“You are so jammy,” a non-blogging friend of mine joked the other week. “You get so much stuff through your blog.”

I laughed with her – she was jesting after all – and then promptly put her straight.

The thing is, I know that many people who don’t blog (journalists, family members and mates included) see it that way. They read blogs and roll their eyes when they see the blogger is reviewing something they have been given by a brand.

And I’m not just talking about “Mummy Blogs” here – beauty bloggers do reviews, as do travel bloggers, wedding bloggers, pet bloggers (I may have just made that last one up, but pet bloggers do sound pretty cool).

Anyway, back to my point. It’s not a straightforward case of bloggers being given freebies. Not in my personal experience anyway.  Continue reading »