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Great product reviews is the life blood of today’s successful affiliate marketer. Yet the biggest obstacle you will have is the growing skepticism from readers of product reviews that are found online. This is due to many having been burnt or scammed by such reviews that are simply rubbish. Yes in many cases, years of too good to be true product reviews have made readers sceptical and hard to reach. I myself and maybe even you yourself have been taken for a ride with a supposedly great product review(s) or a sales page. And how did we feel afterwards – scammed, stupid and a necessity to become hardened to what you see and read.

However, as sceptical as we may have become, reviews are still necessary to gauge a products general worth. So what is now happening is that readers are reading a lot more product reviews and carefully considering them before making a decision. That is why we need to make our reviews stand out from the pack and get noticed as a provider of reliable, honest, objective and quality product reviews.

So how do we write a great product review? Below are 5 very important tips or steps worth considering.

1. Evaluate the Affiliate Website

A good product to promote will always be supported with a well-structured web site that provides loads of support and information for affiliate marketers to use. This will make writing a great review a lot easier. Good affiliate web sites will invariably have information on the products being promoted that can help you to write a great review. It will also help you decide on what to write as you do not necessarily want to be rehashing what the web site sales page are saying. That is, you may need to adopt a “pre sales” style of writing a product review as the web site will be doing the sales. Where you do use information from the web site, make sure you do not copy verbatim and rewrite as much as possible in your own words.

2. Have the Reader in Mind

Before you start the review, have an end objective in mind, in particular, the type of reader you are trying to appeal to and what information he or she is likely to be seeking. The reader you may be trying to reach may be a beginner in say affiliate marketing and is likely to be after the basics rather than a technical approach to some aspect of affiliate marketing. Also keep the writing style informal, using the same types of words that you would use in speaking with a friend and avoid an overly professional approach unless that is called for. Also, try and ask yourself questions as to what that sort of person would want to know in knowing what to write and avoid rambling on. Remember, you are there to help the reader to understand a product better and to help them arrive at a decision that is right for them.

3. Your Personal Experience in Using the Product

Nothing convinces a reader better on a product review than a firsthand account of your experience in using the product. Products that you are using are good to promote for that reason. Tell your reader what you found good about the product and how it is helping you. It will help the reader see that you have enough conviction in the product that you were willing purchase the product yourself. If you do not own it, the best way to compile a review is to buy it and use it if your serious in promoting it. It will give you so much more to add into your review that other affiliates may not be picking up on and will make your product review more valuable to the reader. If the price is affordable, consider it as an investment.

4. What to Consider in the Product Review

- Features: What is the product? What are the physical and/or intangible features? List the products aspects such as weight, height, color, number of pages, delivery method, etc.

- Benefits: What does it do? Does it help you make money? Save time? Save money? Does it solve a problem? As buyers are mostly motivated by the benefits of a product, it must be carefully considered and articulated in the review.

- Results: What results have you or others received from using the product? Can you quantify them in an easy to read and understandable format? Do not make extravagant claims as this will destroy the credibility of your review.

- Difference: If this product is different from others on the market, explain exactly what it is. This is best accomplished using a table of quick facts comparing the various products with their respective features, etc. This is a style of presentation that people can read and understand very quickly and simply.

- Balanced View: Are there things you don’t like about the product? Share them! A product that’s all positive won’t seem realistic. You should always keep the review as objective as possible looking at all aspects of the product. If you are expressing a negative aspect, this need not be a bad thing. You can often turn that around by mentioning why the negative is not enough to deter anyone from purchasing the product if that is case. If there is a major negative, reconsider whether you should even be promoting it or show how this may not be a negative for certain types of readers or users of the product.

- Call to Action: You should have a clear call to action in all your marketing pieces and a product review is no different. In product reviews, this is generally accomplished by including a link to an offer, web site or further information on the product.

5. Review the “Product Review”

When I first write my review, it all sounds good and I am proud of it and the effort I put in. However, I invariably find that if I leave it and come back to it later with a fresh mind, I can generally find improvements in the way I am saying something or in what I have covered or not covered. This opportunity may delay you a day or two in publishing the review but the benefits of writing a great product review should not be under estimated. A great review that is well thought out, original and fresh is likely to get a longer shelf life than poorly written review and gain wider circulation amongst readers. Remember, that your reviews will be around for years or maybe decades and you are trying to future proofing the reviews as much as possible.

Finally, ask yourself questions such as “Would I buy based on this review?” or “Do I believe a single word of what I have written in the review? If yes, then you have written a great product review.

We all know that power is an important part of any sales negotiation – who ever has the most power is in the best position to get more of what they want out of the negotiations. However, do you know how to check your power before you enter into a negotiation? I know the questions that you need to ask yourself before you start and I’m going to tell you what they are…

Can We Talk About Rules?
Nobody enters into a negotiation without having some rules (or regulations) that restrict what they can or cannot do. This impacts both sides of the table and it means that you have two pieces of homework that you need to be before starting a negotiation.

The first thing that you have to find out is what rules you will be operating under. You might think that you know what your restrictions are, but it’s always a good idea to check with the folks that you’ll be negotiating for and make sure that you know all of rules.

Secondly, you’ll want to spend some time and try to find out just exactly what the rules that the other side of the table will have to live with. There are always some restrictions on what they can and cannot do. If you can uncover what these are simply by doing some homework, then you’ll start the negotiations with more power than the other side has.

What Is Your Level Of Commitment?
There is a fable about a pig and a chicken and their various levels of involvement in creating a breakfast meal: the chicken is partially committed (egg); however, the pig is fully committed (bacon). The same question needs to be asked about the two sides of a negotiation: just how committed are you?

Ultimately the answer to this question often comes down to how much of an impact the outcome of the negotiation is going to have on you. If you are going to lose your job if you don’t get a good deal, then you will be fully committed to making the negotiations successful. However, if this deal is just a “nice to have” deal for your company, then you’re not going to be all that motivated to reach a deal.

Risky Business
Making commitments and compromises as a part of a sales negotiation involves taking on some level of risk. This can be a big deal for both sides of the table.

Before you start a negotiation, you need to determine just exactly what your level of risk tolerance is going to be. Put another way, how much are you willing to lose?

The same question needs to be asked about the other side of the table. What is their current situation? Just how far are they going to be willing to go in order to make a deal happen?

What All Of This Means For You
The source of a good outcome in a sales negotiation is making sure that you have enough power on your side when you enter into the negotiation. In order to do that, you’ve got some questions that need to be answered.

Finding out what rules are governing both side of the table will be key to understanding how the negotiation is going to turn out. Doing some homework and finding out levels of commitment and risk tolerance will also provide you with more power.

Take the time to check on your sources of power before you start your next sales negotiation and you’ll ensure that you don’t run out of power half-way through the negotiation…!

Research should be the foundation of any business presentation. But what is the best way to go about researching — especially when you’re short on time?

Contrary to popular practice, you don’t have to do all the research before you plan your presentation. In fact, if you’ve been using this method, it could be contributing to why you haven’t seen your family and don’t remember what a weekend at home is like.

Many professionals make this common error: doing ALL the research before they begin to plan their presentation. It’s a faulty process that could be costing you your personal life and ruining your marriage.

Instead of getting lost in endless hours hunting up data, switch the order of your preparation. This may sound odd at first, but give it a try before you write it off as foolish.

Tip 1: Plan Your Story First

What is the story you want to share with your audience? If you have a clear and compelling message, you will be able to insert the research data into your story.

Focus on how you will announce your story, plan the flow, and summarize for impact. The fastest way to do this is working offline with a Presentation Storyboard.

Researching and planning your story without a storyboard is a lot like putting the cart before the horse. You can have the best cart — but you won’t go anywhere without a horse to pull it. Use a storyboard and you’ll go the distance. 

Tip 2: Limit Research Time

Instead of giving yourself unlimited time to scour the Internet or company findings, set a time limit. This encourages smart research habits and focused productivity.

If you have the staff, share this work with multiple researchers. If you don’t have a large staff, consider training an intern. This creates a powerful opportunity for someone to learn how to do important research. Plus, it frees up your time.

Different people will find unique information and provide you with the data you need. By delegating, you can have a better and more complete picture of the research findings.

Tip 3: Confirm Data Last

Much of the data for critical information is constantly changing. If you hunt down your final data weeks in advance, chances are you’ll have to recheck the data at midnight before your final presentation.

This is clearly redundant. Instead of doing all the work again and again, use a placeholder for the data while you plan your story. Then, confirm the final data close to the time when you are delivering your presentation. You’ll have the security of knowing you have the most accurate and up-to-the-moment facts.

By switching the sequence and timing of how you research, you can devote your time to areas of your presentation that will directly influence your effectiveness.

Develop your research habits and presentation skills so you can communicate effectively to your audience. Using proven facts and powerful visual stories, you can reach more customers and grow your business.