Mark Evans

Blogging for Fun..and Profits

Tris Hussey has an intriguing post on bloggers becoming more aggressive about making money, which includes issues such as “sponsorships” (a.k.a payola) and product reviews. Tris puts the spotlight an interesting issue that will likely get more attention as blogs move more into the mainstream: how can bloggers make money and will they have to abide by the same “rules” as journalists (notwithstanding the “Are bloggers journalists debate?”) Clearly, advertising will be one way for bloggers to generate revenue, and blog networks such as Federated Media are being established to serve the needs of advertisers. But what about product reviews? Should bloggers be able to keep products if they agree to review them, even if they're expensive items such as laptops, MP3 players or monitors? Or should bloggers have to send them back after being reviewed? And what about direct payments? Should bloggers accept payment from companies looking for love even if they are willing to let the blogger say what they want? Marqui got a whack o' criticism when they used this controversial technique last year. As I told Tris, most people claim they can be objective even if they are being paid by someone - but it's difficult to maintain this approach when there's cash involved - it's just human nature
   As much as everyone is excited about blogs and podcasts, it's still early days. As a result, the “rules” have yet to be established in terms of what's acceptable and what's not. There's no doubt some bloggers will want to be compensated for their content. Some of them will go the traditional advertising route, while others may explore new territory is frowned upon in the journalism world. Tris' post is part of a healthy conversation (debate?) that needs to happen. It may be the blogosphere will have different rules than journalism.