Shops & Reviews
Amazon - Lisa Reaches #50 
Woo hoo! It only took me (Lisa) 9 years and 6 months of posting reviews, but I have just cracked the top 50 of all Amazon reviewers :)
Amazon - Lisa Reaches 1000 Reviews
I just entered my 1,000th review on Amazon today, and wanted to share with you all again just how powerful these reviews can be in building your reputation.
Amazon Review Basics
A key way to get free publicity for all of your writing efforts - on BellaOnline and elsewhere - is to post Amazon reviews. Here are step by step instructions on how to do this well.
Constructing your BellaOnline Shop
You have gathered together a few reviews of products and books. Now it's time to create your BellaOnline shop and make them easy for your users to find.
Creating a Book Club
A great way to get your visitors talking and to gain traffic is to run a book club. It´s quick and easy!
Frequency of Writing Reviews
It's important for the main focus of our sites to be helpful free background information and content. Even topical sites here who run one review every month - with more than 4 articles a month on "how to" ideas - get lambasted by their readers for pushing people to spend money.
FTC and Testimonials
The FTC rules enacted in December 2009 have a large impact on testimonials - whether you're writing them or receiving them for things you have created. It is important to understand how testimonials work and are regulated.
FTC Review FAQs
Here are some frequently asked questions about the FTC rules on writing reviews on the web!
FTC, Reviews, and Ethics
On December 1, 2009, the FTC mandated that all reviews on the web must state clearly if any of the items used for the review were provided free or cut-price by a third party. This covers books, DVDs, movie tickets, and anything else reviewed.
How to Solicit Review Copies
Soliciting review copies of books and other materials is simple, but it does require a little bit of know-how and a lot of etiquette.
Italicize Book Titles
Standard journalist style practice is to italicize a book title. Underlines do not work well on the web, where the link language means underline = link.
Product Comparisons
Visitors LOVE reading product comparisons, where you take 3 types of basketball, say, and compare how they perform against each other.
Recommending Themed Products
When you write reviews and create top-10 lists for your site, it will involve items you have personally used and enjoy. But there´s room for another type of product grouping - the themed product list.
Recording a Radio Promotion
Pretty much all PCs come with a microphone. A cheap one in a store costs $5. This makes it super easy to record a commercial for your site shop or other site features for our radio station.
Rules for Receiving Press Items
Companies often offer discounted or free items and tickets in exchange for free advertising. BellaOnline has very strict rules about these activities, to protect our reputation. We are primarily a charity organization and our reputation is our most important asset.
Tips for a CafePress Shop
CafePress is a free website that allows you to sell tshirts, mousepads, mugs and just about anything else you can imagine with your own phrases or logos!
Top 5 or Top 10 Lists
Your users respect you as a knowledgeable person in your field of interest. They trust your opinion. Let them know what your favorite books, recipes, products, locations, or issues are!
Writing a Bad / Negative Review
You´ve gotten a book from a publicist, and eagerly began to read it. Very quickly you realize that this book is AWFUL. What do you do now?
Writing an Honest Review vs a Press Release
BellaOnline has worked hard over the years to build and maintain a reputation of providing completely unbiased, honest reviews of the books, products and locations we cover.
Writing Critical Reviews
A key to becoming a respected journalist is to build a relationship of trust with your readers. Your fans want to be sure you are writing for THEIR benefit - never for the manufacturer or the farm town mayor. The way to do this is to always write critical reviews.
Writing Product and Book Reviews
BellaOnline has built its reputation on providing quality, unbiased content to our visitors. They trust us and what we recommend as being useful. When writing book and product reviews, it's important to retain that trust.
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