Justine Hovey - You-Tube video of "I've had enough"

I watched her video and all her pros and cons are what I would expect when on a design team.  The one thing that bothered me was that she kept calling it “unpaid”. While you may not be paid cash, you are compensated with product, right? Unless I’m misunderstood and design team members are paying for the product at a deep discount.

I also did not understand her affiliate link example. If you use the designers like, they get commission. But If you use the link in the email, they deduct the discount from the designers commission? In her example I don’t understand why the designer would expect to get commission from an email link.

This is AI's design team call from the summer. My friend thought about trying out, but after figuring out how much work she would have to do with commenting, using her own paper,embellishments and coloring mediums the $75/month and 30% off didn't sound that great.
I think the pressure to come up with something new and amazing every month is not worth the money, especially if the new product doesn't get your creative juices going.

artimpressionsstamps.blogspot.com/2020/06/art-impressions-design-team-call.html?m=1

That's a crazy amount of work, especially for a company I've never even heard of before! I could understand (maybe) if it was for something like Tim Holtz or Hero Arts, but even that would be a stretch.

85 minutes? Goodness. I don't know if I could talk 85 minutes solid about anything, and definitely wouldn't devote that much time to telling my subscribers I was changing things up. Yeesh.

I'm assuming it was part of a bigger crafty session, but I'm not going to watch and find out, on principle. And also because I have to like someone A LOT to click on any video over 20 minutes. I dislike live videos anyway. 

I don't know, I think product does not equal compensation, since it is a tool to create the results the company wants. (Yes, you get to keep it afterward...but honestly, even if the company required the items returned, once you add up the shipping costs and selling a used product at a discount, it makes more sense for the designer to keep the product.) I think if the product is received with NO expectation of publicity/design work, then it could be considered compensation, but if you're required to use it (which I think most DT members are), then it becomes an obligation, not a fun crafty haul.

I also think that this devaluing of work is typical of industries that are predominantly female-oriented. For example, think of the average stranger's reaction if you told them you were a professional scrapbooker/cardmaker as opposed to a professional fine art painter. I think most people would think that painting is a more serious, professional endeavor, whereas papercrafting is cute/a hobby/frivolous. Since papercrafting is not "real" work, it doesn't deserve to be compensated in the same way that painting does. (Obviously painting can be done by women, but historically, most of the famous artists we think of were male, so we default to thinking of Van Gogh/Picasso as opposed to Mrs. Smith with three kids who scrapbooks.)

I'm trying to come up with an analogy from another industry to demonstrate how this viewpoint doesn't work. The best I can think of relates to movie/TV critics. These critics are given advance access to releases (much to the jealousy of the general populace), then write a review. Imagine if we told the critics that their compensation for their review was the "privilege" of watching the new Avengers movie for free and in advance. I doubt that would fly. Obviously, this is a bit of a different situation as the critics work for a newspaper/website and not the movie company, but I still think it's similar. Yes, watching new movies for free is a perk...but the critic isn't just sitting in the screening eating popcorn and laughing, they're taking notes, making critiques, etc. 

YMMV, that's just my take on it.

beware, probably rambling thoughts:

I think there's a huge devaluing of creative work, and especially women's creative work, but also anything that's considered fun, that you would do anyway for free. Many of us will put a huge amount of labor into something for nothing more than love - making a quilt as a gift, knitting a sweater, making a scrapbook. So much of what women do is unpaid work... 

I'm also thinking of how photographers and artists are offered the "opportunity" to create work for companies with the only compensation being "exposure." A lot of creatives and influencers are being under-compensated because it's assumed that what they're doing is fun (often there's a lot of slog to get to the fun bit!) or that they're happy with free stuff (rather than cash to buy the stuff they actually want/pay their expenses) or because they'll be able to leverage the exposure to monetize some other venture.

And we're all unpaid content creators when we make something and tag a company on social media. Like how we've been trained to value paying more for a garment with a visible logo - so we pay more to advertise your product...?! That idea has always messed with my head. 

The thing about giving people product is that the cost to the business is much lower than it would seem to us. They're not "paying" the retail price. They're assigning the cost price as an advertising expense in their books, which is a very different thing. So the actual cost of these design teams is very low. And if they're just giving people a discount instead they may still be making a tiny profit/breaking even on the product as well as getting free advertising, which is pretty nice! I know a lot of these business don't make a ton of money but dang, if you're doing that, you should be really nice to your unpaid workers.

I don't watch Justine anymore. She's found another way to make $$ in this industry and I say good luck and go for it

But, in order to stay sane in this market, I try and only buy 4-5 brands and only watch their stuff and their influencer stuff. That keeps me plenty busy.

grammadee - I agree - while she IS selling her stuff, she's not pushing it, imo.  I'm not her target audience though as primarily a scrapbooker.

I don’t watch Justine H. or any other influencers, although if I am bored, I will sometimes look to see what Jennifer McGuire has done lately. Sometimes I’ll find Justine H’s videos and those of other paper craft celebs, but I’m more inspired by the tools and supplies in my craft room than by any videos of the big name crafters.

However, I agree that sticking with 4 to 5 favorite brands makes it easier to use what I have. Sometimes various brands will go with another brand or paper line just fine, but not always.

I mostly buy from a select few companies. Each company has its own style. It gives me a variety that I can use for crafting, depending on whether I am making a card for an adult or a child, or for a particular occasion. I like my preferred companies for their designs, but also because of their customer service.

I rarely watch the influencers, unless I am really tired and bored. Justine H may be the exception, but most of the craft celebs are supposed to influence you to buy more products. My craft room is overflowing as it is. I don’t need a push to buy more stuff. I have enough. I need to use it more.

Yes! I really like cardmakers who use the same supplies over and over. I follow a few people who go make multiple videos using their favorite supplies over a period of months or years, and it's so fun to see all the different ways they think of to use the same thing. (Unfortunately the person who springs to mind first is Prairie Paper & Ink who can be a bit abrasive, and mostly uses SSS products, a brand I rarely shop).  

I'm so slow at making decisions that I usually haven't bought last month's thing before this month's comes out. It saves me a lot of money because I get distracted and only end up going back if the supply is really good. Often I realize it's OK but not really special. I would enjoy seeing people use supplies in creative ways but they just don't have time to do that with the constant hamster wheel of releases. 

I don't know who Justine is and I didn't see this thread when it was first posted, but I find this to be an interesting topic so I thought I'd give my perspective.

I am on a couple of design teams and do not at all feel the way that others have described. That said, I am selective about what brands I work with and only do teams that I think are "worth" it to me. I think there is pressure out there on smaller designers who want to become "known" to take any DT they can get and then they settle for brands that they wouldn't otherwise work with or don't properly compensate them in hopes that they can eventually grow to work for a larger brand. IMO that doesn't really work, you have to value your own work and say no to opportunities that aren't worth it. You can't fault brands for "taking advantage" if you're willing to work for free.

The brands I work with are products I would use anyways so I don't feel pressure to use products I don't like. They also provide me with free products, financial compensation, and other perks (affiliate, free digitals, etc.). On top of that, they also give me realistic timelines for getting projects done that work with my life (I have a full time job). I feel like I am valued by the brands I work with so I don't ever feel "pressure" and am comfortable telling them no for additional opportunities that don't work with my life. That being said, I know that comes with creating/enforcing boundaries for yourself, and I know that is hard for some people. My response would be that design teams aren't for everyone, you have to make sure it makes sense for you before agreeing to do it. For me, I love having the structure to my creating, plus I have turned my hobby into something that is (minorly) profitable.

I also don't think it is necessary to join DTs to "make" it as a creator. I had a decent sized following before I joined my first creative team and the first brand I worked with was, IMO, my top pick for a brand to work with, not one that I saw as a "stepping stone." I made some mistakes and agreed to work with brands that weren't "worth" it for me soon after that, but I learned from those mistakes and quickly quit those commitments. I think that, although teams can help you reach new followers, the most important thing to reaching people is having consistent, quality content, not the brands you are affiliated with. Personally, I don't care if someone is on a creative team or using products they purchased when watching their videos/following their instagram, I am looking for projects that inspire me and I think most other people feel the same way.

On the other side of things, as a creator of content, I am super aware of the "pressure" people feel to buy all the things. I am aware of the fact that I am given products for free (although I would likely purchase many of these products anyways), but I know not everyone has the same budget or need the same volume of supplies that I do (I create a lot!). For these reasons, I don't try to push the newest products in my videos and, even though some of my videos are using new products for commitments, those are only a small portion of my videos. I also share videos using my stash or products that I have purchased for more than half of my videos.

I also agree with the people who said that videos like this are just click-baity and annoying. Everyone should do what works for them and say "not for me" to the rest. No reason to yuck someone else's yum.

From my experience, it's the smaller brands that don't compensate well, but I think that's because they are less likely to have a marketing budget and have a lower profit percentage already. I was invited to teach a class for a small brand at one point and ended up with like $20 compensation, totally not worth it. Then a year later I taught a class for a larger brand... tons of work... but made thousands. I totally get the struggle to want to get ahead and take whatever opportunities you can get, but people need to say no to brands that don't adequately compensate... it's the only way the system will change.

I also disagree with the reach comment. I had less than 2k followers on instagram and my youtube was not monetized when I made it on the first paying team and another person they added the same time had about 700 followers. The other one was more recent, but I have less than 10k followers on instagram and about 5k on youtube. From what I've seen, established brands will pay for people who are reliable, have great projects, quality photos/videos, and are active on social media. That matters more than having a huge reach. And while I understand the idea that "if someone will do it for less, they'll take that" I don't think that's really true in this industry. The brands I work with are very upfront about the fact that they pay everyone who joins their team. And I know these are desirable brands to work with so I am sure there are others out there who would do it for less. 

I guess ultimately it comes down to what is people's goal? If what you really want is to gain followers, then working with a small brand for no compensation is not really going to help, you're better off just working on your own content and looking for a partnership that works for you. If what you want is access to free/early access products, then you need to decide if the work you're doing is worth what you're getting, or if you should just pay for the products instead. 

Also I really hope this doesn't come off wrong, I just think this is a topic we should discuss openly because the more we do, the more other brands in the industry who are underpaying will realize they need to raise the compensation they provide. I think a huge problem is there is a lack of transparency in this area so I don't think people who work for smaller brands for free realize there is such a disconnect. ETA: I also wanted to add, there is a larger brand that I know compensates well that I have applied for multiple times and been rejected. I totally get not wanting to go through that, it sucks! So I think that holds people back from applying for larger brands or leads people to apply to the ones that don't compensate thinking it's easier to get on the team. But everyone will have rejection at some point, that doesn't mean you need to settle for less, it means you need to work on what you're putting out there on your own. Maybe a specific brand will never want to work with you, but there are other good brands out there that treat their teams well!