I like to think I’m a fairly strong person… and by strong I actually mean stubborn, but when people come and dangle money in my face, I’m really only human. It’s hard to stay focused on the original purpose I had for starting my travel blogging venture when the possibility of actually making quick cash off it is presented. It seems too easy. Make money off of something I already love doing? At that point, I almost forget that when I started this blog, it was purely for the pleasure; the idea of monetizing was a blip on the screen.
Nowadays, blogging has turned into a much more aggressive market. Some people clearly out to make it a business come off as a bit see-through in my opinion, and I really don’t want to end up like that. On the other hand, I’m really, really, really strapped for cash. I’m torn, but in my turmoil, I have decided to make a decision on what I will and won’t do on my blog… even in the name of money.
I do not accept sponsored posts.
Please do not write me if you have a post you would like me to run in the name of your business. To be honest, I don’t want to be enticed by your offers. It just makes me question myself and what I’m doing, and that’s just confusing.
I do not accept guest posts.
Look, my reason for this isn’t to dis on the travel community. It’s merely because it is my personal travel blog, and so guest posts just don’t make sense. Would you have someone other than you write in your diary? Not likely. Just the same, I have a hard time understanding why some blogs actually allow guest bloggers. For example, my blog is called “Brooke vs. the World” and not “World Travel Tips”, so why would anyone other than Brooke be writing? Just saying.
I do accept products for giveaways.
Hey, these are great! If you have something you want to give away, related to travel, then YES! I don’t get any compensation, but my readers will win. Feel free to drop me a line, and we’ll talk.
I do accept link sales.
I do put link ads in a few places on this blog – namely towards the bottom of the page. I also have two ads in the sidebar, and I’m debating whether or not to open more of that space up. Hmm… my heart says no, but my wallet says yes. Thoughts?
I do accept link sales in content.
Now, this could be a bit hypocritical of me, but it is something I have just started doing to test out. You might come across one link in a post that has been bought (maximum one link in a post). In essence, the content would be my own and only a keyword phrase will link to an outside source – which you do not have to click on. What say you? Too much?
I do accept books and products for review.
If they are travel-related, and I can write whatever I feel, then yes, I will accept. This rarely happens, but I am open to it… but I definitely need to be able to relate it to my own travels in order to be able to speak properly on the subject.
I may be enticed to accept free travel.
How could I say no, really? While this has not been an offer or concern for my personal travel blog, I think we all would love to get a free trip or two. If it did come up, I guess I would say yes… unless the means of making it happen were too much. Can I say what I want, even if it were really negative? I have accepted free travel in the name of WhyGo Australia, but that sort of makes sense in the fact that I need to know more about the country in order to do my job.
Overall, I want my experiences to be authentic, just as you want your information to be untainted by corporate funds. I’ll do my best to make that happen, but in the end, I am only human. Feel free to give me a good slap in the face if you see me getting out of line.
What do you think about my policy here? Agree? Disagree?
Good to set out your goals. I’ve seen many other bloggers confused as to what they want and tend to send their readers all over the place. Keep it up Brooke!
Thanks, Michael
It’s tough to do, but at least I have something to refer back to… and refer others to.
I think you need to stick to your values and do what’s right for you — and I love that you put it out there in black and white
Cheers
It’s going to be my go-to doc from now on.
Just a few months ago I had to spell this out for myself too because of all of the enticing offers…it seems like such a waste to let that money go, but then again, it’s NOT what I started my site for. Like you, I don’t do sponsored posts – other than that, it’s truly about what you find comfortable. I like to allow other guest posters to flesh out my site with tips and I write the narrative so that I still have tips on here but the site mostly my own voice!
No face slapping needed, it sounds like a solid policy!
Thanks for the feedback, Shannon. It really is quite difficult to keep a clear head when money is involved
It sounds fair. The only thing I think I’d change if it were my own policy is sponsored posts. I’m okay with bloggers I read writing sponsored posts provided:
- they write them themselves (not just copy and paste from the marketing dept)
- they disclose sponsorship (usually you can tell anyway, and if a sponsored post isn’t disclosed, it does open a blog to being dropped from my RSS feeds.)
And be more decisive about free travel:
“I will accept provided that there is no requirement to provide a positive review.” Sounds fair, though it’s usually clear reading posts from free trips that the tourism department goes to great pains to make sure there’s nothing bad to say, and it may not reflect an independent traveler’s experience (particularly on a tight budget). Still, people who have enough exposure to get a free trip or two give us all some lofty goal to aim for.
Sound feedback. I agree that tourism groups do a great job of showing you the good side of a place, and it may not be what is focused to backpackers. Being a backpacker, it wouldn’t really fit on this blog so much. I may have to make an update to this point on accepting free travel to clarify the type of travel it would have to be in order to be suitable.
All we can ask and expect is that your experiences and posts are genuine and authentic and you do a great job of that. Keep up the good work, Brooke
Thanks, Tony
Did you change something… what happened to lobster toast man?!
I know why! Here he is
Definitely agree with your stance on sponsored posts; I feel like they dilute the content of a blog. As for text link ads, personally I don’t see anything wrong with them. It’s advertising but not evil, even if a certain large search engine doesn’t approve.
It’s interesting to see the divide on this topic. Thanks for sharing your view, Anil
Good to see you’re laying things out nice & clearly!
I totally agree with the sponsored posts stance. Naming no names but there are at least 3 sites I’ve removed from my RSS feed simply on principle for featuring blatant, unrelated and out of place sponsored posts. I feel that it shows a lack of respect to your readers, by ramming advertising down their throats (when your site already features large amounts of advertising).
Obviously it’s all down to choice, the blogger can choose to feature this type of post but I can then choose not to read his/her blog anymore. I’m glad I won’t have to make that choice here ;o)
Thanks for the feedback, Jonathan! Glad to have you around
Great post. I have recently been getting requests for sponsored content, and I didn’t know what to make of them at first. Like you, I’ve decided against the practice to maintain the integrity of my site.
Yeah, I want to never forget how fun it was to get this whole thing started. I was full of vigor and loving life thinking about the possibility of traveling. That’s what my travel blog is about – that’s the way it needs to stay!
I obviously accept guest posts from time to time, although that’s mainly been something I’ve done of late due to my lack of free time and travel. It’s not something I intend to do terribly often.
I’m with you on sponsored posts though. Not something I’ll do. Long term it would be great if I could make some money from my blog, but there obviously need to be some limits to it.
I hope you don’t think I’m attacking you for the guest posts
I’m not! It’s not right for my blog is one thing I’m sure of, though.
It`s good that you`ve established these boundaries for your blog. Now that the offers are coming in I`m still working through mine.
Good luck with that, Ayngelina! May the force be with you
I don’t get why someone would put up sponsored posts written by someone else. I’m not against making money, but those types of posts suck and they kill your reputation.
If I wrote the post and was free to write anything I wanted, then I would consider doing it.
Of course it’s all relative to what you’re trying to achieve with your blog.
I think for some blogs, it might work. And yes, it does depend on your blog’s goal. As easy as accepting those sponsored posts would be, I just can’t do it — and I want to make it a point to not let myself. Comments like yours help me to stay focused, so thanks!
The Sponsored Post salesmen have been out in hordes as of late, so I trust you’re having a difficult time continuing to say no!
My feelings are mixed on Sponsored Posts, and as of yet I’ve only allowed one to be published. If the price is right – but more importantly – if the content is in line with what my readers are interested in, then I’ll go ahead and publish a sponsored post. I’ll always disclose this so my readers are aware what they’re reading. In this sense, they seem pointless. I don’t know about your reading habits, but I skip over a sponsored post, all the time.
I have no problem with blogs being monetized, so long as it’s disclosed and doesn’t completely take over the website.
Yes! Must be an end of the year thing? Companies have extra money to spend on stuff like this? Whatever it is, I don’t like it
I totally understand where you are coming from. I’ve been approached a few times now by a few companies. Some offering to pay, others wanting a free deal. Umm….hello….I’d like free?? Anyway… when I was offered to have others post articles on my site with no compensation, “are you kidding me??” was the first thing that came to mind.
I like your policy Brooke
Cheers & happy holidays!!
Cheers, Nancy! It’s good because now I’ve actually had people approach me saying, “Yes, I’ve read your policy, and here’s what I can offer.” worth the post for sure