A discussion on sponsorships and free products as it pertains to the future of RV Gear & Far what do you as my audience want? We have three options ahead of us please give me your thoughts and feedback.

I’ve been reviewing gear online for a few years now and the overwhelming majority of items I’ve purchased with my own money and I’ve never taken sponsorships to promote gear or services and I personally like it that way. But I’m getting to a crossroads on the channel that I need to have some clearer answers on a few questions and since my videos are created to inform you so that you can make the best decisions on gear and services I’d like to hear your input.

The way I see it I have three options moving forward:

Decline all sponsorships, do not accept free products
Decline all sponsorships, but accept free products
Work with companies via sponsorships and accept free products
Now all of these options will include the promotion of affiliate links a referral type program with many retailers and manufacturers that if I direct you to their product and you make a purchase the price doesn’t change for you in fact affiliate links can sometimes be coupled with discounts as well but the company sends me a referral fee for directly bringing them business.

The affiliate portion of the content creation space is one that I am absolutely comfortable with if you find value in the content, information, and insight I bring you, you can support my work at no cost to you by clicking through those affiliate links before making your purchases.

My first preference would be option 1 no sponsorships and no free products there would be no perceived or real influence from the individual companies however that comes at a cost many pieces of RV gear can be quite expensive individually and when I’m looking to compare two or more products the cost of equipment alone can be prohibitive. I’d love to set up a membership option for ya’ll something that could give you additional discounts and essentially make the content here at RV Gear & Far, viewer supported but this option would require a bit of active participation on your end making sure to start your gear purchases through an affiliate link or a discount portable either on the website or via social media posts and video descriptions.

Option two is also a viable option accepting free gear from companies with the expressed knowledge that just because I received the item for free does not mean that they will get a glowing review in fact pointing out negative aspects to gear is just as valuable as positives in my opinion and I’m confident that I could remain unbiased in my presentations however, I know that there will be folks in the RV community that will baulk at that and say because and item was provided free of charge that it will in some way influence the presentation and I get that which is why I prefer option 1 BUUT with this option I’d be able to bring you much more content without the business expenses of purchasing multiple products to compare and contrast.

Option three is what you’re probably most familiar with taking on sponsors and doing integrated segments within other videos along with accepting free products. This is my least desirable option and the last resort. I know I’d essentially be leaving money on the table by NOT taking sponsorships but if we can build a relationship together in a way that allows me to provide ultimate value to YOU without taking sponsorships that’s ultimately my preference.

Now, I have taken some free gear in the past and I’m working on a post for the website that indicates which gear that is so that if we move forward with NOT accepting free gear that everything from the past will be plain and clear. But I’d really like to hear your feedback, please take a moment and let me know in the comments which option you prefer.

Joshua