Blog with Honor
There has been much debate lately about whether or not its acceptable to take money for writing blog posts. Blogging for money without disclosure, along with opportunities like PayPerPost and the like, takes it all to a new level. I don't think we want blog police, but I also believe trust and credibility don't happen by themselves. What do you think?Advertising seems to be the way to generate revenue from a blog. There is nothing wrong with that. However, content and advertising must be distinct. Well, yes I do blog about interesting ads that make me think, but that is not what I mean. Do you see 'Ads by Google' at the bottom of my AdSense links? That is called disclosure. So, if I'm ever offered payment to blog about some product, have no doubt it will be clearly marked as sponsored post. Having said that, if all you do is AdSense, I don’t even consider it a source of income. As far as I can tell from my experience, readers avoid clicking them (20 clicks out of 14,700 page impressions generate a grand total of $4.89)! Its passive and obvious.
I am in favor of any tactic that will enhance and point to a blog's credibility. The Blog Honor Pledge is designed to help bloggers make a statement to be authentic and transparent at all times. Even though its a kind of link bait, I like what it stands for and the ethics it represents. Thus, I adapted the Blog Honor badge on this blog, as you can see in my sidebar, with a little tweak so that it links back to this post where I take the Blog Honor Pledge (there is a link here to the original Blog Honor page anyway).
Do the right thing by the reader and the rewards will eventually come your way.
I have chosen to pledge to you the following:
1. I will endeavor to continue to bring you the highest quality content that I am capable of
2. I promise to attempt to disclose or clearly mark any content or advertisements or other monetization attempts that help me keep my blog operating
3. I pledge to never write "fake" blog content solely for the purpose of trying to generate revenue without complete and clear disclosure.With exception, my blog may exist for business purposes, therefore I use it to talk about products & services that relate to my business, thus assisting me in generating leads & sales for me indirectly
In return, I hope that you will continue to read my blog with the knowledge that I produce my blog out of a passion for the topic I write about, and not because I'm hoping to fool you into making money for myself.
Please note, I have nothing against generating revenue from my blog, in fact, your ongoing support of my sponsors and advertisers (text links, partner ads, etc...) helps me keep my blog operating so that I may endure to create better content for you.
I do appreciate your support. Continued thanks for your readership.
