I observed that many people have problems dealing with writing paid posts. For me, I see it as an assignment and normally, we do not have to totally agree or promote something because words can easily be twisted to convey the same message but with different approach.
One of the greatest mistake posties (i.e. people who write paid posts) did is to reveal how much they are paid. I cringe when I see bloggers mentioned things like, ‘Eventhough this post is not giving me much money, I like writing about it because…..’. Never ever mention the money involve when writing paid posts because advertisers hate that.
The other thing that some posties mistook is the purpose they are paid to do the paid post. Remember that normally what advertisers pay for paid post are:
#1 – To get links to boost their rankings on search results
#2 – To provide exposure for their site
Therefore, there is no obligation on our part to sing praises for something that we do not believe in. For example, you can write about your own experiences and rope in the anchor text as reference. Or if it is a site that sounds fishy but you aren’t exactly sure if it is, you can always mention that the site said so & so. This way, it wasn’t you that recommend people to use the service/stuffs but rather, you read that it was mentioned that way.
Well, maybe because I had worked in a legal firm before and that’s why I do have a way of structuring my sentences to make things look ok even when I am actually bs through my teeth.
So, back to my question – where does our integrity lie? Well, folks, if you are into doing paid posts as an income earner (and a good one too), you do not have to feel obligated to be the saint evangelising feel good stuffs to your readers. It is part of your work and I treat mine like a copywriter. I say what is on the surface and I leave it to my readers’ wisdoms to judge and believe. And if you still think that integrity matters, then, probably you shouldn’t venture into the cyberworld.
7 thoughts on “Where does our integrity lie when writing paid posts?”
KennyP's Technology Blog
(June 21, 2007 - 6:28 am)When I am writing a paid post, I write it in third person and don’t put my opinion or involve myself in it.
Leah
(June 21, 2007 - 8:31 am)Agree. There are many ways to review the products/service negatively without appealing so, “apparently” was my favourite.:-)
It the opps ask for review or opinions, I am not afraid to disagree and have said so a couple of times.
mott
(June 21, 2007 - 10:59 am)Are you talking about me????
Woo hoo!!!!! Zero Integrity!!!! WOO HOO!! finally! something that i’ve written is controversial!!!!!
eh…u talking about me or not? *shakes Lilian* ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ME OR NOT???????
hahahh..btw, that amount wasn’t small to me..it was unfortunately) one of the largest I’ve written.
Sigh….I am one of those ikan bilis, struggling to breathe in the muddy shores…. *SOBS*
lilian
(June 21, 2007 - 3:16 pm)mott – You shook until I pengsan-ed ledi. No lah, not specifically talkin about you but if you got reveal, better dun do that cos Ted Murphy, CEO of PPP has warned us not to do so cos advertisers may not like it. They can ban us, you know? It may not be the advertiser we are writing for, but maybe another previous one got mad that we said their amount small or what. This was one of the gripes provided by the advertisers – Posties who babbled too much about how much they are paid.
Leah – Yeah, there were some which asked us to diss them. I did and one came to thank me, some political blog. Hahaha, I enjoy those actually.
kennyP – Yalor, third party opinion is good but sometimes, if the products really appealing, I sure sing praises for them.
MrGPT
(June 21, 2007 - 7:15 pm)I don’t seem to have a problem if they put their price right on their front page. I actually think it helps show the readers “wow, this person actually paid $xx to get reviewed”, assuming the price to review is high.
Don@AffiliateWatcher
(June 22, 2007 - 10:33 am)I actually find the post that are objective the most useful. I also respect those bloggers who write really objective post. You know the ones who may have experience with the product?
You can nearly always spot the “he this is cool, i’m getting paid to write this” rubber stamp paid reviews. Those have no value to anyone other than the blogger.
Don
Manisha
(June 22, 2007 - 2:45 pm)I totally agree with your comments, if anyone is paid for blogging they shouldn’t make any such comments which will hurt the advertiser as well as this will not like anybody else who is posting their comments on same blog. Bloggers should avoid this kind of stuff because everyone is here to make money, some might get less, some might get more and some by their luck and hard work makes good living.
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