A company just contacted me about my winky dink little blog and to help promote hits for myself and to get business for themselves, they asked me to write about…. Buick keychains. This wouldn't be for money, but it would be for free keychains. I don't know if I should do it or not. I mean, for anyone who read my comic, my Buick is the car that sheared its transmission into chunks (not slivers). Plus, I don't want to be like, "oh yeah, I love the keychains and i only have nice things to say so that more offers like this will come in!"
I don't know. I have no idea what to do here. Especially since I'm not getting paid for it. Plus, I've still got to research if this is going to steal my identity and spend all my money and put me in the poor house, you know? But ignoring that for the next couple hours, what does anyone else think?
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Comic Talk and General Discussion *
Blogging about a product? Is that a sell-out?
Well if you want to do it, make an honest post of it, don't just say nice things because you think that's what they want to hear. If they don't like it, you're just out a couple keychains. Those keychains probably only cost them pennies. Maybe you could take suggestions on what to do with the keychains when you get them, then do a couple of them for your blog or youtube or whatever. :]
Companies now just want to try and build word-of-mouth and viral advertising without having to pay for it. What would you get in return for the time it takes you to advertise for them? Are they at least going to link to you or something? If you're not somehow getting some attention from it, then your only real reason for doing it is because you have something to say (which Buick may or may not like) and you think your readers would like it.
that seems kinda whacked. why the keychains? what the hell would anyone even say? even if you try to write something nice about it, it takes some BS to make a big deal out of a keychain wether you think it's a nice keychain or not. it sounds like you could do it or not do it and either way, not loose much sleep over it,if you dont mind doing it then go for it, if you got better things to do, then dont worry about it.just sounded like such a weird thing to ask. hell, maby you could write a weird blog about it then. get creative. make up some story or something. whatever you do though, dont give these guys yer info and dont be afraid to ask any questions you need to either.
Writing about a product because you discovered it and think it's actually good is not selling out. Getting paid to ramble on and on about something is selling out. Pretty clear difference.
Specially if it's something that is just super uncharacteristic of you. I think it would be very obvious that youre getting money thrown at you if you keep babbling about keychains every other blog. Maybe if it were comic related it wouldnt seem like such a bad thing but keychains seem pretty out of place.
Now, this isnt to say dont go for it. In fact, if you dont please pass along my contact information and I would be happy to talk about Buick's new - and wonderful - brand of keychains. Normal keychains suffer from wear and tear, but not Buick's. Buick is dedicated to quality, and each keychain is made with a standard that can't be beat. And Buick keychains are manufactured in the United States, meaning buying one of Buick's new keychains is not only a great investment for yourself, but also helps out our economy.
Buy a Buick keychain today, why dont you?
Buick, never lose those keys again.
It's cool that they contacted you about that - though I'd be very careful about giving out your physical address. If you can, use a PO Box or a business address rather than a personal one. You just never know, and it's easy for people to pretend to be legit when they're behind their computer screens.
That said, I tend to agree with Skool - if you accept the offer, be honest about your opinions. Accepting the offer and showering the merchandise with praise you don't necessarily agree with *would* be selling out ^.~
For me if it were for money it would be debatable. But just for some free keychains? I wouldn't do it. Maybe if it were a REALLY cool product. I've noticed a few sites do reviews of the Sumo beanbag chair, and they weren't sites that did reviews OR had any relation to beanbag chairs, but apparently it was a cool enough product that they wanted to review it AND keep it.
And who reviews keychains? Do you rate its ability to hold keys?
If you're going to sell out, why not do it for money! :D
I'd probably be more concerned about someone blogging on behalf of a product who concealed the fact they'd been bought off. I wouldn't mind so much if they were honest.
But I suspect you'd lose readers if your blog essentially turned into an advertisement, whether you were open about it or not.
A company just contacted me about my winky dink little blog and to help promote hits for myself and to get business for themselves, they asked me to write about…. Buick keychains. This wouldn't be for money, but it would be for free keychains. I don't know if I should do it or not. I mean, for anyone who read my comic, my Buick is the car that sheared its transmission into chunks (not slivers). Plus, I don't want to be like, "oh yeah, I love the keychains and i only have nice things to say so that more offers like this will come in!"
I don't know. I have no idea what to do here. Especially since I'm not getting paid for it. Plus, I've still got to research if this is going to steal my identity and spend all my money and put me in the poor house, you know? But ignoring that for the next couple hours, what does anyone else think?
IF YOU DON'T DO IT I WILL.
This thread reminds me of something…
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/feature-articles/sumo-omni-review.php
EDIT: I'm sttin' the hell outta this chair!
In the UK we have shopping trolleys (carts) that you need to put a £1 coin in ($1.64)
before you can use 'em. My key chain is the exact size of a £1 coin ($1.64), so if I don't have a £1 coin ($1.64), I can put the key fob in the trolley (cart) and still do my shopping.
I'd say as keychains go, that's pretty functional. It even has a little shopping trolley (cart) engraved on the back. Can a Buick do that? Well can it?
Maybe you could take suggestions on what to do with the keychains when you get them, then do a couple of them for your blog or youtube or whatever. :]
this is a good idea.
You'll be pleased because you have free keychains! YAY!
The people reading your blog would like it, they know you're being honest to them and it seems like a funny thing to blog about, I would read that blog.
Buick will be pleased because they will get more out of it than if you just said "Buick keychains are good" because you're asking people to actually talk about the keychains.
This is a win-win-win.
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