See what Jason Calacanis thinks of pay per post models. It’s not pretty but I now agree 100% with him on the issue of paid blog posts.
Sponsored Post
There are a couple of services out now that pay bloggers for reviews of products and services related to their niche. Some refer to it as [tag]pay per review[/tag] or pay per post.
Original, die-hard bloggers, of course, absolutely hate the idea. But they are not my market, mainly because I teach people how to make money with and get traffic to their blogs.
(Two of the most evil things you can do if you want to stay in the good graces of the “hippy bloggers” who pretend not to care about paying rent or blogging to be seen.)
Anyway, the latest service to hit the web is called ReviewMe.com.
If you have a blog that is old enough with enough traffic, you can be offered paid reviews by advertisers wanting to get in front of your people.
Slippery slope, I know. I would just like to say upfront that I am actually getting paid for this review by ReviewMe.com.
Has it altered what I would say about them if I wasn’t being compensated? Not a bit. It is right up my alley, as you can tell from the rest of my content on this blog.
I get paid for a LOT of the things I post. People who read the FTR know I am an affiliate marketer. Another dirty word to the hippy bloggers, but I could care less.
My readers depend on me for information that can help them succeed with [tag]online marketing[/tag] and [tag]authority site[/tag] development. Those people are not the e-hippies who think all information should be free.
I am drawing that line in the sand so that both parties will know who they are dealing with. Don’t ever expect me to rant and stomp my feet about someone making money from posting reviews on their sites.
ReviewMe.com allows you to be as picky as you want to be. To keep the integrity of your site to your personal acceptable levels, you can refuse any review requested of you, no matter how much it pays.
So in the end, the limiting factor is always going to be the blogger’s own professionalism and ability to say no, just like it always has been.
ReviewMe.com Fast Facts
How you get paid: Paypal or Check
How You Get Gigs: Advertisers can pick you out of the ReviewMe.com directory according via search parameters they set for the markets they’d like to reach and based on the traffic and popularity level of the sites they are looking for.
What you get paid: If you are accepted, it ranges from minimum $20 to $250 per review.
As these types of networks grow, it could finally mean that average bloggers with decent sites in decent niches could really blog for a living by simply posting regularly.
Add this revenue to your advertising and affiliate sales, and it could be a significant upswing in monthly profits.
Will this kind of thing ruin trust?
Bloggers have the option of lying every time they post. Pay-per-review changes nothing about that fact.
Will some bloggers be inclined to review something favorably that they wouldn’t recommend to their family members in the real world?
Heck yes!
Some bloggers have no moral or ethical compass whatsoever. But they probably have a crappy reputation for it as well. Again, none of this is new to the blogosphere.
An important rule ReviewMe.com states plainly in their FAQ that tipped the balance for me:
Can Advertisers Require Positive Reviews?
“We do not allow advertisers to require a positive review. The vast majority of reviews are measuredly positive, although many do contain constructive criticism. We view this as a bonus: how else can you quickly and cheaply get feedback on a product or service from influencers?”
Are you going to start seeing a bunch of sponsored reviews popping up on FTR?
You already do, my friend. Many of my reviews are for products and services I have tested and recommend. I don’t do the “critic” thing here.
I don’t have time to write about everything that is wrong with internet marketing and the products and services that outright suck. That’s not my gig.
My reputation is based on giving pointers to things that work. Not for blasting the things that don’t.
Plus, I don’t even know if there are advertisers in the ReviewMe.com network that want to get in front of you yet. Or how many there will ever be.
It depends on how many online marketing-related advertisers seek out that network.
Will the quality of FTR information suffer from me joining ReviewMe.com?
Not a bit. I will refuse any review requests for things that go against what I know to work well for online marketers: Period.
I am not ruining my rep for $250.
I WILL however completely ruin my rep for $2.5 million. If you’d like to see me dance in a tutu or give a cow a kiss with tongue, that’s my price. Email me for my paypal address. 🙂