New Survey: Should FreshBlogger Use Sponsored Reviews?
Published May 3rd, 2007 in advertising, blogging, blogs, income, money, polls, reviews, surveysThis is a question that’s been on my mind for a while. There are a number of opinions on whether or not this hurts a blogger’s credibility. I don’t think there is a definitive answer either way unless the blogger has an extreme number of sponsored posts and posts only fluff articles in between. I would guess that this is a relatively rare occurrence, though, because most paid review sites have terms of service that forbid this type of abuse.
I’ve been on the fence somewhat regarding this issue. When other bloggers have openly asked their readers if they should do sponsored posts, my first thought was that they shouldn’t. I was worried mainly about how it would look to other bloggers. After seeing some of these reviews, though, it’s clear that how it’s done makes a big difference.
Many reputable bloggers (yes, even A-listers) do sponsored posts because of how lucrative it can be. There are some big name bloggers out there who can command four figures for their reviews. I don’t know if they sell many reviews, but it definitely makes you consider the possibilities.
So, what do you think? Should I do some sponsored reviews on FreshBlogger? Keep in mind that every single paid post will be disclosed as such and that only relevant sites or products will be reviewed here. There will be no Hair Club For Men reviews here (Come on, do I look like I need that anyway?) Also, would a paid review on this site be something you would consider? I’m interested in any input you have on this question, so please vote in the survey and then leave a comment on this post with your feedback. Thanks!
13 Responses to “New Survey: Should FreshBlogger Use Sponsored Reviews?”
- 1 Pingback on Aug 16th, 2007 at 8:03 am
Hiya Ray,
When I first started blogging I did some paid posts and quickly felt inhibited. Unless the sponsored posts are perfectly in sync with the bloggers overall blog goals I have a hard time enjoying them.
Thanks, Tisha. That’s one of my biggest concerns. If I end up doing paid posts at all, I’m going to have to be very careful. When I see John Chow and Jeremy Shoemaker doing it, though, it really makes me think seriously about writing one every once in a while…
My thoughts are, if the sponsored posts don’t interested my regular readers, they’ll simply skip over them. If a few sponsored posts per month make people stop reading my site, then that’s AOK with me. The vast majority of readers won’t leave over something so trivial. I think most of us understand that money is important, and blogging is hard work. It’s nice to be able to collect a bit of cash in return for said hard work.
Hi Ray, I posted about sponsored posts on my blog earlier today. My opinion is that providing you don’t sell out, and provide honest, informative reviews as opposed to just meeting the minimum requirements for number of words, you should be okay.
Is simply math, Ray.
‘a’ is number of regular readers
‘b’ is number of possible intersted
‘c’ is number of ‘a’ who`ll quit reading the blog after the time ‘t’
‘d’ is the number of readers gained to become regular during the time up to moment ‘t’
to be followed :
now(b/a) (equal, lower, bigger) t(b/a) ?
c (equal, lower, bigger) d ?
b is big enough to worth all the work ?
As example, if b/a~1 and c lower than d, is plain perfect.
Simple way, without math, is your decision. Is your freedom to choose subjects for your blog.
As Leroy said above, who`ll not be intersted, will skip.
Or, as option, you may post also a “normal” article in the day you publish the sponsored review. So, visitors will read one, other or both.
Cheers !
ps - please delete my comment above this one, I used tags and blog`s script deleted parts of …
Hi Ray, before you go any further you might want to read the following:
http://pimpmypagerank.com/2006/09/12/for-gods-sake-get-over-yourself/
It’ll give you a good idea of how strong the feelings on this issue can be.
(The comments on this post should probably have a parental advisory, by the way)
Hi guys, thanks for the input. This all makes sense and I’m leaning toward trying out some sponsored posts every once in a while to see how it works out.
Like you’ve mentioned in your comments, I don’t think I’ll lose too many readers over a sponsored post here and there. I’m thinking it won’t be much more frequent than once or twice a month, though, so it certainly won’t be overwhelming…
Hi Stu. I just got through reading your post and the comments that followed. Wow! I’ve seen similar responses to the issue in the past, but I think the whole idea of being paid for posting has matured a little bit. Bloggers still have their personal opinions on the matter, but I don’t think the kind of knee jerk reaction to services like PayPerPost is as prevalent as it used to be.
For myself, I wouldn’t be interested in being paid $5 per post. It’s simply not worth my time. Also, if I’m going to do any type of paid posting, it will be in-depth reviews of websites that are highly relevant to the topics covered in this blog. If there are any product reviews, I will most definitely have used the products or I won’t even consider posting about them for money.
Thanks for posting the link. I found the discussion to be really useful.
P.S. I really hope Mark (45n5.com) doesn’t stop coming to my blog if I do paid reviews…
I think the optimal solution is to do a paid review that is in sync with your blog theme and actually adds value to your readers.
I have no problems whatsoever, with reviews like that.
I think:
- Sure why not.. given,
- Tell your readers it’s a paid review
- Do it with moderation
Hey Maki. I agree. I’ll have to judge whether each potential review would be anything my readers will be interested in or entertained by. If the answer is no, then it’s clearly not something I should be doing. Thanks for the feedback!
Hi Ilker. That seems to be what most are saying. It’s interesting, though, that the actual voting in the survey has been running about 50/50, with the no’s being a little ahead right now… Thanks for for your input!