What I am about to tell you is one of Bane Tech’s deepest secrets of how to get products for free to review. Not really…but there are several ways to get started reviewing products for free that could be considered hush hush for some reviewers out there. Since I began making reviews I have discovered various ways to get em done without costing anything to me other than putting the work in. For this post let’s focus on one method, get it mastered, and from there other opportunities will surface.
If you want to learn about how I got started and learn from my experience of becoming a reviewer you can watch this video or read this post. Long story short I think I got off on the wrong foot and made a few mistakes, but I have been able to learn from those and move forward. With that said there is one way to get started that could prove to be for lack of a better term easy and cost effective. First of all you do not need to go out and purchase a ton of equipment to get going. While it is awesome to have the latest and greatest, you don’t want to dig yourself in a hole. Adapt to what you have, be thankful for it, and allow your circumstances to form creativity.
Here’s a few pointers to start with and towards the last half of this post will reveal how to get products for free to review.
Equipment to Consider
If you want make videos many smartphones are built with superb picture and video quality. Mount that phone up on a gorillapod 
To Website or Not To Website?
Building a website is an option to consider when building your reviewing empire. Having a website will help open opportunities down the road and not too mention will help gain affiliate programs. WordPress is one of the best platforms to use when creating a website, but you will also need a domain name, and that is where you will have to invest some cash at some point. There is always the option to have the domain.wordpress.com look, however I would recommend buying a domain name to start things off with a professional design. Got to admit it, Bane-Tech.com looks a lot better than Bane-Tech.WordPress.com, doesn’t it? Again do not feel pressured to spend what you cannot afford. Build as you grow, but get a website up and running because it will help you get started as a reviewer for the method I am about to share with you.
YouTube
Using YouTube is a great way to kill two birds with one stone. Become a YouTube partner or become a Fullscreener like I am and gain some cool tools to help you become a great YouTuber. Mind that in order to become a Fullscreen member you must have an established YouTube channel that is active to qualify. For more information about Fullscreen click here. Long story short you can monetize your videos and also use the videos for Amazon reviews, which is how you can start getting products for free to review.
How To Get Free Products To Review
Amazon Affiliate Program
Amazon Affiliate Program in my opinion is one of the easiest, cost effective, productive ways to get free products to review. As you might know there is a review section on each product listing at Amazon.com and that is where your journey will begin. This method is a earn your way, not a hand out. It takes some time to get to the point where you start getting Amazon sellers asking you to review their stuff in exchange for an Amazon review. Reviews hold just as much value as advertising to companies these days. You might be asking yourself of how do I get to the point where Amazon sellers start asking to review their products. Here is how it works.
First of all, be sure to have your own Amazon profile setup. Once that formality is out of the way you will notice that you actually have a Reviewer Ranking. The more helpful reviews you create, the higher your ranking will climb. The higher your ranking, the more Amazon sellers will contact you. As of this post I get emails daily from Amazon sellers asking me to review their products. Matter of fact there have been some interesting offers even outside of the techie products I normally concentrate on. It’s nice ‘problem’ to have. Actually a fun problem to have because I have been able to get some pretty cool stuff over time now.
Once your profile is setup and you have been accepted into the program all you have to do is use the tools Amazon provides to get your affiliate link for your profile and start earning cash or gift card payments. The easiest way to get the link for a product is to click the Link to this page at the top of the website. Hint, the toolbar at the top is ever-present as long as you are logged into the account that your affiliate program is tagged with.
Once you click the Link to the page you will be greeted with an option to install a widget or text link. Either use to code to paste into your website or grab the url within the code to use for your product affiliate code.
Another awesome tool for websites that Amazon uses is Publisher Studio and it makes getting links for products super easy. All you have to do highlight a word/phrase, a Create Link pop-up appears, and then all you have to is click Add Link while you are typing out your post in your text editor on your website. Publisher Studio is pretty awesome and effortless!
What Products Should You Start Reviewing On Amazon?
Anything you own. Plain and simple. More than likely you have a house full of stuff that can be also bought from Amazon.com
“Reviews are not advertisements. Reviews are testimonies of your experience with the product.”
Amazon Video Reviews
This is where you can kill two birds with one stone by one video. The video review can be submitted to not only Amazon.com, but YouTube as well. The difference with Amazon versus YouTube is with Amazon there are certain requirements you must adhere to for approval. For all those details click here. YouTube post that joker at the highest quality possible! The process I normally take when killing these two birds with one stone is to export the video for YouTube first and once that is done export the video to fit Amazon video format. I highly recommend creating Amazon review videos because it is one of the characteristics Amazon sellers will looks for when seeking a reviewer to review their products. When you make the YouTube video paste the Amazon Affiliate link in the video description. The same goes for any website post you make. When posting the link I would recommend using Google URL Shortner.
Website Posts
Yet another way to kill multiple birds with one stone. Start out writing a review about a product in a website post and copy/paste the content onto an Amazon review. Don’t forget to hyperlink/backlink your affiliate link of the product within the website post.
To Wrap Things Up
Pretty soon your reviews will be taking off and you will be getting to know your mailman, UPS, and FedEx delivery guys rather well by keeping them busy dropping off all your free products to review. Work on your grammar and editing skills on a regular basis. I admit I am not the best writer in the world, but I strive to publish quality content no matter what the platform. If you need help, reach out to someone and never stop learning.
One final thought and idea of how to get started is to join a team just like Team Bane Tech. Bane Tech is always looking for writers and content creators. If you don’t have the means to get a website or channel up and running, consider joining the team. This is a good opportunity to practice, receive coaching, and get your website/channel started off on the right direction.
Bane Tech is always looking for more people to be part of Team Bane Tech! Click HERE to apply & HERE for more info!
*Mind there are no product reviewer positions open. We are looking for news and opinion writers.
Most of all, again to reiterate reviews are not advertisements. Reviews are testimonies of your experience with the product. Be honest, use integrity, and have fun!
Thanks for taking the time to read this post and we sincerely hope you found it helpful and enjoyable! Please feel free to leave your thoughts down below in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe to Bane Tech on YouTube, Google+, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram!
