Blog disclosure, affiliate links and such

Quite often, you can see in a post on this blog a disclaimer about affiliate links. If you are wondering what it means and why it is there, this post has all the explanations.

The disclosure statement is required from me as a blogger by Federal Trade Commission regulations. I am disclosing, as any other blogger should, that whenever the post on my blog contains affiliate links and/or displays promotional banners, I will make money if you click on them. I actually think it is more about me getting products for free or at discounted price and recommending them at all to my reader, then it is about me getting commission afterwards. But as there seem to be no agreement in the blogosphere about that, I prefer to be safe then sorry.

I treat those important, if not “pocket money” as a way to support my blogging and photography hobbies. Both require investments: in servers, connection, equipment, and it is only fair for those expenses to be covered by themselves. At least partially. That is why I do participate in a number of affiliate programs. The full list consists of the following web sites:

Amazon
Craft & Vision
Digital Photography School
all stock agencies mentioned and linked on Microstock site
Stuck in Customs (and their new site with e-books – Flatbooks)
Light Stalking
Andrew S Gibson
ProBlogger

Important thing to mention is that I am a believer in what all of those companies stand for. I use them myself, and my recommendations are genuine. So are the critical statements (or things you might want to be aware of before making purchasing decision). Here are some details on how I do it.

Most reviews on this blogs are of book and e-books. I love them. I read as many as I can get, and enjoy learning new things from them. I disclose if I received them for free or purchased at a discounted price. This is a case with both Craft & Vision and Digital Photography School. At the same time, if you purchase them by clicking the link in my post, I would earn some money on that sale. Sometimes, I would win a book in a contest on another web site, and treat them as great subjects for blog. I disclose that, too. I surely appreciate having this option, I would not be able to purchase as many as I would like.

Some of my best images, and many made just for the purpose, are submitted to microstock agencies. I promote those agencies and my portfolio with them on my Microstock page. If you sign up with them and/or buy some images after clicking on the link, I will get the percentage of that sale.

The only exception to all of this is Amazon. I am not receiving anything up fron from them. I often add to the post a link to a product I am talking about or a lens, and if you follow those links and make a purchase, I will earn my commission. It probably is the “purest” way to make money online.