Client Doesn’t Have Budget? Exposure Doesn’t Pay the Rent!
Client Doesn't Have Budget!
I know so many people, myself included, who are actively looking for jobs, and let’s face it, the job market is crucifying. We are seeing more retrenchments than new hires, and it is frankly frightening, frightening, frightening.
I was chatting to a friend recently about the two biggest disruptors in my career. The first was COVID, which decimated the industries I was active in, specifically restaurants, hospitality, and entertainment. The second is AI, which has changed things drastically, especially for media, marketing, and content. Nowadays, everybody gets everything done with AI because, theoretically, it’s quicker, cheaper, and easier. But I always say, you get what you pay for.
It always amuses me when someone asks me to check their AI-generated copy. I always find the whole thing bland, generic, and verbose. It’s just big words that don’t make much sense. I’m certainly not going to rewrite it for you. If you wanted bland copy, I can recommend 101 other people, but not me. I prefer to write everything from scratch.
The Pleading Poverty Story: Publicists and The Media
Regular readers will know my biggest complaint as a blogger, influencer, and media personality. When I or any other publisher ask brands to support us financially, or at least pay us for content, promotion, or advertising, the standard response is always, “Client doesn’t have budget.” It’s like the first thing they teach publicists at publicity school.
Yet, that same client has budget to advertise on television, in expensive, full-colour glassy magazines, and to recruit entire crews to shoot glorified half-hour extended adverts for YouTube. When they come to us, it’s always the same story.
Media cannot give you exposure if you are not funding them, directly or indirectly. Yes, you can get a PR piece published, but publications have expenses and overheads. Money makes the world go round. I’ve heard national publications say, “Everybody wants to dump their PR on us, but they never want to pay for anything.”
Payment doesn’t have to mean a full-page advert. Just pay for a half-page, or a social media campaign, or put money in the pockets of the journalist who has to rewrite your shoddy press release. How are we supposed to pay for rent, salaries, and overheads? Everyone comes knocking with a pleading poverty-poor story, needing publicity and exposure, but not once do they ask how they can reciprocate. You are lucky if you get a canape or a coupon. It’s simply not worth it.
Frankly, I’ve seen publications decide to simply focus on the story and be journalists once again. They’re creating their own content and focusing on proper journalism, not worrying about brands or publicists. That’s what journalism is all about. If you don’t support the media, the media cannot support you. We’ve been saying it for years.
Red Flags in the Job Search: Shooting Down the Scams
On a separate, but equally frustrating note, I’ve seen a lot of people advertising jobs on social media, specifically on LinkedIn. There is a very scary trend where some dimwit thinks they are being clever by posting, “I’ve got a job. DM me for details. Like this post and comment below. I’ll be in touch.”
When you see 360 people commenting below, you realise this is a short-sighted person who thinks they have the time to respond to 360 comments. Why don’t they follow the correct channels? LinkedIn has procedures for posting a job.
You know what you do if you’re a decent human being with good morals and standards? You post the job with contact details for the company, making it easy for people to send their resumes and CVs to a dedicated email.
I’m going to call BS on the idea that they are just trying to “help” by weeding out unworthy people.
- They are circumventing standard procedures. Legitimate companies have established, professional hiring processes.
- It is vague and unprofessional communication. A genuine job posting gives specific details about the role, the company, and the application procedure.
When people post, “like and comment on this post,” they are really trying to cheat the system. There’s no job in store. They are just trying to get equally dimwitted people to comment, driving up engagement so the social media platform gives their post more exposure. This is why a special place in hell is reserved for them.
These people are link baiters, trying to get you to engage so they look more important than they really are.
The Standard We Deserve: Salary and Respect
I also see a lot of companies advertising fake job positions, posting the same role again and again, just trying to promote themselves and look busy. Whenever they post a job, you have to read through five thousand words about why they are a great company. A really great company doesn’t need to tell you why, they just say, “We’re hiring,” and people are automatically interested.
I recently saw a job offer that made my heart weep, it was so succinct and effortless to read. It was for an Account Manager in South Africa, fully remote from home. It listed the required experience and the salary: R35,000 to R45,000 a month depending on experience, plus sales incentives.
Within a minute, it told me everything.
This is what I loved about it:
- The company wasn’t ashamed of the salary. So many South African companies won’t even pay their staff R15,000 a month and expect them to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. They’re not afraid to admit they are paying a living wage.
- The requirements were realistic. You weren’t expected to be a “rock star unicorn catcher spreading fairy dust like it’s an STD.”
- You weren’t expected to engage for attention. You weren’t expected to comment, like, share, or DM them. Only engagement seekers need you to engage for the sake of their engagement.
I’ve applied for jobs where I wasn’t told the salary until I got there, and it was so low I couldn’t even buy petrol or groceries. Companies want your skills and experience but aren’t prepared to pay for them.
We live in a very scary world where so many are unemployed, working for minimum wage, and then you get these con artists exploiting vulnerabilities with “comment below if you’re interested.” Those red flags need to be shot down.
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