I write what is on my mind. From my perspective. I am not infallible. When touching sensitive issues like this, I always believe a little disclaimer is in order. Let’s get a few things straighten out before miscommunication led to something ugly. This post is not directed particularly at any individual. It is not supposed to be a personal attack. But, if you think I am talking about you and not happy about it, argue the facts. Leave the emotional stuffs out.

Eversince I started paid posts, I indiscrimately read as much sponsored posts from local to overseas bloggers. I’m not spying. I’m just interested how other people write. What makes their sponsored posts stand out above the rest. Their style and how they present it to their audience. Yes, I’ve learned a thing or two from real good ones. It’s no shame admitting we learn from the best and try to better ourselves. Agree? I’ll come back to that later.

PPP recently resorted to segmentation on bloggers’ location. Quite a few bloggers had blogged about it. Now, I am a newbie in PPP, but gut feeling tells me segmentation is bound to happen soon. It turned out, it was sooner than I had expected.

I’ve read PPP postees talking about how much opps they managed to grab and how much hardwork was involved. I do not doubt for one second these good folks had sacrificed much. Yes, I know there are lots and lots of hardwork there. I’m not discounting it. I do salute the initiative and commitment these postees had poured in. Now, I am not saying ALL but you know whom you are, there are however people who view grabbing opps as a personal race. Grabbing as much opps turned into a personal victory of sorts for them. Yes, getting an opp is a victory. Only half the victory. Just half.

If you are the kind who thinks all victories are victories in itself, then there is no need for you to read further.When you write a sponsored post, you are not writing for your own pleasure. You are paid to write for somebody else. The advertisers. They’re the motivating factor you write the post in the first place. They’re the ones paying you. Not PPP, the advertisers. It’s a no-brainer what advertisers want. To advertise their products/site. They’re not paying you so you can have the satisfaction of savoring personal glory. If you managed to earn some satisfaction in the process, fine. But you know it’s not why they pay you specifically. It is important to get the priorities right.

As I mentioned earlier about blog hopping to read sponsored posts, I do come across good posts and posts that are out to make a quick buck. PPP initially operates on a good-faith basis. Meaning, they trust you will be true to your opinions and know which opps are for you and which are not. Yes, the opps might be green or it might be white, but they trust your good sense and integrity to take what is best for the advertisers.
Obviously trusting people with their good sense is like putting the fish before the cat. While the cat does not eat the fish out of greed, people do. The best sponsored posts writers are those who integrate their paid posts into their blog content seamlessly. More important than that…. they don’t write about things they know zit about. They don’t write about merchandise overseas that probably won’t see the daylight over this part of the world. You have overseas readers? How many? I’m not talking about fellow postees in your clique who resides overseas. They’re probably writing about it as well so who’s your ‘international’ audience?

Yes, segmentation is inevitable. This is not just a case of bad judgment when people take up irrelevant opps, it’s just plain greed. Plain and simple. The irony? They don’t see themselves as the cause. They point fingers at others. They call it discrimination. They complain non-US postees will have a hard time. You’re right. You asked for it.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 3rd, 2007 at 7:09 pm and is filed under rants. 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.