ReviewMe
Warning 1: This post has nothing to do with cross-cultural communication.
Warning 2: This post is a paid review.
Both warnings contain a kind of half-truth. From the moment you are writing for a world wide audience from various backgrounds - the communication happens across cultural boundaries. And while I am getting paid for writing this review, it doesn’t mean I have to write what they told me. Actually, nobody told me anything.
You see, for a while I have been working with Text-Link-Ads (TLA) on my blogs. This is not a secret: you can see the links on this blog and they are displayed on my main site, too. I also tried some other “blogvertisements” - none of them worked, except this one. That’s the main reason I’m reading the emails sent by this company. The other day there was a brief message in my Inbox from Patrick Gavin, president of TLA, about launching a brand new advertising system: ReviewMe. The idea is very simple. If your blog is accepted (approved) as a publisher - you can write a “review” [basically, a post like this] about a product or service, and get paid.
Advertisers don’t have to go around to contact 2345 bloggers; TLA through its new ReviewMe system will be link between the bloggers and advertisers. Of course, they get their share for doing their part, but nobody is working free, right? As it goes now, the bloggers can not pick what reviews they would like to write. It goes the other way around, the advertisers choose the blogs where they would like to have a review. The price is set based on the blog’s popularity, visitors etc. I, as a blogger, can accept or reject the request for review. I didn’t reject this opportunity for at least two reasons: first, having several blogs hosted costs money (and my blog was pre-approved in the new program); secondly, this might work well for other bloggers, too. So, go, try it! Now you can click without making me rich :) In a month or two there will be a referral program in place.
What I like the best in the ReviewMe system, the advertisers can not ask for a positive review. As far as they cannot do that (and I assume this applies to the reviews about the program itself!) I don’t feel bad about being paid. Well, I never really feel bad when getting paid, and as a former journalist I know exactly how much hidden advertisement happens everywhere in the media. At least here is a clean-cut thing. By the rules, I have to display this is a paid review. And I really hope it will pay as well as the TLA program did and does for me. OK, it couldn’t replace my income (yet), but we are working on it. ReviewMe will be another tool in this pursuit…
p.s. In my journalist days we had to put a small (x) in the right bottom corner for sponsored articles.
(x)
