This page explains how I make money on my blog. There actually are FTC guidelines for bloggers, and you can bet I aim to meet — even exceed — those guidelines.
Following is an explanation of income to the blog and how I deal with various issues:
- Google Ads: The largest share of income for the blog comes from the Google ads featured on each post and page, and on the Forum. Google allows up to three ad units per page. The way I understand it, every visitor to the blog may be getting different ads, depending on your interests and web-browsing history. I have little control over these ads, although I have “opted out” of anything that seems inappropriate for my G- or occasionally PG-rated blog. Contact me if you get anything served up that you consider offensive, and I will see if I can block it. You can read more about how Google and its other third party ad networks uses cookies and similar technologies to serve up ads to you in my Privacy Policy.
- Other Ads and/or Affiliate Programs — If it looks like an ad, all design-y like, I’m likely an affiliate and earn a spiff, or earn money directly for the placement. If I am an affiliate and mention the company or one of its products in a story with a live link, I always try to remember to put a parenthetical “(*affiliate link)” next to such hotlinks or otherwise note it conspicuously at the top of the story.
- NO Text links: I do not sell text links. Kissing cousins: I do not take guest posts from writers who are being paid by commercial interests to get their links online in a sneaky way. That is: Shame on all the so-called “writers” who are proposing a guest post without your being 100% upfront about who you are working for.
- Sponsored posts RARELY: I am open to the idea of “sponsored posts” — that is, companies pay me to publish a story about them — and I have done a handful so far. (I have turned down or ignored many other such requests.) When I run a sponsored post, I seek to make it conspicuously clear that these are sponsored, that is: paid for. As per Google’s rules, all outbound links are no-follows. (FYI: Google considers such outbound links in sponsored [paid-for] posts to be equivalent to paid text links. They do not want websites to to “sell PageRank.”)
- Giveaways: I don’t typically charge money for retailers to provide items for giveaways. I do these as a surprise and delight to readers — and to grow my newsletter list.
- Consulting — In addition to being a blogger writing about vintage laminates and laminates available today for midcentury style kitchens and bathrooms, I have worked to launch a capsule collection of 7 new colorways for their boomerang laminates. They promote these laminates on the blog with an ad. I disclose our involvement when we write about this collection. If I write about any other such projects I’ve been involved in, I will disclose that.
- In general: I don’t want my editorial coverage to be affected by advertising or other revenue sources to the blog…
- …and I believe in, and strive for, transparency when it comes to calling out financial relationships where they may occur.
Disclosures related to direct payment, in-kind payments and samples for review:
- I seek to comply with FTC guidelines requiring “conspicuous” disclosure of any direct payments or in-kind payments (products supplied) by companies or vendors seeking to promote their products. If I end up doing a review of a product supplied from a company or individual vendor (yes, I’ve received samples), I note these with a Disclosure: up top conspicuously in the story. My general policy is to not take any free products for review unless they are relevant to readers, and I do not promise a story even if a sample/product is sent.
- Similarly I am occasionally invited on media trips to review new products. I may accept these if I think they are relevant to my readers. No coverage is promised in return. If I end up doing a review, I will aim to conspicuously note that the trip has been paid for by the inviting company with a Disclosure: in the story.