Sunday, February 1, 2009

Blog and Earn Money Reviewing Products

By Nicole Dean

Where should we shop? Have you tried any new good restaurants? Read any good books lately? Most people love to share their opinions with others. People love to talk about all their favorite things (and not-so-favorites, as well) with friends and family and we do it everyday for free. Word-of-mouth is actually what drives the market in many cases. This is why there is an opportunity to cash in by sharing your opinions on blogs.

Blogging, which had its start in 1995 but has gained more popularity in recent years, is a way for people to spread the word about their opinions. Blogs are everywhere, thanks to free services like Wordpress.org and Google's blogger.com. These applications allow anyone to build a blog in less than an hour from any computer. The guide to blogging at the end of this article will show you exactly how to get your blog started -- and profit from it.

The skills you need are a love of and the ability to share your opinion. You'll also want to be able to set up a professional looking blog so that the people who read your reviews take you seriously enough to come back and read more. (If you don't know how to design an attractive logo or blog, there are people everywhere who can set it up for you cheap.) And, of course, having an interesting personality or fun writing style will help bunches, too. Sound like you? Then a review blog could be something you enjoy and something you can make profitable, as well.

Products and services are often sold by word-of-mouth. Many companies rely on consumer reviews as a valuable marketing strategy. If you are thinking about reviewing products and services on your blog, you'll want to know what it takes to turn your opinion into a real home-based, money-making business. In other words -- how do you actually make money doing this?

Pay for Review or Survey: There are companies which are willing to pay people money to review their products. One of the most popular is PayPerPost.com, but there are tons of other sites like it. Once your blog takes off, you will qualify for these types of opportunities.

Pay for Product Research: Companies may request researchers to actually use a product and submit an honest opinion and review of their findings. These product research fees can range up to $75 per review and you get to keep the product after the test is over. I've received all kinds of books from publishers and CD's that I've reviewed. It's a great way to add to your book collection. Just be sure to only accept free items from companies who you're actually going to review. It pays to say "no" if it keeps you on their good side for future offers.

Pay for Advertising: You can also earn by selling advertising on your blog. Offer several options - text ads, banner ads, and product reviews for pay on your blog so companies will find exactly what they need.

The potential to earn money from writing about products and services on your blog are endless. Take a minute and do a quick search online and you will find hundreds of ideas to write about, and find the companies that are requesting reviews. Chances are something you just tried recently is available for you to write about on your blog.

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