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Is this good or bad business, what do you think?

by PatriciaJ
14 replies
I've just replied to an email from a writer saying that her client is offering to pay to place articles with one link at the bottom on one of my music sites.

My reply was

'If content is non self promotional I do have some guest bloggers who I allow to add their content free and with a link either at the bottom or in the lower half of the page. If your client wants to add press releases or self promotional pieces then we would need to work out a fee, and yes either way I would need to see some samples first.'

I felt that this was the ethical thing to do, but after replying I started to think that maybe I should have said yes pay me. What would you do if faced with the same or similar decision to make?
#bad #business #good
  • Profile picture of the author IMSubmit
    Considering that people are asking for links to be placed on your blog and you are allowing guest posts means that your blog is on the path to reach the upper part of food chain with good traffic and a good PR. If you are really looking out for some quality content from professional bloggers and marketers with their links at the bottom of every post, then you can make a pact with them with metrics like number of posts per month and the payment you expect.

    Your reply to the mail is the same I would have done. we can not put the blogs and sites we painstakingly built be at the mercy of crappy posts just because we expected to get paid a few bucks for a link. I think that would be unethical(in blogging sense) towards your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Nikolz
    It depends on for how your site is "white hat".

    A simple solution for a case like this:
    1. Set up a new category, i.e. "Bloggers say" or "Misc." or "Our guests";
    2. Make sure that articles from this category don't appear on the home page;
    3. Exclude this category from RSS-Feed.
    But you don't have to tell about this mechanism to anybody.

    Thus your visitors and subscribers won't read this article, and the author will still get a backlink from your site.
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    • Profile picture of the author Finch
      Originally Posted by Mike Nikolz View Post

      It depends on for how your site is "white hat".

      A simple solution for a case like this:
      1. Set up a new category, i.e. "Bloggers say" or "Misc." or "Our guests";
      2. Make sure that articles from this category don't appear on the home page;
      3. Exclude this category from RSS-Feed.
      But you don't have to tell about this mechanism to anybody.

      Thus your visitors and subscribers won't read this article, and the author will still get a backlink from your site.
      Good luck building relationships in any industry with that attitude.
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    • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
      Originally Posted by IMSubmit View Post

      Considering that people are asking for links to be placed on your blog and you are allowing guest posts means that your blog is on the path to reach the upper part of food chain with good traffic and a good PR. If you are really looking out for some quality content from professional bloggers and marketers with their links at the bottom of every post, then you can make a pact with them with metrics like number of posts per month and the payment you expect.

      Your reply to the mail is the same I would have done. we can not put the blogs and sites we painstakingly built be at the mercy of crappy posts just because we expected to get paid a few bucks for a link. I think that would be unethical(in blogging sense) towards your site.
      Thank you, I hadn't thought about it quite that way but you are right.

      Originally Posted by Mike Nikolz View Post

      It depends on for how your site is "white hat".

      A simple solution for a case like this:
      1. Set up a new category, i.e. "Bloggers say" or "Misc." or "Our guests";
      2. Make sure that articles from this category don't appear on the home page;
      3. Exclude this category from RSS-Feed.
      But you don't have to tell about this mechanism to anybody.

      Thus your visitors and subscribers won't read this article, and the author will still get a backlink from your site.
      I don't do black hat babe. I currently have a separate page with links to the guest bloggers profiles and work. I wouldn't stop their articles from appearing on the home page (unless it was static) because they are doing me a favour. The guest bloggers mostly just want to write and see their work on the internet, believe it or not some of them don't even want a backlink so I am not going to knock them back for the sake of a bit of money.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ian Varnava
      Originally Posted by Mike Nikolz View Post

      It depends on for how your site is "white hat".

      A simple solution for a case like this:
      1. Set up a new category, i.e. "Bloggers say" or "Misc." or "Our guests";
      2. Make sure that articles from this category don't appear on the home page;
      3. Exclude this category from RSS-Feed.
      But you don't have to tell about this mechanism to anybody.

      Thus your visitors and subscribers won't read this article, and the author will still get a backlink from your site.
      You're joking, right? Have you ever wondered how you would look without your black hat on? Also, how does it work with always wearing it? Does it have any sort of effect on your hair??
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    • Profile picture of the author Marx Vergel Melencio
      @ the OP: I for one believe your response would be among the most
      suitable ones for the situation...

      Originally Posted by Mike Nikolz View Post

      [SNIP]A simple solution for a case like this:
      1. Set up a new category, i.e. "Bloggers say" or "Misc." or "Our guests";
      2. Make sure that articles from this category don't appear on the home page;
      3. Exclude this category from RSS-Feed.
      But you don't have to tell about this mechanism to anybody.
      Thus your visitors and subscribers won't read this article, and the author will still get a backlink from your site.[/SNIP]
      Sure. And if the person asks why you did this, you can go:

      You just paid for the backlink, not potential traffic which could possibly give you more sales, right?

      And you can expect the person to go around talking to his or her contacts
      about your awesome backlink placement without traffic services...

      ...And for those contacts to start sending inquiries about your backlink
      placement without traffic services...

      ...And for them to also build natural backlinks for you...

      After a few hours or so: Your backlink placement without traffic services would've become viral!
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  • Profile picture of the author David Bryant
    I agree with the way that you responded. There are many perspectives to consider overall, but how you do business is up to you.

    Personally, I invite guest bloggers to post free content to my sites and allow a single link to be attributed. This is assuming that their content is of the same quality that I, or my writers post. In that situation, I could profit from their content indefinitely in many ways, as would my visitors.

    Generally, I wouldn't accept payment for self promotional content though, mostly because I prefer to only promote the products or services that I want to suggest to the visitors of my sites. I could personally capitalize on offers that I chose to promote with a piece of quality content for years, but if someone is actively promoting a product/service in the content, then they have control over your visitor, and you are only receiving a one-time payment from the initial agreement.

    Like I said though, that is how I see things, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the way you responded.
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    • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
      Originally Posted by David Bryant View Post

      I agree with the way that you responded. There are many perspectives to consider overall, but how you do business is up to you.

      Personally, I invite guest bloggers to post free content to my sites and allow a single link to be attributed. This is assuming that their content is of the same quality that I, or my writers post. In that situation, I could profit from their content indefinitely in many ways, as would my visitors.

      Generally, I wouldn't accept payment for self promotional content though, mostly because I prefer to only promote the products or services that I want to suggest to the visitors of my sites. I could personally capitalize on offers that I chose to promote with a piece of quality content for years, but if someone is actively promoting a product/service in the content, then they have control over your visitor, and you are only receiving a one-time payment from the initial agreement.

      Like I said though, that is how I see things, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the way you responded.
      If the niche was Internet marketing for instance I would totally agree with you. The niche is music and as yet I don't know who the client is or what the proposed material is. If for instance the client is an agent wanting to make announcements about their artistes upcoming gigs or new albums then that is a good fit for my site and I have had material from agents before. It's good for the site to get news of anything that's happening quickly.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cinneide
    I think your approach is fine. I wouldn't have a problem linking out if the content in genuinely of value to my site.

    However, if someone approaches me offering a fee I don't think I would be rejecting the offer.

    Self-promotional content is a different thing altogether. You might consider tagging the post as 'Sponsored'?

    Sounds like your blog is attracting attention which has to be a good thing.
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    • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
      Originally Posted by Cinneide View Post

      I think your approach is fine. I wouldn't have a problem linking out if the content in genuinely of value to my site.

      However, if someone approaches me offering a fee I don't think I would be rejecting the offer.

      Self-promotional content is a different thing altogether. You might consider tagging the post as 'Sponsored'?

      Sounds like your blog is attracting attention which has to be a good thing.
      Financially I am sound which could have coloured my decision, but I think that it would just have taken me longer to come to the same decision knowing me. Sponsered might be a good idea, thanks.

      Yes the blog has been attracting attention for a while, and it's the most fun of all of my sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author gunner1945
    If the posts are of a good quality and on topic I would take them all day long. What have you got to loose, a link? As long as the link in the post does not go to a porn site etc. As soon as the post drops from the front page what juice are they getting from the link? I would sooner spend my time getting 10 more links than writing 500 word posts.

    Just a thought
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    • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
      Originally Posted by gunner1945 View Post

      If the posts are of a good quality and on topic I would take them all day long. What have you got to loose, a link? As long as the link in the post does not go to a porn site etc. As soon as the post drops from the front page what juice are they getting from the link? I would sooner spend my time getting 10 more links than writing 500 word posts.

      Just a thought
      I have no problem with giving links away for good relevant content, I lose nothing only gain. When it comes to guest bloggers there are lots of people out there who aren't just thinking about link juice. On what might be considered an authority site with a good amount of targeted traffic the content giver might be more interested in clickthroughs or want to use content to build their name or brand.

      Dropping from a front page doesn't send an article into obscurity, the most searched for thing in the last week are variations of lil wayne and tha carter 2 and those searches all go to one page that has been on the site since 2009, and out of the hundreds of hits so far today the vast majority has been to older content. If a guest author gets a decent amount of clickthroughs they might think the 500 word article more valuable than getting 10 more links.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ray01
    i will do the same thing as you did
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    • Profile picture of the author Zachmo
      Your response is fine but I think the usual reason why someone will approach you for a favor like that is, usually for promotional purposes. So I will be thinking the way you did.
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