Here's another query for people. I've been getting more and more companies offering a "guest post" or to provide me with a product to review.
I personally, don't like the idea of having someone guest post to sell a product. I'm not that hard up for content.
What do you think of doing paid (honest) reviews or posts? Of course, transparency would be a must and I would make sure people know at the very start if it someone paid to post or I was paid (monetarily or otherwise) for a review.
What are your thoughts?
I've managed to grow my site with the contribution of guest posters, so I massively value them. However I'm very strict on the type of posts that are allowed on, I have guidelines that posters much follow and they are quite frequently rejected. The main logic behind the guest posts is that their sole focus must be to educate, not promote. Of course the reason most people are guest posting is for SEO/Promotional reasons, which is completely fine. I've had some posters write excellent educational articles, but on the flip side has booked them out for demos for weeks after people see their expertise on a certain area.
In terms of paid posts, I don't accept these. Money generated on my site comes from advertisement which is extremely clear. I think if the water is muddied between what content is sponsored or not, you can lose the trust of readers. However saying that, if its clearly marked what is sponsored, then this is another matter.
