I Have A Review Product. What Now?

So you’ve made some contacts, and now you have a product to review.  What’s next?

Don’t lose the product!

Make sure you use it.  Your review will sound false if you don’t.  If you flat ran out of time tell your readers that in a short concise way and add some ad copy.

Have your camera ready.

Take before and after shots if they would help.  I enjoy using video whenever possible.

Jot down some thoughts immediately.

I’ve found that packing slips are handy to write down how it worked for me.  The slip tells me exactly what product I was using.  Momnesia strikes at me frequently.

Have a calendar to schedule reviews.

There are a multitude of online calendars, reminders, phone apps, etc.  You can even use an old-fashioned calendar hanging on the wall. [gasp-really?  Yes, there's a thing called a pen...]  Whatever you use, mark down when you need to have the review done.

Write as if you were telling a friend about the product.

Sometimes I even think of one person I know that would like the product and keep them in mind as I’m describing the product.  You can include ad copy from the company, but don’t over do it.  Sometimes it’s necessary; see #1.  Use your own words.  Let your personality shine through.  It will make your review sound more trustworthy and be much easier to read.

Notify the company or review group.

Send the permalink of your review post to whoever needs to know about it, and a few people who don’t.  Sometimes you need to post links in a forum.

Remember that it’s okay to say no.

You don’t have to accept every review offer.  Some products might not fit your blog.  Some might be for an age group that your children are not in.  You might be too busy at the time.   It’s a good idea to reply with a polite, “No thank you, but please keep me in mind for other products.  Try to keep good relationships with PR people.  They talk to each other too.

Be truthful.

You’ll eventually get a product that you don’t like.  If you really hated it write the company and ask them if they still want you to post the review.  If you can think of some positive and negative things about the product let your readers know.  A reviewer who constantly writes bubbly-everything-was-great reviews makes me doubt their credibility.  You can state it as your personal opinion, and let the readers know that it might work different for them.

It comes down to trust.

You have worked on building a loyal readership that trusts you and what you write.  The PR people will be trusting in that same bond.  Your readers will be able to tell if you are being trustworthy or not.

Have you found these to be true?  Do you know any points that could be added to this list?