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Long Overdue Praise For PayPerPost | ||
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 As many of my longtime ezine subscribers already know, I love to travel. Well, in the past 10-12 months I’ve done a lot of traveling. I took trips to Japan, Scotland, England, France and Italy.  And I finally made it to China for the first time. Unfortunately, I got really sick and it ruined the trip. I went on all those trips because I was feeling a bit burned out from all the business projects I had going on. I desperately needed to get as far away from the computer as possible. So I did. While I was away I had a lot of time to think… to figure out what was and wasn’t making me happy in my life. I did some serious soul-searching. And as I previously wrote in my ezine, I decided to pick just one project and get out of the rest — to keep from going insane and to be able to focus on doing one thing great rather than several things fair. As a serial entrepreneur this is something I have battled with my entire life. There’s never a shortage of opportunities and it’s just too easy (especially online) to try and conquer multiple projects at the same time. But it rarely turns out as well as it would have to just focus on ONE project. So I had to make a major change… That decision process led me to take my ’side business’ of teaching Internet Marketing and to focus on helping as many people as I possibly could with it. And that’s exactly how Income.com came about. But while I was traveling around the globe I still took time out to check email here and there as well as catch up on my favorite blogs and other news sources. (Internet cafes rule.) During the time I was away a major FIRESTORM of controversy hit the ‘Net. Blogs all over the world were going crazy. People were getting fired up. Mainstream media outlets got involved. It was nuts. And it was all concerning one little startup company… PayPerPost. If you’re not familiar with them, PayPerPost is an advertising network that pays bloggers to post ‘reviews’ of products and services on their blogs. Products and services that belong to the other side of PayPerPost’s system, their advertisers. I believe there were essentially TWO things that got people really heated over the launch of this new company… 1. It was encouraging people to post ads within blog posts.  Many hardcore blog readers think of blog posts as pure content written by the author(s) that run that specific blog. There are plenty of other places to display ads on a blog layout — on the sidebars, headers, and footers. At least that’s what the popular reaction was to this new business model. Many said it was another form of “blog spam” regardless of point #2 below. 2. The blogger was not required to disclose that they were being compensated to post the review. It was left up to the blogger to decide if they should disclose that they were getting paid to post their review, or to just post the review and let their readers decide for themselves if they thought it was a regular content post or not. Shortly after PayPerPost’s launch, BusinessWeek ran an article titled, Polluting The Blogosphere. In the article, Jon Fine basically rips PayPerPost a new one and more or less implies that the whole process is DISHONEST and poisonous for the Internet. His harsh stance was based around the lack of required disclosure. Many other bloggers chimed in and expressed their negative Some of these bloggers were some of the most respected (and most visited) bloggers online — like Michael Arrington and Jeff Jarvis. Once these “A-List” bloggers started bashing PayPerPost it couldn’t get any worse for this little company. Or could it? Introducing… Jason Calacanis. The self-appointed PayPerPost Bash-Fest Commander-In-Chief. More on that in a moment… Jason is an old school ‘Net guy. He was the founder and editor of a magazine called the Silicon Alley Reporter. It covered Internet and other new media companies in the NY area. It was actually pretty solid stuff. In the late 1990s, if you read SAR, Business 2.0, Wired magazine, and a few other trade journals, you had the entire Internet Universe well covered. Jason co-founded Weblogs Inc. and sold it to AOL for $25 million. He was also the GM of Netscape at one time. I actually have a lot of respect for Jason. As many of my ezine readers know, one of the traits I respect most is hard work. The true hard workers are few and far between. Most people just want to do the bare minimum. And this is no exception when it comes to entrepreneurs — many of which never actually take much action. They spend most of their time planning and dreaming. Jason has worked very hard and has made some important contributions to the Internet industry. I respect that. But don’t let Dr. Evil fool you. Jason pretty much took it upon himself to try and rid the Internet of PayPerPost - and he set his sights on Ted Murphy, the Founder/CEO of the company. Jason has bashed Ted Murphy and PayPerPost at every opportunity he could find. And he was downright brutal at times. He was yet another blogger that had a huge issue with the optional disclosure policy of PayPerPost — i.e. their bloggers were supposed to police themselves and decide if they should or shouldn’t add a “Disclosure Statement” on their blogs to clarify that their ‘review’ posts were paid advertisments. For the record, I believe these bloggers should have to post a disclosure statement if they are making posts that they are being compensated for. And I actually side with Jason in his opinion that each of these paid posts should start with some sort of disclosure, even a small one, at the top of the post. It’s similar to the fine print “ADVERTORIAL” you often find in a magazine. You know, that full page ad that looks just like the articles in the same publication; yeah, the hundreds or thousands you’ve probably glanced at and never even noticed that tiny “disclosure” and still to this day think it was a legit article. If it’s not perfectly clear that a blog post is a paid ad (or ‘review’) then that actually could be a form of deception — because blog readers naturally expect to be reading content that isn’t a paid ad. And if their natural expectations aren’t being met (especially without them knowing it) they are essentially being ‘tricked’. It’s a very fine line. PayPerPost eventually changed their policies and now requires their bloggers to have a disclosure policy on their blogs. It’s not necessarily a disclosure within each post (unless the blogger chooses to do so) but it is a required, published disclosure on the site that states they are being compensated for some of the posts they are making. Part of me (through this entire ’saga’) wished that PayPerPost had launched their company with the disclosure thing in place to start with. Then they wouldn’t have had to deal with the huge backlash and negativity, right?  BZZZZZZZZZZ WRONG. I would bet anything that they still would have experienced the massive backlash and negativity. It might not have been on the same scale, but it still would have happened. Why? Because many of the ‘complainers’ were primarily pissed about… …the concept of ADS APPEARING IN BLOG POSTS. Or worse, an advertisement actually taking up an entire blog post. Think about it… phrases like ‘polluting the blogosphere’ and ‘the last thing we need is more blog spam’ have absolutely, positively nothing to do with disclosure. NADA. ZILCH. NOTHING. It’s a mindset, and a reference (even if a subconscious one) that screams… “I Don’t Want To See A Bunch Of Advertisements In The Form Of Blog Posts All Over The Internet!” Can anyone honestly say that if PayPerPost (from the beginning) had all their bloggers start each post with the small text, “ADVERTORIAL” or “PAID REVIEW” that there still wouldn’t have been a backlash against them? A backlash was inevitable. This is exactly what happens when someone creates a Disruptive Business Model. And this is what PayPerPost did. They shook up the blogosphere. Hahahaha. I’m sorry, I have to actually laugh outloud… Blogosphere. I crack up when I read or hear that term. A lot of the blogger purists like to throw that word around… these are the bloggers that actually think they somehow live online in their own controlled universe. It reminds me of a great quote from Shawshank Redemption… when Red is facing the parole board at the end of the movie… Red: Rehabilitated? Well now, let me see. You know, I don’t have any idea what that means…I know what you think it means. To me, it’s just a made-up word, a politician’s word so that young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie and have a job. I think the same thing when I hear certain people (not all) throwing around the world blogosphere like it’s this thing they govern or have ownership over. Here’s a little secret for those folks… it’s just a made up word. There’s another major issue with some of the anti-capitalists and purists that were so quick to bash PayPerPost and their model… and here’s a major NEWSFLASH they all need to realize… IT’S NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS WHAT SOMEONE ELSE CHOOSES TO PUT ON THEIR BLOG! Someone can make every post an advertisement AND have a non-stop Flash animation of donuts bouncing around their nav menu. It’s THEIR BLOG. How dare they try and tell them they can’t post paid reviews of products or fill their blogs with ads. They can do whatever they want! It was like the implications were that PayPerPost was enslaving bloggers to make paid posts. And somewhere in the middle of all the heated discussion there was a huge FACT being overlooked… thousands of bloggers were willingly signing up at PayPerPost and were happy about participating. Again, it’s their blog, they can do whatever they want with it. The Mighty Blogosphere doesn’t get to decide what they should or shouldn’t put on their blog. Jane, a work-at-home mother with two small kids, writes a blog about bird watching and has the right to post anything she wants on her blog. If she chooses to post a paid review on her site, or put more ads on her blog than Times Square, that’s her right. And she, or anyone else, that makes such a decision to flood their blog with ads should not be bashed for it. Again, it’s their right. Move along, nothing more to see here. Mind your own business. And enough about this notion that blogs are somehow this MAGICAL thing online. They aren’t. It’s a freakin’ piece of easy-to-use software that makes adding content to web pages easy. Let’s not forget that. The Internet is made up of content created by its citizens. It was the same in the 1990s and it’s the same today. It doesn’t matter what tool they use to create it, or what label you put on it. Whatever someone creates is THEIRS and theirs to do with as they please. People need to respect that and just worry about themselves — For those so concerned about too many ads on blogs, that is. If It’s Really Only About Disclosure For Some PayPerPost Opponents And Not The ‘Model’ To Create More Advertising On Blogs That They Truly Have A Problem With… Where’s the concern over the Multi-Billion Dollar Affiliate Industry? It makes the blogosphere’s potential disclosure issues a tiny spec of the Internet’s realm of deceptive advertising practices. How many thousands of Fake Review sites are online and promoting affiliate and CPA offers right now? How many ‘non-disclosed’ affiliate links exist on millions of web sites all over the Net? How many millions of dollars (a day) are being exchanged through shopping comparison sites for arbitrage purposes? And Why Aren’t The Most Influential Bloggers Going After Google and Yahoo for non-disclosed uses of their PPC feeds? There are millions of pages populating the Internet right now that users stumble upon and truly think is a ranking of the most relevant web sites for the topic they are searching for. Too bad it’s all PPC links where one of Google’s or Yahoo’s partners is earning their revshare on the click activity. When an entire page is filled with sponsored listings from a feed a user no longer has a grasp on what’s a paid ad and what isn’t. That’s about as deceptive as it gets. I’m certainly not defending PayPerPost’s old policy of non-disclosure. As I already stated, I believe full disclosure is a smart thing. But my point is, how much time and energy was wasted on bashing some young startup company when there was no Evil Plan to destroy the blogosphere or anything even close to it? There are now other companies with a similar model, like ReviewMe. They are doing fine and others will surely follow. I, personally, think PayPerPost is to be PRAISED for what they’ve done. They took some major risks to bring their concept to market and truly rocked the boat in the process. This is a good thing for the Internet. I just wish more people would realize it… It opens up discussions about formulating disclosure policies… best practices… and often results in new startups and new technologies being created that, ultimately, makes the Internet better. Ironically, PayPerPost is located in Orlando, Florida and so are we. However, I’ve never met (or even talked to or exchanged emails with) their founder and CEO, Ted Murphy. I’ve lived in Orlando since 1999, but I have never crossed paths with Ted. But I think I know the reason why… to run into people you usually have to actually leave the house and get away from the computer. Oh yeah. In all seriousness, as far as Ted Murphy is concerned, I think the guy deserves some major recognition. He truly deserves some kind of crazy award for his massive COURAGE. Think about it… a young guy starts a company and ends up with people all over the Internet publicly bashing him… many looking for every excuse possible to tear down the company he’s working hard to build… He’s being constantly insulted… and many of the industry leaders that I know he respects (and probably admires) are doing nothing but talking trash about him — as if he’s O.J. Simpson. So under tremendous public scrutiny for what he’s trying to build what does Mr. Ted Murphy do? He doesn’t run from but he runs to everyone that challenges him to do an interview and talk about the situation. I don’t think the guy has ever dodged an interview. I’d hardly say that’s someone trying to hide something or purposely do wrong. Clearly it’s a matter of miscommunication on both sides of the fence. It has to be. And as for his worst critic of all, Jason Calacanis? Ted got on a plane and flew to Jason’s office to sitdown, face-to-face, with Dr. Evil himself… And they recorded a video interview which is awesome — I highly recommend you check it out. But talk about courage… how many people would have flown to their most vocal critic for a confrontation? Not many. As I previously said, I’ve never run into Ted here in Orlando.  But I did recently meet two of PayPerPost’s employees when I was in San Francisco for Ad:Tech. I spoke for awhile with Randy Mountz their VP of Sales. He was very nice and very professional. I also met Britt Gustafson their Communications Specialist. She, on the other hand, was extremely rude and unpleasant. I’m only kidding, she was very nice. Randy and Britt are good people and I briefly brought up the whole “controversy” stuff. I could see it in both their faces that they are pretty tired of the whole thing. I could tell they just wanted to be able to focus on their jobs and work hard to help the company — and not have the distractions of people putting them down, etc. I think it’s LAME to bash a company and it’s employees that are simply working hard to build something they believe in. Sure, you may not agree with what they are trying to do, but I think a little more sensitivity should be used when it comes to situations like this. No one can honestly say that the team of hard-working folks at PayPerPost is doing nothing but sitting around and thinking about how they will carry out their sinister schemes to deceive Internet users and take advantage of bloggers. Puhlease. It’s quite the opposite. Look at their blog… look at their Rockstartup series. I’ve done my own research on the matter and all I see is a hard-working group of people that actually care about their customers. It’s obvious they are having a good time and enjoy being part of a 2nd family that they are creating at that growing company. Thank you for reading this entire rant of sorts. I guess, after meeting Randy & Britt in San Francisco, and having followed the entire saga during my travels, I just felt inspired to take a stand for their company. After all, I gotta support the home team. :) But seriously, I thought a lot of the blog posts that were made against PayPerPost were a bit unfair and uncalled for. I would never want to see this type of thing happen to one of my student’s companies. Or anyone for that matter. I hope the Internet community never forgets that entrepreneurs are the ones that built and truly developed the Internet. If we’re so quick to judge the few courageous people that are willing to take big risks online to stretch the boundaries of known business models then we’re doing nothing but hurting the progress of the Internet. And it’s also important to remember that the Internet will always take care of itself organically. Its users ultimately ‘vote’ and decide what survives and what doesn’t based on the VALUE that is being offered to the community. If it’s a bad idea, it will be rejected. If it’s a good idea, it will thrive. But that will always be decided by a community of CUSTOMERS and not by pundits. SPECIAL NOTICE: I want to make sure and state that I am in no way, shape, or form affiiated with PayPerPost.  I am not one of their affiliates, advertisers, marketing partners, bloggers, or anything else. I was not paid one penny to make this post nor even given a free block of cheddar cheese in a complex barter deal. I was also not coerced, threatened, or guilt-tripped into making this post. Nor was I threatened with an ice cream cake plow which could certainly burn your nose hairs and cause a serious medical problem. Â
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May 9th, 2007 at 4:02 am
Hi John,
A very well taken stand. I agree with you a 100 % and I admire you now even more (I have always admired your ethical approach in internet marketing) because you too have the courage to stand up for truth and defend the weak.
I wish people spend their time and energy on positive issues rather than for destroying somebody.
Regards,
Sabiha Siddiqui
May 9th, 2007 at 4:06 am
John
I’m English but have been living in France for a year - I’d do anything for a block of Cheddar as they don’t have it here!
Keep up the great rants. If you put it on audio, I could listen whist unsubscribing from all the dross in my inbox!
Thanks
Jason
May 9th, 2007 at 4:38 am
I like the new white space look John.
Regards
James
May 9th, 2007 at 5:15 am
John
You hit a home run when you say that ‘it is my blog and I am free to post what I want on it’. And you are free to read it or not.
We get hundreds of emails from top-notch marketers everyday, reminding us that the products they are referring are the best and we can make millions overnight if we bought them. And if I were to sue some marketer because I did not do my due diligence and bought a product that is not working to my expectation (make money doing nothing), I have none but myself to blame.
Kudos!
May 9th, 2007 at 5:25 am
Hey John,
Great Post Mate!
If you ever need to get away from it
all again? You should get your butt
down to Australia
Take Care,
Michael Silvester
May 9th, 2007 at 5:37 am
John:
I’ve never been a big fan of censorship and I agree with being able to write whatever you want on your blog. People are so petty anymore. I love the new blog John and I’m going to subscribe to the feed. Keep the info coming. It’s great.
Thanks,
-Todd Doyle
http://www.whizkidsecrets.com
May 9th, 2007 at 5:52 am
I agree with you about the disclosure policy and all the bashing would probably have happened anyway. Sometimes the publicity, good or bad, will bring new people to a site; just to see what it’s all about and that’s a plus for a new business.
Here in the U.S. we have more freedom to say what we think, so we have to expect both pros and cons. All legitimate businesses exist to make money and any entity that is created, like blogging, will eventually be exploited by someone. Merely because of the audience that is involved; all businesses need traffic to survive and are continually looking for new ways to get it. If the majority of that audience likes the idea then everything will work out fine.
I can’t think of too many public publishers that doesn’t have advertising included. As long as the public is involved and it doesn’t cost them anything and they have the choice to read or not read. Then it comes down to disclosure and not to deceiving the public. That has been corrected and it’s up to the audience to decide the outcome. I personally think PayPerPost will succeed.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:01 am
Glorious to see you throw the word BLOGOSPHERE in the trash can John.
Pomposity punctured … LOVE IT!
And roll on Income.com He he. I bet something that complex is causing issues right? Don’t worry, it is always best to do something properly than rush out a half pie version - no one will thank you for that.
But when the gusher finally blows it will have been be worth the wait.
My best wishes.
Jonathan
May 9th, 2007 at 6:03 am
Hi John,
Thanks for the post. I second you on this matter. In fact I think it important for advertisers to be given a chance to promote themselves on Blogs, and for Bloggers to have the opportunity to earn revenue from their Blogs.
Regards
Destin Lucas
http://www.GreatnessCircle.com
May 9th, 2007 at 6:11 am
Hi John
Great post, and 1000% in agreement. Don’t like it, don’t read it! Simple.
Keep it up.
Sean
May 9th, 2007 at 6:11 am
Yes, the new look is MUCH better…and easier to read (compared to the original blog theme).
Keep up the good work John!
May 9th, 2007 at 6:13 am
John,
Here is what I think of the points you made:
agree,disagree,agree,agree,agree,agree,disagree,agree,on the fence,agree,agree,agree,disagree,disagree,agree,agree,agree,agree.agree,on the fence,diagree,agree.
J/k LOL Great post as always John!
Peter
May 9th, 2007 at 6:14 am
i have to agree with the disclosure policy(its the honest and fair thing to do)and i do agree with about being able to place what everi want on my blog.and i agree with Arun Agrawal ,if anything needs to be [policed is all these so called gurus claiming they can make you rich just buy buying thier system,”ALL AUTOMATED”talk about false advertiseing LOL.well keep up the good work Mr Reese. and t/c.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Couple things, I am so with you on the individual blog freedom (as well as other freedoms in life). I get weary of bureaucrats and other “self appointed” figures telling me what I can and cannot do.
And…even with that said…
Most of us ‘puter nerds would do well to take your “advice” and get out of the house every once in a while…lol
Peace,
Travis
http://www.bummarketingmethod.com
May 9th, 2007 at 6:34 am
Is this a non-issue?
You seemed to present history and different views, so this leaves me a bit confused.
What you wrote here is to me, John, a paid for blog entry, but paid for by yourself. It serves you as a source of information to ride this issue if it is big enough.
So I would say that being paid to write reviews by yourself or another is still writing a review. Even though you say you are not paid by those you review to write this blog article, I am not going to believe you. Why ?
BECAUSE I HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING IF YOU ARE TELLING THE TRUTH.
Thus, it should be a given, I have found, that you cannot take what anyone says as unbiased or as the absolute truth.
You must assume that any blog post is for personal gain. I read where several of the most popular blogs are written by ghost writers for the main name. What could be more false than to publish someone else’s writings under your own name.
Yet it is done as part of the information age. So rather than fight a losing battle, don’t do it, find ways of evaluating information.
Does the reviewer give good information, whether paid to do so or not?
Have you got about four different opinions on an issue, or at least one contrary article so that you can evaluate yourself what seems true or realistic.
I read your report and your enthusiastic copy not as true, but as, is it real?
The only truth for me is results as well as good thinking. I don’t believe testimonials or statements of results, including pictures of spread sheets. I believe only in whether people download my products and pay me money.
You may make a lot of money and attribute it to your key ideas. I try some of these ideas out and if I get some positive results worth my time, then that makes you true also.
This is an intelligent newbe’s thinking who has to learn from all you guys and get real results so he is not wasting most of his time.
Thanks again for your cool thinking and sharing of your own experience.
That you make money off of me at some point should be my choice to figure out if you give realistic information that also works for me.
So I fault you slightly that you had to declare you are not being paid to write this article. Seems a bit contradictory and raises a red flag. All the marketing guys are giving the hype as to how real there stuff is while many others are trying to sell you false info.
It’s my job to figure out what seems real and to try it out to see if the claims work. Hype will be done. I try and figure out how I can sing my own praises as well in what I sell, yet stay true to what I feel actually works for me. It’s called building integrity.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:39 am
I’ve been watching their RockStartup series since the beginning. It’s very well done!
Andrew
May 9th, 2007 at 7:20 am
John, that wasn’t a blog post, that was a thesis !
You more right than wrong about the PPP issue, I believe, but those that call themselves the blogosphere still like to think of themselves as “pure”, so you’ll have to give them a bit more time before they becomes jaded ol’ “internet” marketers like you and I.
I get so many requests to review a book and or link to a site/blog that I’m in the process of implementing a “paid only” policy just to stem the avalanche of requests.
Thanks for the RSS button, I’m subscribed.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:28 am
John,
Great post.
I agree in that Ted has exhibited a lot of courage to continue to forge ahead despite the negative reactions - that’s not always easy.
I remember when I got my first “unsubscribe” and how upset I was. To not be able to take things personally and continue to blaze a new trail is the sign of successful entrepreneur.
Creative ideas that push the limit of what’s possible are generally always met with critics in the beginning primarily because most people are reluctant to change (in this case the hardcore bloggers). However that’s also a good sign because when people are uncomfortable that means your idea is going where no one has gone before!
Looking forward to seeing Income.com develop!
Take care.
Stu McLaren
http://www.MyIdeaGuy.com
May 9th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Great post John. By the way, The Shawshank Redemption is my favorite movie. Even though I have the DVD, if I am channel surfing and see it on I’ll sit there and watch it.
Can’t wait till income.com launches.
~Shane
http://www.marketingdossier.com
May 9th, 2007 at 8:15 am
John
After having visited the PayPerPost site and reviewed how it works, in my opinion I would say, it’s an OK way for a blogger to make a fist full of dollars, and advertisers to buy reviews and one way links to their sites.
I can’t help feeling a bit sorry for the bloggers though. In stead of the blogger posting their usual content, be it them expressing their views on whatever, their mind will now be more on the money. They will have to dream up reviews for the advertisers, and pop in some filler posts inbetween. Those filler posts were what made that blog what is was in the first place and now they would be wattered down and a bit thin on content just to get them out of the way so the blogger can get another paid reivew in.
As for the adveritiser. I think is a fair deal. I would be happy to pay 100 bloggers $4.50 - $5.00 each to wirte a 100 word review of my sites each with an incoming link. I may give it a go as an advertiser but not as a blogger. I would have a lot more to gain.
Regards
Bill.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:17 am
John
We don’t need more hard work we need more parties
Take another year off, try RIO and Samba and make blogs dance.
all the best JOE
May 9th, 2007 at 8:20 am
John:
Your long “rant” as you call it is part of the great miracle of the Internet - an open platform that gives individuals a published voice that will be heard or not heard by anyone around the world that wishes to listen! Some agree - some disagree.
Ted Murphy has a voice. His critics have a voice. The critic of his critics (John) has a voice. Affiliates have a voice. Advertisers have a voice. Detractors of advertisers have a voice. I have a voice (in this post).
Everyone is allowed to share his/her opinion!
But when all is said and done, no one’s opinion is right or wrong.
It seems to me that those who make money in this process are those that understand how to get people to - first, listen - and second - agree with their recommendation or call to action. There is no right or wrong about it.
Hence, your post is extremely valuable to any who want to make money online if they pay attention to what you said: “. . . the Internet will always take care of itself organically. Its users ultimately ‘vote’ and decide what survives and what doesn’t based on the VALUE that is being offered . . . If it’s a bad idea, it will be rejected. If it’s a good idea, it will thrive. But that will always be decided by a community of customers and not by pundits.
Thank you John.
Steve
May 9th, 2007 at 8:20 am
John,
It’s nice to hear some praise for the Pay Per Post team, they’ve developed a very neat and original concept that works well for bloggers and advertisers alike.
There’s always been a small yet very vocal holier than thou blogger brigade who attempt to project the idea that making a healthy profit from blogging is a mortal sin and real bloggers only write out of passion and duty, while at the same time many of the best blogs to arrive would have never seen the light of day if healthy profits were not possible.
I agree John it’s up to the blogger to decide what they put up on their site in terms of advertising and any blogger who has a loyal readership will always take absolute care not to push the limits and risk loosing a hard won readership.
Cheers
Andy
May 9th, 2007 at 8:37 am
John, solid points here - agree re many aren’t hard workers. Glad to hear you got away for some travel! Amazing what good clearing your mind by seeing new places and people does; I too am spending less time (though intensely focused) in front of the monitors, so it counts.
Excellent thoughts re DISCLOSURES should somehow be made, even if it’s just a small icon that represents some financial/other link between pay per posters and the blog owner.
Unfortunately, it seems the internet is exploiting everything as commercially as fully possible, as in the blog spam issue (or friends of gurus posting glowing reviews/testimonials etc), diluting the VALUE add, content, that folks can contribute, and should.
You’re on the mark re the cream floats to the top, and high-content high-value blogs that are free of too much (20%?) spam/fake reviews, will survive, and the ad-fests will sink.
Looking forward to seeing what you come up with here on income.com - you’re a quality act, on the short list of folks I respect. Not to mention I’ve made a fortune following your TS strategies - so thanks.
Regards,
Ken Calhoun
http://www.WinningAdwords.com
May 9th, 2007 at 8:40 am
You are seriously the king of traffic.. lots of new stuff can learn from you to apply on to my Internet Marketing Blog =)
Alvin Phang
http://www.GatherSuccess.com
May 9th, 2007 at 8:42 am
John, you make the LONGEST posts… yet I happily read and learn from every word!
I’ve just recently started earning from PayPerPost. I have a Disclosure statement on my blog, but not on each post. Affiliates write so-called “reviews” all the time without disclosing their affiliate status… so I saw no reason to identify each of my paid posts as paid posts.
However, your magazine “Advertorial” example has caused me to reconsider. Perhaps a little “sponsored post” at the END? I only do paid posts about topics related to my niche, and write them in a way to provide value to my readers. I wouldn’t want them to skip reading such posts just because they saw a disclaimer at the beginning.
I’m very happy you’re blogging again John… it’s been a long time, and I’ve missed your words of wisdom!
Thank you!
May 9th, 2007 at 8:42 am
That was an excellent post. I have to agree with you 100%! The disclosure is a good thing, and you are absolutely right about minding ones own business. As long as a person’s blog is not promoting anything illegal, they should be able to do with it as they see fit, especially if it is hosted on their own server.
Now, if you’re blogging on a service like blogger, you do have to pay attention to what you post. A friend of mine used blogger, and ran advertisements on her pages, and Google shut her down. Why? Because it is a violation of their TOS to use their service for commercial purposes. Can you believe that? That sounds to me like they don’t want any competition. You can sign up for, and run Google AdSense ads in the sidebar, but nothing else commercial. So, if you are writing a blog, on blogger, about pet grooming, write all the content you want, but don’t you dare advertise your own business. The concept of pay-to-post seems pretty benign compared to that. If anyone is worried about something taking control of the Internet, blogs or otherwise, they should be looking at the big boys, like Google, AOhell, and the like.
I’ve been an RSS publisher since 2003, before it was cool, since before blogger was even conceived, and I use a service that puts no commercial restrictions on its publishers.
As with anything free, you get what you pay for. My advice to all… dump free hosting and invest in your business, so that you have the control you deserve. And, if you want to get paid to post… knock yourself out, just don’t do it on a blogger blog!
May 9th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Hi John,
Another great post.
I love to travel.
Nice to know that you have even visited CHINA!
—
I am observing some HTML CODE, conversion….^%&^
in some posts.
For Example in this POST:
1. encouragin 409 g (instead of encourging in first point heading in list)
2. c 4d3 ompanies,
and many words like this… Maybe it is the software,
you are using from desktop to post…
May this help,
Mohsin
PS. Yeah keep posting very often please
May 9th, 2007 at 8:51 am
I think you’re missing the one very important point here John. Forget “polluting the blogosphere” - that’s just anal terminology. Forget having ads in blogs - why not?
No, the real issue is, if ads appear AS IF they were normal content, then the value of the content itself is immediately devalued, possibly forever. Blogs get spidered because they’re considered to have uptodate worthwhile content. People read them for the same reasons. If it becomes the norm for a lot of blog content to be basically ‘puff’ then the whole thing starts a very rapid decline into oblivion.
That’s in no-one’s interest - particularly the bloggers.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:05 am
The most important part of this post is:
…”the Internet will always take care of itself organically. Its users ultimately ‘vote’ and decide what survives and what doesn’t based on the VALUE that is being offered to the community. If it’s a bad idea, it will be rejected. If it’s a good idea, it will thrive.
But that will always be decided by a community of CUSTOMERS and not by pundits.”
Who are Blogosphere Czars anyway, to tell me what I should post on my blog and what I should read on other people’s blogs?
Don’t they know the meaning of the phrase “FREEDOM OF CHOICE”?
Or do they think people are too stupid to tell what’s good from what’s not?
May 9th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Good to see someone else in the affiliate marketing industry put some real perspective on things like this. At times it felt that I was one of the only vocal bloggers fighting for the underdogs (even though I have never written any content for PayPerPost, and don’t get paid to say nice things)
How can you write a post about Pay Per Post without mentioning VC Dan Rua whois one of the primary investors in the startup. I have never seen a VC so involved in discussions regarding a portfolio company.
I have linked through to my PayPerPost coverage which probably is as extensive as all the negative coverage previous offered on Techcrunch or by Jason Calacanis.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:17 am
Hey John,
Very intersting insight. Glad you took a break from the computer and got some traveling in. “All work & no play makes Johnny a dull boy.”
Excited about Income.com & I too will be subscribing to the feed.
Best to you,
Mandy
May 9th, 2007 at 9:18 am
Would you believe that I’ve never heard of pay-per-post blog reviews? I’m totally checking that out! I used to be a paid reviewer for a music magazine, where we’d get paid $10-$15 for each review.
We weren’t obligated to say only good things about the CD; in fact, the fact that we got paid made us work harder to give honest reviews. It was like, “Hey, this is our job here, so we have bigger responsibility!”
We knew that our reviews would help people connect with the music they wanted, so we didn’t want to give a false impression. That would have brought the quality of the magazine down.
Advertising doesn’t have to be dishonest; the quality really depends on who is writing the review. Surely, people realize that if notable bloggers post a dishonest review, they’ll lose their audience (a blogger’s true compensation.) I can’t imagine that every blogger suddenly loses his integrity when given a small compensation for reviewing a product.
And if someone has a great blog, doesn’t it follow that they’d write a great review too, paid or not?
May 9th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Hi - Great post and an even better rant. Personally, not sure what all the fuss is about because the whole affiliate model is based on this sort of thing i.e. I will recommend this to you so that you buy it and I get a cut. Probably 50% (?) of Google Adwords work this way, maybe we should have a disclosure on every ad i.e. this is not my company but I am getting a cut. I can hear some of you say: “Yes, but they are ads and I know they are ads, but blog posts are different”. All cyberspace to me. All the very best, Allen
May 9th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Excellent post, John!
I am involved with PPP and have been watching them from the beginning, also keeping up with the controversy. I have grown to admire Ted Murphy and the way that he has handled the negative publicity - and ultimately decided that this guy is the king of creative viral marketing campaigns.
If nothing else, watching from the sidelines will prove a powerful lesson in buzz marketing. PPP is still in its first year of start-up, and I imagine there are many more ‘buzz campaigns’ to come.
May 9th, 2007 at 9:56 am
I totally disagree with a small group of people trying to exercise censorship or telling others how to run their blogs. As for there being nothing magical about the blogosphere, I hear what you’re saying John. However, when you have journalists, politicians, CEO’s, industry insiders, experts, hobbyists, etc., giving their opinion and ideas on their particular topics — it carries A LOT OF WEIGHT.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:01 am
I understand where you are coming from here. But the problem is some blogs have such a loyal readership that if they were to endorse anything people would go you and buy it just because a blogger talks about it.
I have also done some payper post on my own blogs but stoped since I felt I was misleading my readers.
Thanks
Charles Kirkland
http://free-adsense-videos.com/
May 9th, 2007 at 10:06 am
Hi John,
I think Pay Per Post is the one of the coolest concepts ever.
Why Jason would even waste his time with this is not clear.
What could possibly be his motivation, and how does he
benefit from this, in other words where’s the money?
This get’s into a free speach issue. I can put what ever I want
on my blog, and Jason or anyone else, is not going to tell me
what I can and can’t do.
This is the stupidest thing I have heard of in a long time!
Companies make money all the time for doing reviews. Now the
little guy can do the same thing.
What a great concept!
May 9th, 2007 at 10:08 am
John: I always appreciate your insights on the cutting edge of the internet. In this case, I also appreciate the voice of wisdom above the crowd. “A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” (Prov. 25:11).
May 9th, 2007 at 10:14 am
You are to be commended for standing up for PayPerPost. Personally I think every person who bashed them is jealous they didn’t have the foresight or courage to do what PayPerPost has already done,
I post a blog - mostly articles I wriite myself, giving me an outlet for my articles but also to get my business and product known to the larger audience. I guess you would say I’m paying myself forward. What’s the difference who pays who? If somebody wants to interview me or go to my website so they can get paid to post a review I surely wouldn’t mind.
Even business people should realize in the eyes of God He created all persons equal and whatever they do with that equality - good or bad - is up to them.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:26 am
Some of the businesses that came out a little later - I’m thinking of “Review Me”, which is associated with Text-Link-Ads - started with the requirement that paid reviews be labeled as such. There is still some backlash, but I can’t help but believe that PayPerPost would have had an easier time of it if they had required such disclosure all along.
May 9th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Dear John: I am a big fan of Gary Halbert (God Bless Him), and since he published his “500 pound gorilla” letter, I become one of your most loyal customer: Traffic Secrets, RR, you name it, and I have purchased it, and learned a lot.
Also I am aware that you are the creator of the term “Virtual Real Estate”.
I think that Gary was 100% rigth with you. You are THE 500 pound Gorilla. You have a friend here in Mexico.
Congrats for your new blog layout… and still waiting for income.com!
All the best for you!
Luiggi
May 9th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Hey John,
EXCELLENT post! I am so tired of so many people spending all there time bashing and criticizing others. If they would spend half the time that they do looking for people to scrutinize… they would probably have successful businesses of there own.
That is one of the biggest problems with the internet. As if it wasn’t bad enough with your local news channel. Too many people have too many opinions on things that don’t necessarily pertain to them. It is soooo easy to sit there and bash someone else for a business model that is slightly flawed… what model isn’t. But it is also sooo hard to get out and build the perfect model yourself.
The crappy thing is though… that people like this will ALWAYS be around… especially with the spread of the internet. Information is so easy to come by
BUT… here is the way that I look at it. For every skeptic that spends an hour or two wasting there time bashing someone’s business… that is an hour or two that I have to get ahead in the game.
Anyways… I will get off my soapbox, but again… great post John. I couldn’t agree with you more. Have a good one,
Ryan Wade
http://www.simplegdi.ws
p.s. Can’t wait for income.com!
May 9th, 2007 at 11:07 am
I totally agree when you say that people can post whatever
they want on their blog…after all, it’s their blog.
I suppose some sort of disclosure is the right thing to do
but I’m not so sure it should be required.
Interesting topic though.
Daniel
May 9th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Wow I had no idea some people are so insensitive towards other peoples hard work. Thanks for your post I can see your an honest person keep up the good work.
Free videos for the Newbies
May 9th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Sure, anyone can knock the principle of ’secretive marketing’ like paid reviews, but I think we shouldn’t underestimate our audience. Most folk instinctively KNOW whether a review is genuine simply by the way it is presented. Most paid reviews and comments scream out “bias” without us having to label them.
Like you John, I think net readers vote with their keyboard. So the good ideas stay and grow, and the bad get ignored.
Ken Silver
http://www.silverlotto.com
May 9th, 2007 at 11:54 am
John,
You never cease to amaze me with your insightful perspectives. As long-winded as some of your posts appear to be at first glance, once I start reading I can’t tear myself away until I’ve read the entire post. ( and all the comments. lol).
The main complaints of the “bashers” seem to be the use of “ads” in blog posts and how it pollutes the blogosphere. I wonder if you “had been” paid to post this, do you think that fact alone would be enough to “morf” your post from real content into something that would “pollute” their precious “blogosphere”, in their minds?
Cheers,
Mark.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:59 am
John,
Very well written and thoughtful article. I agree on freedom of speech. I even thought Imus should not have been fired even though I did not like what he said about the Rutgers women’s basketball team. He still had the right to say it.
I’m not really sure disclosure is required, but I wouldn’t be against it if it was. I have several blogs and I will never let anyone tell me what I can and can not do or say in them.
PayPerPost is a great idea in my viewpoint and I too respect Ted Murphy for sticking up for his company and sticking it out against all of the criticism he receives. I’m sure his business will pick up now thanks to you.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
This is going to increase deceptive reviews just for money….and much more as in affiliate reviews……….because their getting payed for a review either someone is going to buy or not….It’s a bad thing in my opinion, but it’s also a step that they took first instead of watching others do it.
But in no way this is a good thing…. I mean I had chosen a bad webhost because of that , but I knew They did it for money, imagine if I don’t know who to trust now……this will make forums in the future much more trustworthy if they don’t get into that area as well………
It’s a very bad thing but it was about to happen even if him didn’t invent it…….
And this is done already ion magazines, in pc magazines a lot……..
But it’s a bad thing overall but it had to come in the online world as well……
May 9th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
Man, it’s one of the longest blog posts I’ve read to date!
May 9th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
[…] There is a lot of controversy that surrounds PayPerPost - so I encourage you to check out Long Overdue Praise For PayPerPost over at Income.com, John Reese’s new blog. You don’t know who John Reese is? He’s been around the Internet Marketing community for years and years - and he sold over a million dollars worth of product in one day. John is someone lots of IM’ers look up to and he’s definitely earned the respect he has. […]
May 9th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
[…] Long Overdue Praise for PayPerPost - Very long article, but I thought it was worth the read. […]
May 9th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Looks like you link baited Calacanis properly according to the new
Calacanis link baiting rules
Interesting read John. I agree with your stance.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Awesome post (rant) as usual, John! Like someone else said, even though your posts/emails/rants are so long, I thoroughly enjoy them! I’ve admired you and your work for a long time, and even though I haven’t been able to afford your products, your emails get me so fired up and always teach me something. Ok, well, this one didn’t exactly teach me anything, but, it validated my giant crush admiration for you!
Oh, and by the way, you’ve been DUGG!!
May 9th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
I enjoyed this post. I almost signed up for payperpost, and the only reason I didn’t is my utter lack of time. If I didn’t have so many essays to write for class, I would seriously consider it. Like you said, it is my blog. If I’m going to write about a particular topic or product, and if someone wants to pay me for it, then great, show me the money! I have no problem whatsoever making a disclaimer to satisfy other folks that are squeamish about any form of advertising for blogs. Some of us use our blogs to promote our own businesses, or to generate a “list” to promote things to, so why not get paid for the efforts? What is the difference?
May 9th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
John
Jason Calacanis and the like, are similar to the people (and probably ARE the same people) who complain about sex, swearing and violence on tv and the radio. The ones that send 50 emails to the FCC because someone accidently dropped an F-bomb on the Howard Stern radio show.
For some reason, they believe they are the annointed keepers of society mores. And those are whatever crap they currently believe, It doesn’t matter what you, or I, believe, these types only care about their own personal sense of right & wrong. People like Jason have forgotten that tvs, radios & internet pages come with the technology enabling you to NOT see or hear it. Apparently the remote control, like some drivers’ cars’ turn signals quit working all the time.
Very much enjoyed your post, your courage and your common sense. Thank you.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
I think the idea is a decent one.. Opinions are both ways online you can find good and bad on any subject. Thanks John for Income.com
May 9th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
I wrote a similar post (albeit, shorter!) a few days ago, and have linked through to it. My argument is that, with any disruptive force, those that are most invested in the current business model (paid ads, Adsense, affiliates, etc) are going to be the most resistant. I do paid posts on several blogs for multiple brokers, including PPP, and I have to say, it’s real WORK.
But, I’m trying to do it well, so it should be…
I also believe it will help bloggers raise their communication skills to higher levels as the competition amongst bloggers increases - advertisers will soon have their choice of quality blogs, and lots of them, to choose from when placing a paid post. Anything that improves the level of discourse and the value of the information presented in the blogosp- oops!… well, I think it has to be a good thing.
When I read blogs I want value, whether in the form of entertainment or information. The top websites provide those two things, and the people that give us crap wither away. These top site serve their readers (yes, I read your download). Paid posts, presented in an entertaining or informative manner, serve a market.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
I like shorter blog posts =(
May 9th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
go ahead and post thrash and post porn. see where that gets you. also allow bloggers to post spam or splogg. it’s their blogosphere too. so why not eh?
A community has to live by certain rules too otherwise you’d get anarchy. We are not talking about having control freaks ruin our days. But neither do we want unconscienable bloodsuckers destroy a good trusting place.
I say we abolish the “caveat emptor” tyranny. let the buyer beware no more, if we can help it. That’s the thrash left behind by old school industrial age.
Inside the internet or blogosphere, the deceiver perishes and dies a painful death. Bloggers will dig out their evil strategies, expose their scams and bury them for good.
All within good reason nonetheless, rather than styled after witch hunting trials.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
John, I couldn’t agree with you more. If the RIAA or MPAA tries to control what people post online, everybody in the “blogosphere” revolts (the recent DIGG issue with the HD-DVD decryption codes). But when those same people want to control what other people can post on their own blogs, it’s a whole different story.
The way I look at it is this… If one of the bloggers who is paid to post something writes a review (or whatever) that is a) full of bs or b) something they would never write if they weren’t being paid, then they aren’t somebody who should be trusted anyway, paid or not.
I would hope that the paid bloggers would still live within their ethical and moral boundaries when they write these posts.
Besides, how often are “real” authors, journalists, etc. paid to promote something? They don’t always start their speeches, articles, etc. with a big “I’m being paid to be here” disclaimer.
The “magosphere/newsosphere/tvosphere/whateverotherosphere” doesn’t seem to rail against them.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I’ve been posting for PayPerPost for a few months now. It’s nice to be able to earn a bit of extra money, and there’s the flexibility to choose topics that interest me and to say what I want. It can be hard sometimes to keep up enough posts when I see a lot of opportunities that I would like to take, but that’s where coming up with a backlog of undeveloped post ideas comes in handy for me. It decreases the need for quick inspiration.
Honestly, I don’t have a lot of respect for the people who continue to bash PPP and similar companies. The disclosure issue that some first claimed was the problem was resolved and it wasn’t enough. I figure it’s not my problem that they don’t like it. I can ignore them quite easily.
May 9th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
Hi John… firstly, let me say that YOU are the only person apart from myself (that I know of) who actually takes the time to use “italics” in his blog to further enhance (and / or correctly place emphasis on) the points being made in a given post. Well done
Now, regarding the whole issue of PPP, I’d like to invite comment (to my comment) on what I am about to say:
“PPP is essentially just another way of creating advertorial - just like we’ve seen for decades in virtually every offline publication on the planet. Advertorial is written by a journalist / advertorial writer who is paid to write the content. A disclosure is ALWAYS made at the end of the advertorial (even if it is barely the width of a hydrogen atom in size).
HOWEVER…
There is a fundamental difference between a “PPP” review and an “advertorial”.
An advertorial MUST be reviewed by an editor BEFORE being published! If the content of the advertorial is sub-standard or outrageously biased, it won’t make it to print! Full-stop-period!
The end result of having an advertorial properly edited means that, much more often than not, the advertorial contains GOOD QUALITY CONTENT despite being a subliminal plug for a product and / or service. I have no problem with that.
PPP on the other hand doesn’t appear to have the same rigid quality controls re content output. I know this because I have seen plenty of PPP reviews (which I ONLY knew because of the disclosure at the end of the review) and a good number of them have been pretty sub-standard to say the least!
If Ted Murphy seriously tightened the “quality control reins” and forced the sub-standard bloggers out of profiteering from PPP, then the resultant rich-content we might even get to see in these PPP reviews could more than make up for any ‘niggling doubts’ we have about the fact someone is being paid to write them.
What do you think, John?”
Oh, by the way, here is a message to you from Ted at the PPP site. I copied it and have posted it immediately below:
QUOTE:
“I need to meet John Reese
I have never met John Reese, but apparently he lives in Orlando and has been watching PPP’s progress for some time. He wrote a very lengthly post praising PayPerPost and the Posties that have made this company what it is. It’s a long post, but well worth the read. Someone should hook that guy up with a Digg.
I am off to NYC today, but when I get back next week I think John and I should grab a bite to eat”.
END QUOTE:
Regards,
Bruce
May 9th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
John,
Great post.
As a blogger who has posted more than a couple ‘Sponsored Posts’, I agree whole heartedly that it’s up to the owner of the blog to decide what goes on it.
Many of the folks that get in a twist about such things are working at Starbucks to pay for their hosting while going to school on mom and dad’s dime. Having a spouse, child, mortgage payments, etc. tends to push romantic fantasies of the world aside and bring home the reality that you have to earn money with your work, or find other work.
Personally, I flag affiliate links inside posts and label PayPerPost content as ‘Sponsored Posts.’ I have an advertising policy page on my site for people to read about my approach to monetizing the site and I assume that my readers are intelligent enough to protect themselves from my money grubbing antics!
BTW, the documentary about PayPerPost is awesome. I highly recommend it to folks who want to get a behind-the-scenes look at a startup.
Keep up the great writing,
Andrew Seltz
The Go-To Guy!
http://www.AndrewSeltz.com
May 9th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Hey John,
Great post! I couldn’t agree with you more.
I also like the new white space on the blog.
Still waiting for Income.Com
Regards,
Ruth
May 9th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Bruce, Ted and team are actually working on just that. They have over the last few months tightened controls and segmentation and I think will eventually drum out the folks that are doing a poor job. Who knows, I might be the next to go.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Dancing Donuts on the Sidebar……
John Reese has a pretty good post up on his site about PayPerPost which is a must-read. He makes some really good points about blogs in general and paid posts specifically. Makes me want dancing donuts all over the page…. He does bring up a good poin…
May 9th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Good on you John- I’ve always agreed with “my blog, will do what I want in it.” And I do. Looking forward to more stuff…Sorry to hear you were sick overseas.
May 9th, 2007 at 6:34 pm
Thanks for the great feedback, everyone!
Strephon - you said:
So I fault you slightly that you had to declare you are not being paid to write this article. Seems a bit contradictory and raises a red flag. All the marketing guys are giving the hype as to how real there stuff is while many others are trying to sell you false info.
My “disclosure” about not being paid was a JOKE based on what the post was about.
Stu McClaren - Great points! I quickly learned that no matter what you do online (*especially* if you do it well and get noticed in anyway and in any market) there will always be the naysayers. No matter how truly great your product, service, or business model is. You could invent a big red button that when pushed would completely cure cancer and you’d STILL have people writing, blogging, and finding ways to be negative about it — the button is still too big… it takes too much effort to push… it makes a clicking that sound that must be damaging my dog’s hearing, etc. etc. As entrepreneurs, and marketers, it’s important to always keep that in mind… you will ALWAYS have people unsubscribe from your lists, not be pleased with something you write, and many will return your products for a refund. It’s inevitable that it will happen. So just accept it in advance. There’s no such thing as making everyone like you and/or being able to successfully do business with an entire group of any set of people. Successful marketing is about the MATH. It’s about understanding that the tiny % that will convert into a sale, or will proceed to consume more information, is all that matters. Then it comes down to treating those people well and providing tremendous value.
Steve - fantastic comments! You’re exactly right about the great miracle of the Internet and how it gives everyone a voice.
Ken Calhoun - great points… I agree, the Internet is swelling with ‘commercial exploitation.’ And just like I mention in the “Rebirth” report, a time is coming very soon when this garbage will get less and less exposure and the only ones that survive (i.e. get much of the free traffic or people willing to do business with them) will be of the high-quality content variety. We’ll soon find out.
Trina - excellent advice about dumping the free services to focus on one’s business!
Mohsin - I’m not sure why you would be getting those HTML code/errors. Anyone else getting them?
Chris - that already happened with blogs… they refer them as splogs. i.e. spam blogs. Some marketers started to use automated methods to mass populate blogs with scraped and data-mined content. In fact, it was estimated that more than 75% of the blogs on the Internet were mass-produced garbage with the sole purpose of “fast indexing” pages or to rank high in the SERPs. Google, and other SEs, made adjustments to their algo’s to all but eliminate these types of blogs — which also happens naturally within most of the SEs not that their alog’s are so heavily weighted for incoming links. The Internet will always have a “survival of the fittest” progression and the cream will rise to the top — because users won’t be linking, regularly visiting, or getting much value from any blogs that aren’t worth reading. The blogs, or other sites online, that people enjoy visiting will always end up with traffic online and the “sub-standard” content/experience will eventually be buried.
Andy Beard - thanks for the link to your great collection of PayPerPost information! Everyone should check it out: http://andybeard.eu/tag/payperpost/
And I did overlook Dan Rua, I’m afraid I didn’t know much about him. Thanks for pointing that out.
Katherine - I couldn’t agree more. People that write quality, sincere, valuable content will most likely create quality, sincere, and valuable reviews.
Lynn Terry - I agree! Ted has a real gift for creating viral activity. That’s a gift that many companies would die for. When I was recently at Ad:Tech in San Francisco, the break-out session on “Viral Marketing And Word-Of-Mouth” was standing room only. It was one of the most popular panels at the conference. EVERYONE wishes they could create viral campaigns on-demand.
Mike Jezek - excellent point. Blogging truly is becoming the modern version of traditional journalism. The only problem is, many of these journalists seem to think they are ‘above’ the smaller blogger just because that blogger doesn’t A) Call themselves a professional journalist and/or B) Does blog the same way or try to monetize traffic the same way. But no doubt there are many bloggers that have MAJOR influence.
Charles Kirkland - I don’t think it’s misleading as long as you disclose it. Heck, just post, “The following is a product review that I am getting paid for… I’m doing this review to help pay for my blog so I can continue to provide you great content… here’s what I discovered about this product after checking it out…”
Steve Renner - the motivation is called ATTENTION. With attention comes links to your site.. with links comes traffic… with traffic comes money as well as an Inflate-My-Ego-even-more Kit. That’s not always the motivation behind this type of criticism, but often it is.
Luiggi - Gary Halbert was truly one of the marketing greats. One of the best in the history of mankind — seriously. He was a good friend and I already miss him. A sincere thanks for your valued business. I really appreciate it! And just to correct you, I didn’t coin that phrase. I made the acronym “VRE” more or less well-known amongst Internet Marketing circles and it became very popular. Thanks for the compliments.
Ryan - “For every skeptic that spends an hour or two wasting there time bashing someone’s business… that is an hour or two that I have to get ahead in the game.”
WELL SAID!!!!
Mark Sandquist - I am often long-winded. so sue me.
If I had been paid to make that post I don’t know that it would have been much different — well, it probably would have been shorter just because of the time factor and if I had other work that needed to get done. It’s really hard to say.
Irimia Bogdan - it’s really hard to say. I can see where you are coming from, on the other hand, providing a blogger with more ways to get paid to support blogging in the first place can only lead to them producing more quality content and reinvestment in their blog — at least one would could argue that.
Timour - haha. To be honest, I really wasn’t paying attention to that much. That’s too funny.
Lisa Roberson - thanks for the nice compliments and I’m glad to hear you benefitted from the ‘free’ stuff — that’s where it all begins anyway. (For a marketer that wants to succeed.) And thanks for the Digg!
Sheri Stuart - there is no difference… not much anyway. A blog post is just another ’space’ on a web page. Some will choose to use it to run ads, others will not.
TM Edmonson - you’re exactly right! It is often overlooked that people DON’T HAVE TO VISIT a certain blog or site if they don’t like the content, how they are running ads, or anything else. Well said.
Tim - great article! Thanks for linking to it.
Jason Cox - haha. well, you better get used to it or find another blog to read. I imagine some of my posts will continue to be long.
Goran Oliviera - content published on the Internet *IS* an anarchy of sorts. No one can control (except for certain illegal things like child pornography, etc.) the content you choose to write, create, or paste onto your web property. The community takes care of itself natural… if it’s garbage, no one comes back to that site… and no one tells other people to visit… and that site eventually DIES like an old Ghost Town.
Paul - great points about the RIAA and MPAA. I couldn’t agree more!
Stephanie - thanks for sharing… great to hear that you are happy making posts for PayPerPost and that it’s working out well for you. And you’re right… as I mentioned in my post, the disclosure thing clearly wasn’t the only issue.
Bruce Smeaton - I use italics, bold, underlining, etc. partly out of habit from copywriting. It’s a better way (I think) to emphasis certain thoughts. As far as “quality control” of content, I imagine PPP will continue to work hard on keeping this in check. They already have a system in place that allows advertisers to rate the reviewers — so I imagine poorly written reviews will naturally run that blogger out of the PPP system. And thanks for relaying that post. I look forward to meeting up with Ted very soon.
Andrew - I agree. And, yes, their “Rockstartup” series is excellent. In all the bashing that happened people overlooked the POWERFUL MARKETING VEHICLE that PPP created with that ’show.’
John Reese
May 9th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
John,
You are right, it is nobody business, what I put in my Blog, Web Site, lens. The internet is for communicating with each other… and advertising is a form of communication. If we start to accept rules, others created for us, some point in time the internet is not going to be free, it will be under stupid regulation as other things in our life, and control freaks will ruin the fredom of Internet.
Bravo! for your position and the courage to express yourself.
Sincerely yours
Michaela
http://www.mc-ebay-resources.com
May 9th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
John great post but maybe a little shorter next time, I know you didn’t make me read it. Hey anyway nice post.
Bill Shultz
May 9th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Thanks for a long post with the insights of the review. While some of the posties just blog for money, some do love the product and test them out before reviewing, or with a full knowledge of it. I salute those who do that, and unlike me…I just blog more for fun, and as a supplement to my PPC ads etc.
Yes, Jason is a Old timer…but he seems to get lost in his ideals.Too many times. As how greatly worded your post was ‘Mind your own business’, is a real senario. If it’s good, it will prosper, like YouTube. Else, it becomes the death of itself. Could name a few…but we all know it. I was a youngling back in 1989 when the BBS was becoming the WEB, and technology moves ahead at a fast speed. no one can clock them quick enough, just like how effective we are at predicting a Katrina or a Boxing Day Tsunami.
In the end, it will fizzle out….so let the surfers take the wave and ride it thru…let them have their fun.
Best wishes
azrin @ http://www.azrin.net
May 9th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
It is always a delight for both content and approach, to read your posts. Holy Toledo! This was so good, I think they SHOULD pay you, even retrospectively, as long as you make full disclosure to Congress and the world, and any other young men in suits that take your fancy, as well as a few soothsayers and any deadenders that doesn’t know B from a Bulls Foot about Commerce and what actually keeps them and all these other deadbeats in a job. Great stuff, and I would endorse the thought posted above that you use some of your travel bug to get Down Under. We promise not to make you sick.
Best wishes, Mike
May 9th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
I have just never understood the resistance to monetizing the, ah hem, “blogosphere”.
First, there were “complaints and debates” about whether you should even be providing advertising in the form of links or banner ads to pay for your blog, or that advertising should ever be introduced to a “pure content” environment.
Newsflash..
The Blogosphere is not the island (Lost reference ahead!) and those who want to make money through the blogging medium are not the “Others”.
We are captialists, and the Internet is not some pure art form that will never be tainted by “marketing hands!”
There is, and always will be, room for both worlds (purists and laissez-faire capitalists alike) to co-exist in the same Internet space.
After all, they said that the Internet would replace the printed media like newspapers, magazines, etc.
And here we are, oh so many years later, “paper & electronic medium” living in perfect harmoney!
In addition, and to state the obvious, the Internet if freedom.
The freedom to create and innovate.
Nobody owns freedom, or the “blogoshpere”..
Robert..
May 9th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
The “blogosphere” is a pretty funny term.
And I can remember before anyone really knew about the term “blog”.
Ultimately the great advantage of the internet is its freedom.
Anyone can say pretty much anything they want online.
And I think you have to keep that in mind whenever you read anything on the internet from any source.
We no longer have reliable, impartial media of any form anywhere.
(Take a close look at your local newspaper and ask yourself the question “Is this really accurate? Have these facts been verified?”)
The internet is a free for all and fighting that is like trying to catch the wind.
Kindest regards,
Andrew Cavanagh
May 10th, 2007 at 12:15 am
It just sounds like these people think ANYTHING to do with making money is Evil!!!!
Let me see the list of companies that are EVIL!!!!
- Microsoft
- AOL
- All Oil & Gas Companies
- All Tobacco Companies
- McDonald’s, KFC, Starbucks …
Come to think of it… I think I’m one of Dr. Evil’s Clones. No.2, Where’s my plan for world domination?
Que Evil Laugh…. Booo Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha ….
May 10th, 2007 at 9:07 am
I am a PayPerPost postie and in all the months I had been a postie, no one has made me feel as proud as a postie as you did with this article. Thanks a bunch.
May 10th, 2007 at 9:39 am
[…] John Reese, the well-known internet marketer, posted a great writeup about PayPerPost on his new blog at Income.com. While some bloggers pile onto this company saying it tarnishes blogs with paid posts, John actually praises PayPerPost. Reese does say that he thinks bloggers SHOULD post a disclosure if a post is a paid gig or not (I agree), however he sums it up by “It’s none of their business what someone else chooses to put on their blog!”. Bingo! If somebody wants to get paid to post a review on their OWN blog, more power to them - as long as they disclose that they are getting paid for it. Why? Because, a dishonest blogger could post raving reviews on a crappy product so as to sell it. […]
May 10th, 2007 at 10:08 am
No matter how many people put it, the ultimate aim of website or blog is to generate income, directly or indirectly. I haven’t seen a website/blog that is without any link either to affiliate programs, product/service they sell or represent, . So what’s the different now your blog mentioning someone else products or service as a post. If it’s well written, at least it offer the reader some insight about some new website/product/or service. Like you said, it is my blog, I can write any thing I wanted, isn’t that is what blogs are for? The reader have a choice to choose or decide what to read or don’t. Thereis no different in what many guru are asking readers to subscribe to their “informative newsletter” with bombarded them with weekly news that are full of links and well written sales pitch that look like an article supposedly “teaching” the subscribers ti click the link to purchase their peoducts or service. Wake up, those who are bashing hard, look into the mirro and asked yourself, am I doing the same thing on the system that I am bashing in a different way?
May 10th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Thanks you John, for a very long and interesting post… When you say that ‘it is my blog and I am free to post what I want on it’. I like that …And you are free to read it or not.
I have been working on my blogs from the energy healing — Reiki Ranch — and I found that I could put links inside the blog (in case others wanted to visit and I thought google might give me a little higher ranking). I was accused by one site of spam when I left a comment with a link inside the blog. It was on Neck pain and the relief of pain by applying energetics.
An example: I want you to have even more prosperity in your life and I have discovered some private information to help you do this. No one else is doing this! Using the Law of Attraction to Triple Your Income.
So, I do my own advertising. Am I also Dr. Evil? I just want to help people find out a few secrets that I have to share and it is very reasonable, too!
Blessings,
Taylore Vance
May 10th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Very good post. I am starting to see some bloggers bashing other methods of monetizing sites as well. I really liked this statement:
“IT’S NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS WHAT SOMEONE ELSE CHOOSES TO PUT ON THEIR BLOG!”
So true…
May 10th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Its stuff like this that makes me truly understand just how intelligent you are. There’s a message in there that I hope EVERYONE can see, and hopefully be educated on how it affects others how we all think and judge. You’re one of the few Real Heroes left Mr. Reese!
May 10th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Hey John,
Excellent Post. It is refreshing to read “The Other Side”.
I’m wondering how many of the critics have their own “Made For Adsense” sites and don’t have a disclaimer telling their visitors that “this is a useless site but click on the ads anyway”!
I like the new look also.
Take care.
Randy Justason
MLM Wonders
May 10th, 2007 at 10:24 pm
Nice and long post.. Keep it up.. Stand for what you’re standing for..
I always admire you..
May 11th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Hi, John,
I’d like to also welcome you back to the “blogosphere”. lol I’ve always found your writing a breath of fresh air.
As for PPP, I think we’re forgetting to put the responsibility of paid posts where it ultimately belongs - on the consumer.
——-
“charles kirkland Says:
May 9th, 2007 at 10:01 am
I understand where you are coming from here. But the problem is some blogs have such a loyal readership that if they were to endorse anything people would go you and buy it just because a blogger talks about it.
I have also done some payper post on my own blogs but stoped since I felt I was misleading my readers.”
——-
While I admire your integrity Charles in discontinuing something you thought would be misleading to your readers, I think readers who ultimately become consumers should remember a warning that’s been around for years - “Buyer Beware!”
In my opinion, INTENTIONALLY writing a favorable review for a product that you KNOW is a piece of crap, for whatever reason, IS misleading to readers. Not disclosing that you’re being paid to write the review is not. As long as you’re giving me your HONEST opinion, I could give a rat’s a** if you’re getting paid for that opinion. Isn’t that what restaurant and movie critics get paid for everyday?
If I purchase a product that has been recommended to me, either through PPP or an affiliate for the product and that product doesn’t satisfy me, I’m not going to get upset with the person who recommended it to me, I’m going to take my beef up with the person or company that sold me the product.
With all of the information available on the internet for just about every product on the market, if I purchase a product that I’m ultimately not happy with on the recommendation of just ONE person - then its shame on me for not doing my due diligence - not the blogger who posted a PPP or affiliate recommendation.
May 11th, 2007 at 9:07 am
[…] Long Overdue Praise For PayPerPost John Reese wrote an excellent post on PayPerPost on his new blog. My favorite part was when John says: […]
May 11th, 2007 at 9:29 am
[…] #5 - With this statement, I am now a devoted fan of John Reese, Income Blog. Thank you, John. […]
May 11th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Hey John, really forward to what you have in store with your new project.
May 13th, 2007 at 2:34 am
[…] 4. PayPerPost PayPerPost has been quite controversial in the blogosphere and was bashed by many A-list bloggers due to its business model (for more on this, you may want to read John Reese’s interesting post on Income.com Blog). In any event, PayPerPost is a service where you get paid to post an advertisement on your own blog. You can search from all kinds of advertisement opportunities, then select the one you want and write a post on your blog (within the advertiser requirements). Before getting started, you will need to get your blog approved by PayPerPost and once you post the advertisement they will review the post for approval. […]
May 13th, 2007 at 6:57 am
John
I agree. I do not think there is any reason for a backlash against PayPerPost. I am probably jaded but I always assume reviewers are paid unless they state otherwise.
Looking forward to your future posts.
May 14th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
[…] It’s no secret I’m a supporter of monetizing our blogs. Like John Reese, I think individual bloggers are the ones who decide the content of their blogs. […]
May 17th, 2007 at 7:44 am
Wow, this was linked to over at the PPP forums, and you’ve hit the nail on the head with every point in this post. Thank you for taking a stand to the self-righteous doomsday predictors.
And to echo the offer of the Aussie at the top of the comments, if you ever want to get away from it all, feel free to drop me a line - Kazakhstan is pretty isolated, if you want it to be
May 17th, 2007 at 7:55 am
[…] and stuck with believing that being paid to blog is some how intrinsically evil or will be responsible for the end of the internet (or more specifically the world wide web) as we know it, may I recommend you read the following post at income.com - Long Overdue Praise For PayPerPost. The author has managed to put into words what many bloggers, including myself, have felt for a while now… Get off your moral high ground, and realise that things are changing. No longer do the top sites have the monopoly on making a little money whilst informing others of interesting occurrences and schemes hitting the net. Just because you receive recompense for your words doesn’t mean that your opinion is any less valid. The majority of of opportunities I take are neutral - which means I’m free to give my own, personal, subjective opinion. I don’t need to say, XYZ is great because. I can simply say, this part is great, why aren’t others doing it, AS WELL AS , I wish this part of the process worked a little better. Feel free to leave comments here, or if you want to question the post’s author, leave a comment there… […]
May 19th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Thank you so much for these bloggs. I was in dire need of some up graded education from some people who actually knew what they were talking about instead of just coping or repeating what they had seen or heard from another web site!
May 24th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
[…] inside the PayPerPost headquarters located in downtown Orlando.I recently made a post that had some long overdue praise for Internet startup, […]
May 29th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
[…] about Pay-Per-Post. Some love it. Some hate it. Some think it is illegal. Still others say that PPP has experienced a kind of redemption. As for me, I’m just not sure. If I see one of their opportunities that strikes my curiosity […]
June 9th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
[…] pay for posts has been controversial, many prominent bloggers have embraced the idea, including John Reese, Andy Beard, and Dave […]
July 6th, 2007 at 11:23 am
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July 26th, 2007 at 2:11 pm
[…] may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!John Reese at the Income.com Blog posted a great rant in defense of PayPerPost that echoes several themes I posted about last […]
October 23rd, 2007 at 9:59 am
Long Overdue Praise For PayPerPost…
this is just another trackback test……
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Jane.
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Thanx