Hello. I’m keen to talk about sponsored posts and sponsored blog content.
But before I do I have a little announcement. It’s been two years since I started these Saturday blogging tips posts and it’s been fun rocking up here each weekend to share nuggets of information I’ve learned as I’ve stumbled my way through this blogging maze.
Today, however, will be my last “regular” Saturday blogging post.
That’s not to say I won’t pipe up here occasionally if there’s a burning blogging topic that I just need to download through my keyboard. I just won’t be doing it on a weekly basis.
Taking a break from regular weekend blogging gave me the perspective that I needed – and for 2013 my aim is to try and get more balance between my professional and family life. Would you believe, weekends away from the computer really help with that? Who knew?!
Anyhoo … thanks for the ride. Thanks for sharing your posts {final link below – feel free to add any posts about blogging from the last two months}. This archive of posts will always be here.
Sponsored posts
The Australian blogging industry has grown up a lot since I’ve been blogging here about blogging. There is SO much more information out there for new bloggers than there ever was.
I think an essential part of blogging and what makes this pioneering media industry so special is that we do share what we learn.
Maybe it’s because we’re inherently over-sharers, but in my {naive or just plain stupid} mind I like to think that the majority of bloggers are supportive of each other and how this industry is developing. And yes, it is an industry. A media industry.
Whether you make money because of your blog or whether you don’t, you are part of this new media industry.
It’s also a media landscape that is otherwise uncharted.
Yes, we have our US blogging friends to look to. Bloggers who are governed by disclosure laws.
We also have the traditional media’s code of ethics to look to. I’ve talked here before how toothless that actually is.
But that is all.
Except.
What we have is something bigger than any law. We have a collective of people who have personal ethics which they are more than willing to transfer across to the Blogosphere.
So, what has evolved over the last two years as more and more brands seek out bloggers with whom to work, is that those personal ethics have created the framework for an unofficial “code of conduct”.
The problem is when something is unofficial, the lines can – and do – get blurred.
There has been debate of late about what should be labeled a sponsored post and what shouldn’t be.
{For the record, in case you didn’t already know, I’m all for the sponsored post as a way for bloggers to make an income from their blog. Obviously 
If you’re a regular here, you know that I publish them. They are also my main form of income.}
In a nutshell:
A sponsored post is a post where there has been a commercial transaction.
It is a post written and published because a brand or digital agency has paid the blogger a fee for that space.
It should be labelled as such at the top of the post – just like you would find in a magazine or newspaper. A magazine or newspaper might use the words, promotion, special feature or advertising feature. Whatever the words printed, it’s meant to indicate to the reader that this content has been paid for.
You will not find those same words on the editorial pages of magazines where beauty, fashion and lifestyle editors may have been gifted all manner of beautiful things. No, you won’t even see that disclosed at the bottom of an editorial page. The exception being travel pieces in some publications where you will see the words … “was a guest of” at the end of the piece.
Most bloggers will always disclose at the bottom of their posts if they’ve received for free a product mentioned in the post. If you receive unsolicited product you are never under any obligation to the PR company or brand to write about it. Yes, you should be fair about how you treat the product sent to you but you can politely let the PR company know that it’s not a fit for your blog’s readership if you can’t see anyway of ever featuring it. Some bloggers even send such product back – or offer to.
It is your choice. You use your blogging “news” sense to determine whether writing about that product is a good fit. This is exactly how journalists work – they don’t include something in a publication just because it’s been sent to them. Yes, it may trigger a story idea around the theme of that product but it won’t be a story just on that product.
What’s got worked up about all this?
I recently witnessed a fellow blogger be “shamed” by blog commenters into adding sponsored post at the top of a post she’d written that involved her writing about product she’d been given for free.
This blogger was not paid one cent to write the post.
Last time I checked, my bank manager would not accept a pair of shoes or frock in exchange for this months’ mortgage payment. Don’t think my local supermarket would want a set of nail colours in lieu of payment for groceries either.
If you are not earning income from the post via a brand or agency then it is NOT a sponsored post.
Simple.
Tips to remember:
1. Absolutely DO disclose. Every. Time. On every post.
2. Create a Disclosure Policy page on your blog if you don’t already have one.
3. All paid posts should be labelled at the top of your post as “sponsored”.
4. Disclose all gifted items featured – within or at the bottom of the post.
5. Never feel obligated to write about something just because it was sent to you.
What are your thoughts on on disclosure?
PS. Late last year I was interviewed for a podcast on the Australian Businesswomen’s Network. The topic was Building a Business Out of a Blog. You can listen in here.
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Link up
I started this link-up because most of the stuff I learn about blogging comes from other bloggers. I didn’t want there to be any rules attached. I didn’t want you to feel obligated to write something about blogging every week. Just to throw in your two cents when you had something to say.
There are quite a few bloggers who have been consistent linkers here and I thank-you. You know who you are. You have so much to offer the Australian blogging community and I’m privileged that you’ve come back here every week to share what you’ve learned.
Remember to join in, just add your link below. The link needs to be to a post ABOUT BLOGGING (all others will be deleted). Please fill in the box where it says “name” like this: BLOG NAME: Blog post title. That way your blog gets a plug and if you include the title of your post, you’ll attract readers interested in the topic.
