What is your soul worth?

They say every person has a price. What’s yours? I ask because from time to time I get emails from people that are interested in having me review some product, service or website here on the ol trail. As long time trail riders know it is more about the therapy and the passion not about the $$$. Now let’s not get crazy though (that’s what the therapy is for right?) I do certainly find cash to be more than just a little handy from time to time. I have just never had to use this blog as a revenue platform… just a place to hang out.

Enter the Soul Reaper

I was approached by a company looking to promote their service and asked how much it would cost for me to review it. I answered that I really had no set price, but if they wanted to tell me some more about the site and let me have a go at it with a demo account, I could then discuss it further. I though that was reasonable – if I like what they are promoting I am happy to give it some pixel time, if not I would politely decline.

The next email I received merely offered $45 and asked for my PayPal addy… erm… weird, I swear I was already starting some kind of dialogue here? Ok, what the f*ck ever, I went on about my business.

Once again today, there was another one-liner email inquiring about my availability to do a review and the PP addy to send my windfall of cash to.  Did these folks even READ my Blog? I can be a bit of a live grenade that lost the pin a long time ago and it seems unlikely they caught that. I shall of course resist the temptation to actually mention said peeps by name, as discretion is said to be the better part of valour.  But it is tempting….

Spare some change?

I have no idea where my would-be benefactors are located, but around here I couldn’t get out of the corner store without dropping $45 which means buying my soul in the form of blind sponsored endorsement is out of the question. Now, if you throw in say, 3 goats and a few chickens, we could be on to something here (hee hee). I know there are many bloggers out there that make a living as such and I have no problems with them, I do think the advertisers might want to do some homework before waving such huge wads of cash in the face of a volatile blogger.  All they really had to do was tell me some more and let me see the goods... WTF is so hard about that?

So tell me…. How much is your editorial integrity worth? We’re at $45, 3 Goats, 2 Chickens – suggestions welcomed.