There is a ton to know about becoming a reviewer! Once your site is put together, you can work towards being a product reviewer. What this means is that you will work with companies, and in exchange for your honest, and unbiased review, they will send you free stuff!
The first thing you will need of course is your blog, but the next thing you will need is an Amazon account.
Step 1: Amazon Account & Reviews
First you will want to set up an Amazon account. This will be a personal account where you will place orders, keep track of shipping, review products that you get for review. You will also want to review items you pay for as well. This looks better, in my opinion, and adds more reviews to your arsenal for when you start pitching. (That will be another post in itself)
Once you have your Amazon account set up, you will sign up for review groups.
Step 2: Review Groups & Platforms
One of the most popular places to get items for review is Tomoson. Almost everyone I blog with started their reviewing career there. Tomoson offers products for you to review for free. Some of the items available are REALLY awesome! To get started with Tomoson, you will need to set up an account.
You will also need to have accounts on the following social media platforms to get products:
- YouTube
And of course, your blog, and Google Analytics. You will also need to have your Amazon account set up already, to complete your reviews.
Once your Tomoson account is set up, you will add your social media links, and then apply for reviews. Se sure to check the requirements, because if you apply for a review, and do not meet the requirements you will be denied, and cannot reapply for that promo.
Another great review site is ReviewLoop. This one is by invite only, as it is still in Beta, I believe. Either way, they are worth checking out. I have scored some pretty nice stuff through them, but usually the REALLY good stuff gets snagged up before I can get on there.
There are tons of others, but this is where you should start. Once you get established and have a following, you can check out my list of review sites and blogger networks for more groups, and networks to join.
Step 3: Posting your Reviews
For me, it is easier to have a pattern, as most reviewers will either copy their review from one site, and post it to the next, or they will post a shortened review on their blog. Be sure to add lots of quality pictures, and videos. Companies LOVE that. I usually go to my Amazon account and do my reviews there first. Since I have WordPress, I use a Review Plug-In for all of my reviews so there is a 5-star ranking system like on Amazon. You can do your reviews in any fashion and order you please but this way works better for me.
Once my Amazon reviews are done, I set up my blog review by adding the sellers information, and then adding my review and pictures or videos after their information. You will want to have an Amazon Associates account for this (this is explained on our How To Make Money Blogging page). This will benefit you in the long run when your readers buy a product through your link.
Step 4: Post FTC Disclosures, & Disclaimers
This is the most important thing you will do before you post your very first review. You need to come up with a disclaimer, and disclosures. This should be visible on every post, review, and page! You can get into BIG trouble for not having this. I copied a generic FTC Disclosure from another site a while back, and modified it to fit my site.
My Disclaimer (what you put on every review, no matter where it is posted) is a basic one that states:
- Free products: “**This product was received in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All opinions are 100% that of the author.”
- Paid Products: Paid reviews are not ‘paid reviews’, they become sponsored posts once money is exchanged, and no where in your review should you use the terms review, rating, or anything suggesting you are being paid to hand out a good review. This is simply unethical.
Remember, others will look to you when buying a product. If you endorse a crappy product, guess what? No one will come back to your blog for reviews, and your rankings will drop. This is the last thing any review blogger wants.