Promotions & Give Aways

This page is for people who are thinking of asking me to promote a product, service, or event and/or host a give-away on my blog. I decided to add it because I get a lot of emails about those kinds of things & thought putting up some basic FAQ might cut down on some of the back-and-forth.

• Are you interested in posting marketing / promotional material for products / events / services?

  It depends. In general my feeling is that if I would be exciting about reviewing a product / event / service regardless of whether or not someone was asking me to do it (meaning I have some experience with it, and have had a positive experience, and think people who read the blog would find it interesting or useful), I'm happy to. I would rather write more about my direct experience than copy & paste pre-existing marketing materials, but if there is additional pertinent information included that I might not have otherwise, I don't mind including that.

  Generally my rule is that if I don't have anything personal to write about it, I'm probably not interested in posting about it, because that basically turns my blog into a free advertising platform, and then I kind of feel like I'm spamming people who read it. I think people who are interested in my product / event / service reviews are interested because they trust (or at least know something about) my opinion. If you want me to do marketing for you, you should be prepared to compensate me for it. With money. Because that is how doing work for someone works.

• Are you interested in posting promotional material in exchange for trying out whatever it is?

  Again, I am MUCH more likely to be interested in writing a post about something if I've had some experience with it, so as long as whatever it is is vaguely related to running / road racing, I'm usually happy to give it a shot. If I do try it out and don't think it's much good, though, it's going to be hard for me to write a flattering post. I'm not in the habit of just throwing something into a post in exchange for random freebies unless I think people would genuinely benefit from hearing about it.

• Are you interested in hosting give-aways?

  Again, it depends. I have turned down the vast majority of give-aways I've been approached about because the products / events were things that I just could not comprehend anyone who reads my blog being interested in. On the other hand, if the give-away in question is for something at least vaguely related to running / road racing and I think people would actually be interested, I'll certainly consider it. I've even given away things that don't particularly appeal to me, because I thought there was at least some chance that someone who reads the blog might legitimately be interested.

  So, if you are considering asking me to do a give-away, I would ask that you spend a little time perusing some of my past posts in order to be sure that whatever it is seems like it would be a good fit.

I hope that's helpful! Please feel free to email if you have any questions. :)