When I signed up to work with PayPerPost back in July, I was a bit skeptical.  The idea of writing sponsored articles for cash sounded a little too good to be true.

I've mentioned before that I didn't go all out at the beginning.  I waited until I got paid.

These days I'm getting paid in dividends from working with PayPerPost.  PayPerPost specializes in blog marketing to advertisers looking to sponsor articles.  Its a relatively new industry with very little competition.  Here's the great part about it, aside from the fact that I've made over a thousand dollars from the service so far.

The great part about it is that I'm getting first exposure to some great products, services, companies, and information about what's happening on the internet.  Lots of companies will cry about their inability to penetrate through to anyone or to ever get any good press.  They don't have a friend in the media world, or just can't get a break.

The companies that work through PayPerPost get a break into the blogosphere.  They get access to thousands of blogs around the world.  They get a number of other benefits that help their business on the internet as well.

As a blogger, I get information.  The information and connections I've made with companies working with PayPerPost have enabled me to build better blogs, write better articles, promote my own websites and blogs better and more.  I was introduced to one company after writing about them with PayPerPost.  I signed up for the companies free service.  On my web site Best of Viral Videos I now get 10% of my new visitors from that company and the services I was introduced to by PPP.

I received an email today out of the blue from a company that is a long time partner (sometimes customer and sometimes supplier).  They had read my article about a new software and service company and wanted to learn how they could combine some of their services and software with that company.

We're now working on building a video seminar to demonstrate the capability and spread the knowledge of the capability around the internet.  It benefits my partner, it benefits the new software service company and it benefits my readers and my readership.

Now, I'll be honest, PayPerPost is a new company.  They are going through many growing pains and changing and evolving almost every day.  As is the case with any start up its usually a two steps forward one step back approach, but they are trying.

Many critics have talked about the potential for PayPerPost advertisers to take advantage of bloggers by paying for reviews.  This isn't really the case.  Bloggers pick and choose what works for them and write accordingly.  There's no better way to exercise democracy than in a free market where votes are recorded in dollars. 

I've also heard complaints that bloggers own writing efforts will be harmed by taking on too many sponsors.  I've found this to be a misconception as well.  If anything, having a regular round of sponsors increases most bloggers motivation to blog more effectively.  More blogs are treating their blogs like businesses focused on pleasing their customers, the readers.  Without the readers the sponsors would not be interested in the blogs.

The money plays a huge part in allotting a bloggers priorities a little bit more to writing more, writing better, and writing more effectively.  My readership has grown since I started writing for PPP.  Much of this growth has come from Google searches.  I produce more content because I am more motivated to produce content.  The more content I have available the more people that find me, and this in turn is translating into an increase in subscribers as well.

I've heard PPP criticized for exposing their bloggers to advertisers that are themselves offering up services or sites that are MFA's or spammy or many other things.  I know from first hand experience that PayPerPost vigorously screens their advertisers for anything that might detract from their name or potentially harm their bloggers or even lead to something that is a scam.  Advertisers need to come to the table with a complete plan of how they wish to take their campaign to the blog market and if its up to speed, PayPerPost will approve it.  They do everything in their power to protect bloggers, the web, and their company image.  This selectivity should serve to maintain the brand staying power and the effectiveness of this new medium of blog marketing.