ReviewMe - a novel new approach to online marketing

Technorati tags: ReviewMe, Advertising, Online Marketing

Some might think Walski sold out to blatant commercialism. But then again, Walski never ever said he doesn't like money, now did he?

How'd you like earning some $$ while doing what you like doing, i.e. writing. More specifically, blogging. Hat-tip to kukujiao.com, who pointed Walski to a new service called ReviewMe.

(To become a reviewer, click on the logo image above)

Contextual advertising, like Adsense, which myAsylum uses, has its downside, and worldwide trends have reported a decline in click-thru rates - which means that less and less people are getting to the businesses advertising via contextual ad methods. The reason is probably what's known as banner blindness, where we tend to ignore ads on blogs and websites. Plus, because it's based on the context of what your site or post contains, there is always the possibility that the ads chosen may not be the best fit for your readers.

ReviewMe has chosen a quite different approach. Firstly, the advertising method is more subtle - it's done through sponsored blog reviews, written by bloggers, for products or services chosen by the review writers themselves. Yup, you get to pick whom or what you'd like to review. And get paid for it. Everybody can use that little extra moolah, right?

And in case you didn't already realize it, what you're reading now is in itself a paid review.
(more on ReviewMe, and how to sign up, in the full post)

The novel approach taken by seems to have paid off. In just over a week since its official launch (on November 9, 2006), the take-up success of this new service has totally gone beyond expectations. As of the time of this posting, a cursory check at Technorati.com shows that over 1,500 blogs are buzzing about this service.

Signing up is easy. First of all, register as a user at ReviewMe. This involves filling out some contact details about yourself, and more importantly how you'd like to get paid (a choice between PayPal or by check).

Next, submit your blog, or blogs, if you have more than one. Each registered user is allowed up to six blogs. In addition to your blog URL, you're also required to provide an RSS feed address. This is to verify that you've actually done a review, before a payout is made. There is some calculation that assigns a pay-out value for your blog, which according to blogger Timothy Tiah, is most likely based on rankings (from Technorati, Alexa, etc.), on how many RSS subscribers you have, and on what sort of traffic your site generates. Values assigned are between USD 20 TO 200.

And finally, your first assignment - to write a review on the ReviewMe service within 48 hours of signing up. That's about all there is to it. And since in the next 48 hours there is a very high chance that you're going to post an entry (or seven) to your blog, might as well make one of them paid, right?

Offhand, Walski doesn't know whom the advertisers they have on board are yet, and their blog has indicated that their focus now is on signing up a critical mass of reviewers before more aggressively pursuing advertisers.

But, if it takes off, this may just be the next big thing in targetted online advertising...