Another press release on paying people to post in their blogs on different topics showed up today, only this time, there's a twist to the business model. Now, if you blog for pay, you can donate your earnings to charity.
I decided to take a look, again, at this pay for posting service offered by PayPerPost. Right away, I see they'll be wanting my social security number when I sign up. No thank you. Before I make a committment, I want to know more about the company, its credibility, its business practices, and I want to try out the system to see if I like it. I'm a "not on the first date" kinda gal.
My gut reaction, so far, to paying for posts has been a big "blech". It just seems to cheapen the authenticity of a blog post into a marketing toy rather than a genuine post. Trying to find out more information about the company behind PayPerPost is not easy. They have a blog, but no About Us page to explain who they are. Their blog is written from a first person point of view, but I don't know who that person is.
There is, however, one interesting post in their blog about whether or not to disclose that you're being paid to post. They state that those who do not admit they were paid $5 to make that post wrote a quality post, whereas those that do admit being paid, provided sloppy work; as if the disclaimer offers an excuse for being lazy.
Explain to me the logic of being paid to be lazy, and how that does any good for your blog?
The fees you can earn per post are not going to make you rich tomorrow. Most run around $2.50 US funds.
They are looking for SEO's and web designers who have blogs and are willing to let advertisers pay them to write about their products. In fact, it's SEO/M that's the driving force behind this pay for post concept. As per their advertiser page, the idea is to get someone to post for you, the post is found by search engines, its picked up by RSS readers, and links to the advertiser, via that post, count as incoming links. In other words, advertisers are paying for links to their sites and you provide the doormat.
I can't say that being paid to blog about something is so terribly bad. Our favorite athletes wear brand name running shoes and sweat bands, for money. Our favorite actors and actresses are used all the time, by wearing fancy jewelry and promoting certain brands of furniture, clothes, cars, etc. Even haircuts.
So, why can't bloggers get a piece of the pie?
Personally, (stubbornly) I'm still happy with kind words, links back (You're welcome, Lisa!), promotional copies of publications, gifts from my wish list and pleasant working partnerships with good companies.
For me, and I'm just saying, but for me, those are worth more than $2.50.
(Disclaimer. I was not paid for this post. However, my thong is by Victoria's Secret, my hair is by the cute little no appointment hair cuttery shop down the road (and I tipped her well), and my laptop is my fourth computer from Dell.)
:: posted by Kim Krause Berg on 7/14/2006 11:06:00 AM
Kim is a Member of the Usability Professionals
Association
About Kim's Web Site Usability Reviews
"This report exceeded my expectations. After reading it a
few times, I went through and highlighted those parts of your actionable
advice that I want to implement right away... I ended up highlighting
most of the report. Stellar job. I won't hesitate to recommend you
to one of my own clients." -- Andy
Hagans of AndyHagans.com
"I have implemented the most obvious changes and I suppose the fact that we've seen an immediate increase
in sales/conversions is no coincidence. I'd highly recommend your service to anyone running a serious web based business."
-- Steve Clay, Plumeriabay.com
"As soon as we get our hands on one of her usability
studies, my clients and I have a better understanding of what needs
to be done with their sites to make them the best they can be from their
site visitors' perspective."
-- Jill Whalen,
HighRankings.com
::
Cre8pc on Web Site Usability and Holistic SEO :: 
