More on Sponsored Posts

Martin Neumann of HomeOfficeVoice.com recently featured a sponsored post on his website for Universal Document Converter. As readers of this blog know, I am also interested in getting paid for blogging (why should I miss out on a money-making opp?), as long as it's done in an honest and ethical way. I have been researching how to go about it, so I was interested in seeing how Martin handled it.

I think he was quite successful, but it's still a Catch-22, though.

You see, while I'm happy to know that Martin is being honest and letting me know that this particular entry is being paid for (there is a note that says, "This is a sponsored post" before the text), my expectation when I started reading was that Martin would be recommending this item -- and he did. Aha! Instant skepticism. Let's face it: Would the folks behind Universal Document Converter have paid for a negative review? Would you, if you were them?

But what if he really did like it? Thought it was the best thing since Twitter and dark chocolate Hershey's Kisses?

Is there way around the skepticism? I don't know... Had Martin not told us that this was a sponsored review, I would have been skeptical of the review anyway, so was anything gained by having full disclosure?

I think so, actually. Whether or not the review itself is truthful (we'll never really know), I appreciate Martin's trust in his readers to decide for themselves. He's essentially saying, "Hey, I got paid for this. I want you to know. Make of it what you will." I also think what saves Martin are two things:

1) His specificity. His review is thoughtful and thorough, covering a lot of ground/applications, which makes me more inclined to think that he didn't get the software in the mail, toss it to the side, run to his computer and type, "I love it!"

2) Martin has a reputation for being an authority on work-at-home topics, so the trust that he has built with his readers may be enough to offset any nagging doubts. Perhaps an unknown/newbie would have more difficulty doing that.

This whole concept, sponsored posts, really is a toughie... But I think Martin has proven that it can be done. And done well.