Don’t quit your day job, but get ready to fill your piggybank!
Mar 02 '01
The Bottom Line Although our main reason for being here isn’t to make mula, it doesn’t hurt to have the money come rolling in, does it?
Hopefully, in this article I will strike a happy medium between money lust and pure volunteering of time and energy to writing epinions that make so little anyways that you might as well be doing it for free.
I’m no millionaire, and to be frank I haven’t become one through Epinions. The point isn’t to make money; the point is to help people make educated decisions, right?
Well, let’s all be honest and say that we aren’t the verbose philanthropists that we sometimes pretend to be. I’m just going to blurt it out: the money’s nice. In fact, I wouldn’t mind terribly if more started rolling in. (Hey! That reminds me of an Evita song… “Rolling rolling rolling, rolling rolling rolling…”) But I’m pretty happy with the cash flow I have coming in now, and by the end of this article you’ll know how to be pretty happy with yours too.
1. The best advice seems to be the simplest – be active in writing and posting reviews. If you’re really committed to making money through Epinions, you’ll write at least two reviews a week. However, don’t be a “grinder”…I don’t care if you write 20 reviews a day, if all you say is “THIS SUCKS, don’t buy/read/see this,” that isn’t helping. It’s guaranteed to get all NHs.
But remember, you are getting paid for all the people who come in. Some naïve people (ah, ahem, me) think, or used to think, that you get paid for the ratings: when you’re rated highly, you earn more; less highly, you earn less. I have been enlightened since. You get paid for the number of hits on your review. I personally think the new pay system is a shame, since my specialty, book/music/movie reviews, makes about a handful of lint per hit. And my one review in the “Travel” category was posted during that time in January when Epinions didn’t have the “Just In” corner. Sigh.
Okay. Enough of my whine fest. In order to make the big bucks, you need to do more than just write.
2. You need to read and rate. This may sound simple, but it’s so true! When I first signed up (uh-oh, more tangents), I would come to the site, check up on my account, read one or two reviews, and sail off. DON’T DO THIS!
When rating reviews, especially the Just-In stuff, be careful to give your honest opinion of it. People will notice if you give VHs automatically. Most people will respect you for being honest.
Another point I’d like to make about the Just-In column is this: read even the stuff that doesn’t appeal to you. You might not be holding your breath to find out about Flea-Be-Gone spray, but you might just discover a talented and eloquent writer who will have insights into products that you are interested in. In addition, they might read your writings…no guarantees, but a definite possibility. Recently I’ve begun reading everything that’s Just-In. While I don’t necessarily recommend this for everyone (and I only do this when I have time), it is a good way to get your name around. If people check the Just-In and see your name all over the place, they might check you out. Voila! More hits! More money!
Which leads me to my next point.
3. Get your name out there. Leave comments all over the place – worthwhile comments that genuinely reflect what you feel. You don’t have to be obnoxious to get recognized; you just have to go a little farther than everybody else does. Let’s face it: a lot of people are too lazy to leave comments, or sometimes even rate. You, on the other hand, with this article in tow will drop a note about how you loved the review, or how you think it could be improved. This will set you apart from the other guys who rated and left, unless they had the bright idea to write a comment too! Then you’re out of luck.
4. Don’t fall in the “popular” trap. Common advice here is to write in the categories that are the most popular and pay the most. That’s swell if you are well-versed in cars, kids and family, electronics, health and welfare, and travel. But I have no interest in these topics (except maybe kids and family), and personally I think adding my very limited two cents would do more time-wasting than anything. I might make more money, but I’m not going to compromise Epinions like that. It’s my contribution to the welfare of the human race. You can choose whether to write more in these categories or not; you will probably earn more, but if you don’t know anything about this stuff (or don’t care about it), then you’re not helping anybody.
5. Find a time when your review will be the most read. If you post it on, say, a Friday or Saturday night, you’ll probably get a lot of hits, but your review won’t spend a lot of time on the Just-In since everybody’s posting their reviews. If, however, you post on a Sunday afternoon, your article will stick around the Just-In a lot longer. You might not get as many hits, though. You have to experiment with two similar products – say, two versions of the same computer, two books by the same author, etc. – and see what gets you the most hits.
6. Specialize. It’s probably best to focus in on two or three specific areas that you know a lot about, instead of writing about zillions of different categories. I don’t always follow this advice myself. It’s fun to try out new categories, flex your muscles, show off how much you know about so many things…but if you’re going for the Big Bucks, you’ll write about every product you can in your specialty. You’ll eventually become known for your reviews on this type of product, and if you write enough quality reviews on it, you might be selected as an advisor.
I know there are many more tips on how to make money at Epinions, but I have spent a hard day’s work writing today and my poor tired brain is too worn out to think of them at the moment. Feel free (Born free! As free as the wind blows!) to suggest any tips that come to mind in the comment area.
My closing remarks will be to remind you why we’re all here: to help other people make informed decisions. If your need for green stuff prompts you to write better reviews that are more helpful in making informed decisions, then we’ve all benefited. Happy writing, and thanks for reading and rating!
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Epinions.com ID:
Greatpilgrim
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Victoria
Location: FL
Reviews written: 272
Trusted by: 704 members
About Me:
April 25: My computer has now officially been broken for 10 days. WAHHHH!
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