This document provides 10 tips for bloggers to follow ethical business practices when working with brands: 1. Be transparent in dealings and disclosures when endorsing brands. 2. Always credit sources. 3. Do research on brands before endorsing them. 4. Choosing how to get compensated for endorsements is the blogger's choice. 5. Prepare for backlash or judgment when openly endorsing brands. It also advises brands to create interesting, relevant content centered around their brand idea, and to understand each media segment's strengths to leverage them effectively. The overall message is to maintain transparency and do proper research to avoid conflicts of interest.

1. Ethics & the business of
blogging: 10 tips to live by
@bhatnaturally
www.bhatnaturally.com

2. ethics |ˈɛθɪks|
plural noun
1 [ usu. treated as pl. ] moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the
conducting of an activity: medical ethics also enter into the question.
2 [ usu. treated as sing. ] the branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles.
neither metaphysics nor ethics is the home of religion.

3. “Those are my principles,
and if you don't like them...
well, I have others.
~ Groucho Marx

4. Blogging: it is not just about writing
unfettered on a whim, anymore.

5. Responsibility: to yourself, to your
readers across platforms & maybe
brands.

6. Blogger
Readers &
followers
Agency Brand owner
‘Yay, money! But do
I have to write this?’
‘This person has
sold out to brands!’
[Or]
‘Let me check out
the brand…’
‘Blogger outreach
rocks! Now let’s
reach out to a
blogger…any
blogger’
‘I pay, so I demand
that the blogger
writes great things
about my brand’

7. S
• Blogger: not stating expectations
& terms clearly upfront
• Reader: feeling that the blogger
has ‘sold out’ or questioning
credentials
• Brands & agencies: not doing
basic homework; expecting all to
oblige with blog posts, one size
fits all approach; starting off
without a clear purpose
Sources of exasperation

8. Ethics & the business of
blogging: 10 tips to live by

9. 1. I will be transparent
in my dealings &
disclosures.

10. 2. I will always
credit my sources.

11. 3. If I choose to endorse
a brand, I will do a lot of
homework about it.

12. 4. If I choose to endorse a
brand, how I get
compensated for it (or not) is
my choice.

13. 5. I shall be prepared for
backlash, judgmental jibes
when I openly endorse a
brand

14. 6. My being ‘professional’ is
not limited to demanding
on-time payment alone.

15. 7. Dear brands, you can request
me to write about your brand
or content for free, but it is not
an obligation from my end.

16. 8. I shall steer clear
of conflict of interest.

17. 9. I shall place a disclaimer
and privacy policy (if
collecting user data)

18. 10. I will not steal images from
Google search. I will use Pixabay,
Photo Pin and other free
resources and credit images.

19. One more thing…

20. 11. I believe the chances of me
writing about a product or
content voluntarily is higher with
great products and great content.

21. If you are a brand owner…
• Getting bloggers to write and tweet about your brand is not an
objective
• Create content which is
- interesting
- relevant to the audience
- held together with a brand idea
• Understand that each segment (bloggers, specialist media etc.) have
unique strengths & weaknesses; use them to your brand’s advantage

22. That’s all, folks!
Big thanks to @saffrontrail for her
inputs on this presentation.

23. Wishing you productive blogging.
Thank You.
@bhatnaturally