The following are my personal beliefs. They apply only to me. You may feel differently, and that's okay. This is a topic where we may agree to disagree.
The other day, I got an unsolicited email in my GMAIL account asking me to put an add on my blog. While I respect the approach taken, I will not be doing so. Here is a redacted copy of the email (altered content in blue:
Hi,
I was curious what it would take to get a text link on your blog saying something like “Tungsten Wedding Bands” or “Tungsten Wedding Rings” with a hyperlink to our site (www.X#X#X.com). We are a relatively new company and we are currently trying to improve our page ranking on Google. We operate on a small budget, and we would be more than willing to give you a tungsten ring from our site in exchange for a link. Let me know if this would be something that you would be interested in. Thanks for any help you can give us.
Thank You
Mr. X
Mr. X's Wedding Rings
As you can see, that is a perfectly fine request. Not like the spammers who put \/|@8r@ (lordy, I hope that spelling hides that word from the Googles) ads in your comment thread. [Man I want to unleash the power of the BAN HAMMER on their asses. But, I have turned on comment moderation on all posts over 14 days, so I catch a lot of that before it makes it out.] Any way… I don't advertise. I HATE wearing logoed clothing. When I was running, if I wore a Nike shirt, I would be wearing Champion shorts, Reebok compression shorts, and New Balance shoes, just so I didn't look like a shill for the man. (The occasional bit of "team apparel" is the exception to the rule.)
There are no ads over on my side bar. There won't be. I view it as an odd trust thing with you, my readers. If you read a review of a product or service on this blog, you will know full well that:
- It is a product or service that I use / have used, and have a knowledgeable opinion about.
- I am in no way being compensated for the review.
I know, like my opinion matters in the great scheme of life or something, I know. But I have always felt this way.
So, while I could score a wedding ring and save myself $70 - $90 bucks or so, it won't be happening. While the rings on the site look nice, I cannot endorse a product that I have not used, nor can I take one for free and then endorse it. It fails BOTH tests above.
That's just not how I roll. (It's not that I can't be bought, it's that my price is a bit higher than that. If BMW wants an ad on my sidebar and would give me a new X6, I'd change my tune. FAST!)
So, do I have a stick up my ass and need to get over myself? How do you feel about ads on blogs? Paid endorsement? How much money would it take for you to change your mind?
18 comments:
No. There's no stick up your ass. Trust me. Your ass is MIGHTY FINE.
I reckon if you had a stick up your ass you would know it.
I'm in agreement with you on that. It kind of changes my reason for blogging. I wouldn't advertise in my diary. If I see a blatant product review I read no further believe me. There is a place for them and some might like them but its not for me.
Yes you have a stick up your ass. But apparently, 1 out of every 9 men enjoy that.
I could have sworn you've advertised charities on your blog. Yes, it's something you believe in, but it's still an ad.
But if a blatanly capitalisitic company wanted to advertise on your blog, you'd need like 100k to make it worthwhile. I guess you're just an expensive whore.
I'd sell ad space on my blog for a bucket of fried chicken. Actually, I've been offering up praise to my favourite fried chicken place for years now without any sort of payment.
That's Mary Brown's Famous Chicken & Taters in Aurora.
@wigsf - Ah, my fine line distinction. Putting ads for charities doesn't provide me any financial reimbursement, nor did the organization ask me to, so it passes the tests. :-)
Plus you got a slew of boob pics out of it. ;-)
I can't help but notice you haven't done the same thing for testicular cancer. So, why is that, hmm?
No, I feel the same way about ads on my blogs. At best, I tolerate them on blogs I read; at worst, they annoy the hell out of me. Your decision not to use them ratchets my opinion of you even higher. Kudos!
Cora's biased.
You are correct, though. 100% correct.
-Joshua
I wont ever advertise on my blog, mostly because no reputable person or company wants anything to do with my blog. But lets just say that I have standards and leave it at that, okies?
I don't mind ads because they pay very well! I once made $150 in one month by putting a couple links on my old blog's sidebar! :) Endorsements annoy the hell out of me though & usually leads to me unsubscribing.
How about you accept the ad money and give the ring away to one of your readers??
I laughed when I got this same letter from the tungsten people - obviously they don't READ any blog before soliciting it. Like either of my blogs is going to DRIVE traffic their way (more likely to turn them off wedding altogether).
And Chester Chicken beats all the rest by a country mile.
I'm with you, man. I refuse to put any sort of advertising on my blog. That's just how I roll.
I've had a couple of people email me about putting up ads or reviews on my site. I actually wrote back to one of them and asked if they actually read my blog. And then pointed them toward a particularly salient TMI Thursday post.
I've yet to hear from them again.
Why are they making rings out of tungsten now? Are they looking for a glowing review? Hopefully you'd provide something enlightening for them and that your review wouldn't be too wolfish. Perhaps these people work for the Illuminati.
Okay, I'll stop now...
I don't allow my blog to be found via Google, I'm weird about it, so most likely no one would ask me to advertise anything.
However, there is very little I will not do for free stuff, so if anyone asked me to put an ad on my sidebar in exchange for anything I could actually use, I think I would, depending on what it was.
I don't think it's appropriate for a wedding ring though, that's something too sentimental.
I got the same one from the same company.
I emailed back last week and they gave me a proposal of a barter for a ring.
I ask you, WHAT DO I NEED WITH A WEDDING BAND??
Sheesh, just a confirmation on my divorcee loser status. No thanks.
Hey...I say don't let the man drag you down.
Personally I think the ads are like "noise" and it really bugs me while I am trying to read. I get distracted very easily, but I end up hitting that lovely red X instead of the ad itself.
I agree 100%! I got a request to put an ad on my sidebar (can't remember for what) but I hate blogs that are so bogged down with ads that you have to search for the blog post. Needless to day, I didn't respond.
The only "ad" I have on my sidebar is for the Red Cross, and I've been contemplating taking it down because it's not being utilized.
I totally agree. I have one pair of gym shorts that have a nike swoosh on them (given to me for free) and they are covered in paint. So they are not impressive at all. But I absolutely refused to buy a pair of sketchers, no matter how interesting they look (sketchers always look interesting to me somehow) but they print their brand name in the tread, so everyone who sees your footprints know what show you wear! I don't know if that is a big deal to anyone else, but it is to me.
(Buys cheapos from Payless, by the way.)
I don't think you have a stick up your ass. But you may want to check and see if there's a tungsten wedding band jammed up there.
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