style
I received this email from alight.com a few days ago, and I want some feedback from you guys.
We came across your site recently and thought it would be perfect for an alight.com giveaway! We would be happy to offer a plus size top (of our choosing) as a giveaway to be sent to one of your readers monthly. Anyone who is selected must be on the alight.com email list, so please direct your viewers to sign up for our mailing list at www.alight.com. On the 30th day of the promotion and monthly thereafter, please select a winner and email us her name, address, email address and size. We will contact the winner and let her know that she won a top from the contest on your site. If you select a winner that is not signed up on our mailing list, we will ask you to choose another winner.
My concern is that alight.com’s aesthetic isn’t really in line with what I try to promote on YFF. Though they do offer some cute things, I don’t like the fact that the winner would not be able to choose the item they receive. What do you guys think? Is the giveaway something you’re interested in? I mean, free is free, so I guess that’s cool. I want to hear your opinions before I agree to this!
hi gabby i love your site, and no i don’t like alight clothes, but it is a nice offer–my answer????? im not sure!!!!
i completely agree with your free is free sentiment. although i suppose you have to consider content… but i would be stoked to win something even if it was kind of ugly, lol.
Gabby, I’m not a fan of their clothes.. if it was ASOS or Dorothy Perkins I’d be all over that hahah
Love your site.
You are the content editor so it really it is up to your discretion. That said, what/who is the appropriate style/designer that you feel represents your mission statement?
I work for a fashion designer that designs for 0-3X, so as a 1X myself, I get to wear a lot of her designs. I am a serious fashion lover so I still shop other designers, but am extremely picky (you can’t study in any field and not be very fastidious about it).
Finding well made, fashionable and interesting clothes for interesting fashionable women larger than a size 12 is still a challenge in this modern day. You have to be fierce about it!
Figure out what you like/looks best on you. Find it or Have it Made!
Don’t compromise and just get what fits you.
I was all set to come over here and say yes!, but now that I have read their conditions I think it’s a no!
I think you could get someone a lot classier to sponsor a giveaway on your site. B and Lu, ASOS, even the Beth Ditto line from Evans seems possible to me. Aim high, girl.
I definitely think it’s important to support giveaways for products and companies you believe in, whose products you’d wear yourself. Plus, their terms and conditions really stink. I get tired of companies using blogs as a resource to pad their mailing lists, and the fact the winner doesn’t even get to pick? Hrm….
You should bargain with them – depending on the person/winner, they might be able to make something work for themselves…. but getting some random piece of clothing is just crappy. Tell them you’ll do it for a gift certificate.
Also, it depends – you have advertisers: do you only choose advertisers whose products/services you believe in? It almost amounts to the same thing.
I’d enter for a gift card, but not for something just sent because it’s free.
Let me first start off by saying that I am not familiar with the brand, and I am just judging by their note above.
I believe that they are getting more from you than you are from them. You would advertise their brand monthly to thousands of your readers for free and in return, one of them would win something they don’t get to pick? And, they can’t win unless they’re already receiving the company’s newsletter that is advertising to them? If you really love their product, you should consider it – but don’t give “free press” to just anyone.
You should write another post about what you decide and why.
Gabi, I think you have to stay true to your vision, for your blog, and the brands that you want to promote. Alight needs to upgrade with there style and there content before they begin to give things away and ask people to patronize their site. I agree with your solicitation of feedback, I would question them also.
You preach finding clothes that work for the individual, giving out the same shirt to everyone seems to go against that. One thing won’t work for every body on this list.
Besides, you’d just be advertising for them. They would normally have to pay you for that, and much more per month than the cost of a top.
If we could choose our own top (within a price range) I might be inclined to say yes, but I think you’re just going to find this has more problems in the end.
Aside from that, how unprofessional is that letter? Very presumptuous, instructing you to direct your readers to their mailing list. Such bull.
Yuck! More flowy florals and prints? Their clothes have no shape! It’s a nice offer (sort of) so ultimately it is up to you!
I received the same message and I’m not sure I’m going to take them up on their offer because I don’t like the restrictions.It seems like they just want to add more names to their mailing list as neither you nor the winner gets to choose the prize.I know that the reason retailers donate items to blog giveaways is for promotion but in this instance its too one sided and a bit cheeky. Although you may not share the Alight aesthetic I would say don’t let that factor influence your decision too much.
The fact that they are demanding that people sign up for the mailing list is a big red light to me. I would pass if I were you.
Quite aside from their tops (which aren’t anything special – they look a lot like Debs’ tops), I’m really questioning their conditions. They’d shell out, what, maybe $20-25 a month, and in return they get lots of free advertising here and a bunch of people signed up for their mailing list.
It’s your choice, ultimately, but I wouldn’t do it.
they have some cute dresses! but if i were in your shoes, the fact that the prize is an item of THEIR choosing would be a dealbreaker. it’s churlish and controlling and ungenerous of them, and yes, comes off as a cynical and cheap attempt to snare email addresses for spam rather than as an attempt to foster return visitors who actually like their stuff, a community of real customers. if the winner could choose the prize (even if the retailer set a dollar amount) i’d be fine with the contest even if MOST of the stuff isn’t to your or your audience’s taste — you can always find something reasonably cute in a given price range. the fact that they choose, feh.
The way I see it, they’re trying to use your blog to make themselves seem more fashionable than they are. If you don’t believe in a product, why promote it? Free is free, but I, like a lot of fat girls, am trying to stray away from wearing things just because they fit and/or are cheap. As far as advertisers go, I think you can do much better.
Had the conditions not been so… restrictive, I might have voted yes, but those terms are very one-sided. If you were interested in doing a giveaway, I’d try and compromise with them – no forced mailing list signups, and they get a giftcard, or choice of a range of products.
I say no Gabs, like Alexis said, aim high. I agree with what pretty much everyone is saying, and I see what you mean about aesthetics. It’s free advertising for them and it’d be ok if it was something you want to promote, so it’s up to you
btw, I watched Fantastico today and your interview didn’t air!!! Maybe next week? I watch it every week so I’ll let you know when it airs
don’t sell out
I think you’ve already made up your mind, it is ok to be confident about it and accept the consequences: good or bad.
personally I think alight is cheesy and can never navigate their website, they want free in a tight economy. instead they should be asking you advice on how to gain a better share of the younger hipper market.
you wouldn’t be hurt’n no one’s feelin’s. Just because they are a big company, doesn’t mean you need to cater to them – it should be the other way around.
Stick to your guns, be a fashion-snob because girl, you know you would
you have a great blog and i would find it hard to follow if i felt like you sold-out.
I agree with the precedent comment, I think you already made up your mind, just stick to what you think!
Anyways, ‘love your blog! And I just put on mine a huge list of plus size clothing websites from US, UK, Oz, and NZ: if you have some time, ‘go and have a look, and mainly leave me any comment on some shops I could add or the ones you already know and prefer!!!!
Thank you!
Sarah
http://lolitaofmoderntimes.blogspot.com/
Well, Alight doesn’t carry anything I’d wear, and barely carries anything in my size (hello, people don’t stop needing clothes after a size 24) so I’m not impressed by their offer. Possibly if they let the winner pick their item or offered a gift certificate it would be worth it.
Hiya…I think that your first impression that alight’s clothes don’t fit your aesthetic was correct. Politely thank alight and suggest that when the winner can choose their prize you might be more amenable to the arrangement. They gain a lot of advertising exposure through the deal, so it’s no skin off their back to let the winner choose.
I love your blog. However I am not a fan of Alight. They are over priced and the quality leaves much to be desired.
Everyone likes something for free. However to be bombarded with emails from them weekly for an item I will not love in general… just is a no for me. Sounds like they are trying to get some free advertising, and traffic on their site.
Best wishes!
I think Ashe Mischief put it best. I also think their clothes are ugly–not even up to Forever21 standards, so pass on them. You don’t want to “give” your readers ugly clothes, and they are being disrespectful by forcing all these conditions on this “giveaway.”
I say don’t do it, but I am biased against alight.com because of a really crappy ordering experience I had with them. I eventually got the clothes, but they were poorly made and ill fitting.
I say go with your gut, it’s your vision and your web presence to the rest of the world. I would like to thank you for disclosing the inner workings and giving us all a say also though. Integrity is the new black. 😛
Yeah, not feeling it.
I ordered a few things from their site and was not impressed with the fit or the quality – I think you can live without their giveaways.
I’m not wild about it either. And the winner has to subscribe to their e-mail distribution? Great, so they get spammed every week about new and exciting poorly-made, over-priced clothing. No thanks.
thanks for your feedback, guys. i just wrote the people over at alight to let them know we wouldn’t be participating. i wanted to hear what you had to say because i didn’t want to deny you a free giveaway if you had interest in it. i’m glad i asked
that said, i will continue to do giveaways in the future from places that offer things that i like or that i think my readers will like. i believe i will be offering a gift card giveaway from SWAKDesigns in the near future. i hope you guys dont consider ALL giveaways “selling out,” because i am doing them for YOU!
The mailing list aspect is stupid. I’d say no.
I think it’s kind of eh, bargain with them and see if they’ll upgrade it to a $10 gift card, otherwise, tell them you’re not interested!
I think it’s okay for you to be picky.
While there’s probably some stuff on their site i’d like and possibly buy, I think your blog is worth much more than what they’re offering. I feel as though they’re trying to get something for basically nothing, rather than asking for you to partner with them or actually doing something that would benefit you.
i say, go with your gut.
The giveaway sounds like a cool idea…but I think you should be able to pick what we win.
I think if the clothes conflict with what you are trying to promote through your site then don’t do. Don’t compromise yourself just because it is free. It is like eating a free steak even though you are vegetarian…lol.
Also @ Louisa…I would love to see the line from the designer you are talking about. Email me.
I can totally understand the mailing list thing. The store I work at does giveaways from time to time and on the entry forms there’s an option to say yes or no to being on the mailing list. My boss always pulls out the people who checked no before then randomly pulling out a winner – why would she give someone a gift if they aren’t even interested in hearing about her business?
free is free, but at the same time, the winner should be able to choose their top. because one top on one person may look great, but on another may look horrible, and we have all seen this happen
Tell them you’ll do it for gift certificates, but not Top-of-the-Month. You’ve got a good thing going here- I think they can see that too.
They want you for your demographic. You are better off selling ad space. Dealing with a weekly give-away will also become a pain in the ass sooner rather than later (especially if the clothes are shit.)
Since the majority input is that their clothes are lacking style/quality. Why not create a group that reviews clothing? The real issue I have is so many times plus sized clothing is not proportional to MY body. Its a size 12 proportion, enlarged to a 20. Give us what WE want, not what you think we want.
Hello
I recieved the same offer for my blog. So it is not a problem for me beauce i like this brand and I make somethime same reviews.
But I think that before I maked a opinion poll by my readers because it is for them . Maybe after the poll I will ask other think as a card gift or other thing.
I don’t think you should agree to that…. I am actually a little offended (and it’s not even my blog) by the way they approached you…. That e-mail was very pushy. I’d respond with a big HELL NO. And their clothes ain’t cute.
goog job Gabi! I mean the decision
btw – love your page!
I think it might be a good message in saying no because even though some of their stuff is cute, the majority does not think outside the box. It reminds me of your comments for the FFF (I think) fashion show, where the runway didn’t have anything daring. Just same old same old. You aren’t same old to me dear!
This comment has been removed by the author.
we do appreciate the feedback and will consider changing our terms in the future. we are just getting involved with the blog space and are still figuring out the best ways to work with the blogs to educate woman about our site and at the same time help the bloggers. there are many plus size women out there that don’t know about our site and nothing makes us happier than a woman finding our site and loving it!
if anyone has specific advice (besides what has been mentioned above) or has ideas to help spread the alight.com name through a partnership, please email or call us.
regards,
norman
————-
norman weiss
president
alight.com
[email protected]
516-367-1095
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