I'm getting paid to write this post. Seriously, I am. Well, at least that's what I've being promised. Not much really but something is better than nothing, no? All I need to do is write a review and I get paid. They only ask that you indicate the blog post is sponsored and your review to be at least 200 words long, and from my previous blog entries, you should know that's way too easy. Is that freaking cool or what?
The service is called ReviewMe. It is an advertising network that pays for posts on blogs, obviously a rival of PayPerPost. For those who think I've sold my soul to the devil, fret not. Nobody's bought me. No one will have a hand behind my back and dictate how I blog. I will still be that pain-in-the-ass critic that you all have come to love (or love to hate). How is that so? Well, although I'm being paid to review their products, I'm still able to write negative reviews if I do not like what I'm reviewing. The key here is unbiased reviews. So rest assured, the only agenda I will be pushing in this blog including the reviews I make in future (if any) will be mine and mine only. You will still get the frank and balanced analytical writing seen from a different perspective as you've grown accustomed to in this blog.
(click to enlarge)
A glowing review so far, so where's the beef you ask? I guess the only grouse I have with this service is how they rate your blog. Signing up is easy but getting your blog accepted is not. You may have up to six active blogs at any time. The people at ReviewMe use Alexa and Technorati to determine the popularity and eligibility of your blog to be admitted to this service.
The thing is, not everyone uses Technorati especially bloggers who are not technologically aware and trust me, there are heaps of them! As for Alexa, the traffic they monitor is widely regarded as inaccurate which they have admitted themselves to be biased. I do not want to elaborate too much on this subject since you can read more about it in this article. What I'm trying to get here is using these two sites to determine the popularity of a blog is flawed in many ways considering they are not representative or even indicative of the true nature and behaviour of the internet user population. A blog regarded as not so popular by their algorithm may well be a very popular blog with a niche group of very loyal readers. So, a very popular Chinese cuisine blog all written in Chinese with a huge following of Asian housewives not knowing what RSS is or how exactly the Internet works may possibly not get admitted to this service at all or receive a lowly rating even if admitted.
Your blog rating will also determine how much your review's worth. In my case, I'm at the wrong side of the spectrum from 'top' blogs paid up to USD250 for a single review. It's not exactly a bad thing really. There may be advertisers looking for cheaper alternatives for a particular niche audience, right?
(click to enlarge)
All in all, I think this service is great. I've been offered money to write up articles before but they wanted me to promote their agenda which I'm not so comfortable with. With ReviewMe, I get paid to blog and still keep my soul. That's good isn't it? I get to keep my soul! Now, tell me that's not a great deal. However, it would be great if they were to revise how they rank blogs.
Anyway, don't just take my word for it. Give it a spin yourself. No harm trying, right? After all, they are giving away USD25,000! So what are you waiting for? Visit their website here.
The service is called ReviewMe. It is an advertising network that pays for posts on blogs, obviously a rival of PayPerPost. For those who think I've sold my soul to the devil, fret not. Nobody's bought me. No one will have a hand behind my back and dictate how I blog. I will still be that pain-in-the-ass critic that you all have come to love (or love to hate). How is that so? Well, although I'm being paid to review their products, I'm still able to write negative reviews if I do not like what I'm reviewing. The key here is unbiased reviews. So rest assured, the only agenda I will be pushing in this blog including the reviews I make in future (if any) will be mine and mine only. You will still get the frank and balanced analytical writing seen from a different perspective as you've grown accustomed to in this blog.
(click to enlarge)
A glowing review so far, so where's the beef you ask? I guess the only grouse I have with this service is how they rate your blog. Signing up is easy but getting your blog accepted is not. You may have up to six active blogs at any time. The people at ReviewMe use Alexa and Technorati to determine the popularity and eligibility of your blog to be admitted to this service.
The thing is, not everyone uses Technorati especially bloggers who are not technologically aware and trust me, there are heaps of them! As for Alexa, the traffic they monitor is widely regarded as inaccurate which they have admitted themselves to be biased. I do not want to elaborate too much on this subject since you can read more about it in this article. What I'm trying to get here is using these two sites to determine the popularity of a blog is flawed in many ways considering they are not representative or even indicative of the true nature and behaviour of the internet user population. A blog regarded as not so popular by their algorithm may well be a very popular blog with a niche group of very loyal readers. So, a very popular Chinese cuisine blog all written in Chinese with a huge following of Asian housewives not knowing what RSS is or how exactly the Internet works may possibly not get admitted to this service at all or receive a lowly rating even if admitted.
Your blog rating will also determine how much your review's worth. In my case, I'm at the wrong side of the spectrum from 'top' blogs paid up to USD250 for a single review. It's not exactly a bad thing really. There may be advertisers looking for cheaper alternatives for a particular niche audience, right?
(click to enlarge)
All in all, I think this service is great. I've been offered money to write up articles before but they wanted me to promote their agenda which I'm not so comfortable with. With ReviewMe, I get paid to blog and still keep my soul. That's good isn't it? I get to keep my soul! Now, tell me that's not a great deal. However, it would be great if they were to revise how they rank blogs.
Anyway, don't just take my word for it. Give it a spin yourself. No harm trying, right? After all, they are giving away USD25,000! So what are you waiting for? Visit their website here.
Keywords:
Thanks for your kind words about Mister Mao, my cat, Kshern.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, loads of on becoming a paid to Blogger. Well Done. :-)