It’s been a few years since services like PayPerPost (and others) controversially came onto the scene and gave bloggers the option to be paid for writing posts about products, companies or services.
So I thought it’d be interesting to see how many bloggers have done paid posts (and how many still do).
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{democracy:47}
Feel free to expand upon your vote in comments below.
I would also like to know the results of this survey. I picked I do them regularly. I need to get away from that get into other revenue streams. If you are a new blogger then it is easy to get into it. Greg Ellison
Would like to ask if ownself does paid review without the setup of review site, does that also count as done before?
I did them regularly in the early days of Pay Per Post, but these days I don’t. I on rare occasions review a book that has been sent to me, but that’s about it.
The revenue gets tempting at times, as it’s one of the easiest ways to make money, but I want revenue streams that are more long term.
I used to do it, but after a while, it became sort of pointless. It almost seems that it only fits on a blog like a MMO. Is anyone else paying for them?
I wrote one Pay Per Post article. I didn’t like how I felt after writing the article. It felt wrong, even though it was listed as a paid article. I don’t like the paid advertisments in the newspaper, so I thought it was probably hypocritical to be putting it on my blog. I figured if it didn’t feel right, I should be looking to other ways to pay the blog bills.
I did one, once. But they didn’t pay, so I took the post down.
I used to write paid posts for Blogvertise. Then I joined BlogHerAds and had to quit. I’m glad I did. They weren’t genuine like the rest of my blog posts, and I was compromising my integrity for dirt cheap prices. That made me feel even dirtier about the whole thing. Since I only got like $5 per post, I didn’t feel guilty when I removed them several months after posting them. I’ve learned a lot since then!
I do one per week. I found a sponsor (through the job board on ProBlogger) that pays me to write a post containing a link to a press release on their site. I think it is more of a link building drive than a sales drive.
Because the posts are relevant to my readers, it does not seem like a bad deal. Until the AdSense picks up, this is the best way to cover the costs.
Not really, haven’t got into that.
Payperpost is going bankrupt. They keep trying to re-tool and re-invent themselves to no avail. All of their good bloggers have left. Most of their traffic is from the Philippines and India, etc.
Never have and don’t plan on doing so.
I only write for my own sites, and I am new to blogging world.
I guess if one was to write for others then there is a possibility of loosing focus on the Main Game, that is, your own business.
I have written one Natural Blog Post Review in just over 4 years, a great car insurance post which included two separate links, however the article was pulled two months later by advertiser. I accepted a second one on a site I manage and its still up, but looks good.
However I have decided that Natural Blog Post Reviews are not a good idea, but I might do a Sponsored review from an advertiser in the future, just to try it.
I also have done three reviews on products I received, (2) for DVD’s and (1) for a book, however I’m thinking full discloser at the top of each post saying I received this item free or money to review this item, but this is my own opinion.
Advertisers are interested in trying new forms of advertising and bloggers are interested in finding new forms of advertising, its a trial and error area, just like a lot of things in life.
I haven’t and don’t think I will in the near future.
Of course i do! I wrote the first of my life around 2 weeks ago, and i earned 6,50 dollars.
This is the post: http://www.technicoblog.com/la-gfi-annuncia-la-release-di-gfi-faxmaker-in-italiano.htm
I wouldn’t be so against it, personally. We’ve been looking for a blogger in Davao City, Philippines to do write some blogs for us on a semi-regular basis. It makes sense as a business, especially on subjects that someone else knows more about. We’ll avoid more controversial things like promoting a product from which they’re receiving a paycheck, paid political posts, etc. Sticking to the basics and using as much of the blogger’s creativity as possible is key.
I will definitely interested in doing that but first of all there have to have someone interested in posting on you site and your site’s traffic is critical. I don’t think my site will attract people to pay me at this momment. But I definitely think it will in the near furture
Watch my stock trading account balance grow day by day
I do them occasionally, and really don’t get what the big problem is. Magazines and newspapers do them all the time — on specially marked pages call “advertorials”. Paul Harvey mastered the art of doing them on the radio, segueing seamlessly from the news into an advertisement.
What is everyone’s problem with them?
Is anyone in the developed world actually making real money doing this.
I’ve never done and never would. I definitely get what the big deal is. Nowadays most of those services make you post a disclosure notice but that wasn’t always the case. Wouldn’t you feel a little betrayed if you found out that impassioned review for that awesome product was really just a paid ad?
I think for English blogs this is very possible. I don’t think it will work for me.
Though i am not going into monetize my blog yet at this time, but Darren, do you think this will work with non-English blogs?
I liked the idea at first when it came around, but I’ve still never participated in paid posting and never will because I’ve seen how much of a credibility-killer it is.
I’ve never done them, but I’m open to the opportunity.
At first, I thought it was an okay idea as long as the product made sense with your blog and you could be honest, but the reputation of being a pay per post blogger would destroy my cred, which is important. And the money is not worth it, at all. I’d rather get sponsorships by real companies or products to review.
I’m never do it because I think it’s only wasting time
Don’t know of many bloggers that actually do them. Personally, have a hard time dealing with someone else profiting from my content.
I’ve never done paid posts…too busy working on my internet business, which is the reason I left the “trade hours for dollars” world in the first place. Pay per post is just not worth it, when I can apply my time in so many more productive ways.
I have done them in the past. I’m of the opinion that my thoughts on a product aren’t going to change, even if I get a little cash for the review.
The reason I stopped is simply because the majority of readers who are interested in the things I write about don’t agree with my opinion on the topic. The fact is I’m not going to do anything that makes my readers question who I’m writing for.
I love to write for free and perhaps Pay someone to do it for me,but never participated in the venture of writing for money. It’s not my thing.
http://www.frogblogger.com
Wow.. from the poll results shows that many blogger haven’t done paid post before.
This month I’ve received 3 requests to do paid reviews but only did one because the other are not related to my blog.
I’m in the middle. One blog does it and three more don’t. The paid post economy is not very strong right now.
I’ve done hundreds of posts on my blogs, but never one paid post. In theory I’d be open to it IF it were a product I could recommend in good conscience.
I never have, but I would definitely do it if I felt that it was something I could write well enough about and perhaps promote after posting.
This somewhat sneaky form of advertising has been around offline for years.
Before posting paid reviews ask yourself, would it create value for my readers?
Before I started my blog, I stumbled into this site which paid £1 to write about set topics (10 ways to eliminate debt..) , they only needed like 250 words, but they made you sign away the interllectual property of your work, anyway, the answer is yes I’ve done paid-per-post.
It gets alittle more complicated, since as a foodblogger, I don’t neccesarily get paid (in monetary terms) to write reviews but instead I get free food.
Restaurants do approach me to offer free meals as an ‘invite to review’ a restaurant. There’s raging debate about the validity and objectivity of a paid review – is it ethical? Will it drive away my readers? Have I submitted my soul to the dark side..etc.
To separate the ‘paid’ reviews against the ‘real’ ones, I’ve stated clearly in the headlines which ones are reviews and which are ‘invite to reviews’ just to make it crystal clear to my readers what they are reading. Of course, I strive to remain completely objective regardless of who paid for the food, but at the end of the day, there is no denying that these pay per post things are a complicated thing, which may or may not put a blogger’s reputation and integrity on the line.
I’ve not written a paid post, but one of my posts did get picked up by an SEO agency that wanted to insert some links back to their client.
They didn’t want my written disclaimer so I put a big html table around the links and coloured it in – pretty obvious (even without Sponsored Link). None of my other posts have similar tables or links out of context, and rel=”nofollow” should keep me out of trouble with the Googlebots.
Since I’m trying to offer advice as an introduction to my consultancy services, a full paid post would be problematic unless clearly labelled as an “advertorial” or similar.
I did a couple for one of the “paid to blog” services (I genuinely don’t remember which one now). Then I had a couple of offers from them that said the advertiser required a positive post: I queried this with the company – whose T&Cs said that advertisers *couldn’t* require positive coverage – and they said, meh, if they want to require you to be positive… That frankly felt like selling my soul for $20 a go, so I didn’t write any more, and really don’t regret it.
I’ve also done a few book reviews of books I’ve been sent for free: that doesn’t feel nearly so bad as taking actual cash. Plus I’ve never been told that if I don’t like the book, I have to send it back and not write about it.
I’ve done it for quite some time. Now I actually request that the company send me their product so I can evaluate it first. It certainly has been quite a revenue generating portion on my site.
It seems that many bloggers haven’t made the maximum money possible out of their blog.
Yes I have done (since March 2009.) Honestly i like to write such posts, usually I have problems with ideas, if I have already got an idea then I can write a post very easy :)
Wish to have more offers :)
I responded that I do them occasionally, but I ONLY do them if I’m paid WELL ($10 is insulting) and I always disclose UP FRONT, not just at the end, so my readers don’t feel duped. I only do them if I feel the content is a good fit for my site and valuable to my readers AND if I can write it in my own voice. There. That’s a lot of caveats, I know, but I value my blog and my voice and I’m not willing to compromise that.
I make almost all my money form paid posts. I see nothing wrong with it. People who come to my blog come to find out about ways to make money and this way is incredibily popular for my readers.
I see writing for payperpost as a serious income source it is a good alternative to selling ad space because selling ad space to companies requires a large readership. Thanks!
I don’t do paid posts unless you count a review or two on products that I have affiliate links for.
I guess I would consider it if I could get paid for writing a post that also created some benefit for my readers as well.
Otherwise I think doing a paid post simply for the sake of getting paid may lead you to churning out content that is not really relevant.
Paid blog posts are a sticky situation, something I’ve been involved with in the past. I was guest writing for a site that did paid posts, and I remember being told “be nice” before I started. Implying that the post has to be positive.
As a writer/blogger, I’m not comfortable with that. I started off as a journalist and related my experience there to what I do now. Is it fair the readers to read something that perhaps is not entirely accurate? There’s a trust you build with your readership, and that trust is key to your success.
I no longer do paid posts, and if I was ever approached with the offer, I would be up front with them that I would be transparent at the beginning that it was a paid post and I would not promise a positive review. I value honesty in writing, and the expectation of paying for a positive review does not fly with me. If you’re confident in your product or service you won’t have to tell me to “be nice.” The product or service will speak for itself.
I want to do them, but i think i’m lazy haha. Im getting problem with writing. WTF?! am im dumb?
In the early days of PPP I did them regularly (and made some great $) but lost my voice. I’ve found that, if I pick & choose and only pick topics that make sense to my blog(s) then we all win. I’m not compromising my voice and I am sharing information on something I can stand behind.
How much do you get paid for them on average and where do you go to find out about them?
Hi,
Is writing paid posts a bad thing to do? What if I already write them on my blog and get paid for it? Is it harmful to my blog?
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Hi,
Is writing paid posts a bad thing to do? What if I already write them on my blog and get paid for it? Is it harmful to my blog?