Edward “Ted” Murphy is the founder and CEO of PayPerPost. A serial entrepreneur, he has founded or co-founded six companies since 1994. Visit the company blog here.

What motivated you to create PayPerPost?

My previous company MindComet has been doing blogger outreach on behalf of our clients for quite some time. While the campaigns were incredibly successful we found that it was difficult execute programs profitably because of the time involved in the manual execution of blogger outreach campaigns.

A few years ago we moved to a mass marketing model called the Blogstar Network where we would contact bloggers via email about opportunities as they came in. This model was more effective, but it was difficult to target bloggers in a way the wasn't intrusive. Bloggers didn't like receiving solicitations all the time and many were turned off by the process. Bloggers also never knew when an opportunity might come through.

I created PayPerPost because I recognized a need to create a marketplace that connected advertisers and bloggers on a massive scale without intrusive solicitations. PayPerPost replaced BlogStar Network and became its own company. The PayPerPost model works because bloggers have the freedom to choose the opportunities that appeal to them on their own time and on their own terms. There are always many opportunities to choose from and it can provide bloggers with a steady source of income from their blogs.

What is the current state of the company, and how does it work?

I would be happy to run you through the process. Let's say you are ACME shoe company and you have a new pair of shoes you want to spread the word about. You would log on to PayPerPost and create what we call an opportunity. Think of an opportunity as an auction on eBay or a posting on Craigslist.

The opportunity might read something like: Go to acmeshoes.com and check out our new XY Basketball Sneakers. Tell us what you think of these new kicks. We would also like you to embed the new acmeshoes.com video featuring John Smith on your blog and link to our site.

ACME Shoe Co. would then set the price they are willing to pay the blogger for their opinion and posting the video on their personal blog, let's say $10.

The bloggers are presented with a list of opportunities. If I was interested in the ACME Shoe Co. opportunity I would click on it and submit the link of the post I create to PayPerPost. The PPP team reviews the submission to make sure it meet the advertisers requirements. If it does the blogger gets paid 30 days later.

The company is 8 people right now, we should be 10-12 shortly. We have signed up thousands of bloggers and are growing at an ever-increasing pace. The venture funds will be used to expand our team as well as our sales and marketing efforts.

How do you respond to people who say that paying bloggers for posts is unethical?

I believe that paying bloggers is completely ethical so long as the blogger remains true to themselves and their readers. Ultimately it comes down to the morality and ethics of each individual blogger. I encourage all bloggers to be honest and only take the opportunities that resonate with them. I also think the adoption of a disclosure policy goes a long way towards preserving trust.