Important

There’s been a lot of murmur across various blogs recently about the ethics behind sponsored content. Sponsored reviews, sponsored posts and Christ – even sponsored Tweets.

I just read an excellent post over on PPC.bz explaining how nobody is going to tell you shit that matters when it comes to making money online. While it’s true that many industry blog readers are likely to get precisely nowhere without taking action, I’d also like to pin some of the blame on bloggers who exploit that weakness.

This isn’t an attack on any “celeb blogger” in particular. You’ve got the freedom to post whatever the fuck you want to post. But I can count very quickly the number of blogs I’ve read that have actually been worth my time. Blue Hat SEO is probably the reason why I decided to get in to blogging in the first place. Perfect example of a guy who knows his shit, isn’t afraid to share it, and builds trust in the process with the credibility of his advice. I’ll also read top bloggers like Andrew Wee, Ad Hustler and a few increasingly select others.

For me, it’s important to understand the position of trust. You have to be trusted to be a respected blogger. Even John Chow has managed it somehow. I think in Chow’s case, the dude hit the jackpot early. He filled a part of the market that needed filling. My problem with John Chow’s blog is that it’s still stuck in 2007. The readership is so huge that there’s no cutting edge to any of the tips he posts. Watered down lame shit that I can only imagine they eat out of their bare hands on Warrior Forum. But alas…

This whole issue of sponsored posts…to each his own, but I think it’s bullshit. If there’s money changing hands, do you think I’m going to trust you to give a fair review?

Sponsored tweets are even worse. What price can you put on your own word? I’ve no doubt that some affiliate marketing bloggers rake in an empire of riches from endorsing this and that – but what price on your brand? What happens when you actually have something worth selling?

I’ve recently made the decision to donate 50% of all money raised from this blog to Leukemia Research. Any commission that gets fired will be sub ID’d and tracked. I’m not gonna pretend that it’s the holy fucking grail of good deeds. This blog doesn’t generate much in the way of regular income to begin with. But it’s more the principle of trust. Trust and actually having some morals in an industry which frequently sells itself out to the highest bidder.

How can anybody trust an affiliate blogger who sells his word so easily? I’ve had several reasonably large offers inviting me to run “sponsored posts” or “sponsored reviews”. I’ve turned them all down. You might hear me recommend a product, and you’ll even see me drop a link, but you can rest assured that it’s a genuine recommendation. The way I see it, if I start taking payments to post, my word becomes shit.

So why even blog in the first place? When I first started posting, I might have hoped that I’d be able to make some nice recurring commissions based on network referrals – but I realized pretty quickly that the most valuable incentive was networking.

I get emails every day from people asking for a tip here, a pointer there…whatever. I reply to them all because that’s what I’m trying to achieve here. I’m not interested in being the richest affiliate marketing blogger, I’d much rather be one of the most respected. I feel greater reward from gaining subscribed readers and followers on Twitter than I do from pushing a 20% commission on some piss poor PPC program that isn’t gonna teach you shit.

One of the things I liked about barman’s post was that it mentioned not everything in your business has to be directly tied to affiliate marketing. This blog has been brilliant for me. I’ve established some useful contacts and I’ve been offered opportunities to work on unique projects. One of my passions is writing. It’s always a pleasure when people email me and ask if I’d be interested in writing a guest piece, or putting together an ebook, or collaborating on an online course. I’ve had people email me just to say thanks for some snippet of a post that I’d completely forgotten about. It’s nice, it means more than a fucking commission.

So going forward, 50% of all commissions generated on this site will be donated to a worthy cause. You can check out the Leukemia Research Society and make a donation of your own. If you’re one of the lucky guys who has actually made it in this business, use that opportunity to give something back.