Once upon a time, back before Influencers took over social media, a thread company reached out to me to do a blog review on their product. I was new in my biz, bootstrapping, and excited to get some thread that I didn't have to pay for. I was also flattered to be asked and, in my sweet naiveté, said "you betcha."
The threads arrived. They were a motley mix of what I recognize now as the slow sellers, both in color and in weight, and nothing I would have chosen for my studio practice. Disappointed, I loaded up my machine and put a few of them through their paces.
A couple hours later, I gave up.
One of the threads was unevenly spun, or "slubby" in not-so-technical terms. The random thick spots caused the thread to snap in the needle every few feet, making for a really frustrating time. Another variety made a denser-than-average lint bunny in the bobbin case in very short order.
There was just no way I could write a favorable blog post about them.
When the company followed up, I gave them the bad news in terms of my honest thoughts about it. And then was shocked that their next ask was that I write a good review anyway, being as they sent me free stuff.
Hard NOPE.
In that aforementioned naiveté, I had only considered the potential good
outcomes. It didn't occur to me (then) to consider what I would do if things went wrong. I didn't imagine for a minute that the thread would be unacceptable at a level that I wouldn't buy it or use it of my own accord. I thought I was doing the company a solid by just not writing about it at all. And I certainly didn't have a game-plan for being asked to lie in public.
TRUST
Back then, I'm not sure how much people trusted me, but this one situation made me think hard about how I wanted trust to look between me and my customers. I assume people who buy my patterns want to know they are getting instructions that work, don't waste their fabric, and respect their time - and I hope fervently that I deliver trust in that with each pattern. Repeat orders would indicate I'm getting this right :-)
Honoring and protecting this trust would mean I don't write lies about products just because a nice rep sent them to me. Right there and then, I decided that I would only ever promote things I have purchased and actually use1.
Now that we're in the Influencer Era, there's a LOT of good data out there on how to negotiate payment based on how much you promote, where, and to how many people. But know this - none of it should be for just the free product2. There should be payment beyond it for the reach, and perhaps even affiliate income for passing through some sales.
Bottom line: don't get twitterpated over a box of freebies without considering how you will get paid, and how you will handle potential downsides.
And really think about how you're handling your integrity around the precious trust of your followers.
I have accepted free products from some companies, but only after buying them and choosing them for my studio first. I list my fave products on Amazon, where I earn a few bucks of affiliate income per month.
This account strives for transparency in influencer deals. I bet your favorite search engine can find a few more.