The Truth About Reviewing Products

Today I am not going to do a review, but instead kind of explain how to go about doing reviews and building up a reputation to gain trust and obtain more review opportunities.

First and foremost, I need to be clear that there will be work involved and a lot of times, you will get a deep discount as opposed to free.  The terms of service for whatever site you are reviewing on should be read in its entirety and followed closely.  Amazon now has very strict rules regarding writing reviews.  If Amazon is where you want to be, you need to make sure you read up on that.

This is not easy money, it's not effortless.  It takes time to do the reviews and it takes effort to build followers and a reputation.  It takes time to take pictures and videos, to edit it all, to type, to test.  If you are okay with that, go ahead and read on.

I suggest, first, that you start out with a blog, social media, YouTube, Imgur, etc.  Where you post depends on what you are doing.  Let's say you love makeup.  You have to ask yourself who will pay more attention to your review, photos in a blog, or a video of you applying the product with commentary and a before and after shot?

Then, it's a matter of just writing/making content.  Let's pretend you need to buy some headphones anyway, so you go online and you buy a pair for full price the first time.  (You may need to do this a few times before you start gaining a reputation and followers) You take a photo of the package, the item itself, the accessories.  Talk about how they look, how they feel, how they are built--if they come to you damaged, don't allow that to be part of the review for the item. That is a packaging problem and more often than not, if you talk to the company that sold it to you, they will replace it.  Your job is to write content on the item itself.  Take really good pictures in natural light from many angles.  Have fun with it.

I recently bought a pair of headphones that I just loved because I love geek things.  They were  headphones, but were also elf ears. I paid full price for them, because I loved them, but wrote a review to build content as well as spread the word about a surprisingly decent and fun item.
So, one of the places I like to discuss content on is Imgur and the photograph I used was from a photo shoot my daughter did where I was dressed as a winter elf.  We had fun with it, promoted the product, and created a setting that attracts headphone fans and cosplay fans.  See?

Eventually, you will be noticed, especially if you tag your items as a product review and with the brand you are reviewing.  

Make sure you are honest.  If there is something you don't like, explain why you don't like it, but also make sure to explain why you think it will be good for someone else.  An example would be a Christmas laser light that I reviewed a while back.  I had trouble with it working in the extreme cold we have here in Wisconsin.   Despite the fact that the description said it could handle the cold, it could not; however, it would be perfect for an indoor situation (a dance in a big basement or gym) or used in a climate that it wasn't -40F windchill at night.

There are places online that you can find products for a deep discount to review.  A simple Google search will bring up several and some of them, after building a reputation and followers, will even pay you to write reviews in your personal blog and on your social media.  I'm not going to list them here, because there are other blogs that extensively describe who offers what and I want them to get their traffic too.  

The point is, you will get there.  Don't lie, don't take bribes.  You do NOT have to change your review if it is honest. Taking free stuff for a false review is wrong.  Doing a review without trying out the product is wrong.  Writing a hateful or an abusive review, a sloppy review, an unprofessional review is wrong.  

These companies rely on you for both quality control and promotion.  This is their livelihood and while you can choose whether to do the review or not before you get the product, you are obligated to put in a professional effort when you agree to do the job, because, that's what this is.  A job.  You are a freelancer and you are getting paid by being able to keep what you are working for. 

I wish you good luck! 

SoundPie AI Smart In-Ear Earbud Iphone Headphones SP33

I have tried out SoundPie products before and, for the most part, for the rice they really seem to know what they are doing.

I thought the packaging was rather standard, but functional.  As long as they get to me in one piece, I’m happy.  I was pleasantly surprised by the little coin purse that came with, as I tend to have several hard cases on hand just for headphones.  I like to be able to have them in a bag or purse without the headache of trying to detangle them from lip gloss and keys, and having to dust the buds before using them.  Thank you for that SoundPie, that’s a nice addition.

You get extra buds in various sizes to ensure a good fit, a clip, and a nice coin purse-like carrying case with a pressure opening.
The look is really nice.  I really like headphones with the rubberized wires.  They don’t tend to tangle as much, nor do they seem to stress as much as hard plastic cables.  There is no wire noise and they just really feel good.  I have been putting them through the wringer this week and have had no problems as far as performance.  I tend to be the type that will yank the wire to remove the buds from my ears when in a hurry, so I often pay special attention to the connection at the buds themselves as well as wires.  Whether right or wrong, it happens and I think the manufacturer should keep it in mind when making an every-day earphone.  The connections are secure both at the buds themselves and where the wires split.  There is a slide on the split wires to enable you to snug them if you need to.

The buds: Gunmetal in color and really cool looking.  I had reviewed a pair of metal headphones a couple of months ago in which I found them to be really heavy and hard to keep in my ears. These, however, are considerably lighter, quite comfortable, and really nice looking.

Here’s what sold me:  You can use all functions on both android and iphone.  So often, I am unable to use all the functions, such as answering and hanging up, skipping songs, volume…it’s kind of a tossup as to what you are going to be able to do.  These work the first time.  YESSS!

Lastly, how do they sound?  Good!  I noticed better noise isolation with these than I have with other headphones.  So often I read “noise cancelling” when really it should be “isolation” and even then, it’s not.  These are.  Background noise was set to a minimum while the music was brought forward, well balanced, a little tinny with acoustic music, though not overly basey with a more soul-specific  genre.  I think where these really excel is when having a conversation on the phone.  The tonal quality is crisp and clear, voices are brought forward and not swallowed up like I have experienced with other headphones—especially if they have some kind of expanded base system.  Those can be really great for music, but lousy for conversations.   These headphones I would recommend for more conversational use or, if you are a transcriber, these would be an affordable option to get you through speech-to-text.  Pretty standard for music, very good for conversation.