Full disclosure: We have affiliate relationships with a lot of companies, and you’ll find links to their products on our website. These are products we use and companies we are proud to endorse.

At present, we don’t accept paid advertising. And we don’t include links to products we don’t use and recommend.

Recently we received an email from the PR person for a company that offers an online video editing tool.

Here’s a portion of her email:

I was doing a bit of research when I stumbled upon this article on your site about “10 Tips to Create Videos Your Viewers will Watch, Like and Share” and noticed that it mentioned cutting out your mistakes.

Wanted to know whether it would be possible to get our video editing tool linked or mentioned?

Whatever kind of business video you need, you can do it with [deleted]. Our powerful range of editing tools will allow you to create awesome, professional-looking videos. Our servers run on 100% Renewable Energy, so you don't have to worry about environmental impact as well.

We'd love to give you 6 months of [deleted] Premium for the mention to say our BIG THANK YOU. 

I passed the email to Jerry for his evaluation. Of course, he uses professional video editing software that requires a significant investment in terms of cost and time to learn. Most casual users who just want to do simple video edits wouldn’t be interested in that product.

His assessment of this product was that, while it has some good features, the fact that it’s cloud-based would slow the workflow, and he wouldn’t use it even if he didn’t have the product that he does.

I replied to the PR person that this wasn’t a product we would use or recommend.

I appreciate persistence, but not this kind. Here’s her reply:

Thanks for getting back to me.
I understand that you currently don't have a use for [deleted] .

But here's a shot in the dark proposal, in case you might be interested, we have a “Plant a tree” project with the [deleted]. We can plant a tree under your company's name, to support this foundation's noble cause in keeping our world green and safe for everyone.

I hope this is something you can consider in exchange for a link insert.
Looking forward to your positive response.

Fingers crossed,

She can uncross her fingers and get back to work. The answer is no.

I understand the importance of product mentions and backlinks. I know how hard PR and marketing people work to get them, and I applaud creative approaches. But we’re not going to include links on our website to products we don’t use or recommend.

We appreciate the trust our readers and clients have placed in us, and we will always honor it.

Jacquelyn Lynn
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