Mark at 45n5 (what does 45n5 mean anyway?) is talking more about disclosure on his blog these days. It’s good conversation, but it got me thinking.
I’m a long-time full disclosure guy, having fought the PayPerPost battles and many other blog battles over the years and recently. So I get the need to disclose, heck, I even invented these blog honor badges.
Disclosure is all about deception and intent. If it is your intent to fool or deceive someone for your own personal gain, then you have bigger problems than disclosure, you have ethical issues you need to deal with. Some, like me, would also tell you to watch your karma.
The point is, disclosure is good, but not always necessary. Sure, I’ve used the (aff) before, but you know why? I have used it to specifcally draw attention to a an affiliate link so that my friends and readers would use it because it would be clear to that that it would help me. I do that all the time on blogs that I read.
For example, this is my personal blog. I’m an affiliate marketer. I’m also a blogger. I’m also a “self proclaimed expert” in the industry of which I practice.
So, should I blatently disclose when I have an affiliate link on this blog?
Or…
Should it just be expected that I promote affiliate links because “that’s what I do” and therefore it should be know I’m not trying to “get over” on anyone by tricking them?
So What’s The Difference?
Again, it comes back to intent, and throw in some earned trust. Do I intend on making some money from my blog? Yes. Do I intend to promote products that suck so I can make a buck maybe? No.
You will find affiliate links on this blog.
And when you see them, I hope that you’ll understand that they are there because that’s part of how I make my living, and frankly, why not? I’ve earned the trust on my name through years of experience and work in the industry. I am NOT trying to trick you.
When developing your own ideas about disclosure, be sure to think about what your readers expect from you, and how much they trust you first.
Hello Jim, good Post.
I’ve been struggling with the disclosure thing lately indeed. I don’t believe my intent is tricking anybody. I just need to get over it.
I don’t mean to come across as knocking the (aff) either, I just don’t feel that is disclosure for me. And yes I see the point that they could bring attention to the links (which makes me question what else could bring attention to them? little icons next them maybe, for example)
45n5 = 45+5 or 50. That site is my travels to earn 50 per day from the internet. And hopefully help or inspire others to do the same.
Thanks again for the mention.
I appreciate the comments from Mark from 45n5 and the article from Jim.
I have been wondering why there is an issue with affiliate links to begin with… If you are providing valid content via whatever site you are creating, why does it matter if you link to the relevant products associated with the theme of the site? Why is it an issue to make money from a site which you are spending time and resources on?
I guess I understand there could be folks who are unethical about the whole practice, but then it seems that they would be shooting themselves in the foot from a long run perspective.
As always, I appreciate reading different perspectives on any issue. But personally, this has never felt like a huge issue to me.
mark from bloglyne,
“Why is it an issue”
For me it’s not a big issue, just something I wanted to iron out for myself. I did learn some stuff, like legal implications of disclosure, and it was good talks.
For the industry, I have the same question, why did people start putting (aff) next to links, and why (aff) and not (af) of ($$$) etc.
Obviously the industry had a problem with this at one point and (aff) came about. Just a guess.
@45, I was not suggesting you were out to trick anyone, by far. I was just using your post to further thoughts I’ve had ready to write for a long time. I like your ideas about a little icon.
@Mark, The big issue is that there can be a fine line between you and your readers and either “providing good information”, or just “pushing crap to make money”. It’s all about trust. If I started pushing tons of crap on this blog just to make a buck, I’d lose that trust I’ve built over time and I’d lose readers.
The question for bloggers is, which person do you want to be known as?
“I was not suggesting you were out to trick anyone”
i know, just a failed attempt of me setting up my comment
rock on!
I think I learned a bit today as to why this could be an issue. After I put up that comment I started researching for the article about the GoDaddy article, and the folks who are accusing GoDaddy of bad things have tons of hosting options on their site which calls their credibility into question.
I guess it is for each of us to work out – Mark@45 – I dig your process and didn’t mean to minimize your writings, actually, I was thinking about putting something similar to what you have in your About Me page.
“didn’t mean to minimize your writings” I didn’t think you did, all good
“putting something similar to what you have”
use it word for word if you want
You don’t really need or want that lifestyle, it might hurt y’all slowly more…….Just tell him you
don’t wanna repeat something your not too proud of z7uas.