Earlier this month, I received an email from a reputable clothing company that wanted to outfit me for BlogHer '10 since I'm both attending and speaking on a panel at the conference this year. The note came as a pleasant surprise, but I was't sure how to respond. Eventually, I politely declined the offer. The line was great...it just was not great for me. A couple of weeks later, another wonderful clothing company unexpectedly offered to provide me with outfits for BlogHer. This time, the answer was a resounding, "Yes!" Below is how I went from a "no" to a "yes"...

1. First of all, I needed to figure out what I thought about being outfitted for a blogging conference in general.

I had conflicting thoughts initially. Part of me thought. "It's always fun to shop for clothes. This is great!" The other part of me questioned whether or not it was tacky to be outfitted for a blogging conference. So, I asked other bloggers for input by sending out a tweet. Everyone who responded thought that it was a positive thing if the brand was a natural fit.

2. Secondly, I just needed to be honest with the first company.

Although I turn down way more things than I accept over at my Mom in the City blog, it was hard to say "no" to the first clothing company. That is simply because they were the first company to initiate this particular type of relationship (dressing me for a particular event). Although the idea was cool, I had to remember one of my favorite sayings,"Just because you can doesn't mean you should." Bottom-line the first brand was just not my style. I would not have written about them on my site, because they are not my core readers' style either. Everything is not for everyone...and that's alright.

3. In the end, things worked out the way that they should have.

I am so glad that I said, "no thanks" to the brand that was not a fit. I have several "BlogHer-worthy" clothes hanging up in my closet anyway, so I simply forgot about it. I must admit that before I forgot about it, I did think for a few moments about the places that I shop at/that would have been natural fits - the Gap, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, White House Black Market, etc. I would not have reached out to them and asked them to outfit me though. That would have been tacky (in my eyes anyway). To finish the story, one of my "natural fits" companies ended up contacting me so I'll be wearing a few new things to BlogHer after all. Yay!

All of that to say:

-Bloggers, don't just say "yes" because an offer is on the table.  I'm with Oprah on this one: "Doubt means don't." Hold out for the good fits. You (and your readers) are worth it!

-Marketers, don't just try to match yourself with a blogger simply because he or she might be "out front" in some capacity. Hold out for the good fits. You don't want to align yourself with someone who will just take your "stuff" and not be enthusiastic about it/share about it to others. That defeats the purpose of your marketing.

That's my opinion.

What do you think? Should bloggers and marketers just take what they can get and be happy or should both sides wait for good partnership fits?