Do You Charge For Blog Reviews?
A very quick post for the weekend my friends; I’m looking for a show of hands and a few answers. Do you offer paid reviews from your blog? If not, why not? If you do…..
1. How much do you charge and how did you set the price? Do you use the same “stats” you use to figure other advertising prices, like text links and banner ads? Do you even consider it advertising?
2. I see a lot of advertising pages that do not include paid blog reviews;those have their own page. Do you separate them? If so, why?
3. How often do you do them so as to not irritate your readers? Do you care? (No offense, it’s a logical question.)
Any other info you’d like to share as to your paid review habits?
OK there’s more then 3 questions there, but it didn’t make sense to totally split them up.
Have a great weekend! After you’re finished here of course. 
Dennis
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March 13th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I don’t charge for blog reviews because then I have no say in whether or not I review them. When people buy a product from you, you have to deliver. In having people submit their blogs for review, I can select whether or not I think the blog itself will be a value to my readers, and then give an HONEST review without feeling guilty.
Corey Freeman´s last blog post..Sayzlim.net
Ben Pei Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 7:54 am
@Corey Freeman, Hmm but paid review has to be honest too right?
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
Corey Freeman Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
@Ben Pei,
Well some reviews i just don’t want to do.
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
@Corey Freeman
I personally prefer to review products I use and like and affiliate for, this way sales and make me money and they benefit my readers and sustain my rep
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate´s last blog post..20 Great Blog Comment Resources and Plugins
Corey Freeman Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
@JR @ Internet Marketing Strate,
This is what I do on my blogs, but I have an actual website that is specifically for blog reviews (so long as they follow the guidelines.) Charging for them means I could waste my time and lower the quality of the service by reviewing blogs that update only once, or those that are full of ads and spam and no original design.
Corey Freeman´s last blog post..Sayzlim.net
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
@Corey Freeman,
:-)
That is the best idea, and you are doing it right and you do not have to worry about readers so much and get paid
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate´s last blog post..Google Adsense Privacy Policy Update Deadline
Matty Byloos Reply:
March 26th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
@Corey Freeman, If you do it this way, with a unique site for reviews only, then how often do you add content to this site, how important is traffic in determining what to charge for the review, how much linkbuilding do you do, etc?
Matty Byloos´s last blog post..Brendan Contantine Live Poetry Video
Corey Freeman Reply:
March 26th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
@Matty Byloos,
I add a new video review every week, and traffic would probably be a large factor in pricing, but the service is free. And I do a little bit of link building right now but I’m busy with other projects.
Corey Freeman´s last blog post..BOXRant
Matty Byloos Reply:
March 26th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
@Corey Freeman, Hey thanks for getting back with an answer on this — was very curious. Cool idea too.
Matty Byloos´s last blog post..Brendan Contantine Live Poetry Video
Ben Pei Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
@JR @ Internet Marketing Strate, Yeah JR, I would agree with this method as well but I don’t recommend it too often because it will depreciate the value.
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
@Corey Freeman, You have absolute control, free or paid my friend. It’s simple, they just need to know ahead of time, that it is your own opinion, good or bad….pay should never suffer.
March 14th, 2009 at 1:39 am
Hi Dennis,
I would charge for a review if it is possible. If it is not possible for them to pay me $$ I will accept - publicity, Free E-books etc
For me 1-3 reviews a mth is the max I will do..
Dominique´s last blog post..Educating Your Child- Building Up EQ (Part 2)
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
@Dominique,
I like that; very open minded.
March 14th, 2009 at 6:12 am
Ya probably I offer paid reviews. It gives an opportunity to people to expose their site or blog. It also helps us to make our blog little professional. I would charge between 10 - 20$ for my blog. or If possible less..
Harish´s last blog post..What to Have and What Not to Have for Site Flipping
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
@Harish, Exposure is what it’s all about; good job.
March 14th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Hey there, I have paid reviews too.
My say is I would accept them as long as they come in because I am pretty sure we don’t get offers for review that OFTEN.
Pricing is a personal issue I guess? If you want more offers then you charge it cheap, if you want quality one, charge it higher and make sure you write a good one.
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Which Affiliate Networks To Look Out For When Promoting?
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
@Ben Pei
Probably better to do less and charge higher in the long run with the time investment
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate´s last blog post..20 Great Blog Comment Resources and Plugins
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
@Ben Pei, I like the idea. Charge more and do less, that way they are always top notch.
Ben Pei Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
@Dennis Edell, Yup yup that way is easier to attract more quality sponsors.
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
March 14th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Never had to do a review yet…
But if I ever did, I would charge.
Don’t agree with Corey, from comment no.1. When someone buys a review he has to realize that it is a review and it could be negative as well as positive.
What the buyer pays for is the plug on your page. As a buyer you would usually specify the anchor text for the links in the review. That is where the value is in most cases, and what buyers are after. (Although, following a review on popular blogs, the initial traffic surge and comments also make you pat yourself on the back)
But anyway, that is why one also has to know how much time is the review going to be on the main page of the blog… Once it goes into older entries your links wouldn’t benefit from the PR the main page has. As a standalone post, it is probably going to have a pr of 0-1…
Alex at Net-Entrepreneur.com´s last blog post..Linking Directly to Checkout on ClickBank Offers
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
@Alex at Net-Entrepreneur.com, Good thought. I usually see them advertised at least 48-72hrs on the homepage.
March 14th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I don’t offer paid reviews but don’t have anything against them. I have stopped all advertising temporarily for a whole other reason that I won’t go into here.
Site reviews are a great way to earn a profit while helping another site if done properly. We don’t want it to look like a paid link so the last thing I would call it on the actual post would be ‘Paid Review’. That’s fine for the advertising page but keep it away from the actual review - especially the title. I cringe when I see that.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog post..Why Not Just Ask For Subscribers?
Ben Pei Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 7:55 am
@Brian D. Hawkins, I would ask my sponsor if he wants it to be known. If he chooses to keep it mum, i keep it mum too! Reviews are really fun..
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
@Ben Pei, I think Brian is referring to more of a Google slap then anything else. I consider that up to the blog owner more then the sponsor.
March 14th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I’ve done many a paid review but always through a third party like PPP, which I don’t use very often any more. Many of them were for other blogs and I’ve never accepted a task that was less than $5 for a 60 word review. I do a lot less reviews these days but it’s more because of the time factor than anything else. As for price, depends on how many words they are looking at and the PR of the blog.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Ben Pei Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 7:56 am
@Sire, Hmm sire, maybe one day you should stray away from these because after they get a cut of your cake, you are almost left with nothing. Plus all the admin fees you have to pay to get the checks,,
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
Sire Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
@Ben Pei, I don’t pay any admin fees
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Ben Pei Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
@Sire, Hmm I mean when you get the USD checks and you want to bank it in, the bank will take some of the money as well right?
Not sure about that for you but thats how it works for my country.
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
Sire Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
@Ben Pei, I get paid via PayPal, therefore no fees.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Ben Pei Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 2:25 am
@Sire, Aww that explains.. I am beginning to love PayPal.
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Get On The Social Networking Bandwagon Now
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
@Sire, I’ve never used those services. PR is still important to me.
Sire Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
@Dennis Edell, PR isn’t all it’s meant to be Dennis, unless you use it as just another feather in your cap.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
@Sire, Well I still believe private advertisers use it and will until it is gone…if that ever happens.
Ben Pei Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 2:27 am
@Dennis Edell, You’re right Dennis. But I think a most responsive and interactive blog attracts an advertise more than a high PR.
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 8:32 am
@Ben Pei, More or less can never be proven, so why not have both?
March 14th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
I really need to focus more on my ads and other paid means end. I have been to busy working on others sites. I’ve been asked recently to do some reviews and for those I used “client pricing” which I let the customer set a fair price for it. I believe people can be honest and fair.
Michael@TheBloggerSource´s last blog post..Tweet Day On The Blogger Source - Follow Me
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
@Michael@TheBloggerSource,
Interesting concept. Do they set how long it needs to be also?
March 14th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
I’ve never done a paid review. I do often mention blogs when I am writing about best Theme design; however, the review I did of your new blogs is the only one I’ve done specifically for another blog - and I did that primarily to support you and secondarily for the exposure and to share my ideas with my blog readers.
I had been planning to write about those concepts anyway so your contest prompted me to go ahead and do it.
Have you done any posts on charging for advertising or using statistics to justify advertising costs? If not that would be of interest. (If yes please point us at the post(s).)
P.S. Did you change the way CommentLuv displays last posts on your blog or has the box and/or heart always been missing here? Do you like it better this way than the way it appears on most blogs?
GrowMap’s last blog post..REVIEW: Mastering Google Analytics - Easy to Understand FREE eCourse
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
@GrowMap,
I may have other posts; I’ll look and come back.
I haven’t changed commentluv at all. It may depend on the plugin version, but the heart shows here.
GrowMap Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
@Dennis Edell, I see the hearts now. It may be this PC. It seems to have some kind of intermittent issue with some scripts,
GrowMap´s last blog post..Blog Traffic Up 54.87% in the Last 30 Days: Our Proven Traffic Improvement Strategy
March 15th, 2009 at 8:11 am
I write paid reviews very rarely but when I do it I charge between $30 to $50. Most of the time many review requests are rejected because they are about credit cards, home loan, debt consolidation etc which do not fall under my purview.
Ajith Edassery´s last blog post..Global Translator Plugin - Reach out to new audience
Ben Pei Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 7:57 am
@Ajith Edassery, I think its a good idea to charge alittle higher for reviews. So that you can deliver quality stuff to quality sponsors.
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
Ajith Edassery Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
@Ben Pei, In fact, I have not put serious effort to earn a lot online owing to my regular job commitments. When I am really serious about making online money (for myself) I should do what you suggested. Even ad rates need to go up
Ajith Edassery´s last blog post..Global Translator Plugin - Reach out to new audience
Ben Pei Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
@Ajith Edassery, Yup just make sure its quality and every cent its worht.
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
@Ajith Edassery,
What factors into your decision between $30 and $50?
Ajith Edassery Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
@Dennis Edell, I spent 1 to 1.5 hour to write one such ‘paid’ reviews. So I guess, minimum 30 dollars need to be charged for that effort and the link juice that’s flowing out
Ajith Edassery´s last blog post..Interesting facts about Internet Usage, Search and related Businesses
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
@Ajith Edassery, Sooo 2-3hrs would be $50?
March 15th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I charge but I do it via services such as Blogsvertise, Smorty and Sponsored Reviews so they set the price. The prices for reviews of usually based on PR and traffic, such as Alexa rankings.
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate´s last blog post..20 Great Blog Comment Resources and Plugins
Ben Pei Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 7:58 am
@JR @ Internet Marketing Strate, They take away 50% of your earnings right?
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
@Ben Pei
Yes about, sometimes a little less, but they do send a lot of offers, especially Blogsvertise. I have had lots of offers but haven’t done any yet, cannot seem to find one good for my blog or that will benefit my readers.
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate´s last blog post..20 Great Blog Comment Resources and Plugins
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
@JR @ Internet Marketing Strate, Not worried about a PR slap?
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
@Dennis Edell,
You know what, I worry little about PR in general, I worry about Page 1 of SERPS, that is my only goal, PR is good, but in reality it’s all about link building.
And you can do reviews, especially through those services and make the links no-follow which is perfectly kosher, it’s not the paid reviews that G is against it’s the paid links in the review.
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate´s last blog post..Google Adsense Privacy Policy Update Deadline
Sire Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
@JR @ Internet Marketing Strate, I’m with you JR, as I feel getting to page one of serps will bring a lot more traffic than just having a PR. Come to think of it I don;t think having a PR brings you any traffic at all.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Ben Pei Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
@Sire, PR is but a status that MAY give you a better advertising rate. But I am not really sure if google will slap you for doing a review?
Ben Pei´s last blog post..Taking A Closer Look At How Pros Make Money Online
Sire Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
@Ben Pei, Sure Google will slap you, but who cares, Google doesn’t pay my bills.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
@Sire,
LOL
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate´s last blog post..Google Adsense Privacy Policy Update Deadline
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
@JR @ Internet Marketing Strate,
Actually the slapping all started with PayPerPost because you had to disclose the fact that it was a paid review, is this no longer true?
Either way though, it’ my understanding (having never done one through a service) that most of the decent opps “demand” it be a do follow link…is this also untrue?
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 5:52 pm
@Dennis Edell,
Not always, but you will probably get a lot less offers if your links are nofollow.
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate´s last blog post..Google Adsense Privacy Policy Update Deadline
Sire Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
@Dennis Edell, Nope, you still have to have a disclosure, but I haven’t done a task for PPP for ages because their rates currently suck, as low as 50 cents. Man I won’t even hit one key for that amount.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 8:45 am
@Sire, LOL @ 50 cents.
Yea that disclosure crap is what started the slapping in the first place…I won’t touch it.
Sire Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 11:13 pm
@Dennis Edell, I still have one on all my blogs just to play it safe.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
March 16th, 2009 at 8:30 am
showing my hand, nope I am not offering paid reviews anymore. Used to do so on other blogs through services already mentioned above, but quite frankly, I don´t really care about them plus payouts were not enough compensation for offering sponsored posts in my book
Mirjam´s last blog post..My One Week Marketing Projects are Starting to Take Off!
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
@Mirjam,
I tend to agree, the time it takes to write them and the effort is often not worth the few bucks. Plus on a flagship blog you cannot really do too many so the money doesn’t pay off, now if you are John Chow and can get away with $500 a pop…
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate´s last blog post..20 Great Blog Comment Resources and Plugins
Mirjam Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
@JR @ Internet Marketing Strate, “can get away with” … that kind of sums it up for me… don´t want to “get away with” doing reviews at cost of my small audience LOL
Mirjam´s last blog post..My One Week Marketing Projects are Starting to Take Off!
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
@Mirjam
LOL, I feel you!
JR @ Internet Marketing Strate´s last blog post..Google Adsense Privacy Policy Update Deadline
Sire Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
@Mirjam, I reckon that all depends on the amount offered and how many words required for a post. e.g. I think $5 for 60 words which I knock off in under five minutes is pretty good compensation.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Mirjam Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 1:58 am
@Sire, ….yeah see, I kind of don´t think that that is worth it
Mirjam´s last blog post..My One Week Marketing Projects are Starting to Take Off!
Sire Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
@Mirjam, $5 for 5 mins, that’s like $60 an hour, in my book that’s pretty damn good.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Mirjam Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
@Sire, … see, I don´t agree with that because I think there is something fundamentally wrong with that way of calculating… to give you an example, the other day I wrote 2 articles, 20 minutes and it already gave me 50 bucks in return, possibly more in the future, for just spending 20 minutes writing an article. That would bring my “hour rate” at 150 per hour….
Now thing is, i don´t think you can take it as “$5 for 5 minutes, so $60 per hour” because in fact, you are not repeating that same action 12 times per hour, 8 hours a day. But… you are actually promoting something on your blog, passing on link juice, and still talking with your visitors…. so those $5 you get for spilling linkjuice, for offering your followers a paid review, better be worth it, not just in money… and well, in my book it just isn´t
the number of words can´t be reduced to a specific value although many times words are “sold” … i could outsource articles for whatever purpose and pay $5 per 400 words but, is that the real value of those written words? is it worth publishing $5 reviews on your blog?
and hey, even if you´d charge 25 of 50 or whatever… I still don´t think you should calculate it as “so much per minute so my hour rate would be such and such” because at the end of the day, I am sure you spend a lot of timeo online without even seeing pennies at all, right?
so… it all boils down to “what you can get away with” or better even, what you want to get away with
I´ll just crawl back into my lonely cave now 
Mirjam´s last blog post..Using Massive Traffic Techniques - a Long Shot or Big Money Maker?
Mirjam Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
@Mirjam, shoot…. time had passed to add one more thing…. so here it is…
ps… if you can get away with earning $5 every 5 minutes of your working day, more power to you!
Mirjam´s last blog post..Using Massive Traffic Techniques - a Long Shot or Big Money Maker?
Sire Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
@Mirjam, The thing is that I don’t get that many reviews, and I have a life other than writing reviews. Having said that, if my income depended on me writing reviews and the reviews were there for the taking and only involved 60 words per post, then even if I did half what I mentioned in my previous comment, I would still be making $30 and hour. That is still pretty damn good.
I understand that this is all hypothetical, but if the all the variable were there then that hourly rate is very conceivable.
In regards to link juice being passed on, why would that bother me as long as I was getting paid for it and I wasn’t promoting anything objectionable. I figure if I can entertain my readers and still get paid for doing it, then what the heck, it’s all good.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
March 16th, 2009 at 8:40 am
From the readers’ perspective, I would like to only see like one or two paid posts a week unless the site is actually interesting and the review feels less promotional. I would also like the reviews to be done at the same time each week. Just my thoughts.
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
@Hilary-Custom Promotional Products,
First, welcome to the community! “Same time each week” is a very interesting concept; I like it.
I hope to see you around more often; please take note of how I changed your name field.
March 16th, 2009 at 9:54 am
My gut tells me it’s smart to advertise them, best to give them their own page. Curious to see the comments section on this post…
Matty Byloos´s last blog post..The Man With Two Brains: Carl Reiner at the Aero Theater
March 16th, 2009 at 9:56 am
I haven’t done a review on blogs, and sometimes i feel as if im “exploiting” them per say. but yet it would be fun to do a review. i wouldnt charge, at least not yet =P
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 16th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
@Pheak Tol, Why not?
Mirjam Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 10:38 am
@Pheak Tol, well if you want to do a review without charging …. *wink* *wink* ROFL
Mirjam´s last blog post..My One Week Marketing Projects are Starting to Take Off!
Pheak Tol Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 11:32 am
@Mirjam, haha hmmm let me check you out real quick =P
Mirjam Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
@Pheak Tol, thanks for “checking me out” anyways… not expecting the free review although man, It would be a lot of fun seeing somebody dishing my blog hahhahahaha
Mirjam´s last blog post..Using Massive Traffic Techniques - a Long Shot or Big Money Maker?
March 17th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
ROFL that was just a joke :P:P won´t hold you to it hahahaha
Mirjam´s last blog post..My One Week Marketing Projects are Starting to Take Off!
March 17th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Isn’t Google coming down on “paid reviews”
Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger)´s last blog post..Start Blogging Now!
March 17th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Although I’ve never done one, I think I would charge, but I still would only review something I truly liked, not just because someone paid for the review.
~ Kristi
Kikolani´s last blog post..Fetching Friday - Web 2.0 At the Bookstore, Twitter Resources
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
@Kikolani, As it always should be. I wish everyone felt that way; I’ve been disappointed by more then one blogger/marketer I followed after seeing some things they take money for.
Ben Pei Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 2:31 am
@Kikolani, An example? Like another photo blog?
March 17th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I offer paid reviews but haven’t had any orders yet (just started offering them). The reason I charge for them is because I wouldn’t do them otherwise, it’s not what my blog is about. It really is just a method of monetisation to me.
Dot Com Dud´s last blog post..Link Building Checklist
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
@Dot Com Dud, As long as you don’t just except cash for anything…as Kristi and I are discussing above.
Sire Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
@Dennis Edell, I’ve done reviews for pretty well everything, from boob jobs, plastic surgery to gambling sights. It’s not like you have to rave about what a great site it is. Take for example gambling. If I didn’t do it someone else would and they are more than likely going to say that it’s a fantastic site and how you can make heaps of money on it.
When I do it I tell them about the dangers involved, and warn them that they should go that way unless they can afford to lose the money, so with every post I also give a warning, so I figure my post is actually doing them a service, more so than the other which is trying to suck them in.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 8:43 am
@Sire, My reviews are 100% honest good/bad also. However a PokerStars review on a blogging tips blog would have my unsubscribe in a flash….honest or not.
That’s basically what I mean.
Sire Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
@Dennis Edell, Even if you knew it was a paid review? Do you stop watching a TV program just because they air commercials? It’s pretty much the same thing.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 20th, 2009 at 10:07 am
@Sire, Especially if it was paid for; that’s my whole point.
How is it anything like TV?
With the exception of medical channels, commercials could never be topic specific, that’s a given. I presume that could also be a good reason why folks usually change the channel or go for a snack during them.
(That was somewhat of a joke btw. I don’t know about you, but here in the US we get way too many medicine type commercials lol.)
Sire Reply:
March 20th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
@Dennis Edell, Same here, and yes sometimes people do get up top go for a leak or grab something to eat, but the truth of the matter is many people sit and watch the commercials, especially as a lot of them are entertaining.
I reckon that paid posts can be likened to commercials. The trick is to make them entertaining and not to have too many of them.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 20th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
@Sire, I am totally losing the connection. Again, you can’t break television down to “topic specifics”.
Let’s take it to specific marketing….
You’re a web designer. You design and build websites. This is what you do; all you do and what your blog is related to….designing and getting them online.
You review/promote the latest and greatest $400 SEO tool. I will now laugh at you for being a greedy fool.
Generally speaking of course.
Even when relevant, you should never do too many.
Sire Reply:
March 20th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
@Dennis Edell, Therein lies the problem, if you are a web designer why on earth would you want to advertise something completely different. He may still do paid reviews but only if it lies within his niche.
I’m not talking about being that specific. As none of my blogs are niche blogs and my posts cover a large range of topics, I can slot in a paid review here and there without affecting, I feel, the quality of my blog.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 20th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
@Sire, You have GOT to be kidding me! I don’t know if I should be annoyed or just LMAO. lol
Do you realize you just agreed with what I’ve been saying all along? Our discussion started when I said, “My reviews are 100% honest good/bad also. However a PokerStars review on a blogging tips blog would have my unsubscribe in a flash….honest or not. and you disagreed…I WAS being “that specific”.
Good one dude.
Sire Reply:
March 20th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
@Dennis Edell, I would prefer the LMAO option myself Dennis. I think I’ve lost the plot somewhere along the line and I think I’ll just mosey on over to the liquor cabinet to see what I can find.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 20th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
@Sire - Ah hell, pass me the quervo and lets see what happens.
No need to reply, we used them up lol.
March 17th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
The way I think about it is, if I refer my readers to something that is crappy, I’ll lose my readers trust that what I’m writing about is valuable, or at least something I stand behind 100%. That is worth more than one payout.
Kikolani´s last blog post..7 Things for New & Dedicated Readers
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 17th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
@Kikolani, Absotively posolutely dear girl, I couldn’t have said it better!
Sire Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
@Kikolani, Most reviews you don’t have to refer them to anything. All they are looking for is a link. Many reviews are actually about how you honestly feel about a product or service. Besides, unless you post for PayU2Blog, you don’t take on a task unless you want to.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Kikolani Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
@Sire, I guess I consider a link to someone’s site kind of a referral. Unless the companies would still pay you after you write a review saying, “save your money, and don’t click here” which is kind of harsh, but you know what I mean.
Kikolani´s last blog post..More Hummingbird Baby Photos
Sire Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
@Kikolani, I suppose it all depends on the spin you put on it. I figure if I pass up on it someone else will take it up, I may as well take it and give it the ol’ Sire touch.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Ben Pei Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 2:30 am
@Sire, And thats why I insist on charging alittle higher and get quality sponsors for my quality review instead of banging on anything that comes along the way.
Mirjam Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
@Kikolani, yep… agree with you on that… value isn´t just expressed in dollars
Mirjam´s last blog post..Using Massive Traffic Techniques - a Long Shot or Big Money Maker?
March 18th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Have you guys read the about how Google dropped Google Japan’s PR (yes, even their own entity!) for paid post reviews?
They are serious “tripping” on this stuff…
Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger)´s last blog post..Start Blogging Now!
Sire Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
@Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger), Interesting Caleb, and it is obvious why they hate reviews, no matter how Matt Cutts tries to spin out of it, it’s because it affects their income stream, as for every post a blogger does for money it’s one advertiser less for Google.
Sire´s last blog post..Googles Interest-Based Advertising Sucks
Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger) Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
@Sire, They seem to be worried about their little monopoly coming down…but frankly, their page rank system isn’t all that. There are soooo many sites out there that make incredible sales, yet their PR is very low if any at all.
My point: You Don’t Need Google’s PR Just To Be Successful In This Biz (Although I know it can help a little
)!
Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger)´s last blog post..Start Blogging Now!
Sire Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
@Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger), My point exactly Caleb, which is why I don’t worry all that much about PR. As long as I get people visiting and commenting on my blog I am a happy blogger.
Sire´s last blog post..WassupBlog’s February Stats
Mirjam Reply:
March 18th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
@Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger), clap clap clapping
you don´t need google rank to make sales… hell, you don´t even need buzz :P:P:P:P
Mirjam´s last blog post..Using Massive Traffic Techniques - a Long Shot or Big Money Maker?
Caleb Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
@Mirjam, Ya know what I just thought: Once the sales start, so will the “buzz”….they can kinda work vice-versa
Mirjam Reply:
March 20th, 2009 at 4:30 am
@Caleb, LOL I saw your comment on my post about the “buzz” and now seeing here that you are thinking maybe differently about the “buzz” then when you first commenting LOL …
So my thoughts … what is “buzz” anyways? a “buzz” in sales? a “buzz” in comments? a “buzz” in traffic?…..
If I had to choose…. I´d go for the “buzz” in sales, especially if they were made in a way you can repeat over and over again ….
Mirjam´s last blog post..Using Massive Traffic Techniques - a Long Shot or Big Money Maker?
Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger) Reply:
March 20th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
@Mirjam, this is why it’s extremely important to socialize with other bloggers…you get different perspectives which help you to see the money making light!
I’ll be writing a post soon referencing how your reply to my comment (at your site) helped to give me another insight on some things
Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger)´s last blog post..How to Finally Make Money Using Affiliate Programs
Mirjam Reply:
March 21st, 2009 at 4:16 am
@Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger), LOL, your comment just now gave me another thought, I´ll be posting on that next week
Mirjam´s last blog post..Using Massive Traffic Techniques - a Long Shot or Big Money Maker?
Ben Pei Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 2:28 am
@Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger), Totally agree with this.. Unless you’re talking about people to buy backlinks from u.
Caleb Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
@Ben Pei, take Teliad -who isn’t based in US- for example: Once you accept a link buy request you have to manually insert that link using basic html knowledge (Teliad doesn’t give you ANY codes to use!)…there’s hardly any way for Google to know if it’s paid or not.
This is a way to get around Goog’s b.s. if you do intend to sell BLs!
Of course, you wouldn’t want to state this is what you’re doing anywhere on your blog so your communication with the potential link buyer has to be done under the radar…
Caleb´s last blog post..How to Finally Make Money Using Affiliate Programs
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 8:50 am
@Caleb (Market Secrets Blogger),
Google has been slammed publicly more then once for doing things it deems “illegal” for others…perhaps they’re trying to clean this up?
Caleb Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
@Dennis Edell, classic Hypocrite type behavior, huh?
Caleb´s last blog post..How to Finally Make Money Using Affiliate Programs
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 19th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
@Caleb, At every step…
March 21st, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I don’t do paid reviews because I feel that it would take away from my integrity, especially if I happen to dislike something, yet felt obligated to say something nice about it anyway.
Of course, I obviously do reviews of all types of things, and if I’m asked and I have time I might do a review, as long as those people know I’m going to be honest about it. I will add this, though. If someone I did a review for later wanted to advertise on my site, I’d take the money. Hey, we all deserve to get paid in any way we can, right?
Mitch´s last blog post..Is Alexa Relevant Again?
Dennis Edell Reply:
March 22nd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
@Mitch, If it feels like it will be an all bad review, you don’t have to accept it.
Mitch Reply:
March 22nd, 2009 at 1:28 pm
@Dennis Edell, Oh, I know Dennis, but taking an early stand on it allowed me to write a post and say that I would never write a paid review, which I did write, and thus, to my thinking, I established a credibility factor right up front.
Mitch´s last blog post..Is The Dream A Fraud?
March 31st, 2009 at 8:06 pm
having paid review is good when there is page rank but it will also killed the page rank of the blog!
Sherry´s last blog post..Portland Beanie Company Giveaway
Dennis Edell Reply:
April 1st, 2009 at 12:04 pm
@Sherry, Make links no follow and you have no worries.
Sherry Reply:
April 12th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
@Dennis Edell, paid review required all links are do follow.
Dennis Edell Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 7:34 am
@Sherry, This is true if you go through the sponsored review sites which is a no no anyway. Take blog review offers privately and you can do whatever you wish with the links.
Sherry Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 9:26 am
@Dennis Edell, good to know just have to wait if there is any come to me
Sherry´s last blog post..Car for me
April 13th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Question on this topic for you, Dennis, and all readers. Is $100 too much to charge for an in-depth site review?
Matty Byloos´s last blog post..Gerry Rafferty Easter Sunday
Dennis Edell Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
@Matty Byloos, Depends if your traffic stats warrant it.
Matty Byloos Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
@Dennis Edell, I guess I was factoring in both the PR and the value of my time - my idea was that this wouldn’t be any sort of mainstream income, so why not get paid what I think my time’s worth. You know? I don’t yet post up tons of traffic on my personal blog, but it’ll come eventually. Does that complicate it at all? Someone said — hey, great idea if you charge 10 or 20 for it, and my first thought was, hell — there is very little I would do for that small a fee.
Dennis Edell Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
@Matty Byloos, The PR will factor in to the overall stats for many, yes. To be honest though, the fact that you’re a busy guy probably won’t mean a whole lot if 37 people are going to read the review.
Just an example of course, but you get the gist.
“Time Value” is arbitrary at best. Although I despise using John Chow as an example for many things, this fits….he charges what, 4-500 for a review? His stats back it up AND not too many already willing to pay it will question him throwing in time value if he wishes too.
Matty Byloos Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
@Dennis Edell, So then what would you think is more reasonable to charge? And maybe I would then charge less and do a slightly less involved version. Do you have in mind traffic thresholds where a charge makes sense for a certain amount of traffic?
Matty Byloos´s last blog post..Gerry Rafferty Easter Sunday
Dennis Edell Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
@Matty Byloos,
Honestly I don’t know what you should really charge, nor do I have a clear “stat to cash” ratio as I haven’t started charging for any advertising yet either.
I do know a proper ratio is what advertisers look for, I just don’t know exactly what that is, sorry.
I was given the following “guideline” a while back from someone. This sounds solid but I haven’t tested it yet. This is also a guideline for sidebar advertisements; I’m not sure if the same applies to reviews…
Don’t quote me on this but I think starting out at $.75 CPM is fair. Some go for more and some settle for less. So, at $.75 you will get $.75 for every thousand pageviews you get in a month. If you get 15000 pageviews on average each month you should charge $20/month.
Subscribers help advertisers decide but until you get a lot I don’t know if it will actually help you to raise your CPM cost. Hope that helps.
Dennis Edell Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
@Matty Byloos, I meant to add. I would never advise a “slimmer version” for less money unless that was agreed upon first for some reason.
Matty Byloos Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
@Dennis Edell, Yeah man. Thanks for the great advice — I didn’t mean agreeing to one version and then doing a lesser one. I meant offering a less robust version for less money out of the gate. No bait and switch here!
Matty Byloos´s last blog post..Gerry Rafferty Easter Sunday
Dennis Edell Reply:
April 13th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
@Matty Byloos,
My bad, I didn’t mean to imply bait and switch. I wouldn’t advise 2 versions at all, but, IF for some reason a buyer would go for that, make sure the differences are clearly laid out.
Personally I think 2 versions would make it much harder to raise rates down the road. People talk and you have no control over what or how they say things.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:01 pm
but what i don’t like about writing reviews at times is when someone would like me to wrote dishonest reviews such as trying to make it as if their something their not since dishonesty on the internet is either the process of success or failure
i don’t charge for reviews but i do want to be rewarded for my time so i expect a couple of dofollow backlinks to my blog
if someone wants to pay me for my efforts because they think i wrote a decent review than i wouldn’t refuse the money because it shows he enjoyed my writing style
almir´s last blog post..Vital Tips That Can Aid Any Blogger
Dennis Edell Reply:
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:14 am
@almir, It’s totally up to you. if someone wants you to do something you’re uncomfortable with, just don’t accept the job.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
I don’t think charging for a review is a good idea nonetheless it is worth it to be paid..but do you think is it reasonable to charge for a review since we can’t assure that they are honest or not?..
Dennis Edell Reply:
May 21st, 2009 at 3:10 pm
The key is to believe in the blogger. If you don’t trust his/her paid stuff, then you probably should read any.
Michael Reply:
June 13th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
@gilbert, what if its just a lie and just trying to loot your money.
May 25th, 2009 at 8:43 am
why charge for a review? it’s very important and its like a motivator.
Matty Byloos Reply:
May 25th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
@Michael, Well — there’s several reasons. First, if you know what you are talking about, then it’s like a consulting service, and that can be invaluable, because you’re charging not only for the work you do but also for all the knowledge you’ve accumulated. Second, typically you include links back to the site, and those are worth money. Another reason is just for the time it takes to really put effort into analyzing and trying to improve a site. All that is worth some money, I believe.
Matty Byloos´s last blog post..Glenn O’Brien’s TV Party and Mick Jones of The Clash
Michael Reply:
May 26th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
@Matty Byloos, wow, thanks for the info. i never thought about that.
Matty Byloos Reply:
May 28th, 2009 at 8:56 am
@Michael, No problem. It really is true that you have to calculate your time into a monetary value, and then not be afraid or reluctant to ask for what you are worth. Others will respect you more in the end — it’s a win/win.
November 9th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Hey,thanks for the information i never thought that charge for a review is a motivator.
Dennis Edell Reply:
November 9th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
@Tiens shop, Cash is always a good motivator.
November 10th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Yep, I’d be surprised if you can get anyone to do it w/o offering the ultimate motivator!!!
Dennis Edell Reply:
November 11th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
@Zach,
Welcome to the community Zach (on both comments
) ! I hope to see you around more often 
.
December 24th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
i will free charge for reviews, just like Michael said above, reviews is just like a motivator.