Thanks to Christine Garipoli who has a new local business online called "The Write Touch - Invitations and Printing" and who has purchased a Paid Business Link on NewsOverCoffee.
When you call or email Christine directly to place your order you save 20% - not the first time, every time you order, compared to 10% (still pretty good) ordering online.
The company provides invitation and printing services for any and all types of functions, events, celebrations, and a full line of business products (business cards, full color folders, letterhead, promotional products, etc.).
Visit www.thewritetouch.cceasy.com and receive a 10% discount on your order, OR contact Christine and receive a 20% discount!
For more information you can visit the website: www.thewritetouch.cceasy.com, email the_write_touch@verizon.net, or call 610.759.4541.
25 comments:
I opened with this sentence,
"Thanks to Christine Garipoli who has a new local business online called "The Write Touch - Invitations and Printing" and who has purchased a Paid Business Link on NewsOverCoffee."
Doesn't this cover it?
I can make invitations, too. With a computer and laser printer.
Paid business links are one thing. But these little promotional essays are bad for blogging. I had signed up on a site for this. But when push came to shove and I was actually offered $ to promote as product, I couldn't do it. It diminishes credibility. You won't find mainstream media reporters who write puff pieces for the paper's paid advertisers.
Ross, I like money as much as anyone else, and think your idea of having paid business links, fully diclosed, is fine. But this goes too far. It is not something you mentioned when you said you would start accepting links.
I just puffed a local business - a magician. My motive was not pecuniary. I meant it. But when bloggers wave pom poms for local businesses who pay them, they detract from the credibility of all blogs.
Please reconsider this practice of writing puff pieces.
Ross is the Howard Stern of bloggers. I can hear him now .... Ahhhhh, Snapple
See what I mean? Thanks, Ross.
Obviously we see this a bit differently.
I've offered a paid business link, a post describing the business and including contact information, and a pinpoint on the business map showing the location and including contact information.
I see this as a service to the readers and businesses that allows me to be compensated for some of the time and effort I put in. A quintessential win-win-win.
The post may be viewed as a puff piece, but for people who are new to the area or for a business, it is a way to share information. It is also a way for small businesses to have an online presence at little cost, because they can link to the post I create without having to have a web site to maintain and manage.
I also don't see how I 'waved pom-poms'.
There was no false claim that I use this service everyday and so should you! Not one. I stated in the first sentence it was a purchased paid business link. And it is one time only to announce the new paid link.
I know there are companies that pay bloggers to promote products and services, often with no disclosure, and I don't think you can lump what I am doing with them.
Further, how often do you see travel reporters in the newspaper disclose that they did not have to pay for their trip to review the location? How many product reviews disclose if the product was purchased at cost or mailed to them at no charge, to keep, for review? How many concert reviews disclose if they paid for the ticket or were invited? How many tickets does the media purchase to cover sporting events? When I went to events as press at the speedway the media not only expected access, they complained about the free outback steak lunches they got! Many expect hot dogs and soda during halftime at HS football games.
I don't think describing a business and noting where it is located and how to get in touch with it because they've purchased a paid link one time is a bad thing. I've been upfront with it and am not tricking anyone or hiding anything. I'm announcing a new Paid Business Link company.
And Howard is subscription only...don't see me going there.
Now this is misleading read the article here.
A new service allows ads to be included in the copy of journalists' stories (ironically this was in my work email I didn't go searching for it).
The word is a hyper link that when a user mouses over the add pops up. The journalists story's words become ads for products.
If I do this you have a right to be mad at me;-)
I see this as a service to the readers and businesses
Ross!
I better break out the hip boots. It's getting deep in here. A blog post about "The Write Stuff" is no service to your readers. It's a ervice to you. You're getting paid and "The Write Stuff" is getting promoted. But it's no service to the community. It's win-win-lose, if you ask me.
And your argument that you're just doing what the mainstream does is basically untrue. My own experience has been that I can't even copy a page (for a quarter) for any reporter from either of our local papers. They insist on paying their own way, and make an effort to keep a wall between advertising and news or editorials.
I spoke to a local newsman about some of your comments. He tells me most travel reports at local papers are done by reporters who paid their own way and simply write about it.
A reporter who covers a sporting event should be admitted free because he really is providing a community service.
What you've done is tear down the dividing wall between reporting and puffing. In your main column, you're telling readerrs why they should use the serrvices of an outfit that paid you. You've stepped over the line.
Like I said, I have no problem with paid business links. But this paid cheerleading for a local business is very damaging to your credibility. I think it also damages mine, and I don't need your help for that.
I ask you to reconsider this practice. We all like money, but that's no reason to sell out.
I've been upfront with it and am not tricking anyone or hiding anything.
You disclosed you were going to accept paid business links. You did not disclose you also would write promotional pieces.
Ahhhhh, Snapple
Bernie, obviously we have different perspectives on this.
The disclosure I made was in the post where I said the business purchased a paid business link. It was in the first sentence. The previous post you are referencing was one in which I was floating ideas. Since that post I gave it more thought and came up with a package I was comfortable with.
I also didn't say I was doing what the media does, I simply said the media wasn't as pure as you made it out to be.
Further, I don't put myself out there as a reporter. A reporter would not participate in Public Comment at a meeting. I'm not treated as a reporter at the meetings and I don't expect to be. I'm a citizen who goes to meetings and writes about them.
Back to this post, I've not told people to use the service, I've noted that a new paid business link has been added to the site and explained what the business does in that businesses' words.
I don't see this as being a sell-out, nor do I see how it undermines writing about a Council meeting.
You also note that it is a lose for the readers. I'd point out that people read directories for a reason, they serve a purpose. They help people find services and businesses.
Both the paid links and map will help people do that. And people make money producing and selling directories and advertisers do so because they make money by having customers who find them via advertising. This doesn't mean the reader loses, it means they find the service or business they were looking for quickly.
Again, I have to agree to disagree on this. If people feel it undermines the other information the site provides, that is their choice. I think it will provide a supplement to the information. I've had google ads from day 1 and I've considered various business models on a casual basis as I developed the site. Service or not, I work at it, it is a business. I'm comfortable with what I'm doing and offering.
Ross has posted introductions to new local businesses many times over the months. This time he is getting money for it. All I have to say is,
SO WHAT!
If it were a paid advertisement from one of the local governments or school district, I would be concerned. But to complain about getting paid to put a link on this site? Must be a slow day for all of you.
Ross, good for you. You put a lot of work into this site, not just with posting, but gathering of information, attending meetings, etc., getting a little cash for sponsorship is okay in my book.
Ahhhhh, Snapple
I think everyone would agree the snapple thing is getting old, but thanks for continuing to read;-)
To 12:31 Thank you, and to clarify, it is only businesses that I am offering the paid link to.
Schools, groups, organizations can continue to have free posts of all their news, events, and information. There are no plans to change that.
There's a big difference between google ads or paid business links and getting paid to endorse a business. It undermines everything else you do. And it is an endorsement.
I thought you viewed NewsOverCoffee primarily as a community service with some modest remuneration for your time and effort. But now you say it is basically a business. My concern is that your blog is becoming what we call a flog.
In my book, this IS a big deal. I don't know another blogger in this area who would allow someone to pay him to endorse a product or business. I can't see Joe Owens or Bill White doing something this stupid. And if this is permissible, we're on a slippery slope. How long will it be before Ross allows someone to pay him to endorse a candidacy? Why not permit a school district or local government to pay him to publish a little propoganda? What's the difference? He's already established that his words are for sale.
I don't like it on radio either. I don't think radio talk show hosts like Angle or Gunther should be hawking products on the air when they discuss community issues. But even they don't do it as part of the talk show. They do it during paid commercial breaks. At one time, it was common in both television and radio for hosts to hawk productrs and services. But then some guys like Edward R Murrow began to see the insanity.
And Ross most definitely has held himself out as a citizen journalist. He covers meetings, hold candidates' nights, etc. He encourtages others to do so as well. He fills a niche by providing details about the Nazareth area that can't be covered by the local papers.
"I see NewsOverCoffee as a tool for the community to use to keep everyone informed. We each have our own interests, talents, and skills. By learning what others need, we can most effectively help one another to improve the overall community." Sounds like a citizen journalist to me.
Those are his words, not mine. He tells people who post comments they must be "responsible" and expresses resentment over some mild humor like those Snapple remarks. And then he starts writing puff pieces because someone has paid him. That's both irresponsible and unethical. That offends me more than any anonymous remark.
I could see one sentence to announce a new paid business link, and that's it. But Ross has stepped over the line and has done all of us a disservice. I believe he's better than this. For the last time, I ask him to reconsider this practice.
Bernie, stop being so jealous. Really your comments are coming across as very childish. Who cares if Ross is making some money for a site he puts a lot of time and effort into.
I agree with Anon 1:00
This is from a business. Reading the piece, he is just providing the information about that business.
More important, he is doing it for a LOCAL business, which in fact pays taxes, which in the end benefit us as a community.
This is NOT a slippery slope. If it were a political add or something to do with a public agency, then I would be one of the first to jump on him. But, it is not.
Starting a business is a difficult thing to do. I think Ross made the right decision on it, and I am pretty sure he would have announced it (as he has with other new local businesses) in these pages regardless.
Look back to the old days of radio when programs were sponsored by companies, and they used their names throughout them. Look at product placement today on any show.
As long as the "fluff" stays where it is and Ross continues to hammer on the real issues, just don't read those posts.
Who has been paid to endorse a product or business?
Not me.
I did not endorse, speak to the quality or do anything other than note who it is, what they do, and how to contact them.
And as local businesses I do hope people use them because the more successful they are, the more other businesses will want to locate here, the better our tax base becomes.
Having said that, Bernie, your comments have gone beyond unfair and you are creating an extension that simply does not exist.
I want the discourse to be civil. Take a look at home many times I've had to delete what is a pointless comment and has no bearing on the conversation from the council meeting (up to 10 closing on a dozen I believe). A total waste of my time, yet I do it.
Why? Because more people will stop reading because the site devolves into personnel attacks, mockery and jokes then they will because a business tries to have a presence on the site through a paid link and I post some information about them.
So I do hold a higher standard, and I don't believe that has changed.
Don't know what else I can say.
More important, he is doing it for a LOCAL business, which in fact pays taxes, which in the end benefit us as a community.
Did you even look at the business before you posted that? This isn't a brick and mortar business with a shingle hanging out somewhere in Nazareth. It only exists in cyberspace and there is little, if any, local tax benefit.
Anon 1:00 & 1:14!
I've linked to Ross' blog from the early days, and promote his posts often. And I don't need payment to do so, either. I've felt that our blogs actually complement each other, as we have different styles and different focuses. Bloggers don't view each others as competitors. The more the better.
So my remarks aren't prompted by jealousy, and Ross knows I have high regard for him. Any doubt about that can be resolved by looking at some of my own posts about him.
But as a blogger who also spends a great deal of time doing what I do, I have a deep concern that we have credibility. We are a new form of media, and we will last only if we are credible. What Ross has done damages that credibility. I don't know a single blogger in the Lehigh Valley who would allow someone to pay him to promote a product or service. I can't imagine Joe Owens or Bill White doing this. I feel an obligation, as a fellow blogger, to say something because this practice will damage my own credibility in time.
And you've already demonstrated how you feel, even though you're trying to defend Ross. "Just don't read those posts," you say. How long will it be before you stop reading all of the posts because it is impossible to distinguish fluff from the reality?
As far as being called "childish" is concerned, you can certainly believe that if you wish.
Ross,
If you call a white dog black, it's still a white dog. And you most certainly have endorsed a business, "The Write Touch," and have been paid to do so. You talk about saving 20% every time you place an order, etc. That's a paid endorsement. My characterization is fair.
Deleting anonymous comments that you view as offensive does not mean you hold a "higher standard." It might be viewed as censorship. I'll give you credit for trying. But getting paid to endorse a product or service like "The Write Stuff" is, in my view, not holding a "higher standard." I'm disappointed. I still love you, but I think it's the start of something bad. You just don't see it.
If you need the w here you go.
All paid links are an endorsement of local businesses who have purchased a paid link.
Please enjoy them and every other business in town and cyberspace.
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