Question:
“Various people (and I tried it) back at WU started adding various website review and other paid/sponsored posts into their weekly blogging.
Here’s the question. Let’s suppose a blogger has developed a niche area, more or less, writing about the environment or books or parenting.
Then, suddenly, here’s a post about resort hotels in Paris or a financial services website.
Once this happens, why doesn’t it drive readers away? That is, if somebody has what amounts to a daily column about a subject that draws readers in, why wouldn’t they be disappointed to find what amounts to advertising there instead of the content they’re looking for?
When I look at the primary mainstream lit blogs such as Elegant Variation, Maud Newton, etc., I don’t see them inserting paid posts into the mix.
So, I guess I’m wondering why the paid stuff doesn’t turn readers away or make the site less professional in terms of its look and feel. - TF’
Answer
We Have Grown as Paid to Post Bloggers
The thing is - there probably is paid posts in the Mix. Take my blog www.divanetworking.blogspot.com Where I actually teach this stuff. There are paid posts there - you just don’t see them.
That is becuase I never go off topic. In the old days when we were all forced to work with blogitive, they made lots of demands, and we bent to their superior wisdom. Then we wized up. Now, we sign up at sites which give us the right to choose our topics, like loudlaunch.com. We also sign up at sites which let us write ‘on topic’ using the ad keywords and 1 - 3 links.
I do have blogs where I talk about travel. But I do not do that on all blogs. However, when I do, it is still on topic.
User Defined Keywords Make it easier to Make Money and Stay on Topic
The blog companies also have changed how we submit blogs. For example, www.divanetworking.blogspot.com will only have Internet, self-help, ecommerce, SEO, work at home, marketing, and networking.
At bloggerparty, I blog about family, shopping, travel, etc.
At IA - I blog about everything. But only list with companies that do not require a review or keyword sensitive article. So, I can write a blog about relaxation and reducing stress for work at home offices, while embedding a link for an online lighting store.
Change in Blogging Styles
Back in the older days people would also have one main blog and do all their writing from it. Now, they have several. I personaly have about 15 with 5 more being developed. Before you cry MFA, 8 of these blogs do not have a single Google Ad on them. Instead, I use commission junction and Paid Posts.
Burying and Managing Tags
There is also the fact that making $800 - $1000 a month blogging requires about 125 - 150 paid posts. That is a lot of content. I usually post once a week, writing about 30 posts in one day. Then, after the posts are approved, I bury them under 10 more posts.
My paid posts also lack tags. So if you go to my blog www.paid-to-write.blogspot.com then you will notice that the paid posts lack tags. If you click the index to searc a topic, you will only get the paid posts that are really valuable, the rest are ‘lost.’
Respecting Your Blog’s Reader
Bloggers have also learned to respect their reader. I put a paid post in this blog because I wanted to test Loud Launche’s ability to manage a community blog, so I could write an article on the topic.
Example: My blog is www.communati.com/main/blog/gracepub but my posts are at www.communati.com/main/post-url Some sites like blogsvertise will accept this, others won’t.
However, you will notice that I was honest to my readers. I wrote something about travelling to Hawaii, and my views. I never started to talk about something vague and then hit the poor visitor with an ad for condos in Hawaii.
Look at this post I wrote on fax solutions for small business I never talked about the company at all. I just talked about starting a writing career, and why a small business might want to consider a $4000 fax machine.
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decrease in desire for sweets and fatty foods (all forms)