Start Reviewing Products (Part 2)

   Hi everyone! So, I still haven't been able to get out, unfortunately. However, I was able to get a new phone that gives me quite a few more options than my other one so that I can work something out a bit better when I can't get to a computer. This post is so far past overdue, and I can't apologize enough! But here it is, so let's go!

   Hopefully you've already read 'Reviewing Products (Part 1)'. If not, I highly recommend that you do! Part 1 was a general introduction to a few of my favorite WOM websites that I currently work with, what they do, and where you fit in as a product reviewer. I recommended that you sign up with Influenster; if you haven't done that yet, you can do so here (if you want to!). If you did sign up, congrats! What do you think so far? Influenster may seem overwhelming at first, but it covers all of the basics of reviewing, and offers several articles to get you started that are insanely helpful for product reviewers!

   For those of you that thought that just one site wouldn't be enough, I also talked about Crowdtap. Who signed up for this one, and what did you think? I've realized and decided that the best thing to do would be to carry on with a series about product reviewing. I'll also be posting about other topics, but consider it like a 'sub-blog' because posts about reviewing will be running parallel with other posts for awhile at least. In other words, on most publish days, I'll publish a post about whatever I feel like writing about for the day, as well as a reviewing post! Let's get on with this one, shall we?

   Let's start off today with BzzAgent. I've been thinking that I should have recommended this one for your second sign up, but I didn't, so... I always talk about Crowdtap being simple, but BzzAgent is as simple as it gets. Like every other WOM site, you will answer a variety of questions about your lifestyle and hobbies at sign-up. Again, sites use this information to find and offer the best available campaigns for you! Always be completely honest when answering these questions! There are truly NO answers that will get you more campaigns. Just trust me. Always be 100% honest, because it will definitely benefit you in the long run!

   After answering your questions, you will connect your social media accounts so that BzzAgent can see how large the audience is that you will reach with your reviews. Now, here is where I can give you a tip! Most WOM sites want you to connect your social media for this reason. Needless to say, the higher your reach, the better! I'll be posting tips and recommendations soon! After connecting your social media, you may or may not have a few simple surveys or extra questions to answer, and then you're done! From here on out, all you really need to do is log in fairly regularly to see if you have any new surveys which will qualify you for upcoming campaigns. If you do, there will be a link to the survey under your point meter.
 
  The only extra activity that they offer is Bite Sized Bzz, a social media centered activity like fun little tasks, questions, or prompts that you can participate in and then post to your social media. You do not get any kind of credit or points for these. It's just for fun and something to do in between campaigns. Credit? Points?

   On your BzzAgent profile, you have a point meter that ranges from 0-10. As you complete campaign tasks and surveys, you receive points, and your meter goes up. But watch out! If you don't log in and check your account regularly, you may miss a survey that has been waiting on you. If that happens, your meter can go down slowly with the time that a survey remains unanswered. You want that meter to get and stay as close to 10 as possible because that will increase your odds of getting chosen for a campaign!

   The next site that I want to throw in the mix is the Home Tester Club. This one wasn't my cup of tea personally, but we are all different and I want to make sure that I include sites of all types and for all interests! Home Tester Club offers and extremely wide range of products from home, beauty, health, baby, food, and more. That's actually fantastic! Honestly, my only issue with this one was that it's a bit disorganized. When I say disorganized, I mean my dashboard was a mess of notifications that didn't exist and comments from other users about things that had absolutely nothing to do with me. I'd get notified about a new campaign, go to the page to sign up and see that it was already over! DISORGANIZED.

   However, I deleted my own account months ago, and things may have gotten cleaned up a bit, or maybe that won't even be an issue for you! Let me know! This was one of the very first sites that I ever signed up with while I was in my trial and error stage and, to be honest, I can't really remember the sign up process! It seems like this one was a bit simpler than the others. It may have asked for yearly income, male or female, and those basics, but I think that was really about it. If you sign up for this one, let me know and tell me how it goes!

   Another site with a wide range of things to test is Toluna. This is another that I ended up dropping. There are no issues, and it's very organized, but it just wasn't for me. I thoroughly enjoy being a product tester for brands. I have a lot of pride in what I do, and I take my reviews for the brands that give me the opportunity to work with them very seriously.

   Toluna is really more of an interactive community with a lot of member-made questions and polls. About twice a month, you can go to one lonesome page and find the singular product that they have up for testing at that moment. When it opens for testing, it's a race to sign up! Most WOM sites work hand-in-hand with the brand that they are campaigning with and choose members according to guidelines that the brand is looking for. At Toluna, it's more of a first come, first served kind of thing.

   I got one product from Toluna in the couple of months that I was there- the Maybelline Gamey mascara- and was told that in two weeks I would receive an email for my review and closing survey. It never came by the time I had written this post last week, three months after receiving the product. I emailed support, they reassured me it would come, and three months later there was still nothing. So I left. I literally got the email this morning, over FOUR months later! If you sign up, of course let me know and tell me what you think of it!

   There is only one site left to talk about that I listed on Reviewing Products Part 1, but it's one that I really love and want time to talk about, and this post is already so long! I wasn't kidding when I said that I was a rambler!!! In college, I had no trouble meeting word requirements because I know how to make something stretch on forever! I love this one so much, so what I'm going to do is this: I'm hoping to get some comments AND questions about Influenster, and plan to write about it more in depth. I'll either write about Poshly in that post, or it will be at the very top of the list in my next post where I'll talk about more WOM sites that you can join (ones I just haven't gotten around to signing up for myself). Is that okay? In the meantime, I recommend that you go ahead and get signed up for Poshly! It's a lot of answering questions, but it's so worth it! Not to mention, you might get a surprise email (or five) with some really super duper cool offers!

   Okay loves, that's it for this one! I know it was long, but it was also a really long time coming. The good news is that I have more coming in this series, and some of my favorite sites are still to come! Until next time!