I’ve been thinking about sponsored advertising a lot this week. Many bloggers won’t have anything to do with sponsored post advertising as they feel it’s a sell out and will turn off their readers. I can appreciate that. I think, though, many of us are lying if we say we don’t wish to make good money with our blogs. Make no mistake, FWJ is first and foremost a blog providing a useful service to freelance writers. However, it’s also a business. Blogging is a business. The bloggers at this network expect payment and I hope to turn a profit.
With that said, I’ve turned down most offers for sponsored posts because they don’t fit with this community. I mean, I have a price but I’m not a total whore. I also believe in full disclosure and transparency for sponsored posts, which means if anyone paid me to write a post for them, you will know so you can draw your own conclusions.
As I wrote earlier, the rules for blogging are that there are no rules. We all do what we feel best works for our own situations. Sponsorship isn’t selling out. It’s a business decision some bloggers choose to make. I can’t fault them for that. As long as a blog continues to provide awesome content, advertising and sponsorship is never a deal breaker for me. No one thinks twice about buying a heavy issue of Vogue featuring 100 pages of content and 500 pages of advertising. I look at it the same way. As long as it’s not overly spammy and they’re honest about sponsored posting, bloggers should do whatever they feel best to survive without being accused of selling out.
What do you think?
‘I have a price but I’m not a total whore’- that’s priceless
Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with sponsored posts if they fit into the theme of the blog. We’re all trying to survive, right?
It is no different than reviews for free products. A lot of bloggers will not give a bad review for something they received for free, even if the book/product was awful. Not all, but enough to make it an issue.
So, post away, Deb, if that’s what you need to do to raise more cashflow. I won’t complain.
I don’t like sponsored posts too much, but I’m willing to accept them if they follow my set of guidelines. 1) I have to disclose that it is a paid post (you’d be surprised how many don’t want that). 2) It has to pay enough. 3) It has to allow me to write an honest review of the Web site. 4) It must have some relevance to my blog.
I completely agree with you, Deb. It’s a touchy subject in the blogosphere, I know. But there are right ways to do sponsorships and ads, and there are wrong ways to do them. I’m rather tired of all the high and mighty preaching I’ve seen around the internet. Thanks for sharing your view.
My standards are pretty much what others have stated:
1) I disclose if a post is sponsored.
2) I have to be free to give my honest opinion.
3) The product or service has to be something that my readers would be interested in.
Those three standards are enough to turn away many potential post sponsors – but I believe that they are important so I stick to my guns.
In the long run I don’t see a lot of difference between a sponsored post and a post with an affiliate link in it, but maybe that’s just me.
We all write because we love it, but we also need to make money while we do. While I wouldn’t blame you if you did take on some questionable advertisers if the offer was large enough, I appreciate the level of standards you have adhered to that keep FWJ a classy place to visit.
You hear the same conversation in every area of arts and culture.
those of us who are business-oriented try to maintain a happy medium, working for clients who don’t actually repel us and “selling out” to sponsors whose products we can (at least) not despise.
those who are “purists” feel it should be all about the art (painting, writing, music, etc.).
I’m guessing most of those purists either (1) live with their parents or (b) have a very well-employed spouse or partner!
Lisa
I don’t see sponsored posts as any worse or any better than sidebar ads and Google Adwords. When you are blogging for a business you need to run and manage the blog to turn a profit and if that includes sponsored posts, so be it. I don’t agree with other posters who said you have to “mark it” as such. It is up to the blog owner to present the ads in an attractive way to please advertisers and at the same time ensure readers will feel the blog is a place of trust and integrity. There are a number of ways to incorporate sponsored posts — the blog owner needs to decide how to get those ad spots filled to best suit their blog and audience.
Whether or not to use sponsored posts seems a bit of a paper tiger. If your blog is anything more than for recreation, you would be mad not to use advertising in all its forms. As traditional advertising waxes and wanes, demand for a message to get before a select audience is steady. If we look to traditional media for some analog, sponsored posts are the infomercial.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with infomercials (indeed, they keep some networks on the air) as long as they are clearly labeled.
I promise not to hire the ShamWow! guy as FWJ’s spokesman.
I’m new to blogging and want to start my own…can anyone assist with some ideas of where and how to start? I’m definitely interested in making money out of this…so any advice would be great. Of course i want advertisers to book with my blog – but can someone assist with where i should start. Ps.. thanks for a wonderful website!
Hi Cindy – We’re working on it! We have lots of posts here for beginners.
To me whoring yourself out as a blogger comes down to one thing: whether it’s an issue of a sponsored blog or sponsored conversations. The moment a sponsor affects the actual content of the post or what is or isn’t allowed to be said, the blogger and sponsor lose a lot of respect with me. I’m all for bloggers being able to monetize their blogs… as long as they can completely differentiate between advertising and editorial.
Agreed. I wouldn’t accept a sponsorship here if the advertiser dictated what could/couldn’t get posted on this blog. I also let sponsors know that I might do pros and cons and if there’s a negative aspect to the product or service, I’ll be transparent. It’s worked so far and I think most bloggers get this.
This is so weird. I was in the middle of writing a post quite similar to this and googled some information and your site popped up. I feel the SAME way.
I was once told that, “anything can be bought”…and if that statement is accurate then, as someone mentioned before me, “for the right price” we would allow sponsorship.
I personally do not fault anyone for accepting sponsorship. Let’s face it, we all have bills to pay and in today’s economy…a little sponsorship could go a long way!