower than some bloggers with a smaller following than me.  I decided to increase my pricing.  Ever since 2015 this company has been harassing me nonstop with different names from the same company.  Each time I have to tell them no and then they keep changing their budget.  I even just stopped responding, and when I do that they just continually email me multiple times.  I’ve told them to remove me from their contact list multiple times and it still doesn’t work.  Recently they contacted me asking if I would write a product review without receiving any product.  This time around I actually got really mad because that’s such false advertising so this is what my response was:

Shop the Post:

**Please note, this post contains affiliate links.

xoxo Monica

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