Dianne Jacob, Will Write For Food

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

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New FTC Rules For Endorsing Products Online

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You know the rules, right? If you live in the US and you are endorsing products online, you must disclose that you received payment or payment in kind.

This rule applies to using social media too. So if you want to write sponsored posts — where you promote a product or service — or get paid to promote products on social media, there are new rules. Let’s go through them.
Updated FTC Rules on Endorsing Products Online

According to the FTC in its most recent update on endorsing products online:

1. Do you have to disclose? Yes. These rules come from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US, which protects consumers and promotes competition.

If you don’t live in the US, these rules do not apply. But they are a best practice. Please consider adopting them anyway.

2. What does it mean to endorse? Let’s say you show a photo of a product, or discuss a product or service in a positive way. Those things are [Read more…] about New FTC Rules For Endorsing Products Online

Are You Making These 2 Mistakes When Writing Sponsored Posts?

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Sponsored-posts

Are you working for brands for peanuts? Those are $1 bills, yet many food bloggers take them.

I meet lots of food bloggers at conferences who are writing sponsored posts. Here are two stories of their first experiences that didn’t turn out well:

1. Prioritizing the brand over readers.

In the Q&A after my talk, a food blogger wanted to know why readers suddenly unsubscribed from her blog after she wrote sponsored posts.

She said she usually buys a years’ supply at a time from a particular nut company. Eventually she [Read more…] about Are You Making These 2 Mistakes When Writing Sponsored Posts?

It’s Official: Readers Don’t Like Sponsored Posts

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TrustAre readers of online content comfortable with sponsored posts? According to a new study, no. Most are confused and feel deceived.

Sponsored posts, for those not in the know, is also known as advertorial or native advertising. In our field, it means a company has paid (in cash or in kind) a blogger or website writer to write an endorsement. It must be disclosed as such, according to the FTC.

I first questioned writing content in exchange for pay or [Read more…] about It’s Official: Readers Don’t Like Sponsored Posts

Q&A: Recipe Girl's Lori Lange on Working With Brands

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Lori Lange of Recipe Girl is in her 4th year of writing sponsored posts. (Photo by Amy Boring)

Lori Lange‘s food blog, Recipe Girl, made last year’s list of one of the top food blogs in the US, according to The Daily Meal. Upbeat and energetic, Lori never seems to run out of easy meal ideas.

One of the things that interests me about her blog is the way Lori works with food companies. As you know, I’m a hard nut to crack on the subject of sponsored posts. I’m no longer opposed to writing them, but I get frustrated by how few food bloggers write about products well.

Lori takes a professional approach, writing directly to potential clients in a “Work with Me” page, and creating straightforward, non-advertorial posts that always disclose she’s been [Read more…] about Q&A: Recipe Girl's Lori Lange on Working With Brands

5 Dumb Reasons to Write about Products

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In advance of my talk on ethics for Food Blog South this weekend, I’ve been researching product posts and thinking about what motivates people to write them.

I’ve been trying not to get annoyed when I see so many problematic posts, but it’s not working. So I thought I’d get this subject off my chest.

Of course YOU don’t make dumb decisions like this. But I bet you’ve read lots of posts that make you shake your head. What were these people thinking? I bet I know:

1. This came in my email. I’m so humbled and honored to be chosen! This explains why a food blogger raves about a car, or frozen peas when her blog is about candy.

2. A company gave me this for free. I owe them so much! Other than a polite reply and a responsible discussion, bloggers don’t owe [Read more…] about 5 Dumb Reasons to Write about Products

Should Food Bloggers Write Sponsored Posts?

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An urgent email from a p.r. person offered me payment of $50 per post if I would write 9 to 15 posts about a bakery chain over the next three months.

Obviously, she had never looked at my blog, because I don’t qualify. And anyway, I wouldn’t do it.

The question remained, however: Should food bloggers write sponsored posts, and under what circumstances?

In the email, the p.r. person took it upon herself to suggest what I might post about:

  1. Sharing recipes from the bakery
  2. Talking about what breaking bread means to you
  3. Sharing your thoughts on going to the bakery
  4. Linking to video assets of cooking /baking lessons.

(And if I wrote the maximum of 5 posts per month, that would be 15 posts @$50 each = $750.)

The p.r. person also wanted me to drive traffic to the bakery’s website on Facebook and participate in a Twitter party. I’d get a few free meals from the bakery. I’d also get a guaranteed minimum payment of [Read more…] about Should Food Bloggers Write Sponsored Posts?

Separating Hype, Opinion and Journalism

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imagesWhen a food blogger emailed me recently to say she had just heard “puff piece” for the first time, I wondered who else had never heard of this term.

Her email led me to ponder the differences between hype, opinion and journalism, especially in blogs. I’m concerned, because some 84 percent of Americans say online customer evaluations influence their purchases, according to an Opinion Research Corp. survey. That means if you recommend [Read more…] about Separating Hype, Opinion and Journalism