What Makes a SuccessfulProduct Review Blog

Jason ElliotOutdoorInformer.com

What to Expect• About me• What makes product review blogs

popular• Investing in your blog• Building credibility• Who and how to request products• Rules & regulations• No and low cost promotion• Q&A

katesrealfood.com

Editor of OutdoorInformer.com

• Outdoor gear review and news site• Went “live” February 2010• 11 contributing writers/reviewers• Partnering relationships with 150+

outdoor products/services companies• Publish 4+ articles/week• Monthly features

– Depth of Fields: Profiling an adventure photographer

– Guest Blogger Review: Feature gear review by a prominent outdoor blogger

– Gear Giveaway: Enter to win outdoor gear

What Makes ProductReview Blogs Popular

For a Company & PR FirmsCheap advertising

For a BloggerEstablish industry credibility and respectabilityFree schwag

For a ReaderNon-biased consumer information

Invest in Your Blog

• Be ready to spend $$$ – not a lot though• A little investment will go far in establishing

credibility

Spend your cash on:• Professional designed logo• Website template & extensions• Professional photos and/or graphic design

Choose a Blogging Platform

Hosted vs Self-Hosted

Not So Good:• Hosted Options From:

– Blogger– WordPress– Tumblr– Posterous

Choose a Blogging Platform

Good• Self-Hosted Options From:

– WordPress– Joomla!– Drupal– MovableType– Plone

Site Structure

• Plan site structure• Don’t forget to include pages for:

– About Us– Contact Us

• E-Mail• Mailing Address• Phone#/Skype

Build Credibility• Write news articles from press

releases for initial posts• Set-up newsfeeds for:

– Pitch Engine– PR Newswire– PRWeb– PR.com– Business Wire– Market Wire– PR Leap

Build Credibility

Use proper:• Grammar• Punctuation• Spelling• Sentence structure• APA Style

Steripen Sidewinder Challenge

Who and How to Request Products to Review

• Your contact point with each company is:– PR/Marketing Rep or– PR Firm that’s the Agency of

Record• Identify PR contact from press

releases and from press/media section on company website

• E-mail contact to request a ‘media sample’

How CompaniesAnalyze Your Blog

Site analytics• Alexa.com• Google Analytics & Page Rank• Quantcast• Social Media Channel Numbers

– Facebook Page Followers– Twitter Followers & Klout Rating

How CompaniesAnalyze Your Blog

• Creative and organized site layout and design

• Posts that are similar or complimentary to their products and services

• Quality and quantity of comments on articles• Background of site contributors• Age of site

Rules & Regulations

Federal Trade CommissionNew media must disclose how a product being reviewed was acquired

Internal Revenue ServiceClaim free products as income

Federal, State & Local Lottery LawsRequired to follow with giveaway and contest promotions

Rules & Regulations

Mass Media Law• Libel• Copyrights• Trademarks• Plagiarism

Protect Online Identity

Reserve the same name for the following

• URL - .com .net .org• Facebook• Twitter• YouTube• Flickr• And any other applicable social

media channel

No & Low Cost Promotions• Monthly & Weekly Features• Contests & Giveaways• Guest Blogging• Guest Appearance on Radio &

Podcast Shows• Cross-Promotions• Guerrilla Marketing• Of Course….Social Media

Channels

Q&A

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