Then again, my model is a little different. I have a two-prong approach — selling article ideas up, writing them and then posting them to my blog (magazines and newspapers receive first print and web rights only) or having a publisher contact me and purchasing an article from my website I approach blogging as a full time business, and while I appreciate the locations that are willing to put me up for a few nights here and there I have to justify being in that area with article sales ahead of that particular trip.

As far as accepting payment for attending a “blogger trip?” NO. NO NO NO NO NO. I guess it’s the old school journalist in me (I was in TV for 12 years and radio for 4 years before this particular journey in life) and that just sounds like purchasing influence. I would suggest in any case like this that the requesting property or business purchase advertising on my website, but said company would have no editorial say in what I write.

And that, I see, is a problem for others. Yes, the blogosphere has allowed those with a penchant for writing who might lack a journalistic background to have their voices heard far and wide, but how do you separate the wheat from the chaff of truth in said blogs? On any particular search of a location, property or such — how is one to know whether the blog put out in the ether is written by a professional, be it a journalist or writer or blogger — or whether it’s put out there by someone handling advertising or public relations for the company represented in said article?

We walk a thin and mostly undefined line here. In a world where most of our potential employers (I am referring to bloggers who are paid for their work by a separate entity) never see us face to face, all we have to back us up is our name and experience. I fear if we muddy the editorial waters with pay from destinations, we erode our credibility.

With a traditional magazine, the editorial and advertising is separate. There is no question of paying a writer because someone else is paying them with revenue earned from the other side of the company which might be selling ads space to the very people who are providing the trips.

The problem with blogs is that there is no other side. No one is buying ads. They only think in terms of “earned media” and no one is thinking to pay blogs anything for their audience.

This issue of paying bloggers is coming up because no one is willing buy advertising or have any other sort of relationship with them other than dealing with them as a source of free publicity. That isn’t how the print media world works.

Much of the interaction with bloggers is happening through the world of PR which isn’t used to paying for anything. Ad agencies did that. PR is supposed to get exposure for free.

So, while I’m not advocating bloggers get paid for trips, I do understand why people at talking about it. It is our primary contact with the industry.

Bloggers do need to be VERY firm about working with DMO’s and companies for free. I’ve recently seen a ton of posts promoting San Antonio tourism. They contacted me but weren’t willing to pay anything for my promotion. I turned them down and a few weeks later I see a ton of bloggers giving them free advertising by running their contest.

I really appreciated you raising the point of Travel Bloggers/Writers thinking about their personal ROI. I might be wrong, but my feeling is that too often Travel Bloggers/Writers are not really focusing on that point before deciding if they will accept or not an invitation to a Blog Trip.
As long as Travel Bloggers/Writers won’t be fully aware of their value, they won’t be able to get it fully recognized by PR agencies, Tourism Boards or whoever.

Last but not least, it’s all a matter of positioning. In a professional environment, ‘free’ is never an option. I know, and I’m sorry, that this might sound cynical. But truth is that what comes for free, or just ‘pocket money’, isn’t worth that much.

In the long term, only win-win situation can lead to really effective and measurable results. For all the parties involved.