I'm going to be very honest right here. I'm going to make one simple statement, and that's gonna say it all. After that it's all fine print.
Here is the statement: I am using this blog to make money.
There. Phew! That wasn't so hard, was it? Just wanted to get that clear from the get-go. I want you to know that you can trust me, so I want to be very straightforward about what is going on on my blog.
There are a few ways I am going about this money-making thing:
1) Ads on my website. This is a slightly tricky area, because these will not always be products or services that I agree with. Many of them are determined by the reader's search patterns (cookies are used by Google and other third-party vendors*), so hopefully that means they won't be too bad. If a truly offensive one pops up, let me know.
2) Sponsored posts. Occasionally I may write an entire post for which I am being compensated in the form of goods, services, or money. In that case, however, the opinion given will be entirely my own. And I am very fallible, so you will want to verify any claims or facts or statistics or anything else that I state with your own research. But I will always let you know on the post itself if it has been sponsored.
3) Referral Links (also called Affiliate Links). These are links to products from which I will earn a small commission if you click through and purchase, and they are always clearly labelled as such. Also, we are a participant in the
The FCC has pretty clear guidelines about letting readers know about the forms of marketing that they are being exposed to. I want to abide by those guidelines because I want you to be able to believe what I say and to enjoy your time on my blog. Part of that enjoyment is you being able to relax and know that I WILL inform you of whatever you need to know.
So with that being said, please feel free to do just that – relax and enjoy yourself here. This is just a fun gabfest among friends. (Granted, one of them is trying to pay the bills… but you get what I mean.) :-) If you have any concerns or questions, by all means please email me: ann at annieandeverything dot com.
HUGS!!
–Ann
*If you want to opt-out of Double-Click cookies by Google, go here: Google Ads Settings. To opt out of third-party vendor cookies, go here.