Hopping on the Gravy Train

July 13, 2009 | Uncategorized

When I was a kid I wasn’t the most punctual person, often staying in bed until the very last minute — no, make that the very last second — until I had to get up and go to school. To this day I can still hear my father telling me that I’m going to be late for my own funeral.

And then this morning I saw an article in The New York Times about bloggers getting products for free for reviews as well as being paid for some blog mentions. Freebies? Moolah for mentions? Oh God, I thought, I’m late again.

According to the Times, there’s an online marketing company called Izea in Orlando, Fla., that has created “PayPerPost” and claims it has 25,000 active advertisers ranging from Sea World to small online retailers. Izea sends promotional info to 265,000 bloggers paying them an average of $34 a post each time they mention one of the company’s advertisers.

Also, says the NYT, Better Homes and Gardens gave another blogger a $500 gift certificate to do a bedroom makeover in her house — using BH&G’s new line of home furnishings, of course — and also paid her a fee for providing a review to BetterHomesandGardens.com. Her efforts also extended beyond decorating tips — the Ford Motor Company flew her to Detroit this year for a test drive of its Fusion hybrid.

How dumb can I be? All these years I’ve been working for our public relations clients while I could have just sat back with a gin and tonic writing blogs all day, getting money and freebies for every mention.

Well, I guess it’s time to get moving and begin raking in all those bennies the Times wrote about, so here goes: Paris, JetBlue, Abercrombie & Kent, Tahiti, American Airlines, Ritz Carlton, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, The Leading Hotels of the World, Air France and Rolls Royce. Oh, and Bombay Sapphire Gin and Schweppes tonic. There, that should keep me busy for a while.

I may have been late but boy am I going to catch up.

“Hey honey - what was the name of that South Pacific island you always wanted to go to?”

Jim Ferri