My friend Jim Durbin, a talented new media consultant, sent me an email today about PayPerPost -- a new company that pays bloggers for posting about specific products. Jim thinks that this is incredibly dishonest. He calls it shilling.
I'm ashamed to admit that I actually had to think about this for a minute before siding with Jim. After all, it's easy to see the web as one giant, teaming, commercial free-for-all. But that's not what blogging is about. Blogging is a conversation, and authentic conversations are based on trust.
Like right now, as you read this, you trust me. At arms length, I seem credible to you -- especially on marketing and career issues. In that sense, if you think I have your best interests at heart, you're right. That doesn't make me a wonderful person. It simply means that there's no conflict of interest between why you have placed your trust in me -- and what I intend to do with that trust.
Blog shilling introduces that conflict of interest. It destroys that trust.
Think of it this way: You are in your den having a conversation with the person you respect the most in your life. Maybe this is your spouse. Or a parent. Or your rabbi or pastor. During the conversation, imagine that you are handed a note that informs you that 5% of the time, without notice, this trusted advisor will endorse products during their conversations with you. A short while later, your trusted advisor tells you how much he likes Ford trucks. Or Sherwin-Williams paint. Etc.
As you listen, you begin to ask yourself ...
- Is it just 5% of the time that this person commercializes his relationship with me -- or could it be 15-20% ... or more? After all, you can't tell which products they like personally -- and which ones they are getting paid to endorse.
- How will these product endorsements impact the quality of this person's interaction with me? Is he listening attentively to what I have to say -- or is he preoccupied with fitting seamlessly into the conversation his next product placement?
- If this person values small-scale advertising revenues more than a high-fidelity relationship with me, can I really depend on them for anything important? Can I build on this relationship at all?
- How does this person really feel about me? Can I believe anything this person says?
That sucks! If I thought my father was recommending to me a certain oncologist or latex paint mostly to earn a referral fee, I'd be pretty disheartened. Wouldn't you? I might even divest in the relationship. In that sense, product shilling would actually hurt my trusted advisor more than it would enrich them. That double sucks!
For the record: I will never engage in shilling. I write these things only because I think they will benefit you, the reader, in some meaningful way. Nor will I share your email address with anyone without your permission. But hey, that's a separate policy discussion.
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