Advertising and Self-Promotion on BPN
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The Berkeley Parents Network does not accept advertising
in the newsletter or on the website.
BPN resides on
servers and networks at the University of California, Berkeley,
which, being a state-funded institution, cannot permit
people to use its networks, email and websites for commercial purposes.
Therefore, we cannot
accept posts that give the impression that BPN is being used
to promote or run a business or practice.
The primary goal of the Berkeley Parents Network
is to provide a forum for parent-to-parent networking.
Although information about local businesses and practices does have
value for BPN subscribers, promoting local businesses is not
a part of BPN's mission.
Neverthless, we do allow some types of promotional
announcements in our newsletters as a service to local parents,
but they must follow the rules in the following section.
BPN accepts some types of promotional postings
in limited amounts because of their
high value for local parents. All the BPN newsletters except
Advice Wanted and Advice Given, have sections where promotional
postings may appear, per the policies below.
Subscribers may not promote their businesses or professional practices in the
Advice newsletters, or
in the advice sections of the Parents of Teens newsletter.
The types of promotional postings that we do accept are shown below.
These postings appear only in the email newsletters; they do not appear
on the BPN website with
the exception of Tutor postings.
- Babysitters, Nannies, and Daycares may announce their
availability in the Childcare newsletter.
These announcements are not archived to the website.
See About the Childcare Newsletter
for more information.
- Classes for Kids, Parenting Classes & Workshops, Support Groups for Kids or
Parents, and Family-Friendly Events
that are local, and in-person (not online or by phone) may be announced in
the Announcements newsletter and the
Parents of Teens newsletter. This includes
classes, groups, and workshops targeted specifically to
kids or parents, as well as performances, fairs, dances,
and other events that are appropriate for children. These announcements
are not archived to the website.
For details about what is accepted,
see the About the Announcements newsletter.
- Schools, Preschools and Camps
may post to the Schools newsletter
and the Parents of Teens newsletter
to announce openings, information sessions, and the like.
Announcements about community events at schools, such as carnivals and
festivals, may be posted to the Announcements newsletter.
Announcements from schools are not archived to the website.
- Tutors who live locally and tutor in person (not online or by phone)
may post announcements about their services
using the Tutor Posting form. These
go to the website, but they do not appear in a newsletter.
- Reviews of businesses are accepted in response to a question
posted to the Recommendations newsletter.
Any BPN subscriber may respond with a recommendation,
including a business owner who is recommending her own business.
We do not accept reviews from clients that are submitted by the
business owner.
Reviews published in the newsletters may eventually be archived to
the BPN website if they describe first-hand experience with the business from
someone who is not the owner, or a colleague, friend or relative of the owner.
Reviews posted by anyone with a connection to the business
are not archived to the website, and
must follow policies outlined on this page.
How often you can post a promotional announcement
to a BPN newsletter is limited. See
Repeated Postings for details.
It is up to the BPN moderators to decide whether a post can be allowed
under the policies on this page.
It is OK to recommend yourself, a family member, friend, or colleague
if someone asks for
referrals for the service you/they provide as long as you disclose that
you are the owner or an employee, friend, relative, or colleague.
Many BPN subscribers would rather do business with a
fellow subscriber than with someone selected randomly from the yellow pages.
However: your message must clearly convey your relationship
to the business.
These reviews have less value for our readers than an unbiased review
posted by a happy client. Since a favorable review on BPN
can be very beneficial for a local business,
we take very seriously our requirement that any relationship
to the business being reviewed must be disclosed.
When we receive a report that a review has been posted
by someone with an undisclosed relationship to the business,
we do investigate.
If we find that a favorable review was posted by someone
with an undisclosed relationship to the business, we unsubscribe the person who posted,
we remove all reviews for the
business from the website, and we don't accept further postings
about that business.
BPN's mission is to be a helpful resource for parents. The
newsletters are not intended as a way to promote local businesses. Therefore,
it is a misuse of BPN to post favorable reviews of colleagues'
businesses with the understanding that they will reciprocate
by posting a favorable review of your business.
It is also a misuse of BPN to
offer your clients discounts, free services, or other compensation
on the condition of posting a favorable review on BPN. If we find that a
favorable review was posted under these circumstances,
we unsubscribe the person who posted,
we remove all reviews for the
business from the website, and we don't accept further postings
about that business.
this page was last updated: Mar 8, 2013
The opinions and statements expressed on this website
are those of parents who subscribe to the
Berkeley Parents Network.
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information about using content on this website.
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