Attention Bloggers, your day has arrived! Its official, the FTC is watching you! For some reason, Bloggers are not reporting their income and freebies for product reviews. This can give the reader the wrong impression.

Effective December 1st, Bloggers must divulge all connections to advertisers. Some companies have created their OWN blogs and are leading consumers to believe they are objective voices when they have an underlying agenda. Those days are over.

Another group being hard pressed are celebrities that endorse products. Celebrities must now reveal their connections with advertisers when endorsing a product on a blog, social network, or television talk show.

A fine of $11,000 will be assessed for those who choose not to comply with the rules. Unfortunately, the FTC will not be adding new staff to regulate this rule so the advertisers will be the main target for a while. Keep in mind that you can easily be reported to the FTC so its best to stay in sync with the law.

I almost did not know which forum to post in for this one. Personal perception may vary but one thing is true for everyone...this is AWESOME!

There is a great site called Tryology that allows you to try new products, review them and keep them for free. You will try some items that have never been released to the public. This is not only an hour but you will be a privileged member earning even more rewards!

Your fist step is to try their products. Their products could be housewares, food, cell phones, or even computers. Once you have received your product, record a video review of the product, and upload it to the website.

At this time you are well under your way to earning points. Tryology gives you points to be used to purchase gift cards, gadgets, and gear through their website. You can earn points by:
1. Referring friends
2. Answering surveys
3. Uploading videos
4. Registering with the site
5. Linking to Facebook
.......just to name a few.

If you are still not convinced, three new samples that are available right now are Nabisco 100 Calorie pack chocolate covered pretzels, a new mystery 100 Calorie pack product, and a LG Blu-ray Disc Player.

Today's Tip is a continuation on Writing Product Reviews. I have learned, from our segments on blogging, its easier for people who are searching for a particular topic to find it in one spot. Before you know it, we will have a small pamphlet growing. The goal is to provide enough information to help bloggers and website owners begin earning cash and products by doing product reviews.

When beginning to write the actual product reviews, you want to start by properly introducing the product. You need to provide the reader with the name, a brief description, and then a direct lead in the purpose of the product. For instance, you want to say that a voice recording digital clock is appealing because it allows you to record your voice or download popular wakeup calls online.

Detail the purpose of this product for your readers in a manner that would catch the readers attention. You want to use lots of adjectives and tons of verbs. Follow this information with the product's claim. In reference to our wonderful alarm clock, you would say that the manufacturer claims that this alarm clock will wake you better than any other alarm clock (of course you would make that statement lively).

Once you have given the readers the intention of the product. Detail your experience with this product. Not all product reviews should be positive. Readers want honest down to earth reviews. They do not want you to sugar coat nail, just so you can get more reviews. They truly want blatant honesty. If you are being paid to do this review, then it is a MUST that you reveal that you are being paid to write this review. It does not mean that you are dishonest, you are just being upfront and honest with readers. Let the readers know how well and how terrible the product worked. Let them know whether or not they lived up to their claims.

If you are slightly torn on the product, feel free to list all of your likes and dislikes in regards to the product. Readers will appreciate the details. Its important to know exactly why you did not like a product and why you loved it. We have to remember that what you love someone else may hate, therefore details are key. DO NOT be afraid to list the pros and cons.

Now it is time to get down to the real knitty gritty! You have to tell readers how to find their own product. Tell them whether or not it can be purchased online, maybe there is a free shipping offer, coupon code, coupon, or a discount you would like to share. You also want to notify them of the price you paid if you paid something or what they should expect to pay. You can also provide a nice link to the product and it does not hurt to have a link that might give you some kind of monetary compensation!

Oh yes and guess "Who's Hiring!"

If any of you remember my rambling about blogging, then you know how interesting blogging can be at times. Lately, I have been going nuts over product reviews. Product reviews can be great ways to try different products without necessarily paying for them.

BuzzAgent is one company that loves it when you give their products away and buzz all about it. Although this is a great company, I wondered how to get my blog to be one of the amazing blogs I have been reading as of lately. It was time for research. I found that there are some very important steps to follow when you want to get into doing product reviews on your blog.

You will want to start by securing a domain name. This is just the url for your website. Follow that up by setting up your blog on a hosting platform like Blogger, Wordpress, etc. I went into more detail on this in prior blogging posts so I will not repeat that information.

Next you want to start doing your own reviews. Find out what you want to review (toys, appliances, books, etc.) and begin writing your own reviews about products you already own. Follow that up by visiting HOT and popular blogs to see how they do it. Its also a great idea to leave comments so that you can get your name out there. I could go for taking my own advice in this area. I find so many blogs that I just love but one of the MAJOR rules in blogging is to leave comments.

Another area where I am dropping the ball is the social networking arena. When you are a blogger, you should join several social networking sites to help promote your blog. I have joined Myspace (which I don't use or promote from like I should), Twitter (which I use religiously), and LinkedIn (who could easily be referred to as LinkedWho? since I never use it). These are just a few sites that would help you promote your blog.

Another way to promote is by joining blog directories like BlogCatalog. Its a great way to appear on other people's blogs and gain some great attention. I am guilty of not doing enough in this area as well.

One thing I am NOT guilty of is not taking this next step. I have hosted several blog giveaways but I just do not have enough visitors to give stuff away. I host a contest and no one ever enters. Its sad but this is an AMAZING way to draw traffic to your site. Everyone loves a freebie.

If you have been successful in all of these steps, then your blog rating is probably growing tremendously. Once you have a great following, you may want to develop a press kit to give to PR Reps. Don't worry if that sounds Greek, I am going to elaborate later this week.

The work does not end there, you want to contact the PR group and beg for a product to review. No you are not really begging. You will want to send them your press kit and let them know what product you want to review and find out if there are some freebies they would like for you to offer on your blog. This could be coupons, certificates, gift cards, or even an additional product for your readers.

One blog that has truly inspired me lately is Cutie Booty Cakes. This lady has truly put the "R" in product reviews. In just the past few days, I have been blown away by the things she has reviewed. There was a range, the cutiest little potty seat, an external hard drive, air filters, clothes, etc. Looking at the things this lady has been blessed to experience is inspiration for all bloggers experienced or novice. Don't take my word for it, see for yourself. She is a testament that all things are possible.