I Got an Offer for a Sponsored Blockchain Review Post! Are Sponsored Posts OK?
My Facebook inbox has an interesting message in it right now.
Here it is, paraphrasing:
“Hi Matt,
We are enjoying your series of posts about blockchain tokens. Are you able to do a sponsored post about our upcoming ICO, (link here), on your steemit account?”
A Few Facts About Sponsorships
Before I address if I should do sponsored posts or not, there are a few points I wanna make:
(1) I view sponsorships as a superior monetization model to pure advertising. When random ads are run on content ala YouTube, there’s no way to stop ethically unsound businesses from using your content for their own gain. With a sponsorship, you can pick and choose who you work with.
(2) There’s a lot of simple money in sponsorships. If a blogger charged $100 per sponsored post and did two per week, that would be a simple way to generate an extra $200 per week.
(3) Most successful podcasters seem to use the sponsorship model: One or two advertisements, read at the start of the podcast, where the show makes a full endorsement of a product.
Sponsorships Need to Be Transparent
The most important thing is honesty. I would never do a post that looked like my own opinion, but actually was paid for. I’d never write positive words about something I didn’t actually like. Honesty is #1.
If the sponsorship is transparent, I don’t see much of an ethical issue. Every sponsored post should have a full sentence within the first 100 words that say it is sponsored. Something like “Full Disclosure: This Post is Sponsored By [person/group]. I only accept sponsorships from brands that I respect.”
The content can still be good too. It just means I can’t accept sponsorships from brands whose products I don’t like. Nobody is gonna pay me to write a negative review of them. So I have to do my due diligence first and only accept the sponsorship if I really like the project.
What Do You Think?
Are clearly marked sponsored posts acceptable on steemit? Would you enjoy seeing that kind of content so long as it was honest and transparent? I value and appreciate your feedback on this one.
Go for it! This is an open platform, and you are free to create sponsored content. I would say as long as it is seriously unbiased, and clearly stated that you are receiving a sponsorship to do so, it's all fair game.
God Speed Brethren.
Cool. Thanks for your feedback.
I agree with your principles. make a post review on the product you like. karna post review will be a reference for users of the product. this is just my opinion :) 🙇
Great thank you for sharing your thoughts :-)
I think you need to use your own sound judgement on this one. A poorly constructed sponsored post about an ICO can (dare I say will) come off as you giving your support behind that ICO. If that ICO was to go south - some might hold that against you. I am sure you would be able to word your post to maneuver around that issue, but it is something to keep in mind. I too am enjoying your posts about blockchain tokens. If you do go the sponsored route - I hope you don't forget about this series :)
Keep up the good work.
Yea I wouldn't do it poorly, it would be an A+ great post lol
I think your reasoning is sound, as long as you are honest and transparent I don't see a problem.
Solid. Transparency seems like the biggest thing to me too.
great idea for real people.
but not so great for 'celiberties' , actors , lawyers, or politicians.
People who lie for a living
Trust is hard to get...and easy to lose.
Agree with you that trust takes a long time to earn... I don't plan on losing mine anytime soon. Can't imagine lying everyday for a career like a lot of politicians do
it must rot the soul
huh...
I guess that would explain why they are the way they are.
all good if done the way you describe. some of the best insight and tips i have found come from sponsored posts/casts, like tim ferriss podcast. honest sponsorship much better than intrustive ads.
Ya Tim Ferriss is a good example of trustworthy sponsorships. He only reps good shit.
I think you deserve it👍🏽 and do it well.
Yes, yes, yes.
But... disclose it in the opening (and again in the closing) paragraph and get a content writer for that post. That is the only totally neutral way.
If properly disclosed there is no issue with it, as long as no opportunity is given to the sponsoring company to possibly influence the writing. That means that they who accept the offer can not also do the editorial.
Well I would do the writing myself... all the words on my blog are written by me. The company would have no influence though, they have to give me the "final cut" as it were. And definitely would have disclosures at the beginning and end.
In some sense there is no totally neutral way right, I mean is anything really neutral? I think the goal is just to be honest and make sure people have all the info... no sneaky shit.
There is a reason why advertising/sales and editorial are two independent silos within any (self-respecting) news outlet.
The moment you accept payment, your psyche is clouded already. Even if in the sense of this must be absolutely neutral. Accepting payment, or being aware of payment offered and accepted, clouds.
The only reason why there is a thing such as the status quo is to disrupt it.
Hmm... the problem is that I wouldn't make any money lol.
If I charge $80 for a 1,000 word post about a blockchain, there is no real profit margin there. I can't afford to hire a good writer for original research for much less than $80. Doing it myself is ok because I work for ~4 hours on the article and the rate is reasonable.
In my opinion transparency is more important that neutrality. Like, an effort towards neutrality is OK even if its not perfect, as long as I'm honest about what is going on. Does that sound reasonable to you, or would you be opposed to it anyway? We don't have to debate it much more, but I'm curious if you would agree/disagree with my reasoning
I totally agree with that reasoning. Transparency is what matters most. I also trust you that it will not bias your writing, at least not in the sense that it could [heavily] affect the tone of the article.
But I allowed myself the stricter view/comment because over the years I have been at every level of the process. All the way from I will be stricter in reviewing this app/product to implemeting the structure in which sponsored posts were written by somebody otherwise not in our editorial team, because as you said there is no totally neutral way, right .
Definitely help promote the project if you think it aligns with your brand.
You are both spreading information that people can choose to learn from or not, the company is getting a legit review/account of the current state of product/service, and you're making a little scratch for yourself.
only if you shave yourself before