The Problem With Using The Word Never
Blog reviews are becoming a big business and have put a lot of bloggers to work. That’s a good thing. But then you get someone like Andy Sernovitz, self proclaimed word of mouth marketing guru who says this:
“Never pay for posts or reviews. Do it even once, and you break the trust forever. Everyone will assume you pay for all reviews.”
That’s the biggest pile of crap I think I’ve ever heard and here’s why. Paying for someone to review your product or service has been going on since the beginning of capitalism. As long as the review is UNBIASED it’s kosher. Period. End of story. Bloggers are allowed to write whatever they want, good or bad.
Now, if you put restrictions on the blogger then you are indeed violating that trust.
So Andy, think twice before using the word “never” because there are a lot of great, ethical bloggers out there who like to work and write good honest reviews.
What do you think kahunas?
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July 22nd, 2009 at 4:44 am
Bloggers are allowed to write about anything they want of course, but should they be paid to be stimulated, the question perhaps is whether bloggers really need stimulation? Isn’t it in the nature of the blogger to be stimulated by itself to share thoughts and discuss ideas. In this huge community of bloggers you can find somebody who is interested in your product. A company could contact the blogger to make him/her aware of products, but actually pay?
If Bloggers receive money to review, they should mention that they received money to do the review. Would I still value his review if he wrote reviews only for this company? What’s in it for me to believe him I would think? He receives an incentive, why should I be unbiased in believing him?
Does paying reviewers kill the bloggers credibility? And therefor backfire on the paying company?
full reply on http://bit.ly/yDzec
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:49 am
It really depends on how your blog is set up. If your blog is set up to make money (run a business) through reviews or paid advertising than it’s kosher as long as it’s unbiased. Why can’t bloggers make a living without being seen as “unethical”? And in that same vein why are advertisers frowned upon for paying for a legitimate review? It’s hogwash man!
To think that a blogger can’t be open an honest because they are paid is even more ridiculous and insulting to thousands of ethical bloggers. As a matter of fact the more honest a blogger is the more business they could get. Wouldn’t companies with great products and services want to to reviewed by someone not afraid to say their product/service stunk? That way greatness could shine through.
We run http://www.stthomasblog.com where we sell advertisng and paid reviews. Here’s what we say on our blog when selling a review:
The cost of the review and to write/publish the article is $300 (up to 1000 words) but be forwarned…it will be honest (this does not include Best of St. Thomas Awards which are not paid for but voted on). The St. Thomas Blog is always open and honest. So if the meal is bad, or the tour driver is having a bad day we’ll let our readers know it.
You can find it here: http://www.stthomasblog.com/?page_id=123
So, like any business there are good and bad people in the industry. But to say “NEVER” pay for reviews is wrong.
July 23rd, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I think in the end, it’s going to be the honesty and reputation of the blogger that matters most. For instance, I bought Duracell Rechargeables for my digital camera after reading the review on Gizmodo. If they were paid to write the review, it still wouldn’t matter to me, because I trust them to be honest, regardless of payment. And they were right: the batteries are the best rechargeables that I’ve ever used. If a blogger touts poor products or services just because they’ve been paid to do so, it’ll become obvious fairly quickly.
July 26th, 2009 at 11:36 am
I agree. A blogger can accept cash to spend time on a product review, all they need to make sure of is that they give an honest and unbiased opinion. Not trying to upsell anything, just an honest review.
I don’t see how that would break trust. If anything – if the blogger gets paid and then does a negative review, people are probably more likely to trust them.