PR Guidelines
Do you have a product you think I or Scentzilla readers should know about? Here’s what you should know before contacting me:
1.) This site is about perfume and fragranced products. While I do appreciate free stuff as much as the next gal, if the product you’re offering is not perfume, fragranced body care products, or home fragrance items, then I am not sure it’s worth your while to send me stuff like eye creams, hair dryers, mascaras, etc… I won’t automatically refuse these sorts of items, but they’re not likely to catch my attention. If you have an exceptional product I may write about it. Or I may not.
2. ) Astroturfing is NOT tolerated here.
3. ) I cannot and will not guarantee that I will write about your product. I will write about it if I find your product to be of interest to myself or readers, and/or if it happens to fit in with a particular motif I am exploring at the time. I will mention it was sent it to me if I do write about it.
4. ) I cannot and will not guarantee a glowingly positive review. I know some bloggers will do so in exchange for free products, but I am not one of them. Bloggers who run only positive spins will increasingly appear to readers (aka shoppers) to have little to no authority on their chosen subjects, which in turn means their value as an outlet for publicity will slowly diminish. I will say that I generally don’t choose to write about a received product unless it moves me in some way. But only generally - it’s not much fun to write about stuff that’s middle of the road, and I suspect it’s rather boring to read, too.
5.) I am located in the Pacific Northwest. I appreciate the gestures iniviting me to PR events elsewhere on the globe, but it’s not worth your trouble.
6.) This is going to sound ridiculous, but it’s necessary to note. Please be specific as to which firm you are from, and which client you are representing. I’ve gotten some emails and invites that leave me scratching my head in confusion as to what capacity they are being written in.
7.) Criticism is protected speech under fair use provisions of US law. If I got the facts wrong, I invite any corrections you may have to offer, and I deeply apologize for any errors. I will publish these corrections when needed, and with said apology. But please don’t “correct” me on my opinion. It’s all I’ve got. Besides, that is the nature of a blog, and the very nature of criticism itself. Blogging IS highly subjective, which is not always what folks in the PR industry like to hear.
Still interested? Please write me at seldomnice_at_yahoo_dot_com.