Acouple of times a year now, someone emails in, asking for tips onhowto become a toolblogger, reviewer, or YouTuber.They often ask a lot of the same questions, and I often find myself writing out the same thing over and over.
Sometimes I ask a question too. Why do you want to write or talk about tools? To make money? To get free tools? These are the wrong answers. The right answer is that you want to share information, your experience, insights, and opinions with your audience.
I strive for ToolGuyd to be an enjoyable, informative, and helpfulresource for tool users and buyers. I should say that money and tool samples arent unimportant, as ToolGuyd is now my primary means of earning a living and access to the latest tools to check out plays intothe same passion and interestin tools that got me started, but theyre far from being my primary motivators.
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After a couple of months, I will usually check up onthe people I have given advice to. Some have been churning out great and valuable content. Some havent done anything, or have quickly started and then abandoned their efforts.Others have copied off of ToolGuyd, at least for a time before giving up interest. And some become everything is awesomebrand and advertiser prioritized spokesmen who trash talk me/ToolGuyd at every opportunity because they think itll help them get ahead quicker.
Theres plenty of room in the tool review/news/info/etc. nichefor more voices.If youd like to get started, heres how:
How do I get started blogging?
If you think you might want to start a website, register the domain, install WordPress or another content management system, and give it a go.
Get the ball rolling, and figure things out as you go along.
It will take a while before traffic builds up to where youre seeing enough traffic, engagement, or revenue to make things tangibly worthwhile, which is why a lot of people give up. I havent given up because I find great satisfaction inwhat I do.
Do I have to be a professional?
No. Im not,and someone who once commented on ToolGuyd calling himself a newbie, is now producing some nice reviews of professional tools.
My undergraduate training is inphysics with an added emphasis in applied physics, and I hold masters and doctorate degrees inmaterials science and engineering.
But you do have to have experience with tools, and you do have to be a tool user. There are tools that I cannot test, review, and recommend with confidence or authority, and so I dont. There are rare times when I review atype of tool I havent owned or used before.
Sometimes even experiencecan be complemented with insight. Take my recent review on FIXTs T-handle torque tool. Ive never used that exact type of tool before, and I dont wrench on race cars, but I think I did a great jobtesting and reviewing it.
Experience, understanding, and insight is what you need. And if you dont have it, a willingness to put in time and effort can go a long way. Dont want to do that? Then why do you want to talk about tools anyway? Dont let the fact that youre not a professional or tradesmen to hinder you. You dont need a PhD degree either.
Do have any tips for expanding my audienceandgaining new readers to my website or subscribers to my YouTube channel?
Write, or produce videos, and they will come.
Building an audience requires quantity, quality, time, and trust. Thats an AND. Quantity AND quality. You can have quality without quantity, but please dont go the path of quantity without quality itll show.Start with 10 ideas, and go from there.
I dont produce YouTube videos often, so I might not be the best to ask. But I do know that volume is important. If you want to attract viewers, grow your audience, and potentially earn revenue, youre going to need to release a steady stream of videos. There are a lot of strategies about how and where to place subscribe buttons and things like that, but I dont seek out these resources. You might want to.
You canshare your content on social media and in forums, but make sure theres value. Iwill sometimes share content on the Garage Journal forum, but Ive been a member there for a long time [before ToolGuyd even], and only share things I think the community will like.Share on forums because you value the community, and not because you want clicks. Spam forums with links and your reputation could very well suffer and any clicks will be empty.
This is important createand share content for the message and information you want to provide. This is also true forreviews that you might have received tool samples to help create.
How to approach companies for free productsamples to review?
I am upfront with brands, and always have been. Tell them who you are, what you want to test/evaluate/review, and why. If youre looking for a product for personal use, then its a sponsored product you want to ask about, and not a review sample. Theres little difference to them, but there should be a difference to you and how you discuss the tool to your audience.
You should and will probably need to build an audience first.Start by reviewing tools you own or have purchased.Becoming a tool reviewer is not about thefree tools or swag. Also, nobodys going to send a product to a fly-by-night reviewer.
Dont want to build an audience? Considerasking established sites and magazines if you could be a contributor. Editors will want to see quality sample work before they give you any assignments.
Much of the time, then and now, I dont initiate contact by requesting tool samples. I build a relationship by requesting information or to be added to a brands media list. To me, access to informationand answers to questions areinvaluable, whereas I could always buy a tool if I want to test or review it desperately enough.
I took a look at old ToolGuyd emails, and saw that I started receiving free test sample offers starting at ~3,500 visitors and ~10,000 pageviews per month. Thats when the first companies started approaching me.
I started making sample requests when ToolGuyd startedreceiving ~12,000 visitors and ~35,000 pageviews per month.
Theres no guarantee that anyone will send you anything for free. Keep in mind that brands want return for their expenditure; they want product coverage and exposure. But never forget that your reviews are for your readers or viewers. Youraudienceshould be your top priority NOT the brands who send you products to test and evaluate.
Try to see what other tool reviewers are testing and reviewing. That will give you an indication of which brands might be willing to send test samples. But keep in mind that brands receive many, MANY sample requests.
At first, theres a novelty about getting new tools to check outfor free. But that noveltytends to wear off quickly, at least it did for me.
How Do I Earn Money?
This really shouldnt be your top priority when you get started. Why? Because the path to pocket changeis long and hard, at least if you do things right.
ToolGuyd earns financial supportfrom Google Adsense, direct ads, and affiliate linking, andI also write for magazines on occasion, in a freelance capacity, to supplement the revenue.
With affiliate links, such as with Amazon, Home Depot, or other retailers, dont spam em. Only provide an affiliate link if theres some benefit to readers. I try to be very sparing,but sometimes the context of a post requires more links than usual. And sometimes theres nocontext for any affiliate link, and thats okay.
Here is a mostly-complete list of ToolGuyds current and active affiliate relationships:Where to Buy Tools?
Also,realize and remember that ifyou use an affiliate link to recommend a tool or product that you dont truly recommend, and someone buys it and is disappointed, theyll return it and the commission will be reversed.
I only include affiliate links where the same links would be included even without anaffiliate relationship, andrecommend this practice.
Google Adsense will tell you that large banners at the top of content areas are hot zones, but I find large ads in these areas to be annoying. Weve been approached by a number of other advertising networks and services, but I like to keep things simple.
ToolGuyd is NOT supported bypaid-for content or sponsored posts. I sometimes do participate in rare unique opportunities that align with my editorialideals and ethics, and youll see notices whenever this is the case.
Can I earn some pocket change fromblogging,YouTubing, orreviewing tools?
You can earn some pocketchange from a website, but dont expect immediate or quick returns. Youve got to build up traffic and content, and it takes time.
If you want to be a tool reviewer, blogger, or YouTuber, then youve got to be in it for the readers and experience, and not the money. There are brand and money-first approaches, but Icant help you there. My experiences havebeen and will be froma readers-first approach.
Is there an ideal blog or websiteservice to sign up with? Is there a blog formatI can use with my YouTubechannel?
For a blog or website, or even for amix of videos and written content, youll need a domain name and web hosting. A domain will cost you about $12 per year, hosting will cost you $60-120 per year to start. You can also try WordPress.com or Blogger.com for free blogging accounts, buteven then you might at least want your own independent domain.
If you have a YouTube channel, then a website still makes for a complementary landing page where you can include links to your videos and more information about yourself or your channel.
Do companies provide you with tools to review and pay you to do so? If so, whendid that begin?
No. Some have offered, and I know some of my peers accept money for reviews, but I do not. One can be a reviewer or spokesperson, but they cannot be both at the same time.
Do companies pay to post your reviews on their own sites after the reviews are live?
No. If they want to excerpt or link to a review, theyre free to do so.