Remember – reviewers are potential customers too

I’ve debated about writing this post for several months now, but I figured that it just might help someone, so here goes.

I review a lot of products for Sarah’s Surprises and Mystical Beauty’s Musings.

Most of the time I purchase the products myself, but sometimes companies will contact me and ask me if I’d like to review their products.

Sometimes I say yes, and sometimes I say no, and sometimes I ignore them, especially if it’s clear that it’s a mass mailing for a product that has nothing to do with my blog.

Remember I said I have two blogs – I also have two different email addresses for the blog, so if I get the same email at both blogs … I know someone hasn’t done their homework.

I do feel fortunate that I get to review things, but it can cause problems.

Although some bloggers do contact companies and ask them if they can review certain products, I don’t unless the company has stated that they are looking for bloggers to review products that would fit in with my blogs, or unless they’ve emailed me personally with press release information and offered samples.

With that said, I’ve had several companies contact me and ask me to review their products, and then I never hear from them again.

Although this is frustrating to me as a blogger, a few of these companies have been companies that I liked, and was considering purchasing from.

Shoot, I’ve even had some items all picked out from the latest company who said they wanted me to do a review, and then never contacted me again, and I was just waiting until I had enough money in my paypal account to afford it.

As a blogger who lives in the Midwest, and who has pictures of an unbroken backyard thermometer showing -40F, it’s important for me to know when I’m expecting packages.

Delivery people often don’t ring the doorbell or knock, so even if I’m home I don’t always know there is a package outside, so I like to have an idea of when things should be arriving so I can listen out for it.

I’ve actually gotten products to review, and I’ve had to wait for them to thaw out before I could use them.

You never really know if being frozen has affected the product, so I can’t be sure that I’m giving an accurate review for those products either.

I’ve also had at least one package that was lost in the mail, so if someone says that they will send something, then I don’t hear that they’ve sent it, I’m not sure if they’re expecting a review for a product that’s been lost in the mail, or if they’ve just decided that they don’t want a review and forgotten to tell me.

And I hate emailing people to ask them if they sent me something, because I don’t want to sound greedy.

I also always eagerly await all my packages because I love to see what’s in them.

Isn’t that the most fun part of getting something new – opening up the package and finally being able to see and touch the stuff?

Most of the time when I’m asked to review a product, and then I never hear from the company again it’s a small business, who’s asking for a review here on Sarah’s Surprises.

That makes things a little bit more confusing for me as a customer, because I want to support small businesses, but at the same time, if the owner of the company doesn’t have the courtesy or the time to email me and let me know that she’s no longer interested in me doing a review, after she’s contacted me and asked me to do a review, how does that translate to how she treats her customers?

In some cases I do get the feeling that people have only contacted me and asked for a review because they want free publicity – and hey, if you want free publicity and you’re products fit in here, all you have to do is fill out the form at Feature Me! or Interview Me! and I’ll feature you if I think it’s appropriate.

So to make a longer story even longer, remember that reviewers are potential customers too – they might even be actual customers if they have an anonymous blog, or if they use separate email addresses.

Treat them with respect, let them know that you will or won’t be sending them something to review, and check with them to see if it’s ok if they need to sign for it – although I’ve never had to sign for anything.

If somone asks me to review a product, then decides that my blog isn’t a fit for them, or something comes up and they can’t focus on their business, or don’t have time to focus on anything other than packaging orders and making products, that’s fine with me.

All I ask is that you let me know that you won’t be sending me anything, so I won’t be wandering three months from now what happened, and if you’re still expecting me to review a product that you sent and I never got.

And in case you’re wondering – yes, I have purchased items from companies that I only learned about because they asked me to review them.

Have you had your products reviewed on a blog?

How did it go?

Would you purchase from an etailer who had great products, but whom you’d had a problem with in a non-business related way?

Related Posts:
When your customers get their package, do they know who you are, and where to find you?

S’mores Soap Review

I got the S’mores soap from Savor back in December, after I won a gift certificate to Trendy Shoppes through a blog contest.

The S’mores soap, which doesn’t seem to be available at either site now, is actually made like a S’more, with two pieces of soap sandwiched together with a chocolate layer.

The soap has a slight chocolate smell that fills the area around my sink with a slight chocolate fragrance.

I’m currently using this as a hand soap, and I’ve noticed that I don’t feel the need to use hand lotion every time I wash my hands as I normally do.

Since the soap is sandwiched together with a layer of chocolate, I have noticed that the two layers of soap have separated and slide apart – but that might have something to do with my soap dish collecting a little too much water.

Overall, I’m very happy with the soap, except for it sliding apart – of course if I wanted to I could separate it into two pieces and make it last a little longer which would be nice.

And of course, you won’t have this problem with most of Savor’s soaps, since they come in one piece.

Ordering from Trendy Shoppes was easy, shipping was fast, and everything was packaged nicely.

I did have a problem where I thought my order didn’t go through since I ordered more than one item and paid with Paypal, but a quick email to Suzanne from Trendy Shoppes, and everything was taken care of.

Suzanne was already aware of the problem, so it was being worked on, and it should be fixed by now I would hope.

If you’ve ordered from Trendy Shoppes or Savor, I’d love to hear what you think!

Mmm…Chocolate Mint Shampoo or Body Bar

Doesn’t this Chocolate Mint shampoo or body bar, ($4) from Luxury Falls, sound delicious?

Unfortunately, I’ll have to wait a few months to try it because I’ve heard peppermint oil isn’t safe to use during pregnancy.

Rock Mama Punk Baby Etsy Store Review

I ordered 3 sets of nursing pads from Rock Mama Punk Baby on July 22, and I got them in the mail on July 30.

The nursing pads were $1.50/2, and shipping was $1.50 for the first one, with the additional two pairs shipping for free, which I think was a pretty good deal.

The nursing pads are very cute, although I haven’t had a chance to use them yet.

The pads arrived in a very cute red box, with “thank you” and the etsy address printed inside the box.

I loved that the box wasn’t any larger than it needed to be for the package.

You know me – I would have loved a little more communication from the seller – I was getting nervous because it was taking so long for me to get the package, (I am impatient) and since the receipts from Paypal and Etsy are automatic, I wasn’t sure if the seller had gotten my information, or if she was on vacation somewhere.

Fortunately, I got the package the day after I started getting worried, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

If you’ve tried anything from Rock Mama Punk Baby, I’d love to know what you think!