Due to the increased frequency of requests, I thought it wise to post my position on “sponsored posts” and other things I do not do.
To be clear, I do not produce sponsored posts of any kind, something I thought was obvious since I’ve never done one but perhaps that’s the insidious thing about sponsored content—some of it is not presented as such. As far as I’m concerned, shame on you.
I have a suggestion—instead of looking to pay for posts to get the word out about your product(s), website, or company, why not produce a professional press release. If it’s relevant to the content we regularly publish here on TM, the odds are good that it will be posted. And it’s free!
Here’s a list of other things I do not do:
I do not…
…time a review to post on the date of a manufacturer’s product launch.
…produce a review in a week or two.
…guarantee a certain # of reviews in exchange for an ad.
…produce positive show coverage for advertisers (no “Best of Show” awards for a fee).
Requests for sponsored content on TM started a few years ago in dribs and drabs but they’ve become increasingly common to the point where taking part in sponsored content, a form of pay-for-play, seems to be expected by more and more people as time goes on. A very unfortunate state of affairs in my opinion.
This raises a related question—What does an ad on Twittering Machines buy?
An ad on Twittering Machines buys an ad on Twittering Machines and my thanks. Nothing more, nothing less. [footnote 1]
In the spirit of positivity, here are some things I like:
Honesty
Common courtesy
Professionalism
Humor
People who do what they say they’re going to do when they say they’re going to do it
1. We reach approximately 160k Unique Visitors on average each month according to data provided by Cloudflare’s Web Analytics as part of their CDN (Content Delivery Network) service.