Are you thinking about offering reviews on your blog? If you’re on the review fence you might reconsider.
Why You Should Not Review
1. Reviews require your time. A lot of your time. Not only time to fit in new curriculum/resources, but to actually use the product, see why you like/hate it, take photos, and write an entire post about curriculum. If you’re already busy, reviews can easily become a burden.
2. Reviews require quality photos. Not everyone has a quality camera. I thought my little Nikon digital was just fine until I entered the world of Canon T3i. I went back through some old reviews and feel like I owe everyone an apology. Then once you get your “quality photos” you have to edit them! (if you’re throwing up an unedited photo think again – now we need to make them pin-tastic)
3. Reviews require informative content. Listing chapter titles, description off company website is not an informative review.
Not all bloggers are writers. {GASP} I know – the incourage team wants to kill me for writing that, but just because we own a little space online does not magically make us great writers. To walk around claiming to be a writer and then offer lacking reviews not only looks bad upon the blogger, it looks bad upon all blog reviewers! (especially the homeschool community) not to mention how poorly it reflects on the company & product as well. *note, I am not claiming to be a great writer – growth comes with regular writing.
4. Reviews require promotion. Reviews do not show up at your door, they do not write themselves, and they surely do not promote themselves. The reason you are reviewing is not only your writing skills (maybe, see above), but your social media reach! A review is a digital footprint – it’s important to companies, but if you’re not promoting the review than it’s wasted time, space, and product.
5. Reviews usually don’t pay. Unless of course you have over thousands of pageviews. Sorry, but you’re doing all of the above for free.
Still want to review? Tips for reviewers …
1. plan time – even if someone approaches you to review something you do not have to do it tomorrow.
2. only review things that you are interested in, not everything for everyone just to get something for nothing.
3. build a relationship with the company so they can help promote your review (companies like Master Books, Apologia, Maestro Classics, and WriteShop have promoted my reviews on their social media platforms, and I am thankful for them!)
4. be honest. I’ve read reviews, bought the product, then asked friends a question and they tell me they just reviewed it they didn’t actually like it. <~ that bugs me because the reviewer never once mentioned that. If you’re going to put your name on something and have it forever posted on your blog – be clear if you like/hate/use/or gave it away!
Giving reviews isn’t all about getting free product. You have a responsibility to your readers and the company.
Do you review? What tips would you offer new blog reviewers?
Some of this, I get behind, but some of it is not a very good way of thinking about reviews. Reviewing is simply telling your readers what you think of something. If someone approaches me for a review, a simple review is what I’ll do, plus a giveaway, always. That is because reviews aren’t primarily for me or for the brand (though they are useful for the brand, of course). Promotion, relationship building, and all that other stuff we tend to think bloggers ought to do every time they “work with a brand” fall into a different category entirely, and I wish bloggers would learn the difference. In fact, reviewing *isn’t* working with a brand. It’s working for your readers. There’s a huge terminology problem amongst bloggers concerning reviews and advertorials. If money changes hands, it’s simply not a review anymore. There’s nothing *wrong* with that, but it’s not a review. If you’re really eager to please the people you’re working with, then you are working for them, not as a dispassionate reviewer for the sake of the reader.
OK, so that sounded totally off-topic because I left this part in my head. Sorry. I’ve been up all night puking:
In order to do a review, I don’t need a wonderful photo. Photos are nice, but I’m not obligated to do it, even if nobody is going to want to read my shoddy review without it. Further, I state on my PR page that a review is not promised upon receipt of a product. That’s because even when I get a product, I can’t be sure I want to write about it until I have it in hand. I don’t “owe” anything to a brand that approaches me for a review. I’ll do what I want with it, and usually that means they get a review. If they pay me, or we agree to something mutually beneficial, then I no longer call that a review, and *then* I’m obligated to turn out something fancy for them.
Thanks Cindy, however I disagree with you. “reviews aren’t primarily for me or for the brand”, Have you actually worked with a small business who is trying to break into the homeschool market with their curriculum? Speaking from experience – reviews are totally for the brand’s benefit. The companies I have worked with are relying on word-of-mouth reviews for future sales among homeschoolers.
Yes, reviews are part of working with a brand. You are helping them reach your audience that they would not have access. (unless you want to review for Jello).
And you don’t “need” a “wonderful photo”, but now with Pinterest being a huge referring social media platform – yes, you should consider including a “wonderful photo”. It helps your blog and the brand — whom are now on Pinterest growing their boards with our reviews.
I agree reviews are not “promised”, especially when product is in question. I’ve received books from a company I enjoy reading and certain books fell short. I contacted the company to tell them I would not review the product, but accepting a ton of “free stuff” and not reviewing it I think is poor.
Ultimately, I do not review products unless I want to help the company.
I do not think reviews should be “fancy”, I believe they should be informative and contain quality content. I’m not going to lie to make something sound wonderful that is just average, however I will share my passion for the products I love.