Trying to make money blogging means having to put up with a constant balancing act. Bloggers are approached all the time for endorsements, plugs, and reviews, and many accept. With the new FTC rulings quickly changing the face of endorsements and paid reviews for bloggers, enforcing a personal code and maintaining integrity are becoming a requirement, not just a choice.
Those Who Make Money Blogging Need Not Review Everything That's Sent to Them
If enough PR people take notice of a popular blog, it is unlikely that the pro blogger will escape the endless stream of free promotional equipment, demo gear, and company swag often sent out for review. Blogs are a great free outlet for reviews, and with a good PR strategy it's possible to generate some valuable grassroots feedback with a featured blog post.
Companies are always sending out free stuff to bloggers, and it is hard to blame them for it. Having a popular blog publish good reviews about a product means getting relatively inexpensive or almost free endorsements. Pro bloggers should just remember that they do not have to review everything that gets sent to them. If there is something in their mailbox that they do not think is good enough for their blogs, they shouldn't post anything about it.
No Pro Blogger Should Review Products That They Wouldn't Use
This is the age-old, golden rule of endorsements. Those who want to endorse a product but want to maintain integrity should make sure that the product is something that they could actually see themselves using. Better yet, the pro blogger should use it, judge it, and make claims that are actually real, not just PR talk and marketing content.
Readers often trust blogs because they can relate with or look up to the blogger. Publishing fabricated content just to make money blogging will surely betray that trust. The same is true with product reviews not based on personal experience but on reviews of others or claims of PR agencies. Readers can tell if the post is sincere or not so a pro blogger might be better off ignoring a request for a product review than to publish one that's insincere.
Reviewing products for a popular blog should never just be seen as a way to make money blogging. To achieve long-term blogging success, the trust of readers is needed and no reader can trust a pro blogger that seems to write anything for money.
Related Reading:
- Maintaining Integrity as a Pro Blogger
- How to Start a Blog That's Technically Sound
- Creating a Blog Network for Effective Search Engine Optimization
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