Christine Mielke is the owner and founder of Temptalia.com, a popular beauty blog and resource. This article is thus written primarily from a blogger’s perspective, but Christine is also a regular consumer who reads and trusts various blogs and bloggers for both beauty purchases as well as unrelated purchases so the commentary has some sense of a very blog-savvy consumer.

I would also (since I’m on a writing spree, it would appear) make a quick point about where many blogs diverge from similarities to print media. One of the reasons that there is so much distrust of glossy magazines is because we fear the magazines are getting paid to write good stuff about products.  I don’t work in print media and never have in the past, so I’m not going to address the validity or accuracy of that assumption/fear.  I think there is a very large distinction that holds true for many bloggers, though not at all, that I’d like to bring to your attention.

What is the blogger’s relationship with advertisers?

If a blog runs advertisements (and many do), what relationship does the blogger have with their advertisers?  Print media generally have direct relationships with advertisers, so the relationship is closer, more personal, and the like.  However, many bloggers utilize third-parties to run their advertising, and this includes major advertising networks like BlogAds, Federated, Glam Media, Google AdSense, etc.  Some bloggers (generally bigger and incredibly popular blogs of international acclaim) do sell their ads directly, so they do have direct relationships with advertisers–which is similar to print media.

Speaking from experience (I personally use Glam Media to handle my blog’s advertising), I rarely know what brand is going to advertise on my site in advance.  I don’t know what kind of ad they’re going to put (I just know the sizes), but my role is incredibly minimized.  I see ads like any visitor would – that’s how I tend to find out what brands advertised on my site.  Because I advertise this way, I don’t feel pressure from advertisers.  I don’t have to worry at all about mixing editorial with advertising and juggling those relationships together.

Advertising doesn’t mean a blogger isn’t honest.

Again, it’s all about establishing trust between you and the blogs you read.  If you find them credible, then it’s unlikely that advertising plays a significant role in how they write or how they review products.  This statement just isn’t inherently true.  Advertising is a means for your favorite blogger to make the blog bigger and better for you as a reader.  Earning revenue, whether they want it to be a full-time job or keep it as a hobby, is a good thing and supports your favorite blogger.

For me, earning revenue means that I don’t have to seek out a part-time job and have more time to blog.  It’s about finding what I love to do and working hard to find a way to get paid to do that.  One of my goals in life is to get paid to do what I love, whatever that may be at the time.  That’s such a huge key to happiness, and I continue to work towards making that a reality.