I'm not sure why,  but I seem to be attracting more and more clients asking me to do reviews.  I love and hate review writing.  On the plus side,  it is often well paid considering that all I have to do is write about my experience, something which, as a blogger, I tend to find as natural as breathing anyway.  Reviews are often short, and factual with little need to find 'just the right word' or any kind of clever turn of phrase to make the piece more interesting.  The interest value lies in the product/service/location itself.

On the down side I often find myself in a bit of a moral swamp.  If I am writing reviews, for example for a catalog or website filled with products which I have no experience of then this could be classed more as fiction writing or salescopywriting at best.  At worst, it is down right lying,  and the little red devil on one shoulder fights with the angel on my other.  It tends to go something like this:

"You can't write that!  You have never tried that face cream and you have no idea if it 'smooths and defines'!"  points out my angel.

"It doesn't matter.  If you don't write it, someone else will.  Take the money!"  Shouts the devil, waving his three pronged fork dangerously close to my eye.

"But what if the product is terrible?  Think of all those women you are selling false hope to?"  Ouch!  Pangs of guilt seem to hurt worse than the pitch fork.

"Who cares?  99% of all reviews are fake anyway.  You've been hired to do a job, so get on with it."

And therein lies the rub.  At the end of the day,  whether it is morally decent or not,  my loyalty is with the paying client, and not the customer.  The customer is neither aware of me, nor paying me for my honest opinion.   Still,  it's a tough call, and one I don't make easily.   I do require samples where possible, along with as much information about the company and their wares as I can find, both from them and from a bit ofindependent sleuthing.

The Money Saving Expert forums touched on this issue recently in this thread.  To add to my misery though, they touched on an even great dilemma:  would you write a bad review?

The answers are interesting, and the bottom line seems to be that money talks.  Or at least when money talks, the reviewer doesn't, with most people saying that a pay-off, discount or other kind of compensation would convince them not to leave the details of a bad experience.

The problem is that paid reviews unfairly tip the scales towards 'spin',  corrupting the notion that customers can gain valuable and honest feedback online before spending their money.

So what's the solution?  I'm sad to say I don't have a revelation for how to fix the dilemma.  My own approach is to avoid any client who is obviously trying to delude customers, and request samples.  I encourage all other clients to let me write reviews that follow an 80/20 rule,  using the 20% to point out any possible negative aspects.  Not only does it make the review hopefully more honest, but it seems more believable and authentic too.

Ok, and it pacifies both my little angel and devil long enough for me to write the reviews in peace too!