I wrote a few weeks back about the iHype.com Launch and promptly signed-up, myself.
I wish I had better news - I really do; I wish I could write a glowing review of the new sponsored post network. But I just can't.
The truth is that iHype's interface is confusing and redundant, their customer support is not helpful (even when they bother to reply), and they not only never paid me for the first post I made for them, they have not responded to my e-mails concerning it.
Sponsored posting is a great way for many bloggers to earn a little money for the time and effort they spend blogging. It is an absolute necessity for those of us who do not draw enough traffic to make most advertising networks worth our while! And there are several out there now that provide this service and are very good about it. iHype is brand new to the game and I am holding out hope that they get better, but my first impressions have not been positive.
Through their thoroughly confusing model, you apparently "subscribe" to opportunities, which then takes you to a second page at which you choose which blog/site you want to be subscribed. It really doesn't matter because iHype places them all in the first blog you have listed. From there, you are taken to a page with absolutely no details, just a box where you can place the URL to the post you made. What do you link to? Where does it go? What points should you highlight? Dunno.
Then you wait... and wait. And maybe you get a RESPONSE TO YOUR E-MAIL IN ALL CAPS THAT ALSO HAPPENS TO BE INSULTING IN CONTENT - if you're lucky. But that's about it. In fact, just yesterday, I received e-mails from iHype, telling me at least one sponsor asked to advertise on my blog. It told me to sign-in and so forth, but the opportunity was nowhere to be found!
Like I say, I wrote positively of them before and tried their services myself, only to be disappointed. Hopefully, these are just the little bugs that come with any new start-up and iHype will correct them soon. In the meantime, I'm afraid I cannot recommend this service.
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
