Opening Up About My Decision to Monetize
I had to keep my writing pure, not influenced by sponsored posts. The only compensation I desired was the currency of complimentary comments. I could only be my organic, authentic, fragrance-free & hypoallergenic self if I refused a 4.00% commission from a $20 crochet book, bruh.
I've held on to that philosophy for 12+ years. Until I saw the current price of diapers and formula, motherfu, um...er.
You know what? I'm not going to lose any sleep over putting an affiliate link in a post and here are my top 3 reasons why:
► I've been blogging as Stix on the Beach for over a decade without monetization! You know by now my intentions here are good, not greedy.
► It's important to me to make a go at being a stay-at-home-work-from-home-mom. My monthly income expectations aren't out of touch with reality — I'd be happy being able to pay for cable and a box of diapers. And yarn. Always yarn.
► You are welcome to take advantage of my opinions, reviews, suggestions and recommendations, but I'll never take advantage of your trust. I scour the Internets when interested in buying a pattern book or knitting gadget — looking for pics, YouTubes and reading only grammatically-correct testimonials. I want to provide you with that kind of in-depth look and feedback on my own fabulous finds so you are also a more informed, spur-of-the-moment consumer too.
AFFILIATED PROGRAMS
Stix on the Beach (Jill Elliott) is a participant in several affiliate programs designed to provide a means for blogger like myself to earn a few extra dollars (for Huggies & Red Heart Super Saver Yarn) by advertising & linking to Amazon.com.
► HOW IT WORKS: When you click on an affiliate link or banner located on StixOnTheBeach.com to purchase an item, you buy the item directly from the seller (e.g., Amazon.com). Amazon and/or other companies pay me a small commission (or other compensation) for promoting their products and/or services through their affiliate program. Since the majority of my affiliate links direct to Amazon, I'll explain their process: I use my unique embedded code when linking products in blog posts (or on sidebars). If you place an item in your shopping cart via that link within 24 hours, I receive a small percentage of the sale. If you click on the product link and continue to shop Amazon and purchase something else or in combination with, I will also get commission on that sale and you'll be helping a hookah out.
LEGAL
In 2015, the Federal Trade Commission released their new Endorsement Guides for Disclosure Compliance. The Guides, at their core, reflect the basic truth-in-advertising principle that endorsements must be honest and not misleading. In short, bloggers need to be upfront if they are making money by sharing a link or raving about a product. So without further ado:
This policy is valid from September 1, 2016.
This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me, Jill Elliott. For questions about this blog, please contact [email protected]
This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. I, Jill Elliott, believes in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.
Even though I may receive compensation for my posts or advertisements, I always give my honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely those of my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.