So, You Want To Do Reviews? Part I

New bloggers are always asking me how to find products to review. I thought today I would share some information on this with my followers. I will start doing weekly posts on this subject until you have all my secrets. Additionally, if you are already a seasoned reviewer please leave a comment with any additional information/pointers you may have for beginners. My first recommendation is to join Twitter, if you haven't already. Once you register make sure to put your picture on your profile (or your blog button) so that people know who you are. Once you start following more than 30 to 40 people you might want to look into downloading TweetDeck to make the experience easier to manage.

Next, I recommend you follow both manufacturers, PR folks, and other important bloggers. If you look at the people I'm following you'll find some awesome sources. Just to give you a headstart I thought I would give you a "must follow" list of women tweeters that have been very helpful in my success either by supplying endless comment love, promoting my giveaways, or by giving me leads on review opportunities:  @twittermoms, @5minutesformom, @Resourcefulmom, @mombloggersclub, @MomDot, @TamaraMaellaro, @gumby007, @tothink, @stacieinatlanta, @carogonza, and @jyl_MomIF. There are a bunch more and you can find them by looking at my list. I'm sorry if I left anyone out (and I know I did), but I just wanted to give you a small taste of people I follow. (This list has not been updated in a long time.)

Now that you are started with Twitter keep in mind this is only one small piece of the puzzle. Start looking around at other blogs, leave lots of comments, and pay attention to other reviews and giveaways as you surf the blogisphere. You will see a lot of tweets about reviews, giveaways, and other useful things. Whatever you do, do not start tweeting about wanting to review products for companies right away. Show interest in what companies are tweeting (if it is geniune), RT (retweet) other peoples giveaways, and start forming relationships with people.


Next Week: So, You Want To Do Reviews? Part II (your first review)