DOING REVIEWS - SELLING OUT?

Something I'm coming across on the internet alot lately is people talking negatively about bloggers for doing reviews. My blog started as a diary of my life and pregnancy and soon grew to a platform where I share my daily life and experiences as a stay at home mother.  Reviewing products was never something I knew about until I was contacted via my blog. I wasn't sure why these companies were offering to send me things and kind of wondered what the catch was, so for a good few months I politely declined their offers and carried on blogging.

After a few months I started to get more and more emails from PR companies and businesses and slowly over time the products offered became more relevant to what I liked and I became interested and happy to accept.

To this day I have only written two reviews and am in the process of writing a third. The first was a pair of shoes, the second was tea. If you read my blog and know me by now you would probably know that I'm interested in both of those things and they are relevant to what I like.

One thing I will say is that I decline more than I accept, I just don't see the point in trying to review a product I have no interest in, and therefore would have nothing to talk about. 

 I take pride in the fact that I am an honest, genuine person. I would never promote or recommend a product that I thought was no good. I like to give credit where credit is due and you'll often see that I link brands and companies in my personal posts just to share my recommendations (I'm never paid or asked to).

Alot of people lately have said that it's 'selling yourself out' if you accept products for the purpose of review, I totally disagree. If I buy something and I like it, I will talk about it on my blog. If my family buy me a gift and I like it, I will talk about it on my blog. I don't see it as any different. If a company sends me something to talk about, I will talk about it. Whether that be in a positive or negative way is down to the product.

When I was pregnant with Indie and looking for baby items I often looked at parenting blogs for opinions and reviews on products. I much prefer being able to read the thoughts of someone in the same circumstances and situation as me and who give a fair non-biased opinion. I like to remember this when I write my own reviews.

The latest product I have been asked to review is a book. This is probably my favorite thing I've been sent to review to date. I wanted to write this post before I shared my thoughts on it to clarify my thoughts on reviews and why I do them. You might notice that my past two reviews are fairly positive and in favour of the product, I was lucky in that I liked the products I was sent. If in the future if I am sent something that I am unhappy with I will say. That doesn't mean to say that it is a bad product, but I will be honest and open if I dislike it and share my experience. I think you have to take reviews with a pinch of salt. No two people are the same, and what I like may differ from you. 

What do you think about bloggers reviewing products?




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