There's an intriguing value inversion going on there. Sometimes (maybe even quite often) the ten bucks are worth more than advisory board membership.

Chris may be on to something ;)

all men are born equal i.e. they're all for sale at the right price buah ha ha ha ha.

the real trouble is, of course, when you try to sell yourself but can't find a buyer.

So, how does this differ from the press tickets reviewers get?

I wrote a bit of a ramble on this over on my blog, but I don't have any firm conclusions....

Lis: I think there's a tiny bit of difference in terms of review freebies are generally not worth converting into cash - but that's a difference in degree, not a difference in kind. Moreover, review freebies are more culturally accepted because they go to pundit "insiders", rather than cheap-labor "outsiders". In the joke above, it's the difference between "Would you have sex with me for dinner and a show?" versus "Would you have sex with me for $100?"

I'm a whore. I'll admit it. :)
http://engtech.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/reviewmecom-reviewed-a-look-at-the-algorithm-from-a-bloggers-point-of-view/

Good post, Seth. I especially like the use of the joke to prove your point. I'm adding you to my rss reader.

This is a really really interesting summary of this emerging bit of marketing and money making.

As a poor recent graduate, I'm often REALLY TEMPTED to try and get into paid blogging because 1.) I'm a decent writer (which necessarily leads to...item no. 2) 2.) I'm good at making it sound like I'm excited about stuff (aka "I can also write fiction!"), and 3.) I really REALLY could use the money.

But ethics do and SHOULD play a bigger role in anyone's decision to do this.

In an ideal world, the theory of reflecting actual social value of the internet through organic linking and search engine algorithms valuing that organic linking is AWESOME.

In reality, there are always going to be poor kids like me, and/or companies looking for more exposure so that they can make a little more dough so they can afford to hire more people and support their own products (which may actually be great products too btw!) as well.

I hope that some kind of balance or widely accepted "best practices" convention could emerge from this that could keep us all ethical AND able to pay back our financial aid bills.

This is a really really interesting summary of this emerging bit of marketing and money making.
http://seo-learn.blogspot.com/