December 13, 2012
How to Write a Product Review Blog Post
90% of the posts on this blog are product reviews and giveaways. What some of you may not know is how much work truly goes into each one. I decided to break it down to you to show you exactly what I do. I thought that people who are thinking of writing product reviews may like to see my tips and suggestions as well.
1. Find the companies that you want to contact. I tend to bookmark companies that relate to food, women's clothing, exercise, home decor, kitchen equipment, etc. How I find companies is on other blogs, magazines, in dietetics journals, in stores, other people's suggestions, etc.
2. Go to that company's 'contact us' or 'customer service' page. Create an email to the company that include the following points:
3. After the initial email is sent, I wait to hear back from the company. When I get an email back, I read what they said and follow up. Many times, a company wants more information from me, my address or to know which products I would like to review. In most cases, it takes a few emails back and forth to figure everything out between the company and I.
4. Once everything is set-up, I wait for the product to come in the mail. When it comes, I take the products out of the package and photograph it.
5. Photos are uploaded to my computer and edited.
6. Then, I test the product. This can vary a lot since I review all different types of products. If it is a food product, I will try the different flavors or try the food in a recipe. If it is something like running shoes, I will exercise in the shoes a few times. I try to get a thorough use out of the product before I write the review so I can see if I really like it or not.
7. Before I write the review, I research the company. I usually read the 'about' page and read more about the different products that the company sells.
8. I start to write the product review. I include at least one picture of the product, information about the product, nutritional information (as applicable) and of course what I think of the products. A typical review takes about half an hour to type.
9. If the company has agreed to have me do a giveaway for my readers along with the review, I go to Rafflecopter and set that up.
10. Lately, I have enjoyed writing a few product reviews at once and then schedule them to be posted on my blog. I try to post each day around 7 AM.
11. After the post is published, I send the product review link to the company and promote it on my Twitter and Facebook.
12. If I am doing a giveaway, I may Tweet or Facebook about the giveaway until it is over. I then choose a winner/winners, contact the winners and send their shipping information to the company.
As you can see, writing a product review takes time and dedication. I absolutely love trying new products and cannot see myself not doing this. It has become part of who I am and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in reviewing products.
Steps to Writing a Product Review Blog Post:
1. Find the companies that you want to contact. I tend to bookmark companies that relate to food, women's clothing, exercise, home decor, kitchen equipment, etc. How I find companies is on other blogs, magazines, in dietetics journals, in stores, other people's suggestions, etc.
2. Go to that company's 'contact us' or 'customer service' page. Create an email to the company that include the following points:
- Why their company interests you
- What you would like to review
- Tell them your blog name, what it is about, how many followers you have, Facebook fans, Twitter followers, etc.
- What you are looking to get out of the relationship with them
- Thank them for their time
4. Once everything is set-up, I wait for the product to come in the mail. When it comes, I take the products out of the package and photograph it.
5. Photos are uploaded to my computer and edited.
6. Then, I test the product. This can vary a lot since I review all different types of products. If it is a food product, I will try the different flavors or try the food in a recipe. If it is something like running shoes, I will exercise in the shoes a few times. I try to get a thorough use out of the product before I write the review so I can see if I really like it or not.
8. I start to write the product review. I include at least one picture of the product, information about the product, nutritional information (as applicable) and of course what I think of the products. A typical review takes about half an hour to type.
9. If the company has agreed to have me do a giveaway for my readers along with the review, I go to Rafflecopter and set that up.
10. Lately, I have enjoyed writing a few product reviews at once and then schedule them to be posted on my blog. I try to post each day around 7 AM.
11. After the post is published, I send the product review link to the company and promote it on my Twitter and Facebook.
12. If I am doing a giveaway, I may Tweet or Facebook about the giveaway until it is over. I then choose a winner/winners, contact the winners and send their shipping information to the company.
As you can see, writing a product review takes time and dedication. I absolutely love trying new products and cannot see myself not doing this. It has become part of who I am and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in reviewing products.
If you have any questions about reviewing products or hosting blog giveaways, please feel free to ask. I would be happy to help!
We have a pretty similar process! I really love doing reviews, too, and have definitely been putting in a lot of hours over the past half a year or year or so to transform my blog into primarily a review and giveaway blog - it's fun, it's rewarding, and I like thinking that my reviews are helping someone out there make an educated decision as a consumer and not waste her/his money! How did you branch out into doing fashion/kitchen appliance reviews? I've been just doing food...
ReplyDeleteHi! After you sent me your blog, it has become one of my favorites!! I love reading food reviews. To review fashion, kitchen appliances, etc., I have just emailed the companies that I am interested in and they may or may not respond. I did not do anything specific except tell them why I am interested in reviewing their products.
DeleteAt the wide end you would have at least one low cost or free product which you use to entice people to sign up to your email list and/or a webinar reviews
ReplyDelete