Do You Copy?

Paid Blogging: What’s the Problem? Is it Ethical?

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:28:28 +0000

SEO Politics of the Internet - I’ll pay you to vote for me! What’s all the hoopla about paid blogging? Is it good for business? Is it ethical? Should it be policed by the Big Brother of the Internet, Google? Lots of ideas and opinions are running around as how to view paid blogging. Here’s a quick rundown as we look at the pros and cons of compensating bloggers to review products and services.

Pros

Positive Influence: Positive reviews can influence opinion of your product or service - This can be good or bad (see cons)
Encourages reader response - this depends on the popularity and trustworthiness of the blog(ger). A popular blog that receives hundreds of hits a day and has garnered enough interest from its readers will create a buzz in the local blog community which can lead to…
Viral Marketing – Increased exposure on one blog leads to another blog through word of mouth (or is that fingers?), back links and more discussion which leads to…
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and increased exposure throughout the Internet. The more other bloggers pick up on the review or story, the more exposure you’ll receive with the Search Engines like Google, Yahoo! Bing and others, which leads to more exposure – good publicity.

Frankly, the current search engine business model is based on a pay-per-click (ppc) paid inclusion so paid blogging fits. So, how can there be anything ethically wrong with paid blogging?

Cons

Ethically is it in the gray area? Can a paid blogger be trusted to provide an objective review of the product? Should an honest blogger base their review on their experience and not what the company paying for the review wants?
Write this! The majority of paid bloggers are not told directly what to write - of course they will be influenced by the fact they are being provided free products to test on their own or compensated monetarily.
Can readers expect an objective review? Because the whole point is to get an opinion of a product before you buy it yourself
Negative Publicity: What if the product doesn’t live up to the blogger’s hype? The product received a glowing review, yet it doesn’t function up to that level. If enough customers who buy the product based on the blogger’s recommendation don’t agree with how good that product is, not only will the blogger’s reputation suffer, so will the product’s sales and the company that manufactured it.
Big Brother is Watching: Google says it is currently working to prevent their search engines from recognizing paid blogs. Is that possible? If at some point it is, could your product be black listed by Google? Is paid blogging truly a black hat tool?

Conclusion Paid blogging is no different than lobbying politicians, just on a different level. I don’t see our current government model going away any sooner than paying writers to write about products and services - particularly if the current search engine model promotes paid inclusion. Besides, it’s been done for years in the print world, should it be any different online? Consider paid blogging the advertorial of the Internet.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-16

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 09:03:00 +0000

@BrightMeadow You must be from across the pond. Most Americans who aren’t foodies won’t know that a Corgette is a Zucchini. in reply to BrightMeadow #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-08-02

admin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:03:00 +0000

Sometimes your marketing message just needs to be reorganized. #
Is tweeting an opinion based on fact a cause for a law suit? A PR conundrum. #
If you cut back on your marketing due to the recession now is the time to get back in gear so you’re ready to hit the pavement running #
Finishing up copywriting and design concept for a magazine coverwrap for the Good Sam Club Signature Visa card. #
Copywriting isn’t a commodity - it’s an investment #
Down time - Waiting for the client to get back to me with edits. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-26

admin — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:03:00 +0000

RT @MackCollier: BURN NOTICE! #
@joannayoung Tea is Great! Assam, Darjeeling, Ceylon, Kenyan, Java, Nepalese = yum! in reply to joannayoung #
Welcomes New Client Bet Tracker - Web site, Flash Demo and Audio Script #
Starting work on a new project for the Good Sam Club - Copywriting and design concepts for a 2-page magazine cover wrap and magazine ad. #

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-07-12

admin — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:03:00 +0000

Just finished putting together 5 magazine ad concepts for an ad campaign for the Good Sam Club #
@ladysncharms need any help setting up Word Press? in reply to ladysncharms #
SEO and Copywriting: Can they co-exist? The best SEO in the world won’t necessarily win customers hearts and minds. #
@RobertStover I know, rhetorical question. I would say it can be done. It’s not easy and you have to use other methods of SEO/SEM to assist in reply to RobertStover #
@RobertStover True. I’m a copywriter first. I believe keyword density can best be served inside the html programming as meta/comments in reply to RobertStover #
@RobertStover Excrescence? Can’t say that word is in my vocabulary. in reply to RobertStover #
@RobertStover Awh, Jeez. Now I have to look it up and use it in a sentence! in reply to RobertStover #
@RobertStover Somehow I don’t think that quote from Johnson dated 1759 took into account either changing tastes or technology in reply to RobertStover #
Creative Directors: Could your marketing materials use a different creative angle? Drop me a tweet! #
I don’t know. Google getting into the OS industry isn’t far fetched, but I wonder if it will fly. #
@RoyBlumenthal Or Intel Inside… in reply to RoyBlumenthal #
@NEWSUNSEO Smaller newspapers have had the ability to adapt to the online world that much easier. Now they need to charge for their services in reply to NEWSUNSEO #
@MackCollier Mack, have you seen this article about Twitter-censorship? http://bit.ly/cCK0o Moonfruit got canned for becoming too popular! in reply to MackCollier #
Inspiration: Born from experience or gleaned from our surroundings? #

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-02

admin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:03:00 +0000

Ira Says: Twitter Updates for 2009-07-01:
Ira Says: Twitter Updates for 2009-06-30:
Ira Says: Twitter .. http://tinyurl.com/l4v2pr #
@MackCollier I think that’s where you’re supposed to not think about work for 5-7 days or more at a time. When is that? in reply to MackCollier #
@MackCollier Agreed. Excessive compulsive tweeting can be a real turnoff. It fills up the Twitter screen! in reply to MackCollier #

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-01

admin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:03:00 +0000

Ira Says: Twitter Updates for 2009-06-30:
Ira Says: Twitter Updates for 2009-06-29:
@Wordyworker Hi Jo.. http://tinyurl.com/m2qpfk #
Finishing a PR article for a local real estate agent. There’s more to copywriting than just producing high end ads and direct mail. #
Ira Says: The Joy of Marketing: Marketing can be rather fun, especially if you look at the process as b.. http://tinyurl.com/l655oh #
Just got a personalized twitter background at http://www.TwitterBackgrounds.com #

The Joy of Marketing

admin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:41:29 +0000

Marketing can be rather fun, especially if you look at the process as being a matchmaker for couples as opposed to selling snake oil. (Then again there may be good snake oil that may have medicinal properties, but I wouldn’t prescribe any, and hopefully the snakes won’t blame me for saying so.)

The stereotypical evil snake oil salesman of old would sell anything to anybody. But I prefer the road of integrity. What does the product or service offer and who would be the best fit? Just like there is someone for everyone in the dating scene, there is someone for just about any product or service. The trick is finding it; or, finding a niche market for the product that the original intent hadn’t realized.

And this can be done truthfully and strategically without resorting to trickery. Because a “lemon-ny” product or service will have an extreme public relations backlash, particularly with the easy dissemination of information throughout the Internet.

Happy couples or happy customers – the proof will show in the bottom line. And there is a tremendous amount of satisfaction seeing that a product or service is being used effectively or with enjoyment by customers that truly purchased what they were looking for.

Twitter Updates for 2009-06-30

admin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:03:00 +0000

Ira Says: Twitter Updates for 2009-06-29:
@Wordyworker Hi Jo, your Twitter profile URL is either broke.. http://tinyurl.com/lw7zua #
@nathanparikh Web 2.0 feel? Should that be the next phrase added to the English dictionary after Web 2.0 itself? Ask them to describe it in reply to nathanparikh #

If You Build It, They Will Not Come - Get Marketing! Create Some Buzz!

admin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:43:58 +0000

"If you build it, they will not come" is the new tag line for Web sites. Long, long ago in the not too far distant past of having an online presence on the Internet it was a whole lot easier to be in the top 10 never mind the top 100 or 1000 today. There are a lot more factors to consider when it comes to putting the right SEO / SEM into place. From more competition from thousands of sites with similar content, to ever-changing search engine algorithms, it’s a jungle out there.

For instance, it can take up to 6 months to get accepted as a listing on Google (indexed). The buzz has to get out in other ways. Strike up online conversations, make comments on forums and blogs, advertise on local Web sites - even start your own blog or discussion group. Marketing online including Social Media is only just an extension of what you’d be doing for a physical business in other media.

Sitting and waiting for business to come to you isn’t going to work. Market, market, market.