As many of you know, we get the opportunity to review products that we feel are a good fit for our readers. We work with several networks that either provide us products to review, or opportunities to experience things to share with everyone.
Recently, I had the opportunity to review the Sofia the First – Songs from Enchancia Music CD, through a network that I had decided I really didn’t want to work with again due to their leaders lack of professionalism and several reports of contest winners not receiving their prizes. But, since this was a Disney sponsored review, I went ahead and signed up for it. Previous experience working with Disney is they are professional and always run their blogger opportunities with class.
More than three weeks after signing up for this review, it was announced in the Entertainment New Media Network’s (ENMN) Facebook Group thread that everyone who signed up for the review opportunity got it. Then a couple of weeks later the CDs started arriving. Mine arrived with the case in pieces and the CD scratched.
I went over to the FB group {since no email with instructions was sent} to find out what the details were on this opp. In a thread, it was stated we had 10 days to listen to the cd and get our review live. No other instructions. Several bloggers asked about the giveaway instructions, since we were also given the opportunity to give away three of the Sofia the First – Songs from Enchancia Music CDs. They were instructed to just hold the giveaways and let Erica {owner of the ENMN} know who the winners were as Disney would be mailing the prizes. I asked if the winning CDs would be in better condition than the ones several of us had received {and several other bloggers mentioned theirs were busted up too}. I never did get an answer to that…..
Well we LOVE Sofia the First – so much so I even created a FREE Sofia Birthday Party Printables Set over at Homeketeers – So we popped the cd into my computer and YEAH it worked!!!!
Carson immediately ran over to my computer and asked “What’s that sound?”. This cd is AWESOME, especially with the Be Who You Wanna Be song that includes both Jake and Sofia. I especially love that the last four songs on the CD are Karaoke! The Songs from Enchancia CD is definitely a must for the kids Disney music collection.
Now I am not sure what information Disney wants me to provide for you, as ENMN didn’t give any details about the CD to the bloggers who are reviewing it. I did go to their Facebook Page to find out what, if any, requirements or further details were provided regarding this review and found myself once again disappointed with this Network.
The absolute utter lack of professionalism by the owner of Entertainment New Media Network is one thing, but when I saw a post with more details on what to include in our reviews, I was completely blown away. Many of you reading probably are not aware how most bloggers generate money from their blogs to help defer the costs of domain registration, hosting and paying for incredible prizes in giveaways. You see, we bloggers are not all independently wealthy, oh no. Many of us use affiliate links to help pay for our blogs. If you are asking yourself what an affiliate link is, think of it as a special link we place for products in our sites, that when readers click on and make a purchase from, we get a small commission on. Usually about 2%, so it really isn’t much, but if you have enough clicks and purchases, it adds up and it helps cover costs. So knowing that, when I saw that ENMN wanted me to place two links that contained someone elses affiliate ID’s in them on MY site, well I was blown away!
Yes, I immediately questioned this, as this is stealing commissions from me and I don’t take it lightly. Needless to say, the owner of the network attacked me almost immediately for questioning it (See Image Below) and played dumb. It was and is ENMN’s place to know what links they are giving their members, and to disclose if they are providing affiliate links that must be placed in our reviews BEFORE products are being sent out for review.
This was my mistake for doing anything with them again. I knew there was something shady “off” about this network when they started asking us to cover different TV shows, but send them all the content to post on their site. Yes, you read that correctly, we were asked to be “official” correspondents for TV shows as long as we were giving them {Entertainment New Media Network} the content to use on their site, BUT it gets better! Once you had enough articles published on their site, then YOU were to approach the TV Network and let them know you were the correspondent for Entertainment New Media Network and ask them to recognize you as such. So to simplify this, they asked bloggers to start writing for them, and then approach businesses to get the network noticed. What did the blogger doing all the work get? Nothing other than the pure satisfaction of giving away their content for free and their time.
Once again, ENMN proved to me that they are not worth working with and I am actually shocked Disney does anything with them. When the leader and face of the Network can not conduct themselves in a professional manner and constantly insists all questions be directed behind closed doors, that should throw up HUGE RED flags for anyone working with them and businesses who are using them.
I am no longer a member of ENMN not because I was removed from the group for questioning why I was being instructed to post an affiliate link that isn’t mine, but because I made the decision to not do business with a network that isn’t transparent and can’t conduct themselves in a professional manner. I prefer to work with networks who know how to be organized, communicate properly, answer questions without getting defensive or attacking members, and use their members to build their content on their site. It is for these reasons I’m cannot continue to work with ENMN and I have no respect for the leader of Entertainment New Media Network.
For those who are wondering why I posted all this here. I feel very strongly about supporting and encouraging fellow bloggers. When I see new bloggers or bloggers who just don’t know about certain things getting taken advantage of, it really upsets me. When I asked the owner of the network to untag me from all her comments, she deleted all my questions about what was going on and that worries me. It means those who were not online to read the thread may not realize that they are being asked to post links that will take away from their commissions. So I decided to go ahead and do my review of the Sofia the First Songs from Enchancia CD with my review of the network who provided me the opportunity to review it.
The Facebook Thread:
Aunesty –
THANK YOU so much for writing this article. I too, was a part of ENMN and worked my butt off for that network promoting, sharing, writing, & more. From the beginning, I saw a lack of professionalism, but I decided to set that aside knowing it was a new network. I was also told things like I was being considered for a leadership role which would have the potential to turn into a paid position, so I felt putting in some work was worth it in the end.
Little did I know that was all a lie. When it was time for conference registration, I signed up the first night they went on sale. Erica made it seem like they would sell out right away and we were told we would have an option to sell our tickets if we were unable to attend, so I figured win – win! Score the deal, but if I can’t go, I don’t need to take a loss.
I talked with Erica on the phone several weeks later, because she was enlisting my help for some projects with the network and I offered to reach out to my comments to help get some sponsors (BAD IDEA.) She told me at that point I was chosen to volunteer and since volunteer’s had free registration, but I already paid, I would get my money back at the conference to pay for the hotel if needed. She told me they hadn’t told anyone yet, but I was one of the few who actually put down things worth being chosen.
Several weeks later, I noticed nothing new had been brought up about the conference. I decided due to the lack of professionalism already and then not being upfront or honest about what was happening at the conference, it wasn’t worth it for me to spend hundreds and hundred of dollars to fly across the country for something that they weren’t even being upfront about the details.
I confronted Erica to sell my ticket since that was an option. She refused and flat out ignored me. Meanwhile, that SAME NIGHt – I know she allowed a friend to sell her ticket. Now, here I am several MONTHS later, the conference is over, and she has still never acknowledged me and I was removed from all of the ENMN groups.
While I hate that you went through what you did, THANK YOU for being open about this. I’m sure we aren’t the only people she has treated so poorly.