As a self employed writer I do accept payment for work on Welsh Mum of One. Whilst I try to write my own content and share my day to day life as a first time mum, you may come across advertising and sponsored posts on my website and social media. Sometimes it’s really confusing when writers and influencers use different words to mean different things, so I’ve written up this quick guide that applies to the content that I produce so you can see exactly what’s going on.
I only work with companies that I believe are a good fit for my you, things I’d be happy to read about, see and use myself.
At the top of a post where I received something in exchange for writing it, you’ll find the sentence:
“This post is a ….. ” and a link to this guide. Here’s what it means:
Review
If I state the post is a review at the start, this means I was sent something as a gift and asked to share my opinion. I did not pay for the item, but since it was a review, I am free to share my own positive or negative thoughts on it and I’ll share my genuine feelings. I was not otherwise paid or compensated. I will try to include exactly what was provided, for example “This post is a review, I was provided with a pair of free tickets to attend this event.”
Note that I write a LOT of reviews where I purchased the item or attended the attraction myself. If I paid for 100% of things myself, then I will not post a disclosure at the top of the page at all.
Collaborative Post
A collaborative post means I’m working with a brand to share something on their behalf. I’ll be paid for this work, might attend an event or receive a free product in addition to payment, depending on the campaign. In most cases money does change hands, but I won’t accept a campaign that I don’t believe is a good fit and I’ll always make sure I’m providing you with genuine information, but there will be at least one commercial link involved.
Guest Post
A guest post is written by someone else, but I wasn’t paid for it at all and neither was the writer. Instead, guest posts are written by other bloggers and we both benefit. I get high quality genuine content to share with you, and the blogger receives a back link to their website. No money exchanged hands and the links in this post are not commercial.
Collaborative Guest Post
This means I didn’t write the content myself, but instead allowed an external writer to produce the content, and I was paid for hosting it on my website. The reason I get paid is that this post will include at least one commercial link to another website or company.
Affiliate Links
If I state that a post contains affiliate links this means I may get a small amount of money if you decide to buy the product or sign up for the website involved.
Social Media
I use the following hashtags on social media
#gifted – I received something for free
#ad – I received money.
