The Weight of Money

Money and blogging are increasingly linked together. While I’ve held very strong black-or-white opinions, I’ve finally reached a compromise that I’m comfortable with. Seeing how this is a blog focused on personal finance, I see nothing wrong with attempting to increase passive income streams. One way that many people have done so is through advertising and compensation.

With the creation of PayPerPost, I’ve really had to examine my comfort level with reading and posting on topics solicited by advertisers. This isn’t something new for me – I’ve previously has publishers send me books in hopes for a review,;however, PayPerPost just takes on a whole new approach.

I joined PPP and posted two articles based on available opportunities. However, PPP took so long to approve my blog, I was not able to submit them and have since been in a ethnical dilemma about whether or not I should be using the service. Thanks to a recent PPP opportunity – ironic, I know – I’ve finally reached a comfortable compromise.

Disclosure Policy.org is addressing this issue of blogging and compensation. Yes, this is a PayPerPost opportunity, but I’m responding to it in terms of its solution to my personal dilemma. They recognize the ethical situation that arises when bloggers are provided compensation for their opinions and posts. They provide a personal disclosure generator that helped spell out many options bloggers have in accepting compensation and disclosing that compensation.

Through reading the many options the generator offers, I’ve been able to make some decisions about how I want to handle compensation.

• I will accept compensation for things I write.
• I will not allow compensation to influence my opinions.
• I will not post solely for the sake of compensation.
• I will identify posts that receive compensation or we’re solicited through donations (i.e. books).
• I will create a disclosure policy that will spell out these terms.

If I find that accepting compensation for posting begins to interfere with my writing, I will cease accepting compensation and return to uncompensated blogging. I welcome anyone to comment their content opinions and speak up if they feel that my site, or anyone else’s, is being overly influence by compensated topics (PPP).

This entry was posted on Friday, November 3rd, 2006 at 12:24 pm and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.