In an effort to keep my blog from garnering criticisms and keep readers happy, I thought it best to develop my disclosure and let you know why I'm writing this blog and what it means to me. And of course the pesky FTC wants all bloggers to let their readers know these things.
When I started this blog, I wasn't looking to make any money and didn't. But now I've made the decision to invest myself and my time more and came to the conclusion compensation is necessary (I explain this here). So paid ads and paid links are going to appear. I will still include links when I reference something that I think you would appreciate more information on.
In the event that some company out there is reading my blog and wants to send me free stuff, I will be happy to accept it. And if I like it and think it is useful for you, I'll blog about it. I will give my honest and fair analysis of whatever I get. And if I got it for free, I'll tell you! However, if I don't like something, I probably won't tell you about it, because there's really no reason to give something a bad rap. Assume that if you haven't heard me talk about it, I've either never used it or don't like it.
Yes, I'm a blogger, but I'm not a spokesperson. I still won't accept money (or free stuff) in return for a positive blog post. I will say nice things about the products I actually believe in, not because someone paid me to say it. It feels like lying to me and while yes I'd like to make some money off the blog now, that's not the way to do it.
I will continue to post great tips and recipes. I will never write a product endorsement post because I was paid to, nor will I do so because I got something for free. I'm just not into that. If I get something for free and like it, I'll let you know why I like it and that it was free. And if I'm lucky enough to get extra free stuff, I'll give it away as prizes in a comment raffle.
My overall policy is honesty. My honest opinions about products, tools, ingredients and recipes. I'll tell you where I find the good stuff and how to make awesome cookies and other treats. And if I ever change my mind, I'll let you know. Like I did here.
Happy Baking!
The Cookie Princess
Posted October 22, 2010
Updated September 1, 2011