Every single day someone out there is supporting or criticizing with an idea or with someone simply because they have a financial interest in some idea. Such trends are concepts of manipulation. Agreeing or disagreeing with someone or an idea simply because you have some monetary interest in the issue, and you do not reveal the existence of that monetary interest, means that you are manipulating everyone else involved in the issue.

Imagine if today I criticized your blog publicly and said that your blog was a waste of time and energy in this universe. Now imagine that tomorrow you find out that I have opened a competing blog to yours, and the only reason I criticized your blog today was to ruin its reputation or to destroy it and to enable my own blog to survive and make money. How much respect would you have for me then? Take that exact concept and apply it to many situations in the online world.

Following are 2 examples of this manipulation tactic: one is clear, while the other is shady and debatable because not all of such behavior means something or someone is being manipulated on purpose from all sides.

Matt opposed sponsored Wordpress themes in order to earn money

Matt criticized the idea of sponsored Wordpress themes earlier this year. Matt said that other people called him names, and I agree with him that such a thing was not the most effective way to get Matt to listen to something. Matt himself has used the word “rats” to refer to his opposers and everyone who supported the idea of having paid links in another program, Vanilla, so I am guessing the name-calling game is something you can expect to encounter online on an almost balanced level. However, what Matt did not mention to those “rats” and anyone else back then, including RA Project readers in the thread titled “Case Study - the Pros and Cons of banning sponsored wordpress themes“, was that his own company was coming up with WordPress Marketplace, which would benefit financially from the demise of sponsored Wordpress themes.

Matts’ company, through WordPress Marketplace, will get a 50% percentage cut from Wordpress theme sales. I was more than right after all in my original post: Matt had and Matt has financial interest in the topic of Sponsored Wordpress themes, for many reasons I mentioned back then that are still valid, and for this new reason of taking a percentage cut also. I feel unappreciated, for Matt did not acknowledge the monetary factor as being the main reason back then, and now the real truth is out. I feel disrespected, as if someone had tried to manipulate me. Someone told me that since I myself use WordPress, I have to be able to reserve some green spotlight for Matt. I guess that is true, no?

What about CopyBlogger, Chris G, Darren Rowse, Daniel, others, and “Teaching Sells”?

How about the confusing, shady part where we do not know whether or not real money is involved? Not everyone is evil all the time, right? I agree, or at least I would like to hope so. My second example is a little bit more complex one on many levels, and involves many people. The free “Teaching Sells” report by the creator of Copy Blogger. Almost every other famous blogger talked about it, including Daniel on Daily Blog Tips and Chris G.

Within a week of those announcements, CopyBlogger launched the pro version of “Teaching Sells”, and upon further notice it seems that many bloggers had referral links to that program all along. That is fine, but here are some of the questions I ask myself: how many of these bloggers, who advertised the free report, knew that a paid version was coming out and promoted the content only to make sure more report copies sold for CopyBlogger? What benefit are they getting through using a referral url? How can people promote a 3-month course within 3 hours of its launch, when no one has taken it yet? Would it not have been better if it was declared in advance that everyone was using a referral link because the program would release a paid version very soon? Did the bloggers not tell their readers anything about the pro version on purpose, and many acted as a group to promote the product in order to make money?

Sure, there is nothing wrong with marketing, but I would like to know who is giving me sincere, honest and unbiased advice and who is trying to advertise someone elses’ product in order to mainly benefit themselves. Such a declaration of monetary or other interest would have kept many people, including myself, from even visiting the reports page to see what the fuss was about. I am guessing people like me are in the minority, people who care about the motives and reasons behind everything. Isn’t advertising a post that solely depends on a referral link the same as a paid post? That is where the confusion lies: how do you know what is being manipulated, and how do you know what is being given sincerely?

Why are people scared of talking openly about their love for money?

Why most people are scared of being honest about their financial interest is beyond me. What will happen if you say “I earn so and so from this“; will you die? Will you get abducted? Will you get slapped? One of the only main reasons that could exist for anyone always hiding their financial interest and manipulating others is to earn more than than is possible while behind honest. I guess greed is good, for people will still earn profit and survive if they simply expressed their financial interest in things. Quick question: isn’t this the area where John Chow is more honest than most other famous bloggers who do earn money but manipulate others into thinking that they care about readers more than money?

Blogging for monetary reasons

Darren Rowse blogs to make money online. Daniel blogs to make money online. Copy Blogger blogs to show example of his work in order to make money online and offline. Chris G blogs in order to make money online and offline through referrals and business contacts networking. John Chow blogs to make money online through his personal site and to send traffic back and forth to his main business site. How hard is it to express such and similar facts directly, in addition to producing quality content? A newspaper reminds you all the time how much it costs by listing the price on the front page; you know that the newspaper is making you money, and you value its content too. Why can’t bloggers follow suit?

Not blogging for money

I don’t know why one would say “I appreciate my readers” while manipulating those same readers by hiding personal or corporate financial interests that depends on the behavior of those readers. Many people are too scared to change trends, to declare personal financial interest, and to actually pinpoint the bad things they see in other things. That results in 2 groups of bloggers: those who blog for money directly or indirectly, and those who do not have any direct or indirect financial interest in blogging. Of course, blogging for money is not a bad thing, but I believe that those who blog for money are in a completely different class than those who do not blog for money, specially when intentions and reasons behind blogging are being considered.

Criticizing or supporting an idea for personal financial gains, without revealing such a fact, is manipulating people. Maybe the manipulators need to come up with new tactics so that they cannot be spotted easily. Whatever the case may be in any situation, it is better to explain and declare personal financial interests, whether in detail or not, when it comes to any topic we may be criticizing or supporting, at the expense of other peoples’ comfort. Try name-calling face to face in the offline world simply because you want to earn more money, and see what happens to you and your reputation.

What do you think, my dear readers? How much can I manipulate you all for? Any bidders out there who are willing to pay me to manipulate my readers? Can I get $100 if I lied to you, the readers? How about $1000? Do I hear an offer for $10,000? No one?

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