Marketing your blog is standard these days, that is, if you want your blog to be a gateway to selling your services or products. But, how far will you go to get readers? Is there some limit, some ethical guidelines you create for yourself that tell you yes to some things and no to others?

If you have been blogging for any length of time, you have come across the terms “white hat” and “black hat”. These words refer to (in this case) blogging standards that are above board or not so much. Let’s assume that you have good intentions, want to communicate with people instead of barrage them with spam. You are basically a white hat kind of person.

And, you really want people to read your blog, click on your affiliates, make money off of post-related advertising, etc. Are you 100% transparent with your readership about relationships that influence your writing? Do you tell people that when you endorse a product, you stand to make an income from its sale?

It’s easy, especially now, to fudge the truth and omit information that might make your endorsement look like an advertisement. But, here’s the deal, if you don’t tell them and they find out later, things could get ugly, fast. I have seen communities rise up against various members due to acts that were less than honest. It can result in total blackballing of the person in question.

Decide for yourself now, what you will and won’t do. Don’t wait until you are in a situation to determine the right course of action. It is simply to tempting to err on the side that benefits your pocketbook. And this doesn’t have to be complicated. If you are having a hard time deciding if something is ethical…it probably isn’t.

Tags: Blog Marketing, ethics

This entry was posted on Monday, December 1st, 2008 at 5:07 am and is filed under Blog Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.