Editing The Pen Addict 258/transcript (section)

== Review Process ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yep. So let's get into his question and then I think we'll have a lot to say about, you know, the topics that he brings up. So he said, this feels like an Ask TPA thing, but I have a question for you about the business of blogging. To preface, I don't want to become the sort of blog that subsides completely on free or review sample products from manufacturers, but my budget-minded blog is somewhat self-limiting as I cannot afford to buy all the hot new products in the pen and stationery world. Whatever I spend my money on has to be worth it. So here's the questions. In your experience, what are vendors, manufacturers looking for in bloggers or reviewers when it comes to requesting stuff to write up? Is there a minimum average viewership I should shoot for? Let's stop there. He has a bonus question, which is completely separate from this. So do you want to go into this? Do you want me to start?

'''Myke Hurley:''' Well, okay. So, like, I mean, I don't do this, right? But, like, I have some level of experience with it. So I'll just say straight up that, like, I get lots of offers from companies to take their products and talk about them. And I never do it on the podcasts. I just never do it. With the YouTube stuff, like, I'm more inclined to do that because it's just me. Well, the reason I don't do it on the shows is because we take sponsorships. And I like to keep the sponsored content, right? Not sponsored content. The sponsored sections, I should say. And the actual regular topics content of the show separate. So I don't take free things to review, right? Like, it's not something that I do. I don't think I've ever done that for the show. Like, people send me gifts and I might talk about them. But there is never discussion of review. That's for all of my shows. And I would say, right, like, oh, someone sent me this thing. But I never take reviews for products. Just because I don't want to and I don't need to. Now, and that's because I don't have a podcast about reviewing things. If I had a technology product review show, that would be different, right? Right. You know, I mean, and sometimes people might send me codes for apps, but it's never something that I wouldn't have reviewed in the first place. Right? Like, I don't do this stuff because I don't have this defined review world. Now, if the Pen Addict podcast was a pen review show, then that's a different story. And the reason, I mean, because the reason that I don't take these products, it's not a moral thing. I just don't do it because I don't want to mix stuff up. But if my show was focused completely around talking about a new pen every single week, I haven't got enough money to do that myself. Right. Right. Like, I would have to take the review content. Right. Which is why I understand why thepenaddict.com does. Right. Because where else are these pens going to come from? Right. That's a really long way around to saying that. Like, I don't have a problem with it as long as it's clear. But I just wanted to, like, set my focus here on the fact that I just don't get involved in this for the shows because it feels like a bit of a mess. It is a mess no matter whatever it is. Right. It's always a mess. So if I can avoid it, I do.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. And, you know, I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum in that I run a review blog. But at the same time, I'm also glad to have the pen addict because I can keep the pen addict podcast because I can keep the blog more reviews based. And I do get gobs of free stuff. And that's, you know, just built up over time. That's a long, long process that it came to be, you know, in the past two or three years running completely differently. So to kind of get into the questions. So Paul doesn't want to subside on free stuff from manufacturers, but also doesn't have the money to buy everything. And I guess he's, I guess to put words in his mouth, to keep the blog fresh. Right. So he wants to keep the blog fresh. So how does he get there? And that's kind of the hardest thing because there's no quick solution to that in my mind. You know, it's a matter of putting in the time, putting in the content, working on the exposure, you know, getting things out there publicly, being active on social media. And it kind of just all works. And then your links start bouncing around when you write something good, you know, among people on Twitter. And you start getting mentions and comments in other places. And then, you know, vendors might see you and, you know, want to send you some things or you can reach out and say, hey, this is what I do. And, you know, I've gotten some good response on these types of reviews. Would you be interested? And I see that you carry these types of pens. Would you be interesting in sending me a few products that I can write about? Now, the gotcha with that that you have to be very careful on, which I'm always careful on, is I never promised anyone anything, right? That goes from when I'm going to do a review, what I'm going to write about. Is it, you know, am I going to guarantee someone a positive review? Clearly no. So, you know, I just had a review on Monday where I received a very expensive notebook and I pretty much didn't like it. And I said that in the review. So, you have to commit to those types of things. And you can't worry about, okay, if I'm getting products for free, you can't worry about where the next free product is going to come from because of what I say and let it bias your review. You can't be always positive. Because you're done at that point. You're over. You're done. Yeah. And most people realize that. I mean, the pen industry has been very good about understanding where bloggers play in the whole, you know, arena of what we do, of stationary online. And I have never had anyone ask me, you know, make sure you say something nice or don't knock it or don't anything. I mean, you know, we did a big Aurora review. Susan did a big Aurora flex review. And pretty much, you know, she didn't kill the pen, but she was like, basically like, I don't get it and I don't see that it's worth the money. And, you know, I took a bunch of heat from that.

'''Myke Hurley:''' I think that was a really good example of the way that, I mean, okay, we're not trying to toot your horn here, but I'm going to for a minute. Mm-hmm. But it wasn't toned down.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Myke Hurley:''' So I think that was a good example, like to show that really it is important to keep the honesty, right?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Yeah, you have to. Like, Susan was actually worried about it. She would email, she emailed me at least twice while she was doing the review and while she was using the pen. And, you know, she was worried about it being too negative. And I said, look, I said, are you being honest? And she said, yes. I said, then I don't care what you say. And that's it. Like, there was no discussion for me about it. I didn't change a single letter in her review. I just want to know, are you giving me your honest opinion on what you think about this pen? Yes. Then we're done. Like, there's nothing else. But, you know, I'm also in a different place than Paul is because he's trying to get started. Yeah.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like, this is the problem with saying this about Brad Dowdy. Right.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' My experience is super different than anyone else's.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Like, you can trash a company and they'll send you their next pen.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Mm-hmm.

'''Myke Hurley:''' But that's not going to be how it is for other people. But you just need to understand that when you're going in, right? Okay, so let's say you get a pen and you hate it. Well, you've got to write the review. You've got to say you don't like it. And you can keep working until the next company comes. And then hopefully that next company sends you a good product. Right. There is a real, like, I remember. So, example of this for me. There was a time many years ago where I was starting a blog where I wanted to do technology reviews. And then eventually it would become a podcast as well when it's like time together. And I wanted a Samsung Galaxy Note to review. So, I went through all the hoops and I spoke to a PR representative of Samsung. And they're like, we will send you one. But first, we're going to send you a Chromebook. I said, okay. So, they sent me this Chromebook and I hated absolutely everything about it. And I said that. My review was about how bad this product was. Like, that was the angle. It was just like, this sucks. And I never heard anything back from them again.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. So, I think the takeaway is if you're worried about losing a vendor, vendor access for future product reviews, that's not a vendor you want to work with in the first place. Right. You don't want to continue down that path of sacrificing your beliefs to keep access to products. Right.

'''Myke Hurley:''' Are you going to feel happy? That way.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know? Like, is that going to make you feel happy? I don't think so. It makes you feel gross. Right. I mean, so, that's why it's never phased me. If someone doesn't want to work with me anymore because I gave an honest opinion about a product and they didn't like it, I mean, that's just the way it is. There's a lot more products out there. Right. You know, there's a lot of things. So, I don't know if we're helping Paul or not. I hope we are a little bit. But, you know, Paul, you've set the blog up to cover a very specific thing. So, you just need to focus on that very specific thing repeatedly and let your personality come out in the post. Be specific about your likes and dislikes. Have an opinion at the end of the post. Not every product's great. Not every product's terrible. It's hard. It's kind of hard to review those products in the middle. Right. Those are the tough ones to review. That have a good list of pros and cons. But lay it all out there. Be clear in what you're doing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' You know, share those things online. You know, talk to other people. You know, on Twitter. And, you know, spread the word about it. But just, I mean, y'all have heard me say it a thousand times. But you've got to be able to sleep at night with your decisions. And that's the way I look at it. You know, am I doing something that I'm not comfortable with? And you've got to say no a lot. And that's okay to say no. So, you know, be honest. Be truthful. Have an opinion. Those are kind of my top things that, you know, I look for when I read other reviews. Are they, do I feel they're giving me their honest opinion about the pen? And do they, do they actually have an opinion? Or are they just playing it safe? You know, I'm not saying be overly aggressive one way or the other. But you can tell when someone's playing it safe. And sometimes there are products where, well, it's just kind of in the middle. So, does it come out looking like, well, I just played this safe? Yeah, I guess so. But you really kind of need to take a stand, I think, on products. At least, at least for me. That's what I've always believed. But, you know, have an opinion and make sure that opinion shows in your writing.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Anything else on that before I get to the second part of his question?

'''Myke Hurley:''' No, I think we've said what we want to say. Whether it's helpful or not is, I don't know. Right. Right.