An Explanation

It is definitely a coffee morning, and perhaps a blueberry muffin one at that.

Well, I think I owe you an explanation. If you have been reading this blog a bit, you will notice that every so often, I mention other sites, give links (good old shout outs), and make recommendations for specific deals and such. You may have also noted that some post have my disclosure policy (it is also under my links section) included in them. All in all, it is part of the transparent movement. Yep. Radical Transparency again.

When I started this blog a few months ago, I had many options for what to include on it in terms of advertising. I could have gone with the familiar Google Ad Sense program, where they would embed related advertisements into my blog that I would profit from when someone clicked on those sites (from mine). I chose not to do this because there might be sites that would come up that I would not want to endorse, and there are a few of those out there.

Then one day while looking for marketing ideas, I discovered a very cool advertising blog network called PayPerPost.com. After looking into the company, I really liked what I was seeing. First ,they are a big believer in being transparent (hence the disclosure policy). Second, they really relate to Free Will - either you write about a product or service or you do not. It is your choice.

Once a blog is accepted into the network (after the blog has been in existence for 90 days with a certain number of post upon it), you are given a choice of services and products to review. You are given certain parameters and if you agree with those, then you write a blog post about it. Each of these has a certain dollar amount that you will receive if your post is accepted. Once you have done that, your post is either accepted or rejected (and often with rejection, you have an opportunity to fix the post for resubmission).

This is the perfect form of advertising because you chose what you want to write about, get to express it in your own words, and the experience becomes more personal for everyone. The other nifty thing about this is that you as the reader who are subjected to my advertising fancies get to comment on it, so you even have a say in the matter. You can share your experience with the service or product as well.

Though I have not been at part of the network for long, there seems to be an opportunity to make new friends. If you utilize their widget, each day ten blogs are listed on it so you get to know other participants.

As ever, this is another learning experience for the transparent hypnotist. What I have discovered is that there are forms of marketing and advertising that fit my personality. It is very much like word of mouth, of which I am a big advocate. It gives me a chance to vent my thoughts, make some extra cash, and help out other companies. It's all good.

And what will I do with this extra cash? Why, I will buy more gourmet coffee and teas so I can sit here communing with you.