Hoffman as the amazing Lester Banks
“If you’re gonna be a true journalist, you CAN NOT make friends with the rock stars. They’re gonna fly you places for free. You’re gonna meet girls. Oh God, it’s gonna get ugly.” If you wanna be a real writer, “Be honest, and…unmerciful.”
-Phillip Semore Hoffman as Lester Banks in the film Almost Famous
Miss Applesassy is thinking about paid blog endorsements and writing professionally. Apparently it’s a hot topic in the Social Media webbernet. If you are not up to speed on the “Motrin Mommies” incident or the Chris Brogan controversy, just click this link to Lara Kretler’s beautiful blog to get the scoop.
The gist is some bloggers’ say paid endorsements are good. It allows independent writers to get paid for their hard work on the web. Others say it’s bad, because it downgrades blogger credibility. Some Ad Houses see the concept of user testimonials as an all you can eat buffet that will define the future of advertising, while others look at the concept with the same expression as a picky toddler presented with a spinach souffle.
While Miss Apps is open to further discussion on the matter, she currently is of the opinion that if a blogger fully and openly discloses their financial relationship to the product, AND offers a REAL opinion, (free of marketer restrictions), paid posts are a good thing.
For instance Miss Apps, who enjoyed a *bountiful* holiday season of feasts and fun, is currently finding herself mesmerized by those Nutrisystem ads on television. So she is watching these ads, listening to celebrity testimonials and wondering if the diet might offer a reasonable New Years resolution.
She noted the little disclaimer on the television saying “Results Not Typical.” Well, what sort of snickerdoodle is that all about? Miss Applesassy is a typical girl. It seems a fair question to ask what results a “typical” customer could expect for $360. per month. Rather than calling the convenient 1-800 number or going to the marketer website, this Sassy Lass instead turned to the blogs. In doing so she came across a candid post from an expert in the field that gave her the straight scoop on diet industry info. The man is a doctor who has treated patients weight management concerns for twenty years. He did not recommend Nutrisystem, and explained exactly what sort of “typical results” to actually expect. Did it bother me that he was also selling a weight loss system of his own?
No.
It could have, but the writing style and content he provided was clearly an honest first hand account of his experience as a doctor, not an ad disguised as a post. His ad was on a separate page, not linked to the article. This method of full disclosure and honest transparency has a much more powerful effect than any paid celebrity endorsement or glitzy ad copy. And that my dear AppSassers’, (in a cream covered nutshell), is the power of the blogs.
It’s the genuine voice of a post which makes all the difference. Advertising as we know it is about to change. Real people with real experience and real opinion will be the source of future product success. Miss Apss likes that, because it puts the the free market back in the hands of the people. But it’s up to us not to screw this gift up.
If bloggers’ sell out and offer sanctimonious endorsements touting “non-typical results” or out right lie about a product just to cash in, they will not only lose their own credibility, but they will ruin a great market shifting opportunity for us all.
So if you decide to enter the world of paid posts or product endorsement, just be true to yourself, and in the words of the great Lester Banks from the movie Almost Famous:
“If you’re gonna be a true journalist, you CAN NOT make friends with the rock stars. They’re gonna fly you places for free. You’re gonna meet girls. Oh God, it’s gonna get ugly.” If you wanna be a real writer, “Be honest, and…unmerciful.”
Click here to view the Almost famous Movie Trailer. It pretty much sums up what it’s all about.
