Comments on: Write Reviews that Add Value and Solve Readers’ Problems

By: Daniel Poon

Daniel Poon — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:52:27 +0000

How about lifehacking sites like mine http://www.danielpoon.com/lifehacking that seeks to add value and solve reader’s problem. I find this a better way than just doing review of something I bought. You have to be experienced to hack.

By: Dheeraj

Dheeraj — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:05:31 +0000

Well what percentage of people do write reviews.

By: Reginald

Reginald — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:15:00 +0000

When it comes to creating archive pages, is there a problem with using wordpress?

By: Nuno Silva

Nuno Silva — Tue, 27 May 2008 23:03:56 +0000

Very nice post Dustin. I just bookmarked it for future reference

By: Anthony at Work-at-home-Wealth.com

Anthony at Work-at-home-Wealth.com — Tue, 27 May 2008 02:07:06 +0000

Hi Dustin,

Thanks for your words and for the tip. I’m already diggin’ The simple Dollar (Very interesting site BTW) finding that book review template.

By: Dustin

Dustin — Tue, 27 May 2008 01:46:52 +0000

Felix: Headlines are a problem — my reviews tend to get really long headlines. My general strategy is to put a benefit in the headline, but I also want people to know it’s a review. So I might use something like “Become a better (and better paid!) blogger! A review of “ProBlogger” by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett”. A negative review is even harder, though I don’t think you give too much away with a title like “Avoid this book! A review of…”I think that’s tantalizing enough to draw people into the post. OF course, you could always do a “13.2 Reasons NOT to buy Product X” dealie…

MJ: I wrote my bio at the last minute, just as I was about to send Darren my guest post. So far people have found two typos, both in links. Moral of the story: always PROOFREAD< even if it’s just 40 or so words you dash off in a hurry. ESPECIALLY if it’s just 40 words or so you dash off in a hurry!

Anthony: Congratulations. The template idea is a good one. You know who has a great reviewing template? Trent at The Simple Dollar — his book reviews are simply amazing, and almost always follow the same pattern, so you know exactly what to expect.

By: MJ Ray

MJ Ray — Mon, 26 May 2008 10:41:01 +0000

Nice summary. I’d add the sixth “big W” to the above list – tell people somewhere to find the product, which also makes you check whether the product is still available.

By the way, the lifehack link in the bio goes to lifgehack.org and not lifehack.org

By: Felix

Felix — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:10:57 +0000

Excellent post! One question; what do you title your review posts? I get stuck using “Product Review” – its to the point, but that’s not very sexy.

Also, do you give away the ending in the title? Example: “Widget is amazing / terrible – find out why”

By: Anthony at Work-at-home-Wealth.com

Anthony at Work-at-home-Wealth.com — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:00:20 +0000

Thanks Dustin and Darren for the great info. Coincidently, I’ve just won a contest yesterday by doing a blog review and get paid $50. :)

http://work-at-home-wealth.com/blog/index.php/reviews/blog-review-fresh-revision/

IMHO that review was worth tenfold as it was more a consultation than a review but I’m not whinning because $50 was what the blog’s owner was disposed to pay and same as on real estate it all depends on where the property (the review) is. I mean, without changing a single point that same review is worth much more in your blog than in mine’s.

I’ve also taken doing it as a challenge and an opportunity to develop a template to follow in future blog reviews and to get some work done to show in my portfolio to prospective customers.

By: Frank Michlick (SharedReviews.com)

Frank Michlick (SharedReviews.com) — Mon, 26 May 2008 02:19:31 +0000

I find that reviews are especially valuable if two conditions are met:

1) The reviewer describes their personal experience with the product.

When I’m looking for a product review, I most likely already know some of the features of the product. But at this point I want to know what happened when YOU used the product. Did it fulfill it’s purpose?

2) My relationship to the reviewer matters. How much do I know about the writer, can I relate to him?

In “real life” we know a whole lot about people from our circle of friends, so we know whom to ask when we’re looking for a computer, magazine or part for our car. In an online world, this is a level of a trust that is harder to reach and takes more time to create. If the reader is a subscriber to your blog, they might however already have a feel for your personality and your areas of expertise.

/FM

By: Cory from Dental Heroes

Cory from Dental Heroes — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:42:51 +0000

Thanks for the fantastic post, Dustin. It just so happens that I was looking for suggestions on what to include in a product review. I was just solicited for the first time to review a companies products, and wanted to ensure that I was providing my readers with the information they want to see in a product review.

By: Millionaire Money Habits

Millionaire Money Habits — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:22:14 +0000

Nicely done, Dustin. This is extremely valuable information that I will refer to again and again.

Ryan

By: Dustin

Dustin — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:21:15 +0000

Kirk: I’m going to think about the subject of creating better archive pages. One of the issues, of course, is that there are so many blogging platforms out there, and what works on Wordpress (the platform I know best) may not work on Blogger, or Movable Type, or Drupal, or…

But there should be some general principles that could apply cross-platform.

Ulla: Reviews of other blogs are certainly a possibility, and something people rarely do well. I did a post a couple of months ago recommending blogs for writers with very short, 1- and 2-line capsule reviews of each site, and even with such short snippets of information, I got several emails asking me how I’d managed to find out so much! So there’s definitely room for someone to start producing really useful blog reviews.

Although it’s not exactly the same kind of review as I talk about above, you might also think about doing photography reviews, whetehr of a single piece or a representative sample of a photographer’s body of work, with an eye towards what the work you’re reviewing can teach about becoming a better photographer. I think that kind of review, which would straddle the line between what I wrote about above and traditional art criticism, would be really useful.

By: witsandnuts

witsandnuts — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:18:44 +0000

Timely post. I am about to do review of books that I read the past two months and of the i-phone after a quarter of using it.

By: SusanAtLifeskate

SusanAtLifeskate — Sun, 25 May 2008 11:53:37 +0000

Thanks Dustin — My site is about figure skating so I’ve reached out to publishers to let them know that if they’d like any skating books reviewed/mentioned, to send me a review copy. So far, I’ve gotten two (a children’s book and the book about Tonya Harding that just came out). I suspect when the season starts back up again in the fall, I’ll be busy reading and reviewing.

By: Make Money Talks

Make Money Talks — Sun, 25 May 2008 10:19:56 +0000

Ask John about reviews :) , he probably did reviews on any world topic :)

By: Ulla

Ulla — Sun, 25 May 2008 09:53:46 +0000

I’m just thinking what your post could mean for me – having a photoblog which is not focussed on the technical aspect. I am definitely not a techie myself, so I don’t think about reviews on cameras. Could “product” also mean other photoblogs? Something like “my photoblog of the month”? You’re giving me something to think about – definitely!

By: Raja Devanathan

Raja Devanathan — Sun, 25 May 2008 06:38:47 +0000

Good tips, and I am writing reviews with the same type of structures. I also provide ratings out of 10, because often I find people want a quick recommendation or not. You can also rate it out of 5 stars or however u want I guess.

I also disclose to my readers if its a paid review to maintain editorial integrity.

By: Angelo

Angelo — Sun, 25 May 2008 06:27:46 +0000

Great work, nice tips. But you should properly disclose so your readers will know if you are working, you are paid, you bought the product or something like that.

By: Ryan McLean

Ryan McLean — Sun, 25 May 2008 05:16:58 +0000

Wow,
This is one of the best posts you have written for me. I only say that because it struck something in me and I was like “Ah ha, here is an opportunity”
I write a financial blog on how to become wealthy…there are so many books and other blogs and things out there that I have tried…but I have never written a review on anything.
I am definately going to write reviews on my blog now. It is a great way to get content, get traffic, sell products and mainly to provide my readers with some great information on products before they buy them
Thanks Darren, this will make my financial blog way way better