Q. We are well-regarded as an independent, unbiased source of information about curly hair. We also have to sell hair-care products and advertisements to pay the rent. How do we maintain editorial independence in covering the companies whose products we sell and who perhaps buy advertising from us?

— Gretchen Heber, co-founder, NaturallyCurly.com Inc., Austin, Texas

A. Gretchen, the short answer is yes, I think you can maintain your integrity while also covering your advertisers’ products. There are two components you need to accomplish this — transparency and trust. Let me start with the latter. It looks like you have done a wonderful job cultivating a community of individuals who share the curly-hair experience. As a fellow “curly-hair gal” myself, I certainly relate to everything you say in your Web site bio. (You mention not being able to replicate the Farrah Fawcett feathered look growing up. I was desperate for Dorothy Hamill’s signature cut, but my curls simply didn’t cooperate.)

Your About Us page is a wonderful example of building rapport and trust with your audience. It may very well be among the best I have ever seen written. I feel like I really know you and your co-founder, Michelle. So from what I’ve seen on your site, I feel confident predicting you already have your audience’s trust.

The second key component is transparency. I find women, especially, are concerned about companies that might be dishonest or disingenuous. Make sure it doesn’t look like you’re trying to trick them or hide anything from them.

Be transparent about who your advertisers are. If you write an article and include information about a product, have a disclaimer that lets readers know this product manufacturer is a paid advertiser on your site. It does not make people mad when you promote your advertisers. It makes them mad when you’re not honest about it.

You have built up a lot of trust and integrity. You can maintain that integrity and still make money. Just don’t blur the line between content and advertising.

If you want to write about a personal experience with a paid advertiser’s product, that’s fine — as long as you are honest about the experience and honest about the fact that it is an advertiser. If you write about a personal experience with an advertiser’s product and skew the experience to make it more positive than it was, now you’re in trouble.

Take your concern public. Have an “Our Ethics” section on your Web site. Talk about this very dilemma, how you struggle with it, and how you decide to handle it while being transparent and honest.

If you do talk about an advertiser’s product, allow your community to join in the conversation — allow them to review it as well, positive or negative. Negative reviews actually can boost sales! If people see negative alongside positive, they tend to believe the reviews are authentic. Having active and vocal customers will only make your Web site more valuable to your advertisers. The advertisers that can’t withstand that level of scrutiny and feedback are probably advertisers you wouldn’t want to promote to your readers anyway.