Amen to that Lori!

As for blogs with an intention of making money…. All of mine are, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

That money allows me to invest more time, energy and, well, money into improving it, bringing in new writers and offering more and better free resources for writers who would otherwise have to pay to have them custom-made themselves.

And I don't find blogging for money to be any less ethical or more offensive than any professional blogging with the intention of it helping their career or visibility. Doing so with even the possibility of it leading to paying work isn't any different in my eyes.

Either way, you're in it for something. One person's motives aren't better than another's as long as they're ethical in how they deliver the material (as in not selling out and pimping those content mills and other services exploiting writers knowingly — frankly I think sites like that are the worst thing to happen to this niche).

Audience first. Money second. But money doesn't have to be ignored in the process. Just my $.02.

Wendy, when you're on a first-name basis with Mrs. Smith there, I'm calling for backup. 🙂 And you've nailed it – readers can't trust someone who would promote something or some article they've never tried. It's lying. I agree on AdSense – it's harmless. It leaves readers the option to click. No one's lying to them or forcing them to read the ads.

Kathy, I make my money blogging for companies. This is – dare I say it? – a labor of love. LOL I can't say that with a straight face thanks to the scumbags who offer to let us work on their "labor of love" for free.

Cassie, I agree. There are two things going on – unethical and dishonest behavior – when writers (or anyone) accept these offers. I'd rather my blog stand unattended a few days than put up crap that's not only irrelevant, but insulting to those who read here. (Glad to see you here, by the way! I have a special affinity toward Pittsburghers.)

Good for you for standing on your principles! I feel that participating in schemes such as this one is ethically dishonest and exploitative on a number of levels.

As far as the advertising bit goes, it doesn't bother me too much if someone has a few ads placed on their site. (like adsense) If you have too many, then I get annoyed though.

It's when the ads dictate what you say about certain products or services that I don't care for. I want the low down on an item; don't tell me all the great things and brush the rest under the rug. If I suspect that's what you're doing, then I can't trust you.

For me, the issue is not just the shady ethics but the fact that this would dilute the brand I've created. My blog is all about writing and freelancing, so my readers would know something's up if I suddenly started talking up Bhutan or some handblown glass necklace.

Don't these scammers realize that authenticity is more powerful than paid links?

Paula, thanks for the laugh! 🙂

Anyway, my traffic to my work blog has dropped dramatically since I had to change the URL, so just in case anyone was wondering what happened to me, be sure you go to http://blog.katharineswan.com to follow my blog from the new address. I know I haven't been blogging as much lately, by the way, but I'll be updating more often from here on out.

Sandra, they're easy to spot, aren't they? One particular blog on writing posted about mortgage rates. Huh? I'm sorry – a quick buck is nothing if you've lost your reader. We're writers. Our goal is to appeal to our audience, not appeal to the advertisers.

Glad you both posted. 🙂