This week, we’re hitting a lot of big topics that have come up recently. We start this episode talking about a few behind-the-scenes details of our furniture line we launched last week and how that even came about. Then we go in-depth into how we handle sponsors and sponsored posts, answering a few questions we’ve received about the process and share a few times we messed up. We take our listeners through how many actual inquiries we get a day, and what goes into producing sponsored content.
Listen to the latest episodes on: iTunes, GooglePlay, Stitcher.
How We Manage Our Sponsored Content
• Process for filtering opportunities
• What our "marketing dollars" look like
• A controversial sponsored post we talk about
Reader Question: How Do You Renovate Peacefully as a Couple
• Views on hanging the porch swing
• Communicate what the project looks like when it's "done"
• The beauty of lists
• Yellow Brick Home podcast episode
Can't Get You Outta My Mind
Preston: Preston's career as an entertainer takes him to all corners of the country, and managing everything can get crazy. For the past few years, he's been using an app called Tripit, and cannot recommend it enough (not a sponsor, FYI). Preston talks all about what this app does for him and how it saves him hours of time when booking his travel.
Julia: We spend so much time trying to wrangle kids together, get them sitting and everyone smiling so we can capture "the moment." But if it's all staged, is that really the moment? Julia has become a huge fan of the Fujifilm Instax Mini, because it's what is now missing in genuine photography. Take a picture, and capture the moment as it actually was, to remember all of the silly or crying faces, or imperfect moments that we can look back on and really enjoy.
Chris: No matter where you live, there are things to love and things that may drive you crazy about your town. Chris talks about a trend of negativity he's noticed in their town of Rexburg, and shares some of his own thoughts around the attitude we all adopt about things that happen around us.
This Episode is sponsored by Brooklinen. They sent us their Luxe Hardcore Sheet Bundle with a Window Pane Sheet and their Bedford Smoke Stripe Duvet cover back in April and we could not be happier. Our listeners get $20 off PLUS Free Shipping with code CLJ at checkout!
Theme song Headphones by Preston Pugmire
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Julia: I have no idea what FTC guidelines are - this is not my field. I am just a listener / reader. I have always assumed that Home Depot etc have given you things for free or at a low cost because the items are featured on your blog, and then we readers go to their sites / stores and possibly buy some things from them. Synergy! But I confess that I was confused by Chris' comments that he gets up and goes through a large numbers of offers every morning to sort through offers to be paid to use X or feature Y on your blog, it made me realized that this was a much bigger business than I realized. I don't begrudge anyone the right to earn a living - but when I watch Hulu on the 'free' application, I know where the commercials are. The 'sponsored' instagram posts are obvious. And I understand how 'branded' merchandise works (like your new sofa line) Its how much 'commercial' is imbedded in the projects that I'm not sure of. I just want to be an informed consumer.
Totally! I think a lot of people assume that we get most of the supplies for our projects for free or handed to us, but that's not the case, although it does happen and we always say when a company sent us something. Like, for instance, in our latest backyard playground project, we purchased everything, including the labor, to get it done, but Wayfair sent us the playset--which we noted in the post. Our bathroom project, we purchased every last thing ourselves, except the faucets--which Delta sent us (post coming about that as soon as they approve it.) A good chunk of our income comes from, not sponsorships, but affiliates. So it makes perfect sense for us to purchase something ourselves that we KNOW we want or love (rather than accepting something that we might like less just because it's free), so that we can freely recommend it to our readers with no strings attached and if they like it, too, we earn a small commission on it. Because we have a large readership, these commissions add up to a sizable amount over time.
However, what you said about a company giving us things to feature so our readers go out and buy it, DOES happen. Those are sponsorships and are always noted.
Thank you for your response. I think I was surprised by the information in the podcast - I'm only a very casual 'consumer' of lifestyle blogs - I only regularly follow a few, and even then, I'm busy and don't come everyday, or even every week. I guess I am surprised by how commercial this 'industry' has become, and I don't necessarily object, but it makes me a little uncomfortable. I think you've probably been more open about this than average - and I really respect that. I'm better informed now - but a little disillusioned.
Do you note in the posts on the blog or instagram that the post is sponsored and that the items were received free of charge? I know in the beauty bloggers world this got to be quite a controversy and so people started becoming more scrupulous about disclosing this information. For example, you recently showed a box of items from Studio McGee for your new bathroom, but I didn't see where you said they were part of a promotion for Studio McGee so I assumed you purchased them on your own. Is this a safe assumption?
For the record, I have no objection to sponsored posts - I just wondered how I know when a post is sponsored (ie, you're being paid to sell items you're showing). Thanks!
Yes, we always note when something is sponsored per the FTC guidelines. :)
Just a heads up to the people who felt that a fireworks truck not showing up was The End of the World, my parents live on an island in South Carolina and their town fireworks were cancelled last summer for the 4th because the party with the contract just decided that day that they weren't going to put on a fireworks display. So great news! You're not alone!
Hello there! My husband and I are home improvement enthisiasts and we just wanted to let you know how much we enjoy your podcast. The content is great AND the three of you together are hilarious! I'm currently fighting cancer and yesterday we got overwhelming news after seeing my doctor. As soon as we started driving home from the hospital we decided to listen to you guys to get away from reality for a few minutes. We knew that you'd make us laugh and help us think of fun things we want to do at home. You guys are a light and do more than you think! Thank you! ❤️
I know you're a stranger, but I'll be thinking of you and sending good vibes your way, Angela. I remember those days of needing a distraction all to well while my husband (then boyfriend of less than a year) was going through cancer treatments.
@Julia that was a really nice sentiment about unstaged photos!
This is completely off topic, but y'all are in Rexburg ID?!? You're in the path of the totality, and I'm super jealous! Please watch the eclipse on august 21! (Astronomy nerd here)
Haha, I totally noticed when you shortened the 'can't get you out of my mind' song a few weeks ago and was like, "what?!" Why am I being deprived of the full length version of my favorite song?! As I've mentioned in a previous comment, we need MORE original music from CLJ. I've realized the missing piece is having CHRIS sing on the podcast. Maybe Preston could sing backup, but singing on the podcast really would not be that much of a stretch for Preston. Chris needs to break out and sing lead vocals. For a new Hot Topic theme song. As you can tell from this comment I have no life, I spend it waiting for the next CLJ episode to come out and then I roll on the floor laughing.
Hey Julia and Chris, I was listening to the podcast and about 16 minutes in the audio went out. I tried other podcasts and didn't have the same issue. Wanted to let you know as I love listening to you guys every other Monday morning, makes it a little bit more bearable to be starting the work week
There was an issue with the mixing - should be fixed now! Try reloading the podcast.
Happened to me too. Removing and downloading again fixed it for me. Thanks for getting it fixed quickly.
Yep. Had the same thing happen. I'll reload. Thanks - I love your podcast!
I had the same issue. I deleted, re-downloaded the episode and had the same issue. It eventually came back around the 18 min mark by using the 15 sec skip.
I'm having the same issue on Stitcher. Can anyone walk me through how to "re-download" the episode on Stitcher? As far as I know, I don't actually download episodes.
Thanks!
I'm not familiar with Stitcher, but we did add the code for listening in this post. Not as mobile, but is an option if nothing else works.
Thank you!!!!