A Send off From Momcentral.com

Note: Version three of this blog post

I am a huge admirer of Stacy DeBroff. This woman, the CEO of Momcentral.com, is a marketing genius and a fantastic business model built around one of her own passions– being a mom.

And yeah, I’m a little jealous. She’s wildly successful, spending many early mornings with Matt Lauer! Besides, jealousy is normal —  culturally woman are built to compete, even if our talent sets are incompatible.

Despite all that, I am not that bummed that Stacy DeBroff emailed me personally to tell me I could no longer be a part of her world. (Previously I was reviewing products for Momcentral.com.)

Stacy took issue with my post from July 28. In her email to me she said I “trashed” the products they had offered to review and did not respect “any relationship” I had with them.

I responded to Stacy, reiterating my view on blog integrity, and the blurring of the line between “promotion” and “reviews” (through the venue of mostly-amateur bloggers plied with cash and gifts). She didn’t reply, so I want to offer her and the tiny world that reads my blog the follow advice.

A Bloggers’s Guide to Ethical Product Reviews

1. No you aren’t a journalist. Obviously. But if you are given a product to review, review it. You are getting paid $20 or so (maybe more depending on actual retail price of that camera they sent you), so WORK! Get to know what you talking about. Answer the following two questions.

  • Is it good? Say why. Readers need details!
  • Is it crap? Say why. Be useful for heavens sake!

2. Remember, no matter what airhead promoters tell you: all press is good press. So don’t worry if the review is negative. Maybe Cinnabon won’t send you anymore snack bars, but your waistline will thank you for it.

Your welcome Stacy. No charge for this post, btw.

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