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Internet and social media have taken over our lives in a short span of time, so much that we spend almost all our time with our noses buried in our phones or laptops. However, social media has also been a boon, especially to the millennial generation as it has enabled people to make their passion, their profession.
Whether it is Instagram or YouTube, influencers everywhere are trying to make social media their bread and butter. Most times, these influencers ask brands to collaborate with them so that they can avail their services for free and in return, give them exposure.
Something similar crossed the mind of YouTuber Elle Darby who contacted the owner of White Moose Café and Charleville Lodge Hotel in Dublin with a request for a barter.
She asked them to let her stay for free in exchange for exposure on her social media with this email,
As reported by Metro, things didn’t go as planned and not only the hotel and cafe owner turn her down but he posted a very public message on their Facebook condemning her for having the audacity to ask for a free stay.
Dear Social Influencer (I know your name but apparently it’s not important to use names),
Thank you for your email looking for free accommodation in return for exposure. It takes a lot of balls to send an email like that if not much self-respect and dignity.
If I let you stay here in return for a feature in your video, who is going to pay the staff who look after you? Who is going to pay the housekeepers who clean your room? The waiters who serve you breakfast? The receptionist who checks you in? Who is going to pay for the light and heat you use during your stay? The laundering of your bed sheets? The water rates? Maybe I should tell my staff they will be featured in your video in lieu of receiving payment for work carried out while you’re in residence?
Lucky for us, we too have a significant social media following. We have 186k followers on our two Facebook pages, an estimated 80k on our Snapchat, 32k on Instagram and a paltry 12k on our Twitter, but Jesus Christ, I would never in a million years ask anyone for anything for free. I also blog a bit (www.paulvstenson.com), which as far as I’m aware is another way of saying “write stuff on the internet”. The above stats do not make me any better than anyone else or afford me the right to not pay for something everyone else has to pay for.
In future, I’d advise you to offer to pay your way like everyone else, and if the hotel in question believes your coverage will help them, maybe they’ll give you a complimentary upgrade to a suite. This would show more self-respect on your part and, let’s face it, it would be less embarrassing for you. Here is a little video I produced which you may learn from: http://bit.ly/2mKTDTD
Best regards,
Paul Stenson
www.charlevillelodge.ie
P.S. The answer is no.
Ouch! That was a bit harsh. Being a blogger/vlogger is hard work and trying to earn money from it is even harder. The hotel owner could have been a little more mature and simply refused without creating a ruckus.
The hotel even proceeded to ban all bloggers from their hotels in another Facebook post. They wrote that the “the sense of entitlement was too strong in the blogging community.” They also proceeded to demean the entire social media community for asking for “freebies” in exchange for exposure.
**ALL BLOGGERS BANNED FROM OUR BUSINESS**Following the backlash received after asking an unidentified blogger to pay…
Posted by The White Moose Café on Wednesday, January 17, 2018
“Perhaps if you went out and got real jobs you’d be able to pay for goods and services like everybody else. Just a thought.”
However, the fiasco does not end here! The YouTuber after this scalding reply proceeded to make a ‘Storytime’ video about the hotel which refused her the stay.
You can watch her response here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8zElbN2_hg
Needless to say, the matter blew up and got a lot of media attention and both parties got a lot of hate on social media. As reported by The Independent, the hotel has now sent the YouTuber a bill of about 5,289,000 Euros, i.e about 40 crores as she got a wide media coverage because of the hotel’s reply.
Notice how they took a dig at her proposal,
“Mentions in videos will not qualify as payment.”
For the sake of the YouTuber, we hope that the bill is just a joke and the whole matter is put to rest. If not, we see a cloud of trouble brewing.
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