Many people misunderstand my ongoing opposition to spam-shop Izea as opposition to bloggers earning a living. To be clear: Bloggers have every right to have a business, to sell advertising, and make a living — if you follow the basic rules of ethics and disclosure that have existed for decades in all forms of media. [...]
Tag Archives: ethics
You’d be fired if you paid for fake testimonials in your TV ads …
… so why would you even consider using a service like Izea to pay bloggers to write about you? Just because it's social media doesn't make it right. This isn't an issue of fine lines and gray areas: Writing an endorsement of a product you have never used is illegal and has always been illegal [...]
On The Media Interview: How to be an ethical marketer. Why it’s wrong to pay for blog coverage.
Welcome to all the new readers who heard me on On The Media this morning. I did an interview with host Bob Garfield about the most important issue in the world of blogging: ethics. Specifically, we talked about what happens when marketers pay for placement in blogs. (More here) Paying for blog coverage — what [...]
Characteristics of a true word of mouth marketer
This was my post this week over on the SmartBlog on Social Media. If you're looking for some word of mouth insights and the latest news on social media, you should check it out as well as their free newsletter. Andy's Answers: Characteristics of a true word of mouth marketer True word of mouth marketers [...]
You will always get caught
Belkin is the latest example of a company caught in an unethical word of mouth campaign. They had an employee paying for fake positive reviews, and trying to hide bad reviews. That’s unethical, sleazy, and they got caught. Read about it here: 1 2 3 and all over the web. This story wiped out any [...]
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