There comes a time in every blogger’s life when he or she has to accept her own advice.
And since I spend my days urging all of you to be authentic, protect your brand at all costs, try not to be too evil (maybe Google taught me that one…) and make sure that you’re always going back to your mission statement, I have decided to make a change.
I have ended (amicably, I hope) my relationship with Foodbuzz and am no longer a Featured Publisher. I have nothing but love for Foodbuzz and the many bloggers who work with the company — Foodbuzz offered me great opportunities to work with brands, the chance to make some money, exposure to new readers and much more.
But for quite a while, this blog and the Foodbuzz mission have not lined up, so I have decided to move on.
For now, I’m working on some redesign work — some you might notice already! — and eventually, I’ll be bringing back some ads and/or sponsor messages. Stay tuned for that (and if you didn’t get your Healthy Living Summit ticket to see me talk about monetizing your blogs, no worries! I’ll be posting lots of information here!) and as always, thanks for your patience with yet one more change!
About Katy
Can’t wait to see where you’re headed!
Thank you so much for the support!
This is so exciting, Katy! I can’t wait to see where you go from here… so that I can copy you later.
That’s pretty much my blogging mission statement. “I go first so I can make the mistakes and then teach you how to do it the right way.
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Since you’re the grand poobah of blogs I’m prety certain what you’ll do here will only ocntinually get more epic.
I was intending to make it to HLSummit buuuut in light of our two week trip to CA I’m doubting we will get to. :S
Grand Poobah — that’s going on my resume!
Luckily, a lot of the HLS stuff will be available online (#Fitblog Presentations, maybe?)
I applaud you for this decision. Actions lining up with what we say shows the world our character and level of integrity.
I actually made the same decision WHILE at #fitbloggin. Like, I made the choice, went back to my room removed the ads and notified them. As you said, it isn’t about foodbuzz at all, I was with them for 3 years but for a while, I had been feeling like it was not a good fit anymore. Ultimately, I know I made the right choice and I am happy to be where I’ve landed.
I look forward to continue watching you grow from here.
Exactly! I felt a sigh of relief as soon as I sent the email. Ironically, my numbers have been up recently, but it just felt wrong to stick with a network that doesn’t fit my goals anymore.
Good for you for taking your own advice! I think it can be a lot easier to know what to do and tell people to do it, but to accept the changes for yourself can be difficult!
I’d been pondering going the Foodbuzz route but I didn’t feel 100% about it, so I’m excited to see what other options are out there! Thanks for bringing that kind of information to those of us who will have to miss out on HLS this year.
Paige,
I do think Foodbuzz is a good fit for people who focus more on food and cooking. It certainly provides exposure to brands, product samples and more. But you do give up some design control, and because you only get credit for domestic pageviews, it can be a bit tricky to make serious money.
Good to know! I’m realizing that my blog content is too varied to really meet the Foodbuzz terms, so I’m glad I didn’t try to conform to their requirements…Probably just not the right fit for me!
I’ve had a problem with Foodbuzz from a reader perspective this year too. Normally I don’t even notice ads or have a problem with them being used, but theirs have become increasingly off-topic, visually loud, and even sometimes cover blog content with pop-ups or inappropriate sizes. Glad I decided not to use them back when I was considering it. I’ll be excited to read your other tips for monetizing since I know I won’t be going that route.
Way to go! Foodbuzz, in my opinion, is not doing a good job of staying with the times. I am still with them, but think their site is not user friendly or anything I ever go to. I am sure you will do better without them!
I hope are sessions are not at the same time because I really need to learn more about your topic!!!
I recently stopped my partnership with Foodbuzz because I felt so restricted. My contract said I needed to post about food 90% of the time (or something to that matter) and I just felt pressure to write about food a lot (mostly put on by myself). I also found their community hard to interact with.
I love the freedom that Adsense gives me and for the most part, I’ve found their ads to be relevant and so customizable. I don’t like huge, loud ads and I can opt to use only text ads that blend with my theme if I choose to do that.
Good luck with your new transitions!
Maria ,
Thanks for sharing your experience! I know that the people that word at Foodbuzz are really great and passionate about what they do, so it has nothing to do with them. And I read the contract, so I knew what the expectations were. But just like I encourage my readers to do, I had to ask myself if the ads still fit my mission, and when the answer was “no,” it was an easy decision.
What a great decision for you. I’ve come to the realization lately that i need to listen to what im saying to others! Thanks for paving the way for the rest of us to figure out what we’re doing! I can’t wait to see what new stuff is coming up!
I love that you’re always “leading the way”. And even though you’ve outgrown Foodbuzz, you have nothing but good things to say about them. You are a class act!
It takes a big person to walk away from exposure, money, and a business relationship that’s even slightly beneficial.
I’m glad you’ve made and shared your decision. Your transparency is incredibly refreshing.