In the last Jane Austen book I read (which may not have actually been written by Jane Austen but instead a mystery set among characters she created, but that's okay because I actually have read most of Jane Austen's works AND the mystery was set in the same era and quite historically accurate) a woman was described as being "of easy virtue". I believe the term today would be "slut".
I used to be a total blogging slut. When I discovered I could make (a little) money doing this thing that I loved? I jumped on it like "The Situation" on a drunk girl with big boobs. Pay Per Post, Smorty, countless others I've forgotten, I did them all. And quickly realized that even though I tried to make them relevant and funny, no one really wanted to read sponsored posts about things I had no business talking about, such as the time I tried to write about investment properties in Mauritania. Which I had to look up on a map. So I decided maybe sponsored posts weren't right for me, that maybe they made me feel dirty and a little stupid and a little unpopular with my readers.
I next embraced reviewing options. But after honestly reviewing one game that my kids hated, some very popular brand/blogger marketers weren't quite so interested in me. The reviewing definitely went better than sponsored posting, though, especially when I got to review things that I would have used/done anyway and that I really like. But of course, since I'm not a famous blogger (though you can totally like me on Babble's Top 50 Mom Bloggers that you've never heard of section) nor a talented reviewer (I am physically incapable of writing more than 200 words to critique anything, and those critiques will always include "awesome" or "sucked") it's not like the good brands were beating down my door.
After reading a disturbing book sent to me by a Christian publishing company (and how the hell I got on their list, we'll never know), I vowed to only post positive reviews. If I hated something, I wouldn't talk about it. Of course, silence never erases the fact that you kissed that one weird guy that time you were really drunk and then he kept calling you and your friends found out and laughed at you. Er, I mean that it doesn't erase the time spent reading the bad book or whatever.
And then I felt kind of like I was censoring myself, to only post positive reviews. And then I got distracted by other writing and kids and my dissatisfaction with the whole "Jerseygirl89" thing and I kind of forgot about it. I got so lazy about blogging that it's not like I was getting a lot of pitches or even offers from places like Mom Central. And most of the ones I was getting I was just deleting because in my short blogging time I wanted to write about what I wanted to write about, not shill for some company so I could get coupons or an Amazon gift certificate or less than I get for writing for that virtual sweatshop, Demand Studios. Though, just for the record, I do really like Amazon gift certificates.
Anyway, then I read this post and all of its links. And I realized that I'd been hooking up with someone I really, really didn't like. It occurred to me that I had been, in fact, sharing my blog-bed with virtual strangers on a regular basis and, as with any large group, some of those strangers had turned out to be douchebags. And my self-esteem is a little too intact for me to keep sleeping with douchebags.
So things are going to change around here. Not only am I going to Blog with Integrity , I'm going to blog with virtue. No more strangers, no more pitches from products or books I've never heard of and wouldn't buy any way. I want to look at reviews like my blog roll. You can't buy your way onto my blog roll, nor can you email me and tell me how great your blog is and expect me to add you, nor can you assume that if I'm on your blog roll that you'll be on mine. The blogs on my blog roll are those that I like. So, from now on, the (few) reviews you see on here will be for products/services/places that I already love.
How do you handle reviews on your blog?
3 comments:
I went into bloggin for a completely different reason. I never once thought about doing it for money.
I only started to help keep my mind of my failing health.
and now
Im not really sure why I have continued.
Habit? Routine?
I dont know.
Sorry I am of no help
Back when I used to do paid posts I always made sure (except the one time) that I immediately followed it up with a real post, so that when my blog pinged people's readers there'd be more to see than the junk ad. I also ALWAYS mark/ed it as "Check It Out: Subject" and frequently said so on my regular posts since "sponsored" was not allowed. That way, if people saw "Check It Out" they could bounce right out if they weren't interested.
Ever since I started doing decently with AdSense, Ebay Affiliate Network and a few other small affiliate programs, I've totally lost interest in paid posts though.
I do occasionally consider hooking up with Demand (I think I signed up once, but never did anything), but every time I gear myself up to write about something that I don't care about, I wonder why I don't just use that energy on my affiliate sites. And then I go read a blog or Twitter and forget about it. :-D
Blogging with virtue sounds absolutely brilliant to me. Seems like you're already doing it.
And hey, haven't we all kissed a few douchebag stranger frogs to find the princes?
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