Product Testing for the Brave

I signed up for Fuel My Blog a good while ago and effectively forgot about it until I received an alert from them on Friday for product reviewing.  The site is offering a new service where they build a profile database of bloggers, get a pile of product to review and then match the two (amongst other initiatives to help create more value and stickiness for your blog).  You dont get paid for the review but rather free stuff which this week ranges from

Some of the products already available to send out next week are multi-packs of delicious snack bars, a brand new range of razors, gifts, unique balloons..and many more..

Its an interesting concept and challenge for PR companies – do you turn your back on a potentially hiting a large audience in an easy to access manner or insist on the usual of interaction and “control” that helps to bring a good review through.  From the initial look the companies providing the product get a reasonable amount of control over who reviews what so it could help to minimise the risk.  The products currently on offer look like low value items which would make sense but if successful it could be an easy channel for bloggers to get increased respect as reviewers and access to product.  From a company point of view it would appear that it has been pitched at getting feedback (as positive or negative reviews dont seem to matter) and could be a pre-launch initiative to enhance their product testing.

It should be interesting to see how many snack bars are reviewed outside of food blogs.

Eoin

3 Comments. Leave new

Thanks for the write up here 🙂

We are hoping to send out the snack bars to as many non-food blogs as we can – my theory is this, everyone (ok, most people) snack – every blogger and every reader – if the reader trusts the review – why limit to just food..The whole point of the testing is for the blogger to offer more value and trust to its readers and the companies get to see first hand what people think of their products, if the review is negative, they have the opportunity to find out what went wrong and learn for future customers, rather than just lose customers and never know why.

Snacks coming soon!

Murphy’s Law » Social networks for PR and media, online video, future of news, blog product reviews and web 2.0.. what’s that all about?
October 22, 2008 10:33 pm

[…] Speaking of the future, is this the product review model of the future? FuelMyBlog is a a little confusing, it’s a kind of social media network for bloggers that also offers the opportunity for registered bloggers to review products. [Via Eoin Kennedy.] […]

Thomas Brunkard
November 24, 2008 3:42 pm

I think that given the isolated nature of the blogger as opposed to the journalist who is pestered to death by sycophantic PR gushers this could prove to be an exciting development. The blogger would have their blog’s credibility enhanced and if they’re freshly co-opted, would surely be receptive and write positively. I think the trick with this is to exploit it now lest bloggers become as cynical to such overtures as journalists.

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