Subliminal Messages, visits to the Throne and other inspiring moments!
May 15 '02
The Bottom Line As you begin to write commit yourself to the whole process - writing, editing and updating. However ice cream, games shows and pressure help to aid the process.
I am submitting this Epinion for your review, rating and comments as part of the first (and maybe last) "Shameless Self Promotion “ Milestone Write-off. This write off is hosted by myself, with the only participant being myself, but after all this time here and all those Epinions, I agree with myself that I am entitled.
Actually I was inspired to write this Epinion last week, but several major milestones kept me from doing it, so tonight I turn my thoughts back to it. That is a plus of being the only participant in your own write off - I am very flexible about dates, deadlines and topics.
What motivated me to think about this topic and write this Epinion last week was an Epinion written in the General Comments section entitled "We're pregnant" or something to that effect. I thought what a clever title, but then quickly realized the Epinion was actually about a pregnancy test and just posted in the wrong spot.
I thought after reading many incorrectly posted Epinions I would write a cute little piece about always reading the topic header before your begin writing. I will admit though that I did spend a few days laughing thinking that you need to be PG to write an Epinion, and if that were true many of us would be sunk.
The milestones that kept me from to writing last week were the celebration of my 9th anniversary, my youngest child turning five, finding out that our school was approved for all day kindergarten (and all the changes that went with that), and celebrating my 14th Mother's Day - it was a busy week and I'm glad it's over. OK actually it's not over, the other milestone celebrated was the one year anniversary of the discovery that my newly built home was leaking, and with no end in sight to the repair process I'm sure I'll still be dealing with it months from now.
On the Epinions front last week I penned my 650th Epinion and went over 70,000 total visits (thanks to everyone for reading my stuff).
I began to think that maybe I actually had some pearls of wisdom to add to this section - after all that was a lot of time-spent writing Epinions. Maybe some thought had gone into writing them and perhaps I could share snippets from my writing process so I decided to host the first shameless self-promotion write off.
So before I get rated off topic, let's go over the things I think are most important to do before writing a review.
~~Read the blurb~~
Once a product or topic is picked the first thing to do would be to read the blurbs at the top of the screen.
They offer some general writing guidelines - such as write about the given topic, state accurate facts, etc. It's generally wise to stick to those rules when planning out your Epinion or essay. You can think about adding additional items, but leaving out or not touching upon all the suggested items may result in a lower rated Epinion.
~~Get Inspired~~
As any of you wanna be designers know, from watching Trading Spaces, the key to decorating success in any room or Epinion is to find that inspirational piece and build out around it. Before you begin writing figure out what inspires you and go with it.
For me finding inspiration often comes at unexpected times - a 2 am cry of "Mommy I feel sick" can bring me running to my child's room, but it can also inspire an Epinion. That lovely 2 am barefooted step on a Barbie shoe, Lego or Kinex can make me think about a toy I haven't written about. Stepping over one toy while trying to put away laundry and hearing the crunch of another toy being broken can also inspire me.
I also find inspiration while sitting on the throne - with lots of time to think, I can easily view my vanity and the makeup/hair product hall of shame and find lots of items to Epinion about.
A trip to the mailbox and picking up all the countless magazines I order for no good reason and all the catalogs I find myself ordering from can also provide me with many new Epinion topics.
Once a topic has been picked, think it through - can you really write enough about the product or will you have to fill the Epinion with lots of XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX or MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM to get to the hundred-word minimum.
A quick or prolonged trip back to the throne may help you clear your head and prepare you for the writing process. This works for me – as long as there is no one pounding on the door requesting a snack or my presence while I am in the preparation process.
Before writing think about style and presentation - yours and the Epinion. If you are new to the site - what type of writing personality will you project, funny, serious, militant etc. This may impact how you are rated so choose carefully.
Think also of how you want your Epinion to look - how will you highlight key points? How will you bump your Epinion up a notch so it gets noticed? Along this line, make sure your ctrl A, C and V key all work - along with your spell check. Spending all that time writing the world's greatest Epinion won't get you high ratings if words are spelled wrong and punctuation, paragraphs and capitalization are absent.
As you begin to write commit yourself to the whole process - writing, editing and updating. Along this line -make sure you keep in mind exactly how much time you spend writing each Epinion - I find the annoyance factor with the site and reviewers goes up in direct relation to how much time you claim to have spent writing an Epinion versus the low ratings you get for all that effort, so always set that timer.
I also find the annoyance factor goes up in direct relation to the 2 cent income share you get for the three hours it took you to write that Epinion. Always keep a journal of hours and effort next to your computer so when you decide to write a "Why I Hate this Site" or a "Why I'm quitting this site" essay, you have data to back up your claims.
~~Product Testing~~
Stuck for a topic - haven't contributed lately - been a rater and not a writer - here's a great way to begin writing your next review, go out and buy stuff.
This is a little sneaky trick I learned early on, back in the days when an income share was an income share a not a choice from the Dollar Menu at McDonald's. When at first you can't find a product to write about in your home, go out and buy one. When your spouse or significant other questions your purchase, just say, "I'm a professional Epinion writer product testing a new item for my next review." If you say it with authority and conviction in your voice, who's going to question you.
I have many wonderful items in my home that I was "product testing" and somehow forgot to write Epinions about. If my hubby ever found out that handbags and shoes were not topics on this site, I would have a lot of explaining to do. Of course I did that back when I made some good money - now I do have stop and rationalize the purchase - is posting the 1st review of a 40 dollar toy really worth the 3 cents I'll make. Is buying a copy of the Olsen Twins - Twin Magazine really worth the shame of the purchase and being seen with the magazine just so you can write an Epinion - these are things only you can decide. But if you do decide to buy, you've got one leg up on writing the Epinion - actually owning the product and using it tends to make for a more welcomed and better Epinion.
Along this line here are two things to help you get started and find more topics:
*Subliminal Messages - got a kid with a birthday coming up? Yeah they may think really want that Game Boy Advance - but who knows what you can convince them that they want if you record and play back subliminal messages to them while they sleep. Find a toy with no Epinions written about and then make that your hidden agenda - drop subtle hints while they are awake, "Yeah the Game Boy Advance may be nice, but Intellivision is really tight."
Granted the toy you have chosen may have no Epinions written because it is the worst thing ever made, but if you can justify that purchase as a gift then spending the money to buy it may not hurt so much - and the glory of having the first review for many products will give you satisfaction and help you drown out the muffled sobs of disappointment from you child.
*Procreate - Yep you heard me - want to move into a new topic, like Kids and Family but you have that one slight problem, no kids or family, go ahead and make yourself one. No better way to open yourself up to hundreds of new products and future Epinions than going ahead and having a kid or two.
Yeah right now you may wear a hat in Music or Movies, but take off that hat and the world of cribs and car seats may be just a few months away. Never limit your possibilities, always be thinking about future Epinions while writing your present one.
Of course you could just lie, lift product info off related websites and fudge the review claiming you have children that have used the product and maybe no one would ever catch you, but I'm sure someone would so why risk it.
~~Prioritize~~
I find prioritizing my schedule helps me write - that is the more things I have to put off in my real life, the more Epinions that day I am inclined to write. Seven loads of laundry to do - why not write about shampoo instead. The dishwasher needs to be loaded, run, unloaded and run again - heck I think I saw some movie seven years ago that I can recall vaguely enough to write an Epinion about - and if I make enough of an income share, I can buy a goat to take care of the mess.
Now I find I write bad Epinions when I mess with my priorities - if I feel rushed because I need to get done with the Epinion so I can post it and make it to my bed in time to watch Classic Hollywood Squares, I will have to juggle.
I could do a half-@ssed Epinion which isn't my style. I could save a copy of the Epinion I'm working on and come back to it when my show is done - risking losing my train of thought. Or, I could go back up to a point made above and purchase a lap top under the guise of product testing, thereby enabling myself to multi-task - now if I could only figure out how to eat a pint of Chunky Monkey while doing the other two I'd be golden. (If only this much effort was put into my real job, I'd be VP by now).
~~Key Times to Write~~
Along this line – figure out the key times for you to write – I find the more inopportune the moment, the better the Epinion. The more pressure I feel or the more guilt associated with not doing what should be done, the better the Epinion.
“Yeah, you need to be at Scouts in five minutes, but just let mommy type out these final sentences and I promise we’ll go.” Later that evening you find yourself on the phone explaining to the Scour leader that your child had a mystery illness that kept them from attending. “ Yeah it’s dinnertime, but I only have a bit more to do.” Two hours they have fallen asleep from hunger, which frees you up for the rest of the night to write and rate Epinions. Plus it gives you more time in the morning – no dinner dishes to clean up.
I guess what I am trying to say in all of this is I’m not quite sure how I got to this milestone – did lots of thought go into those early Epinions – in reading some over the past weeks I think not – they were quite bad in fact. Hardly a mention of the product and very little specific info included. Looking back, I didn’t plan, didn’t edit, I probably didn’t deserve the high ratings I got and didn’t let the bad ratings get to me. I used comments and bad ratings to teach me to do better – I didn’t always enjoy the helpful comments but I learned from them and used what I learned to improve each subsequent Epinion I wrote.
These days a lot more thought goes into what I write. I don’t outline or read other Epinions – I just stick to my style and hope someone likes it. I don’t obsess about being appreciated or part of the group – I go into writing each Epinion thinking about the fun I hope to have – not how many ratings I’ll get and whether I’ll buy a milkshake or apple pie with my income share. I just write the way I feel that day and hope for the best. The less time spent thinking and the more time spent doing, equals better Epinions and happier participants.
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Epinions.com ID:
ned1
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 - Top 100 |
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Member: Nancy
Location: in the Barbie aisle
Reviews written: 894
Trusted by: 346 members
About Me:
Off to Basel (1/21) - in search of Swiss Miss Barbie - back (1/26)
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