A Fews Keys to Better Reviews
Mar 29 '00
I can’t tell you how to get thousands of reads, but I can tell you how to give your visitors a reason to be glad they clicked on your review. Although I’ve only been around Epinions for a few weeks, I’ve been a writer, in some capacity or other, for over 10 years so I feel comfortable in giving out some advice on this matter.
Good writing is good writing!
No matter how enthusiastic you may be about your topic, there is no substitute for good writing. That includes proper spelling and punctuation. You don’t have to be Einstein to write well, but it does help if you can spell it. Take advantage of the built-in spell checker when submitting reviews. Although it doesn’t give spelling suggestions, it is useful to know what it thinks is a misspelled word.
For a good dictionary site try <a href= http://www.m-w.com>Miriam-Webster Online</a>. It also offers a pretty good thesaraus.
Know Your Product
You don’t have to have knowledge of every minute detail of the product your reviewing, but please try to do more than say “This sucks!” or “This is really cool!” Tell us why you think that and back it up with some product information. Nearly all products pages have a link to the manufacturer’s product page. Go there. Use the products specs to educate people about the product. You might love a certain personal data device that doesn’t use Windows CE. As a reader who uses Windows CE, I would want to know that fact.
If you're reviewing a book or movie try <a href= http://www.bn.com>Barnes and Noble</a> or the <a href= http://www.imdb.com>Internet Movie Database</a> to freshen up your knowledge of character names and plot twists.
Give your readers info not just superlatives or expletives.
Be Emotional
While knowing the specs of your product, it’s even more important to tell your readers how a product or book or film made an impact on your life. Did a new tool make that remodeling job a lot cheaper and easier? Did that last book you read change your entire outlook on life and now you're moving to a Buddhist monastery to contemplate the ever-growing assortments of lint in your navel? Did a Subway sub cause you to lose your girlfriend or boyfriend?
Tell us!
Make a connection with your readers. Granted, not every review will be able to tie in an emotional impact, but a close look at your reaction to what you are writing about might surprise you. We are a peculiar species that assigns all sorts of emotional values to things that you might not expect. Look for yours.
Be Prolific
Write a lot. Write often. This is not to say that you should make every review a thousand plus words or write 25 reviews a day, but the more you write, the better you’ll be. Think of your writing as a muscle. The more you exercise it, the more healthy and efficient it will be.
There’s a reason why Epinions asks for reviews to be a minimum of 100 words: A good, accurate, knowledgeable review cannot be written with less. Even if you are a haiku master or are world renowned for your economy of words, you can’t effectively review anything in just a few quickly typed lines.
And finally …
Have Fun!
Just remember that while there is some financial gain to be had from your writings on Epinions, none of us are ever going to get rich here. Don’t write your reviews as if you are. Light-hearted, easy-going, or even comedic reviews add a little something extra to all reviews. You will feel good writing them. Readers will feel good reading them.
Enjoy!
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Epinions.com ID:
tccarroll
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Member: Teddy Carroll
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Reviews written: 30
Trusted by: 12 members
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