NO I Don't Want to Buy The Crap You Get Paid To Post About

So you want me to bitch? I can do that...

Lately, I have noticed a disturbing trend on blogs. I know it is not new, but it is becoming more prevelent. I love the Blogoshpere. I like seeing pictures of what your kid is doing. I want to know that your cat threw up on your white couch. Tell me what an asshat your mother in law is, I wanna know!

But what I cannot stand is reading a post about some new thing you are excited about and getting about 2/3 through, then realizing, it is a paid post! This ticks me off! If I wanted an infomercial, I'd turn on the tv at 3 a.m. and let Billy Mays yell at me. I don't read blogs to get commercials! DO you hear me? I don't give a crap how much money you make at Social Spark. BE UP FRONT in the beginning of your post about the fact that it is, in fact, a paid commercial!

I liken it to going to the movies and sitting through commercials. What the hell? I paid my 10 bucks, I don't have to watch this crap. That's when I get up and buy popcorn. FAIL.

With blogs, I see it as a relationship. If I stop on your blog, I care what you have to say. Something you said hooked me and I want to know more. We are at the beginnings of trust: I am trusting you to talk to me. Don't take advantage of that new and tenuous trust by trying to sell me something! I am on the Do Not Call List for a reason! I hate telemarketers.

If I want to buy a product, I will ask. And? Marketers and PR people? Trying to start a grass-roots movement to sell some crap isn't going to work. I am going to get pissed at the blogger and not return to that blog. And I most likely will choose another product, one that doesn't do Shanghai Marketing. Bloggers, are you listening? You might be making money, but you are losing credibility. And on the Net, it's all you got.

You have heard it said over and over again, "Content is King." If you keep suckering readers, you won't have any left. Blogging should never be about money. It's about passion, and writing and a passion for writing. If you don't have one of those two: MOVE over and someone else will take your place.

Pitches