The real johnchow reviews
Most people know that johnchow doesn’t write a lot of his reviews. He hands it over to Michael Kwan. Micahel’s blog, beyond the rhetoric, is a solid blog but doesn’t get much action. It goes to show that guest blogging on johnchow doesn’t do much for your own blog. Steve over at Property pundit did a guest post for John a while back and got some traffic but dropped off very quickly.
I personally would never pay the sky high price that john charges for his reviews. John chow’s reviews will be seen by a lot of people, but probably won’t be read all the way through. Have you ever read one of Michael’s reviews all the way through? I haven’t. Also, John’s reviews will boost your traffic for a day or two, but then you’ll see your traffic drop right away. It’s like the poor man’s version of a Digg effect except you paid premium for it. Gyutae over at Winning the Web paid for a review and is holding a contest where the prize is a paid review on johnchow dot com. I looked at the alexa for winning the web and saw the same pattern. Big boost, and fast drop.
I honestly believe spreading out your review dollars is the way to go. If you’re going to pay for a review, pay a medium or small blogger to do it. They will be more greatful and they will take more care in your reviews. Johnchow doesn’t need your review money. And he won’t be that greatful for it. He doesn’t even write most of his reviews. Also, smaller blogs have a more loyal readership then johnchow dot com.
I’m not hating on johnchow. Just like to use john’s blog as an example cause his is the biggest. I respect and admire his blogging achievements.
Popularity: 1% [?]
BloggerNoob is all about
December 20th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
John Chows reviews are about as interesting as reading the Latin dictionary. I completely agree with you. More power to him for being able to command the price he does….but it’s not for me.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
i agree with you, and i never read his review till the end.
His blog, like many others around have to many information at the same time for our eyes. some times it gets confusing and distracting, making the reader a bit tired….
December 20th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Great post, Noob..! I totally agreed on the traffics concern.Yes we can see the growth of incoming visitors but it only last for maybe a week or not more that 3 or 4 days.
For your info, i never read his review at all..
Noob, trying to take some revenge on him (Banned from john chow.com)?
Just joking, buddy..!!
December 20th, 2007 at 8:24 pm
Yeah there are a lot of folks out there that don’t like the reviews they had been getting from John Chow. They were calling him a scammer for a while there. Here the link if anyone is interested. John Chow getiing slammed again
I figure you get what you pay for.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:39 pm
I was wondering about that. I just put together a contest on my blog and was trying to decide if I wanted to buy a Cow or a Chow review. Then I realized that a smaller blog would be more inclined to participate and what do you know, they were. Mike over at Bloggin-Ads was be a better choice. He agreed to do it graciously and without reservation. Very well written Noob, objective with out the bash factor. make sure you Stop by the Big Bald Blog and get yourself entered in the contest!!!
December 21st, 2007 at 12:54 am
Hi noob,
Happy Holidays. Interesting article, and definitely food for thought. It’s just that the review will be seen by many more and then just maybe, someone would bookmark you and become an avid reader. I don’t know, but your thoughts are certainly worthwhile.
Regards,
Kathleen
December 21st, 2007 at 2:47 am
Very true, Noob. There’s no reason to pay for a review. My traffic did drop off quickly. I obviously picked up a few good followers who are still with me, but it would not be worth anywhere near $400 (or whatever he charges now) for them. You’ll find them elsewhere for much cheaper, or for free.
December 21st, 2007 at 4:20 am
bill- haha. latin dictionary. i was going to say the Old Testament Book of Numbers but latin dictionary is a great analogy.
hugo santos-I still and probably always will refer to john’s blog, but honestly, its not that great of a blog.
jeremy- haha. yup. feel my wratch johnchow. Don’t mess with the Noob. I’m like Uma Thurman.
Debo hobo-Nice link debo. i’ve found a lot of case studies. i plan on doing a more indepth analysis of john’s reviews.
andy-Go with multiple small and medium blogs. more exposure and readership that actually reads.
kab625-Very true that it will bring you a lot of hits. but getting a boost of traffic for 2-3 days is not worth 400 bucks. Better to build a more loyal readership with multiple reviews on smaller blogs.
Property pundit-Free is one of the most beautiful words in the English dictionary. Loved how you got your link on johnchow for free. It’s better to be creative and convince john to let you do a guest post as opposed to spending 400 of your hard earned dollars on a review.
December 21st, 2007 at 9:31 pm
Thanks for the linkback to my own blog! I’m glad that there are at least some people who realize it’s me who writes most of John’s review requests.
December 22nd, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Michael kwan- no problem. it’s sad that most people just want flash. they don’t really care about learning and helping each other. they don’t care to check who write what and etc. thanks for dropping by michael
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:13 am
I have to be very careful when I pay for a review. (have not paid for one yet BTW) because my niche is lawn care. In this vein, a JohnChow review would do me no good at all. On the other hand, most of the larger garden-type blogs are very complicated. They look at flower propigation and genus and species and all that…my blog is just about freakin’ grass man.
I doubt that I will ever go for a paid review cuz there just ain’t anything out there that I could draw from.
Good post Noob,
AL
December 27th, 2007 at 10:54 am
[...] If you know flash, make a video about johnchow, problogger, or shoemoney and maybe they’ll write about you. Isn’t that better then spending 400 bucks or so to get a review written by Michael Kwan. [...]