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How to make money with "REAL" review sites?

by theultimate1
26 replies
Hello Warriors,

Greetings of the Day!

Every other big name marketer suggests one way to rocking at affiliate marketing is to set up review sites. But most of them are plain fake when it comes to review. They just tell you what the product does and why it's good. In short, they hype it up in disguise of reviewing it. I've seen one site IM Report Card - Internet Marketing Ratings, Reviews and Discussion that seems to do a good job of reviewing a lot of products in the IM market.

However, let's say you were running a review site focussed on one product... How would you frame your content while at the same time being honest?

The answer to this might be obvious, or something beyond my imagination - That's what this "QUEST" (:p) is all about.

Thanks in advance for all your help
#make #money #real #review #sites
  • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
    You'll find this alot nowadays. Where potential affiliate commissions abound, you'll find that many people promote and glorify sub-par products, or products they haven't used just in order to get that commission. It's great when you genuinly like and have tried the product, but, there are many times where people will compromise that, inflating their review intentionally just to get that commission.

    The BEST approach would just to be honest....this strategy may not be incredibly 'lucrative' in the short term, but, I'd think readers would begin to value what you say, and would be more inclined to trust your reviews and purchase, if you truly highlight the good with the bad.

    Originally Posted by theultimate1 View Post

    Hello Warriors,

    Greetings of the Day!

    Every other big name marketer suggests one way to rocking at affiliate marketing is to set up review sites. But most of them are plain fake when it comes to review. They just tell you what the product does and why it's good. In short, they hype it up in disguise of reviewing it. I've seen one site IM Report Card - Internet Marketing Ratings, Reviews and Discussion that seems to do a good job of reviewing a lot of products in the IM market.

    However, let's say you were running a review site focussed on one product... How would you frame your content while at the same time being honest?

    The answer to this might be obvious, or something beyond my imagination - That's what this "QUEST" (:p) is all about.

    Thanks in advance for all your help
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    • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
      Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x View Post

      You'll find this alot nowadays. Where potential affiliate commissions abound, you'll find that many people promote and glorify sub-par products, or products they haven't used just in order to get that commission. It's great when you genuinly like and have tried the product, but, there are many times where people will compromise that, inflating their review intentionally just to get that commission.

      The BEST approach would just to be honest....this strategy may not be incredibly 'lucrative' in the short term, but, I'd think readers would begin to value what you say, and would be more inclined to trust your reviews and purchase, if you truly highlight the good with the bad.
      So, if users have to trust me, they have to know me... in which case doing one product review per site/blog wouldn't be the ideal option. Would you then suggest that I setup a site where I review multiple products in a given market?
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      • Profile picture of the author aaramire
        Originally Posted by theultimate1 View Post

        So, if users have to trust me, they have to know me... in which case doing one product review per site/blog wouldn't be the ideal option. Would you then suggest that I setup a site where I review multiple products in a given market?
        I would agree that this is the best route to take. Having a site dedicated strictly for the review of products in your niche will be easier to manage than having a domain for each product reviewed.

        As far as "real" review sites, you are building relationships with your readers that can and may be more rewarding in the long run.

        For a real review: I purchase the product test it out for a couple of weeks and then address several key issues about the product.

        some things to consider:
        1. ease of use
        2. pricing structure
        3. customer service
        4. effectiveness

        For IM products I rarely look for reviews, I just come here ;p
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  • Profile picture of the author P.Sharma
    alot of IMer make review sites for quick bucks and that is easy if you know a little bit of SEO. For small products 1 week of SEO + keyword in domain name can land you in the first place on Google but "REAL" reviews and few and far away.

    Most people read what others are saying about the product and structure their post around the same points.
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  • Profile picture of the author Patrick Mader
    I never have seen a real "REAL" Review site. Ether it´s just a copy of the hole site or just some points sorted out of the site. The main problem is that you can´t buy the main product in the prelaunchtime. An money is rolling in the launchtime. And as long as people buy from this crappy sites, nothing will change.

    Cheers,

    Patrick
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    REAL reviews do work, but probably not in the IM niche. We're all too savvy in this niche and we simply head to the forums straight away. I had a real review site in the Forex niche and it worked pretty OK (4 figures per month), but it was LOTS of work because I would actually read and test through the products. It was great to build a mailing list though.
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    • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
      Originally Posted by Anonymous Affiliate View Post

      REAL reviews do work, but probably not in the IM niche. We're all too savvy in this niche and we simply head to the forums straight away. I had a real review site in the Forex niche and it worked pretty OK (4 figures per month), but it was LOTS of work because I would actually read and test through the products. It was great to build a mailing list though.
      Wow, 4 figures a month is pretty cool from a review site.

      Are you aware on such sites in existence (any in the non-IM niches), which you might want to show us?

      Thanks
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    • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
      Originally Posted by Anonymous Affiliate View Post

      REAL reviews do work, but probably not in the IM niche. We're all too savvy in this niche and we simply head to the forums straight away. I had a real review site in the Forex niche and it worked pretty OK (4 figures per month), but it was LOTS of work because I would actually read and test through the products. It was great to build a mailing list though.
      lol...what a revolutionary concept...it's good to see that someone actually did this, AA....

      Plus, I'm sure doing this helped faciliate and even better relationship with your readers/subscribers...
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      • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
        Originally Posted by x3xsolxdierx3x View Post

        Plus, I'm sure doing this helped faciliate and even better relationship with your readers/subscribers...
        Well, whenever I would actually recommend a product I'd get a nice flurry of sales on that product. But of course, since most of the products are pretty weak in reality, I would only give the thumbs up to one or two products a month.
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  • Profile picture of the author coolman3050
    can use real make money????
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  • Profile picture of the author Igor Kheifets
    The key to successful and honest reviews that sell is
    ACTUALLY USING THE PRODUCT BEFORE YOU PROMOTE IT.

    Only after you've tasted and paid for it with your own money, you'll
    be able to come up with an honest and truthful review that projects
    trust and will convert.

    Igor
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    • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
      Originally Posted by igorhelpsyousucceed View Post

      The key to successful and honest reviews that sell is
      ACTUALLY USING THE PRODUCT BEFORE YOU PROMOTE IT.

      Only after you've tasted and paid for it with your own money, you'll
      be able to come up with an honest and truthful review that projects
      trust and will convert.

      Igor
      Not only to read and use the product, but also to dare calling a turd out even if that means you'll make no sale out of it (which you want).

      The beauty of honest reviews is that you get recurrent traffic (because people trust your reviews), and that means that you can sell your banner ad spaces at higher prices, you can run CPA offers too and you can easily build a mailing list. I was making as much money from CPA offers running on the site as I was making from Clickbank commissions.
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  • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
    Ok, all that is nice.

    But let's just assume... and I repeat, ASSUME... that I just go through the product (without actually taking action upon it, because that actually takes a lot of time and by the time you're up with a review, the product is no more being searched for) and still tried to write an honest review, what would be your opinion of something like that?

    What I'm trying to say is... Let's take the IM-niche for example. I've been learning IM for like 3-4 years but haven't taken action yet (because of sheer laziness, and yes I'm ashamed to say that). However, I feel confident I could do a pretty decent job at consulting people on good TO-DOs and DO-NOTs of Internet Marketing. So, if there's a product that's bad or a scam or doesn't live to its sales letter hype/promise, I could sense it well (in most cases, if not all). So, if I'm writing reviews with just my knowledge and not real experience with a particular product/ebook, what would you think about that?

    I know the thought of this question itself might disgust some of you, but all in the game, right?! And I'm not trying to scam anyone or am not even saying that I'll do something like that; just trying to weigh the option against writing "the most REAL real" reviews. I think IM Report Card - Internet Marketing Ratings, Reviews and Discussion does something like that itself, but am not sure so am not making any remark on them or anything like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Anonymous Affiliate
    You cannot possibly TRY and/or IMPLEMENT every product you review, but at least you can make an educated opinion by reading it and comparing it with previous experiences or products you've used. That's already considered a VERY honest review in today's world, since you've at least read through the product.
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    • Profile picture of the author GuruGazette
      Originally Posted by Anonymous Affiliate View Post

      You cannot possibly TRY and/or IMPLEMENT every product you review, but at least you can make an educated opinion by reading it and comparing it with previous experiences or products you've used. That's already considered a VERY honest review in today's world, since you've at least read through the product.
      Exactly. Buy it, read/view it fully while taking first impression notes, take notes on the sales letter too. Compare the hype in the sales copy to the reality of the product. Go through again more slowly, taking more notes. Mix in you knowledge, experience and opinion while making it clear you haven't tried some or all of whats there. Note both good and bad in the product--nothing is perfect so point out any potential flaws or pittfalls. All of this makes it clear you really checked out the product and are trying to give a useful, honest review.
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  • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
    Anonymous Affiliate and Kathy, thanks a lot. That kind of clears things up for me.

    Let's take this one level above. What would be the disadvantages of running a review site that covers different products in a particular market/niche? Comparing them with single product review sites is fine, as long as it helps answer the question.
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  • Profile picture of the author xatsmann
    The problem i have is coming up with the money to buy the product, after all all this stuff about affiliate marketing is that you don't need much money. Clearly that's not the case if you're going to have to buy products and review them. I guess i'll just have to look for another way to make money online, i had hoped to do with affiliate marketing but that's probably not a good route for me right now as I don't have much money to buy products to review.
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    • Profile picture of the author theultimate1
      Originally Posted by xatsmann View Post

      The problem i have is coming up with the money to buy the product, after all all this stuff about affiliate marketing is that you don't need much money. Clearly that's not the case if you're going to have to buy products and review them. I guess i'll just have to look for another way to make money online, i had hoped to do with affiliate marketing but that's probably not a good route for me right now as I don't have much money to buy products to review.
      Hey, don't lose hope mate. Affiliate marketing might still work. Try selling physical products. Or if its the need for more funds that's holding you back, get started with ghostwriting. I've done it for quite some time and it works well, especially when you're in need of some quick cash (during emergencies or for party ).
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  • Profile picture of the author ttcableguy
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    • Profile picture of the author x3xsolxdierx3x
      Originally Posted by ttcableguy View Post

      Hey man take it easy, you were so close but so far. This guy made it so easy to make money from review sites and I found him on IMreportcard, they actually recommended the site to me and graded it A+ see link below.
      What "link below"? In your sig?
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      • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
        There are ways to write reviews without actually owning/using a product. They do take a bit more work than simply saying "I bought it, used it, loved it - here's why and, btw, here's my affiliate link."

        I've found that what I'm going to suggest works better for established products, particularly for physical products. If you're trying to cash in on IM launch frenzies, you can quit reading here.

        First, you need to find out what people think is important. Widget A may have the best whatsit on the market, but it won't make you sales if no one cares about whatsits. So you start doing your research...

        Go to sites that publish buyer reviews - Amazon, Best Buy, whatever and actually read and take notes on the customer reviews for several makes/models of the product. Look for recurring compliments and complaints.

        Do the same thing with sites like epinions.com.

        Scan the consumer magazines for editorial reviews.

        Now you should have a pretty comprehensive list of what people want and don't want in that kind of product.

        Second, research the product itself. Start with the manufacturer's website. Download/skim through the manual if it's available. Compare what you find to the general list you came up with in step one.

        Third, write the review. Be upfront and tell people the review is based on more than one individual's experience. Spend two or three sentences explaining the depth of your research.

        Now launch into the product review itself. List the criteria you used to evaluate the product (the important pros and cons from step one). Rate the product on each criterion, based on both your own research and user comments.

        Make a buy/don't buy recommendation, give the product a rating or ranking ('3/5 stars' or whatever).

        End up with a call to action like:

        "Read more actual user comments and buy this Widget here." (linked)

        Like I said, it's more work than just making some stuff up. It's even more work than the 'buy it and try it' approach. But it works for the long haul and people trust what you write.
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  • Profile picture of the author rickdearr
    Reviews do work, the key is volume, visitors and # of reviews. I've used a team of writers in the past, that would be the only way I know of to get enough reviews to see the volume of traffic for good $
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