Update: The site no more does paid review of any kind. Found them very compromising.
After a long and deliberate contemplation I have decided to go ahead with my experimentation with Paid Reviews.
It would always be debated whether paid reviews should be done. But we should always be ready to accept the change.
Paid reviews are here to stay whether we like the fact or not. If you see the trends, it is becoming a full fledged industry.
Even big companies are jumping in the bandwagon.
It means better reach and higher brand building for them.
It is a kind of revolution for advertisers and bloggers alike.
I have always deferred publishing of paid review on this blog because I did not want to be influenced.
But one needs to change with time.
Why did I decide to fall in?
I belong to a field where you are trained to be objective otherwise you might influence patient care.
But as a doctor you are always bombarded with stimuli that may affect your decisions.
Pharmaceutical companies are utmost examples.
Apparently, they are providing you with complimentary gifts without asking anything in return directly.
But actually they are nailing their brand into your heads.
Ethically, it is wrong to be influenced.
But at some level you get brand hooked.
Is that bad.
Probably not as long as you do not compromise with patient care.
It is bad when you do so.
Are paid reviews bad?
Probably not as long as you do not compromise with your readers.
As long as you do not trick them with your reviews.
If you put your review service, your readers before the money you are going to get, you would not be doing an injustice to your blog and your readers.
When I thought of doing paid reviews I thought about benefits and hazards.
Benefits
- My blog gets new ideas for content
- I get to know about many services in my sphere or related
- My readers get to know about many services
- I make money
- I conduct an experiment to speak authoritatively on this issue
Disadvantage
- My blog dilutes. I would try to keep the reviews related to my blog but you are always in danger of crossing the line
- My recommendations may loose authority. Chances are less if reviews are genuine but users generally put a red mark when they come to know that review is paid one.
- I generate outgoing links from my site that do not bring me anything. Not a good thing.
My Take
I am going to experiment with these paid reviews for 6 months or so. I will document my experience and then decide. I have decided not to accept any mortgage, loan and other such kinds of reviews.
I would write only about useful services.
I would try to be honest.
See you soon.
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Tags: earning through paid reviews, paid reviews, pay per post, review me, sponsored reviews
