Affiliation Disclaimer Disclosure and the "Right to Know"

Disclosures and disclaimers aren't sexy or fun, but they are necessary to give readers a true sense of whether a reviewer might have divided loyalties.  Even if you don't read much further in the text of this blog at least stay long enough to read the first three paragraphs that begin this post.  They are the primary message.

Most, but certainly not all, sex bloggers who do reviews on their site enter into some kind of affiliation with a company producing or marketing adult toys.  Some enter into a number of such relationships with various toy makers and vendors.  If we enter into any affiliate relationship with a company, it will be disclosed here in the body of the blog.

When we do informational reviews for products or vendors, we will clearly state at the end of the review whether we have any affiliation, or would receive any compensation /consideration in return for the review.  If we receive any free products to test, we will clearly state in a disclaimer at the end of the post that we received the item for review and did not purchase it for ourselves.

We haven't yet entered into any affiliate relationships ourselves, and we are currently debating if that direction is a good fit for us here at SpiritualBDSM.com.

You see, just as musicians have influences upon which they build their own style, writers also have influences and authors who have inspired or instructed.  While I can't say that my personal writing style was influenced by a sex blogger, or any other online source, the actual decision to become sex bloggers ourselves was inspired by a good number of today's blogs, as well as a couple I've followed but are no longer active.

Some of our favorite blogs are affiliated with one or more companies, and in some cases they might even derive a modest income from their blog.  Other's are clearly non-commercial with nary an advertisement or affiliation to be found.  We read both kind of blogs and enjoy them all.

 I've written professionally, I earned my living with my communications skills for the last 25 years.  As such it wouldn't be unreasonable for Serafina and I to seek affiliates and advertisers to garner some token compensation for our efforts here.  One example of a non fetish blog that I believe does this well is KenRockwell.com.  Ken's a professional photographer who supports himself with his website, not by having a pay site, but with a few select affiliations and with reader's donations.

On the other hand, about 5 years ago Serafina and I had a non-fetish related blog (that drew 1000 to 1500 unique visits per day) and we never once accepted any advertisement nor a single affiliation arrangement.  For legal reasons I let the domain and site expire while going thru a divorce - on principle I killed my effort rather than let it be taken over and monetized by my former spouse.

So, we are in progress of making decisions regarding affiliation with companies serving the adult toy and BDSM toy markets.  If we do choose to become affiliates of any vendor or manufacturer, we will announce it here among the blog's posts, not hidden away on some page that is rarely noticed.  

It is all based on our belief that readers have the right to know!