Why You Don't Have To Buy Products To Review Them
Over the past few weeks within Wealthy Affiliate, I've seen a few people say that if you don't buy the actual product you want to write about then it's not possible to create a thorough and helpful review.
I've even seen these same people go around claiming that WA encourages you to write fake reviews just so you can point more people to their program.
This Is Though A Complete Lie
Now I don't know exactly why people would say this, but my guess is that they haven't actually gone through the training themselves.
Because if they had, they would clearly see that WA has NEVER told people to write fake reviews -- but in fact says you need to give your readers a comprehensive and accurate experience by not falsifying anything you write.
You can read the training here where they tell you to do this: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/wa-affiliate-bootca...
So now that I've cleared that up, is it really possible to create a good review about something you haven't owned or used? Of course!
As an internet marketer your job is to basically point people towards product's and services that can help them solve a specific problem they are dealing with in their lives.
But how can you do this though without buying a product? Well here's 3 ways you can go about doing it.
1) Consolidate Long Boring Information Into An Easy To Read Report
Sometimes doing something as simple as consolidating bit's and pieces of information you've found online and watching boring sales videos so your viewers won't have to is all it takes to write a good review.
For example in the MMO industry (make money online) -- you'll find hundreds of products that have 30+ minute sales videos that usually talk about how great it is and why you should buy it. But at the end of the video you're still left wondering exactly how it works.
So if you can watch the video yourself and give a simple explanation as to what this product can and can not do -- people will gladly read a 5-minute article verses sitting through a 30-minute boring video trying to figure it out themselves.
2) Find Out What Makes Product A Better Than Product B
Another simple way to write a great review that can help people, is to simply show why the product you recommend is better than the product they are currently looking at.
You're probably thinking well duh -- but let me explain exactly what I mean.
For example, I recently reviewed a product that was very similar to WA (it had good training, a rather large community, and even weekly webinars) -- BUT the main difference was that it cost nearly 20k for their training!
And as you are well aware WA only ask you to pay $49 / month or less depending if you've gone yearly or not.
So since I obviously didn't have 20 grand lying around my house to buy this product -- I mainly wrote my review on the different high priced items this product was selling, and explained why Wealthy Affiliate was the better choice since you could get everything they taught within that program for a fraction of the cost at WA.
And the great thing is you can repeat this method with just about any product out there.
Just find a major advantage your product has over another one -- then simply write your entire post around this main topic.
3) Use YouTube To Get A Hands Own Look Into A Product
YouTube is an amazing place for us affilaite marketers, and it has helped me greatly in writing several reviews on my website in the past.
This is because you can easily find people showing you the inside of programs, opening products out of the box, and basically giving you an over the shoulder look of what it's like to own the product.
So you can write an in depth review about a product without spending a dime on it -- because you're able to gather information off of people that have already done this. And honestly there's no point in buying the product yourself, unless you actually think it can help you in one way or another.
And best of all is you can embed these videos into your website to give your readers a more in depth look as to what the product is and how it works.
Final Thoughts
So as you can see, you can write an excellent review without spending a dime by...
- Consolidating boring / long information into easy to read short sentences
- Showing people why your product is clearly better than the other one (like not having to pay as much for it)
- And lastly by going to YouTube and watching reviews of people who've already bought it.
And remember above all else, try to make every review you do as accurate as possible and also be honest about the information you're providing.
For example if I don't know something -- I come right out and tell my readers I don't know.
And you'll find that by doing this, readers will truly appreciate you not because of what you know, but because your honest and ethical on what you present and aren't trying to deceive them.
So I hope this post helps anyone who may have gotten the bad impression that WA teaches people to write fake reviews (because they don't) -- and that you don't need to buy every product you review for it to be ethical and good. :)
Recent Comments
23
Just love point 1!!!
In fact I think consolidating long boring information into an easy to read report is adding a lot of value to a reader or visitor in any niche.
I love Disney Princesses and want to meet these ladies in a visit to Walt Disney....but I have to buy a huge guide book and search all over it just to know where to meet them at Disney and what times, dates etc.
A blog post on where to exactly meet these Princesses as well as best times etc, would be an easy to read report for any Princess enthusiast!
I think for full disclosure you should then also say that this review is based on your research of this product, rather than on the actual product.
I actually do this in several of my reviews where I know the product is basically a scam.
The main reason I do this though is to show I'm being honest with my review and not trying to deceive anyone that I actually bought it.
Thank you for pointing out ways to review a product without owning it. There are those who say that it's unethical to do a review without buying the product, which is totally not true.
As long as you're thorough, have fully researched the product, and honest, there's no reason you should feel the need to buy it--especially a product that is not a good one.
There are a disturbing number of programs online in the MMO niche that promise you thousands of dollars can be made every month and you only have to work 20 minutes a day, something along those lines. Unfortunately, way too many people will believe them and spend hundreds of dollars on something that will not work. When you can get enough valid information to make your point, no reason to spend your money just to say you bought it.
Janelle
I agree Janellee. 3
Many programs in the MMO niche are so easy to spot as a scam -- that all you have to really do is show this obvious evidence to your readers and then point then toward a product you know will help them -- which is WA.
Because at the end of the day if you think about it, people only want to know if a product is going to help them make money -- and since all these scams out there will NOT do that, it's easy to write a 1,000 word review explaining why and never having to own the product to do this.
There is a certain person online NOT a WA member, who is rubbishing WA. Someone did a review of his particular product which was a training platform costing btw $200. I don't know if there were any upsells but thinking about this person there probably are. I think the review was a comparison review, not really sure about that but a review never the less. It was done by a WA member, so that is why the other guy is rubbishing WA and he knows nothing about us.
So be aware,
I do agree with you Cookin, don't get me wrong I just wanted to point this out to you.
Regards
Janet
Following you.
Thanks for the heads up Janet. :)
I would imagine he's probably just jealous that his product isn't as good as WA's -- so he's trying to bash it for no reason except to make his look better.
Personally if I think a product is good I'll say so, then at then at the end up my post I'll also suggest my readers look into WA because it's my favorite program.
Yes. Been saying that for a while now.
The biggest issue I find is the opportunity reviews of WA members. Calling everything a scam for the sake of promoting WA.
That in itself give WA a bad name. WA members should stop doing these kind of reviews. Yes. Share the info and you can add your personal opinion, but don't call an opportunity a scam, because you want to push WA down someone's throat.
People will look at your #1 recommendation without calling another opportunity a scam.
Just my 5 cents.
Exactly! You shouldn't call every program you review a scam -- but simply point out 1 or 2 things that WA or whatever product you're promoting does better then the one you're reviewing.
Exactly. I feel Kyle should give this a bit more focus. Been saying and seeing this a lot.
great article and an even better explanation as to why one does not have to buy everything in order to write and review honestly
See more comments
Don't forget, chances are any positive reviews you read are sponsored posts, in which case the review could be skewed.
You make a great point.
I think this is why you should get your information from several places and not just one -- that way you you don't get just a one sided view of things.