I hadn’t really given much thought to the OTHER cause celebre of the past few weeks, pay per post, because I was so embroiled in the fandango of the large chain store and the big PR agency (I’m going for three posts in a row without using their names. No promises after that.) It had a faint odor of "not quite right" but I couldn’t put my finger exactly on why.
It came up in another context last weekend and in part due to comments from Jeneane Sessum, I decided to take a closer look. Here’s my take:
The arguments being made by some of the big A-list bloggers (Calcanis, Arrington) seem a little weird, given their reliance on advertising/sponsor support. Provided the pay per post blog entries clearly state that the post was a work for hire, I don’t see anything terribly wrong with the model. It really isn’t that different from freelance writing. You have to disclose your interests, including whether you are being compensated in any way for your words, but assuming that’s done, what’s the harm? Readers can make up their own minds.
One of the best things about the ‘net is the wisdom of crowds.
However, I think it would be very difficult to make a living under their model, given the prices being paid for this freelance work (can you spell sweatshop?), so I am a wee bit interested in following the money. Who is making the serious money here? I’m betting it is not the bloggers.
My other concern is that I would not want to see companies replace blogger relations efforts with pay per post. Pay per post is an article about your company. Blogger engagement begets viral marketing. We shouldn’t confuse the two.
There is a real, tangible and long term benefit from active engagement with bloggers who care about what the company cares about, whether it be issues, products or both, and this cannot be replaced by pay per post. I’d hate to see companies take this shortcut, thinking they were going viral.
And ending up just sick.
“Who is making the serious money here? I’m betting it is not the bloggers.”
Of course not. It’s the middleman, the agency. It’s always the middleman.
I know a few bloggers that are doing it for the ‘fame’…with the thought that this is a start – to better things. It’s very much like the freelance writing world, where new writers can often get published for free, or for a very small check, just to get noticed. In those instances, the writers also got to hone their craft.
Not sure there will be any honing in this model – given the nature of blogs to be free-for-all writing.
Fit by Five before Election Day
If I took the time to write about all of the outstanding content that comes my way, I’d be a slave to this blog. That’s not my goal in life – to allow technology to command so much of my time that my eyes glaze over and I grow computer cables out my ea…
I am sure most bloggers are giving it a try, but most of them will not stay with it. I joined up at the beginning of the month and I am pleased with the results. By spreading everything out over three blogs, I lessen the impact on any one blog.
susan, I think you are right, if people report the source of funding its acceptable. Many blogger consultants write blogs this way for companies. But I think the concern has been about people writing without revealing payment.
Also, I agree with you about the blogger relations issue. If you are going to blog. You really need to have someone from your company write the blog. Unless there’s a good reason not too. An entertainment blog written for people magazine by a celeb, makes a lot of sense to me.
Susan; Catching up with my feeds and read this article. I see your point and disclosure is clearly the key. Of course, anyone who does this loses credibility instantly with most of the blogging crowd, so I am sure that is the motivation to conceal. As you know, blogging is a labor of love, there is generally not much money in it unless you do it for a company. Which is a better idea for corporations I think, pay someone to be your voice on the web, it is much better than the pay-per-post model, I think. Also, for comapanies, blogger outreach is key since you can’t possibly pay everyone to tow the comapny line. Moreover, (straight from PR 101) a third-party endorsement is generally more credible than a paid message.