Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

Useful Tips, Interviews, and Stories to Inspire Food Writers and Bloggers

Food Blogging

A Blogger Takes Me to Task on Freebies

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You know how sometimes things come back to bite you in the butt? It just happened to me.

Recently I wrote a piece about accepting a free water purifier. At the end, I pointed to Katie’s  Nesting Spot, where Katie wrote a long, enthusiastic post about the pitcher and offered it as a giveaway. I wanted to show that even though I was not willing to do this, hundreds of other bloggers were, and here was a good example.

Being new to blogging, I forgot that Katie could see where her hits were coming from. After a few days, she sent a comment to the blog post:

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“I have been watching this comment thread with some interest. I have to say that I do not consider the pitcher a freebie. I consider it a form of payment for the PR post I wrote and giveaway I managed. I consider it along the lines of an advertisement, and unlike ad buttons this one wasn’t up front and center for an extended period of time.

“As one of your readers pointed out, I did clearly state that I was given the pitcher to review and that the opinions I gave were uninfluenced by the sponsor. In fact, I was told to post whatever I wanted even it was negative. No parameters were put on the content.

“I have turned down several compensated posts and review offers because they are not something I would really use or are not appropriate for my family. In terms of review blogs I am very, very, small potatoes so I was rather shocked [Read more…] about A Blogger Takes Me to Task on Freebies

FTC Backpedals on Disclosure for Reviews

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Okay, now this is getting strange. First, as mentioned previously, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) created a big flap a few weeks ago when it said it will fine bloggers $11,000 if they endorse a product without admitting they got the product for free. Now, at least one FTC official is backpedaling or clarifying, depending on how charitable you want to be.

The good news: Book reviewers are safe.  The bad news: Those Amazon links on your website may not be.

According to an article in Publisher’s Weekly, FTC lawyer Mary Engle said at a blogger conference that writers with a “personal blog, writing a genuine or organic review,” did not need to disclose [Read more…] about FTC Backpedals on Disclosure for Reviews

My Bad. I Took a Freebie

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At the 2009 BlogHer Food conference in San Francisco, I passed a booth where I could either take a free water purifier (and lug a bulky box around all day) or have one sent to my address.

My husband Owen and I discussed getting a new water purifier recently. Our old one was crusty from deposits in the water, and no amount of scrubbing removed the stains. So without thinking, I forgot about the third option available to me: keep walking. I gave the public relations person my address.

Back at the office the following Monday, going through cards and flyers, yet another company offered to send me a free chopper and grater. I thought about whether I could use it before acknowledging the truth: my site doesn’t review or mention kitchen products, and I have no business taking one. Then I realized I had no business asking for the purifier either. I felt my throat tighten.

When the  cardboard box arrived on the porch, at first I was excited by having a mysterious package [Read more…] about My Bad. I Took a Freebie

New Disclosure Law for Bloggers: $11,000 Fine

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imagesAs mentioned in a previous (and my most popular) post on accepting freebies, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) now targets bloggers in its updated guides on endorsements and testimonials. If you write about a product or service, and don’t disclose that you got something for free, you risk a fine of $11,000.

Before you freak out, let’s review the categories that might require disclosure if you choose to write favorably about them:

1. Free products or services (also called product-in-kind) including:

  • books from publishers meant for review, even if you’re given a book at an event
  • a goodie bag you get at an event
  • kitchen equipment sent for possible review
  • prepared foods sent for review or mention
  • free service, such as Sur La Table sharpening your kitchen knives.

If you’re involved in a viral marketing program, such as General Mills MyBlogSpark program, you must say so. (If you don’t know about this kind of program, welcome to the new world of inexpensive marketing. According to an article in AdWeek, “General Mills contacted 100 mom and food bloggers in conjunction with the launch of a new blueberry acai flavor of its Yoplait Yo-Plus yogurt. It provided coupons to try the product as well as tote bags and other swag to give to readers. General Mills also sent out key product messages touting the yogurt’s health benefits…Overall, the program resulted in 5 million total impressions and over 8,000 comments with no media costs. [General Mills does not buy ads on blogs, Witt said.]”

2. Free trips or free meals at restaurants or events.

3. Nice blogging gigs for pay, such the National Pork Board, Pork, Knife & Spoon. (Are there other examples? I’d love to hear about them.)

4. Independent reviews in exchange for cash. I’m sure none of you do this, where you get paid to endorse a product by writing positive comments on blogs and websites. Plenty of unethical people are willing even if you aren’t, and I hope  the FTC fines them all. Still, if you get a book for free and write a positive review on Amazon without disclosing, that could be a problem.

Now, let’s get to the wording. I suspect saying “ScharffenBerger sent me this new baking chocolate”  or “a sponsor gave me this” is not specific enough. The FTC rule says “bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.” You have to say you got it for free, or that you were compensated. Conversely, if you bought the item, it seems more important than ever to say so, to cover yourself. And if you don’t have a policy on your blog about receiving free products and services, now’s a good time to write one. Of course, if you don’t review items you receive, or if you return them, these rules don’t apply.

The good news is that individual bloggers are not the target of this ruling, according to an interview with Richard Cleland of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. It’s more about going after advertisers, he says. Still, the best practice is transparency in writing, and being held accountable to your readers, who trust you. I hope this new ruling results in fewer positive reviews now that bloggers might feel less beholden, or more honesty about personal reasons for trashing or praising.

Thanks to Mary Margaret Pack, Carole Bidnick and Faith Kramer for sending me links for this post. They were free and I did use them.

So, are you ready for this new law? Do you already have a process in place? Let me know how your food blogging will or will not change.

The Pioneer Woman and Her Intimate Voice

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pdubLast Saturday I was a panelist on a BlogHer Food panel about voice and identity. Audience members were particularly interested in how personal they should be in their posts. It’s a good question, figuring out what to reveal, what only to imply, and what not to say.

Or at least that’s what I thought it was about. To process my thoughts, I looked at the writing of our panel’s biggest celebrity, Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman Cooks. She has 13 million annual visitors, according to the Los Angeles Times.

While on our panel, Ree said she writes “like I’m talking to my sister or my best friend.” Now, I don’t know about you, but you can be pretty personal with those kinds of people. But I couldn’t find much intimate content at all when I examined her cooking blog. [Read more…] about The Pioneer Woman and Her Intimate Voice

The Thrill of BlogHer Food

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P1100134 BlogHer Food in San Francisco was one long day of group hug. It started at the networking breakfast at 8 a.m. and ended at the after-party thrown by Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen, Ree Drummond of The Pioneer Woman Cooks and Elise Bauer of Simply Recipes beginning at 8 p.m.

Here you can see just part  of the crowd, everyone talking at once in deafening volume, in the hallway in front of the bookseller.

Read about the party… I mean conference, on these early posts from Carrots ‘N Cake and Kath Eats Real Food. Well, girls just want to have fun. And we did.

Sponsors, who subsidized the cost of the event, prevailed between the sessions. Hunky Chef Rocco DiSpirito hawked Bertolli frozen meals over a grouimagesp lunch while they actually served us the frozen pasta as entrees. (Hello?!) Celebrity chef and Citizen Cake owner Elizabeth Faulkner demoed with Scharffen-Berger during a break, and booth people plied us with cans of chicken stock and spray Pillsbury frosting for a cupcake challenge. A classy cocktail party on the rooftop sponsored by Campbell’s Soup Co. capped off the official part of the day. I was so excited about seeing bloggers in person after reading their work online and Twittering and Facebooking with them, I almost didn’t mind.

And oh yeah, we went to sessions on such topics as the blogger’s voice (where I was a panelist), best practices, and new opportunities. More on what I learned later. First I need to lie down.

Did you go or write a post about the day? Have a comment? Let me know.

P.S. Updates: More reports on the conference from Simply Recipes. 

The Writer's Voice: What Is It?

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imagesIn preparation for the panel I’m on at BlogHer Food 09 in San Francisco tomorrow, I thought I’d say a few words about voice.

Why is voice important? It’s because you have a personality that  comes through in  your writing. You might express your unique self through level of language, the length of your sentences, the way you approach a subject. You’ll know when it feels right when you read back your work. It will sound like you and feel comfortable. Without voice, your writing will be bland, and you won’t come through as an individual.

Can you describe your voice? It’s an elusive thing.  Ask a friend to describe it to you. Here are a few adjectives that might apply:

  • knowledgeable
  • friendly
  • honest
  • self-deprecating
  • companionable
  • poetic
  • confessional
  • obsessive
  • high-energy.

Think about voice as a philosophy about what you want to get across in your blog. Here are some examples:

  • If I can make this, you can make this
  • Girls just want to have fun
  • I’m going to get this right if I have to do it 100 times.

The best answer to creating a strong voice is just to keep writing, to let your voice develop and deepen over time. Take this advice from A Writer’s Coach: The Complete Guide to Writing Strategies That Work, a book [Read more…] about The Writer's Voice: What Is It?