How To Get Started Writing Product Reviews For Your Blog Site

Getting started writing product reviews and posting your reviews on your blog or web site isn’t as hard as you might think. This article will give you some general information on how you can start your very own product review blog.

The first thing that you need to do is come up with a name for your review site. Once you have that, it is time to pick a blogging platform. You will find that those who write product reviews and post them on their blogs usually choose blogger or wordpress for their blogging platform. In my personal opinion, one is not better than the other, so the choice boils down to your personal preference.

Before you get started publishing any type of review, you need to educate yourself on the laws for your state and country. Here in the U.S.A. we need to have a Terms of Service and Disclaimer Policy posted on our sites. You can find several free examples of these online by doing a web search. You will need to get one posted up on your site before publishing any reviews.

Your next step is to write some sample product reviews. I suggest picking a few items from around your house and write honest and unbiased reviews about those items. You will want to include graphics with your review showing how that item is used in a real life home setting.

Once you have some sample reviews posted, it is now time to advertise and promote your new site. You will need to generate as much traffic to your site that you can. It is also recommended that you add a site tracker widget to your blog so that you can provide traffic information to the companies who request it.

I recommend that you draft up an introduction letter about you and your site so that you can contact the companies you are interested in and offer them your product review services. Some companies will accept this type of information via email and others will require that you postal mail your press/media kit to them.

Setting up and getting started with your own product review blog is not very hard. It will take a lot of hard work, time and patience before it takes off and requests roll in.

Shelly Hill is the co-owner of the Two Classy Chics Product Review and Giveaway Blog with her business partner Chris Carroll. Shelly and Chris have been promoting businesses online for the past 12 years. Both ladies are professional ghost writers and article marketers. You can visit them online at http://twoclassychics.blogspot.com

Vacation or Staycation When You Work At Home

People who don’t work at home think that people who do work from home are on a constant vacation. Hey, I can understand where they are coming from, but I know they are wrong.

Yes I work from home and I have complete control of what I do and when I do it with my business, but it doesn’t mean I don’t have a routine or schedule I follow on a daily basis. It’s kind of difficult to reach my target market if they are all sleeping, isn’t it?

With that being said, it equally important to take time off and unplug during the summer months or when you really need it. It’s called balance and we all need balance to function in a healthy way.

You can reduce your hours of work or you can re-arrange your schedule — work 4 hours in the morning and break in the early afternoon or use downtime as filler time to work on the non-computer aspects of your business. Figure out what works for you, but don’t miss out on the fun things life has to offer.

If you can’t take a vacation, then take a staycation and rediscover your hometown with your family and friends.

~Sophia

Evaluating Your Business On A Regular Basis

When it comes to a work at home business, it’s important to evaluate on a regular basis what is working for you or what is eating up your production time.

Many people do year-end evaluations, but it would be great if you can do it twice a year. One of the things about working your business is being aware of the ever-changing times. I’ve come to a point where I’m finally admitting to myself that community forums are dying or phasing out and it’s time to move with the changes.

Decisions aren’t always easy, but you can hash it out with your business buddies. The main point is you want to keep your business growing and thriving and not sitting and idling.

When was the last time you examined what’s working or not working for your business?

~Sophia

Who’s Taking Care of Business If You Die?

Recently I went out and bought a new steno book because my old one had information all over the place. You couldn’t tell which one was my current password to my cPanel let alone to which website it belongs to.

If I should suddenly die, my husband would have no clue how to access any of my accounts or make any sense of the many passwords I have casually listed in my steno book. He didn’t even know the username and password to our online banking! It’s not a surprise because I take care of all our household bills and he really doesn’t have a reason to know, but that isn’t right. He should know regardless.

And if you have business partners or people you have appointed to take control, they should have the necessary information to access your business accounts.

It’s not something we often think about, but…

Who’s going to take care of your business if you die?
Will they continue to run your business for you?
Do they have access to your online accounts?

I wouldn’t want my husband to be burdened with all of this. I want to make it as accessible to him as possible. My new steno book will be filled with all the information he needs and in an orderly manner. It will be updated as necessary.

Maybe this should be called a “Will of your Business”. Are you prepared for the unexpected?

~Sophia

Home Business: It’s All In The Presentation

Whether it’s a Direct Sales business, other work at home business or you work in a brick and mortar office when it comes to presenting a service or product it has to be top-notched or you’re not going to be able to make the sale.

I sat in on a presentation when I was on holidays in Hawaii this past June and it was a very impressive presentation that had me alert, listening and participating.

Don’t bore people to death with a monotonous voice. Here are 10 tips I think a good presenter should follow.

1. Look relaxed. It’s understandable if you’re nervous, but put those nerves aside. Stand straight, feel confident and be confident.

2. Be passionate and excited about what you’re presenting, but not to the point that you’re force selling. Show enthusiasm and energy and speak from your heart.

3. Be competent in your deliverance. Loud enough voice that everyone can hear you, use different tones in your voice, facial expressions, gestures and so on as these all make up how people will perceive you.

4. Know your facts. This should be easy and a no-brainer.

5. Be engaging with people. Get people to respond to you verbally. Get people to help you demonstrate.

6. Be prepared as during a presentation anything can happen out of the blue. Don’t get rattled. Expect the unexpected.

7. Have eye contact with your audience. Avoid focusing in on just the middle. If your audience surrounds the room, pan your eyes from one side of the room to the other.

8. Be aware of your surroundings by listening to the little chatter in the background. This is a good way to nip the uncertainty or question in the bud. It shows you’re listening and involved with your audience and not just your audience involved with you.

9. Add humour and share stories. People relate to other people when they know someone else has walked in their shoes.

10. Smile.

To your success,
~Sophia