Review Guidelines

I come across a lot of information, and one of the things that I do here is share valuable stuff with you. When it’s a product worth buying, I’ll either review it or recommend it – the difference is that recommendations point to good stuff that I haven’t taken the time to review yet. (For ease of discussion, “reviews” will cover recommendations for the rest of this page.)

Here’s what you need to know about my reviews:

• I Always Use What I Review

My reviews come from firsthand experience with the product or service. I’ll normally wait until well after the honeymoon with a product to write about it, so sometimes there’s a three-month lag between when I start using something and when I review it. If I’m seeing immediate, meaningful benefits, though, I’ll recommend it sooner rather than later – if I’m seeing those benefits, I want you to, as well.

• I Try To Make My Reviews Valuable

Sometimes I fail miserably at this, but my main goal is to write a review that adds value to you. There are a lot of products out there, and sometimes it’s hard to tell which are worth the time and money and which aren’t. When I come across good stuff, I want to tell you about it and help you make an informed decision about whether it’s for you.

• I Support Fair Pricing

Internet pricing is a funny thing that has somewhat different norms and baselines than other goods – I won’t go into this here. One of the things I try to do is assess the product by comparing it to comparable products, those pricing norms, and the actual benefits you’ll get out of the product. If I feel a product is seriously overpriced, I might review it but comment on the price. If it’s priced high but still worth it, I’ll try to show you why it’s worth the purchase price.

• I Support Good People

Some of the products that I review are made by my friends and clients, and I’ll make my relationship to that person clear when I write the review. I’m fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of good people making cool stuff, though, and I won’t recommend their stuff if I don’t think it’s worth your time.

I try to take into consideration the character of the people or businesses whose products I review. When it’s clear to me that they’re honest and trying to make a positive difference in the world, they get a green light. If they’re scummy, sleazy, or questionable, then I’ll usually opt not to support them. There’s only so much you can find out about people by doing research online, though, so I try to be charitable and not assume too much about people’s motivations.

• Some of My Reviews Have Affiliate Links

Many online products come with affiliate programs, which is basically a commission sales technique. It works like this: when I use my links in reviews and recommendations, I get a portion of the revenue from the sale. Using my link does not alter your purchase price, and I don’t recommend and review stuff just because I might get a cut of the revenue – I recommend and review stuff because I think the product will benefit you.

One way to look at affiliate programs is that it offsets marketing and advertising costs. Instead of having to pay a third-party to promote their products, product creators rely on people to promote their products. It turns out to be a more effective promotion strategy, and the serious upshot is that it helps real people instead of large advertising and marketing firms.

At the end of the day, I want to share good stuff with you that supports good people creating valuable stuff at fair prices. Online business has opened incredible opportunities for us to make an honest living helping other people, but for it to be sustainable for all of us, we need to participate in it.

Please purchase the product using my affiliate link (if I have one) if one of my reviews help you decide to buy a product; this helps me put food on my table and pay my mortgage. If it helps you decide not to buy a product, please share it with your friends so that they don’t buy something they might not need, too.

If you got here from a review, just hit the back button to go back to that review. Thanks!