Recently I’ve noticed many bloggers (I won’t point fingers) that seem to think they’re better than everyone. They think they deserve free passes to conferences. They think they deserve free cell phones or free software. They think they deserve to be treated as upper class citizens because they can wreak havoc with their dinky little site. They think their 50,000 unique visitors a month (if that) gives them some sort of clout.
Let’s be clear about this. Companies give freebies to small-time bloggers (which 99.9% are, and yes, that includes you) to flatter you. They know that almost all of what they’re providing you for free is a waste but they realize that the aggregate of this blogger outreach might have a real impact. The aggregate is where the value is. You, by yourself, and your dinky little site, aren’t worth anything by itself.
That’s just my favorite bit. Go read the rest. It’s really good.