Friday
Nov062009
The Difference Between A Review and Write Up [Startups]
Friday, November 6, 2009 at 8:51AM
I have many people asking me to write about their startups, and even more so than ever before. Many times, I respectfully decline usually due to two things:
If the startup happens to get past these filters and perk my interest, they usually are told a “write up” will be given.
A write up is very different from a review in one very important way; I do not test out the service. Instead, I research the startup, maybe conduct an interview with the founders and publish a post based off of that with a link out to an actual review done by someone else.
Sometimes though, startups pass through the write up filter and hit what I would consider gold with me, a review.
This means I will make an account and use your service, top to bottom for weeks before writing up a post on my site. I will find out every flaw, every benefit and report all that to the founder before writing the post. I also only do a review once a startup is past the private beta stage, this is because this is the testing phase where issues are everywhere and I don’t find that to be fair.
This does not mean if I do a review I will praise a startup, I have completely torn apart products I have reviewed in the past. It just means I have been inspired by a startup’s product enough to invest time into and write about their product.
There you have it, how I write about startups and the difference between a write up and a review. What about you startup reviewers? How do you pick and choose what startup you want to cover?
1. The startup isn’t really a startup and is not worth writing about (no offense).
2. I simply do not have the time (I do have a life).
If the startup happens to get past these filters and perk my interest, they usually are told a “write up” will be given.
A write up is very different from a review in one very important way; I do not test out the service. Instead, I research the startup, maybe conduct an interview with the founders and publish a post based off of that with a link out to an actual review done by someone else.
Sometimes though, startups pass through the write up filter and hit what I would consider gold with me, a review.
This means I will make an account and use your service, top to bottom for weeks before writing up a post on my site. I will find out every flaw, every benefit and report all that to the founder before writing the post. I also only do a review once a startup is past the private beta stage, this is because this is the testing phase where issues are everywhere and I don’t find that to be fair.
This does not mean if I do a review I will praise a startup, I have completely torn apart products I have reviewed in the past. It just means I have been inspired by a startup’s product enough to invest time into and write about their product.
There you have it, how I write about startups and the difference between a write up and a review. What about you startup reviewers? How do you pick and choose what startup you want to cover?
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