A few months ago, I stumbled upon Violent Acres. It is right up my alley, where I would like to take my blog, if I had the writing style and life experiences. I read the entire blog, every post, in one sitting, and now, check up on it every day.

As I read more, it started to feel very TuckerMax to me. Meaning, I have always felt TuckerMax was nothing more than a writer making up good stories for the sake of generating traffic and in turn revenue. I did not care, as there was still value to me, I enjoyed the writing and the style of the writing. It was a fair trade.

What’s wrong with trying to make money off your site anyway? Nothing at all.

After reading a while, you start to get to know “V”, as she calls herself. I learned via Five Steps I Took That Helped Me Become Financially Independent that “V” is more or less doing just fine in the area of finances.

I take no issue with her trying to add to her financial independence, and gain even a little more independence. Then, the other day, I spotted a new gem of an advertisement on the site. An offer to review your blog for $250.00.

This is almost my tipping point. In reading her blog, there have been subtle things that have struck me as a little off. Not so far off that I was convinced she was a fraud, but far off enough to raise an eyebrow. Let’s look at this logically…

“V”’s posts are entertaining, yet at the same time, she has no problem with being blunt and often times outrageous with what she writes about. Hell, it is what I love about the writing. She has a strong following. If her traffic stats are accurate, she is no small potato in this blogging mash.

Why then, would someone want to take the risk and entertain paying $250.00 to have “V” review their blog. You have a chance for a positive review, but you also have a chance for a highly publicized negative review as well. If she really takes issue with your blog, she very well may beat you into the ground. Sure, any press is good press, though the blog review ad reeks of past mis-information.

Why would a financially independent person care about an extra couple of hundred bucks a month? Money is money, but blog reviews do not write themselves. I am certain her commissions on a house sale are proportioned much better in her financial favor.

If the ads really are just “fascinating“, and amount to a marketing experiment, why move to an advertisement that requires work to make money?

I will keep reading, or maybe we can now call it researching, however, I see more and more ads on the site over time, and this one is really questioning my interpretation of the sites authenticity. Even if I do find out it is fiction, I still love the writing enough to read it, but disclosure would have been a better road.

For the time being, I am still a fan, and will be off to read the latest post.