It's nice when bloggers write about businesses they like. After all, bloggers are impartial, everyday people, right? That makes them worthy of our trust.
Or does it? The folks at Pay Per Post seem to think, with some level of success if their new round of $3 million in venture financing is any indication, that the opinions of bloggers are for sale. Here's how it works: You sign up with them, decide which companies you're willing to blog for, and you get cash, either a single payout or, in some cases, affiliate referral fees.
In other words, MAKE FAST CASH WITH YOUR BLOG!!!!, without all that tedious mucking about in AdSense. immomsdaughter claims to be having a "love affair" with the service. Who can blame her? Where else but in America can your integrity be sold for $4 a post?
I'm afraid my integrity costs a bit more than that, in the sense that no amount of money in the world would ever posess me to write favorably about a company just to make a buck. The concept is a slap in the face at the integrity of bloggers everywhere, but if you happen to feel a twinge of remorse at selling yourself out for less than even beer money, they've got a little disclaimer you can add to your blog to explain that you've sold yourself out for less than beer money.
This came to my attention after a bunch of posts about Delightful Deliveries showed up in the blogosphere, all with the same images. It took me all of two seconds to realize that these people were being duped into becoming marketing shills for some small green.
But hey, it takes time to search out and solicit legitimate blogs and try to get them to write about you, and even if you send them some free samples, you can't control what they write. They might say something negative. Let's bypass all that hard work and risk by bribing Suzy Homemaker with a couple of bucks. She's too stupid to understand what we're doing here, and she's sure to sell out.
More reprehensible behavior from the snake oil salesmen who've found their new footing in the online world. It won't be long before the blogosphere is crammed with useless blogs full of this crap. People in China spend more time clicking on links for a smaller payout.
I'm appalled, and any bloggers out there who respect what little integrity the blogosphere retains should be similarly appalled. It's predatory, dishonest, and despicable, and companies like Despicable Deliveries that utilize this service betray their "anything for a buck" ideals.
Before this gets too far out of hand, let me make two suggestions to the responsible bloggers among us:
1. If you see this stuff on someone's blog, leave a comment asking them if they realize they've sold themselves for a pittance.
2. Google, take action now to filter out any blog results that contain these paid placement posts. You've got parasites feeding off Blogger's success and making it harder for those of us who try to publish legitimate blogs to be found.
Edit: It seems I spoke not soon enough on that last point. Run a search on "Delightful Deliveries" in Google Blog Search, and by the time you hit Page 5, it's almost all spam.
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5 comments:
You're kind of hard on those who participate in this program for someone who is blatantly advertising your own business, aren't you? If you do a real look-see at other bloggers involved with PPP, you'll quickly learn that they are selective in what they post about and their blogs are their personal online journals. You'll also find that by and large, they aren't selling their souls to the devil. They are simply supplementing their income for various reasons - reasons which are really no business of yours.
Since when is it a lack of integrity to write favorably about a company, product, or service? The only reason you have your knickers in a knot is that Delightful Deliveries is your competitor. Your intentions aren't so noble, and your lambasting is small and mean-spirited. Get a life.
Thank you for your note on my Family Caregiver blog (which makes it VERY clear that I accept payment for posting my opinion on things) that I post paid for posts.
I can see that you are a very busy gentleman, that is out to find all the Delightful Deliveries posts and mark them paid for, so I will save you the time of revisiting my own post for them by placing my response to your comment here:
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Derek Gerry said...
Is this a paid post? Why are you selling your integrity?
11:17 AM
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My reply -
Selling my integrity? I am a writer, I get paid to write about products information and whatever catches my attention. I am also a full-time family caregiver, which means that I am not paid to spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year on constant call to assist the person I care for in every day tasks such as walking from their bed to a chair, comprehending how to change the channel on the television when their hand-eye coordination is so bad they can't aim the remote at the TV, empty urinals, clean up vomit, provide daily barber services, assist in bathing, prepare meals, clean house... I could go on, but every caregiver out there can tell you that it gets a bit gross after the urinals.
The point is, I perform ten times the work any nurse you will know performs, right down to being in full charge of knowing the person's medical history, seeing that they get the proper pills, being a dietitian, offering occupational therapy and physical therapy, putting up with depression in the care recipient, ducking steel urinals thrown at my head, getting screamed at over things as piddly and stupid as having not been in the room to hear a request for coffee being warmed up. I work harder than anyone else you will probably ever meet in your life, and struggle daily not to drop back into my own depression.
I suffer from constant fatigue because I can not get a proper night's sleep. I have no social life outside of three ladies that I talk to a few hours a day on instant messenger. I can not get outside and walk like I want to for exercise because I can not be out of running distance back to the house should something happen that I am needed here for. This is not some kind of "no one else can do this job" kick, this is cold hard fact. My older brothers and sisters have TRIED to do my job and all have failed MISERABLY. The only one that made it past a couple hours made it two weeks then screamed that she could not take it, had no idea how I managed and demanded that my mother and I immediately take over the task ourselves once again.
I work damn hard to keep as much of the stress off my mom as I can, because she has her own health troubles and it is killing her to watch my father, who she has been married to since she was 16, go downhill as he is.
You ask me why I let someone pay me for giving my honest opinion on their products? Why should I *not*? I researched it. The Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau both clearly state that there is no need to identify any written material - including that posted online - as being paid for or sponsored in any manner *UNLESS* the person that is posting that information is a recognized authority in their field and someone that the average person might look up to as having a credible enough stance that they might influence that person's decision on a purchase or other activity based on the endorsement of the product/service/whatever by the person.
I'm a nobody. I'm a overweight single white woman that can't even get medical help from the local public assistance office that tells me to come back and see them when I am "Hispanic and pregnant" (the woman's exact words).
You want to get annoyed at me for making a little money to help pay for heating my parents home when the average temperature outside at night is -30 F? You want to complain about my suggesting someone look into maybe giving a caregiver that sacrifices their entire life for another a gift basket? Maybe you want to cry foul that I have made another few cents toward buying my father the powered wheel chair that Geneva Woods Medical is jerking him around about for the past year? The chair that his doctor says is vital for his sense of personal worth. When you can show me where I am hurting another, then I will stop my wicked ways and never post a advertisement for someone. When you can show me where the Family Caregiver Security Act of 2005 (H.R. 175) has been passed by Congress so family caregivers can be paid as a nurse, THEN I will stop looking for ways I can make a few cents when I can not get a job outside the home. Until then, I have medical bills of my own to pay, a $1,200 monthly fuel oil bill to help my mother find the money to cover, and a future that is about to consist of a cardboard box behind Macy's as I sort through the trash bin behind Goodwill.
Any more questions?
Derek, I appreciate your concern and agree with you in many ways.
What I've asked, through PayPerPost, is that bloggers go to our website or be customers in order to write a blog about DelightfulDeliveries.com. I believe this is essential to our post otherwise it would be junk. I've also asked for bloggers to review the site. While they are only paid if the post is postive, bloggers are free to write whatever they like. I think that is were you are missing the point.
We are paying bloggers a small sum to review our website. Writer for mass media (newspapers, magazines, etc.) get paid a salary to write about products,
services, etc. We even pay a PR agency to get our products into the news. I think if you have an issue with Bloogers being paid for their time, than would have a bigger beef with the Billions of dollars companies pay to get there names in the press.
Why would you chastise a company for looking for innovative ways to promote their business.
Derek, why don't you visit our site and write your honest review. I think you'll agree that have a great website with tons of unique and delcious gifts. In fact, we sell more baked goods than any other category so our site will be right up your alley.
Happy Holidays to all and may you all find delicious gifts at www.DelightfulDeliveries.com.
Thank You -
Eric Lituchy
President, Delightful Deliveries
You know, there's something about the people I have met through my time with PayPerPost that generally stands out amoung them - they are all very commited to their blogs and love what they talk about and have a high level of respect for their readership.
That's why your link to ImMomsDaughter felt off to me. I visited the link you provided and, like I am sure you intended, was surprised at what I saw... however, I am nothing if not a persistent little cuss, so I looked closer.
Your link specified that the viewer ONLY see her posts that are tagged ....search/label/Make%20Money
That really is not fair is it? How about we let people see her actual site, the one where not EVERY post is a paid post and where she explains why there is a rush of paid posts:
http://immomsdaughter.blogspot.com/
Well since I'm the one that blew the whistle on you at payperpost and brought the attention to your love of bashing posties I had to comment on your second blog.
I'm more appalled at the fact that you have the time to sit around and search for paid blogs and then comment about integrity than I am that anyone gets paid for something.
I also find it funny that you had no reply to my reasons for being a paid postie. I'm guessing you have no wife, no children. Just a bitter guy sitting at home trying to pimp his own business.
For the record, I won't take a post if I don't like what I'm writing about. I also visit every site, look around it for 15 minutes or so clicking all the links that interest me and then I form an honest opinion.
Sometimes I'm bored to tears and could care less, so I don't write it. Other times, with delightful deliveries I think it's neat so I'm happy to write it.
Also, if they give you the option to add a photo and it's not required I always put it in. You seem to be mad about the same photos showing up in all these posts about the same place.
Is there honestly nothing else in this world for you to be doing but griping about paid posting? Perhaps you should be worrying about your own integrity and I'll stay concerned with mine.
After I adopt my second child maybe I'll go on tv and talk about how PayPerPost helped fund it, that would probably send you into a tailspin.
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