A pledge: No more sponsored posts!

I've come to a few conclusions while blogging... One is that I'm usually much more boring than I'd like to be. Another is that I never blog enough and usually go weeks without doing so. But the reason for this one's a pretty good one, I think: Sponsored blogging is NOT for me or my blog. Why?

Simple. Coming back to conclusions 1 and 2 above, I'm not blogging enough to make it worth it, and I'm not insane enough (or whatever) to come up with crazy shit that makes reading sponsored blog posts intriguing enough to keep people reading them.

To that point, I have come up with a great answer. No more "sponsored blogging" crap on Slap/Pop. Yeah, I gave it a shot. Then again, I was also unemployed, and thought I'd see if it'd bring anything. Did it? No, not at all. And it just made this site feel boring and "sell-out-ish", not to mention it went against what I feel makes a good blog.

I don't mind if people post about cool shit that they'd like to advertise for (my buddy Kevin, for example. He's an amazing bodypainter). I'll give plugs and props where such are due. But, as another example, these dNeero surveys? Lame. Sorry dNeero guys, if you think I'm talking shit, it's just really not for me.

I think that what really set me off (and this was a while ago) was SocialSpark. Looks like an amazing service, very friendly, lots of "opportunities" as they call them. And it's all pretty hip stuff! But... After several weeks of having my first opp blogged, I get an email telling me that my blog post is ineligible for violating the terms of the opp. What?!? I did just what it wanted me to, it parsed the post and said "This is fine" after I had to redo it a few times, and all was good, I was told by the system. Then to get an email telling me "This opp requires no other ads on the page at all", etc etc etc... What???

Nowhere on the opp did it say you can't have ads, and I don't recall seeing it anywhere else on the site in the sign-up process. That's a pretty big thing to have hidden, as most bloggers have SOME form of ads that they rely on. My big beef is this: I'm not going to modify my entire site just for one shitty service being anal and demanding. Sorry, just not gonna' happen.

So from here on out, no surveys, no paid blogging services, no nothing. If I (somehow) get people contacting me directly to pay for a review, or linkage, that's different. I'll blog about what I want to--if I happen to get paid or compensated somehow, then awesome. I'd rather work on a more exclusive level anyways, allowing me a bit more control and cred regarding this blog's content.

What will I keep? Entrecard, of course. Been slacking on that, too, but I love EC as not only is it a great promo tool, I've found some pretty interesting blogs that way as well. I can only troll Digg for so long before I need something else to read while eating my Pizza Rolls, right? So, Entrecard stays. As does Adsense (of course), ScratchBack tip jar (c'mon people, hook a brotha' up with some tips!), and perhaps the MySearchFunds (now changed to Homepages Friends, which I have to say is a seriously gaytarded name--as if MySearchFunds wasn't lame enough)) if they get their new widgets working. Meh.

Speaking of MSF/HF, not only did they change their name to something 10000% more hideous, but they switched their search engine from Google to Yahoo. Booo. But I digress.

So there you have it. That's where I stand on paid blogging, and why I'm not going to do it anymore. Other news, real quick... Upgraded to Drupal 6.3 and updated a shit-ton of modules since I've been slacking seriously, and so far it all seems to work. Good stuff.

I'm about to pass out, so I think I'm done blogging for now... Night people, and see you when I see you.

Oh, and if you made it through this insanely long post, then thanks! You rock! :D