[Brooko]

No problems, and thanks for the kind words. My advice is to be honest, but be fair. Recognise the good points as well as the bad, but post your opinion on the product. Most good companies will still appreciate the feedback, and will use critique as a way to improve. More importantly though, people will appreciate your honesty. thats what makes a truly good reviewer - someone who can be fair and relatively impartial.

Very well put. You address a lot of what I worry and have thought about as a new reviewer. Especially agree with the trend of "hyping and give overly glowing reviews of some products". I certainly have done that unintentionally in my early reviews not because I wanted to shill for a product but because I thought that was what people wanted to read about. I'm still wondering what I would do when I review I product I really hate. I did receive one such loaner product of something I hated a couple of months ago that I'm returning next week, but I've been sitting on the written review for months now as I just don't know how to stay professional whilst being honest. How do I stay fair? I can give a brand the benefit of a doubt with something like a QC issue I encounter, but what if I think it sounds rubbish for the price. It worries me even more if it's a smaller brand with fewer products compared to say a larger brand.

Going to binge through all these blog posts tonight. Appreciate the writeup Brooko.