Reviews

A lot of things have changed since the personal computer became a fixture in peoples lives.  The Internet has changed how we interact with everything. Today you can get your news, weather, research any topic, video chat, socialize,and even watch your house cats from anywhere in the world thanks to the Internet.  The thing is the Internet has also changed how we shop as well.  You can go to almost any companies website and buy their products online. Even amazon.com one of the largest online retailers in the world is testing the viability of offering customers the option of buying their groceries online as well. I am sure in the future that service will be rolled out to all of amazons customers.  Soon it will be possible to do all your shopping right from in front of your computer or smart phone.

There is still one small problem with online shopping and that is how do you know if you are getting what you think you are getting.  For customers nothing is more of a hassle than having to return an item and wait for the replacement to be sent out.  A recent study I had seen found that the biggest obstacle to most people buying items online is the hassle of returns, and the fact that every retailer handles them differently.  For most people the biggest problem was the having to wait additional time while returning an item and waiting for the replacement to come.  This can be extremely bother some when buying shoes online. Especially if you have never tried on a particular brand of shoe before.  Because virtually every shoe is made differently you might wear  one size and width in a Reebok shoe for instance, and wear a different size or width in an Adidas.  I on one occasion had to return a pair of shoes three times to get a pair that was the right fit.

There was a study done many years back that showed that reviews are beneficial to companies in three ways. One is that they generate sales, Two they reduce returns by nearly 75% and third they identify poorly performing products. For retailers all three of these are important. For consumers reviews are just as important.  With more and more people buying online the process of product reviews becomes even more important.  Before the Internet retailers knew one thing and they knew it well.  That one thing is "If a customer is satisfied he will tell two or three people about his experience. If a customer has a bad experience or is unsatisfied with a product or service he will tell anyone who will listen about it."  This is what is known as word of mouth advertising.  Word of mouth advertising costs nothing, is extremely effective, and can grow your customer base faster than the best marketing plan out there.

What does this all have to do with reviews you are probably asking.  Simple the customer review is the Internet version of word of mouth.  Whether it is a pair of shoes, a service, or the dinner you had at Chili's the night before.  There is always someplace you can leave a review about it online.  In my career as an author I know that reviews sell books.  The medical facility that I work at knows that reviews generate patients. The restaurant down the street knows that reviews bring diners through the door.

Unfortunately I find that a lot of my peers get upset about negative reviews.  As an author I can relate because we pour our heart and soul into this thing that has taken months if not years to go from an idea to being put down on paper and published.  Then someone comes along and says "This book was terrible and it is not even worth being used as toilet paper."  To an author this is the equivalent to having someone look at your baby boy or girl and call it ugly.  I also know though that this is the same feeling you get as a cook when someone returns a dish to the kitchen too.  As a creator or producer you are going to be criticized it is just part of the game and you can't please everyone all the time.  I know we have all heard that before. The best thing that you can do is try to learn from it if there is something to learn and move on.

What I want to talk about is reviews from the side of a customer.  When I start browsing Amazon for instance looking at products the first thing I look at after reading the description blurb is customer reviews. The reason is because the blurb is written by a salesman whose only job is to sell products. Customer reviews are the people who have used it, read it, or ate it.  They are the ones I want to know information from.  They are the ones that tell me if the coat tends to run large, or if a shoe runs small, etc. Now it is always nice if you have a lot of reviews to look at because if you see a number of people saying the same things you can be sure it is a fact.

Unfortunately though there is a small amount that do not want to give you any information at all.  These are the people that leave reviews that say "This is crap! DON'T BUY!!!" or "Don't waste your money."  OK as a consumer my next thought is obviously WHY?  Now there is always the person that says well that is their opinion and they are entitled to it.  Well yes they are but my logical side says if I was face to face with this person and they said that to me my next question would be why? Like anyone else I would want to know why you think that, I want details.  Is it crap because it is made of cheap plastic, and broke after two uses?  Then say that; don't just say its crap.  You are not helping anybody by not providing some sort of reason as to why you think something is crap.

Someone I talked to once called those that leave reviews like that as Trolls. In the online gaming world they are also called Trolls or Griefers.  Because their only object is to cause harm, or frustration to someone simply because they can.  I have also used this term on occasion and I know I shouldn't.  I believe that if you are going to take the time to make a review that you should have enough integrity to actually back up your opinion with facts as to why you have that opinion.  Personally if you don't feel the need to expand on why you think something is crap then you obviously don't hold your own opinion as having any worth.

I know that this might rub some people the wrong way.  If it does then I am sorry. The opinions expressed are my own and are in no way meant to influence anyone.  And as always comments are always welcome.

What is a normal day

Sorry I had to take a little time off the last two weeks to get my mind back into gear. Or as some people would call it I had to take some mental health days. This is actually quite nice to have the freedom to take that kind of time. However it did interfere with my goal of Blogging at least once a week. On the plus side Snow has finally returned to my area and is sticking...Yeah! I know to some that may seem to be a curse having snow but if you live in North Idaho like I do it is actually one benefit to having a true Four Season experience. I do like the snow with only a few exceptions. One is driving in it. Now this is not because I have problems driving in it. Its because I have to worry about everybody else out there that doesn't know how to drive in it. The I have a 4-wheel drive so I can go 70 MPH down the freeway and be fine mentality. Well they are the ones that either cause accidents or are sitting in the ditch waiting for a tow truck. The other reason I don't like the snow is because I have to shovel it. 

So today as I don't have any real idea where to go I thought I would go over my typical daily routine. Most days start the same with me waking up at some predetermined time. This is usually determined the night prior and is accomplished by mental conditioning. A technique that I am not sure where I picked up which involves saying to yourself the time you wish to wake up repeatedly 5 to 10 times right before you got to sleep. Note: If you are like me and like to watch TV in bed this has to be done after turning the TV off and before you go to sleep.  Since I am a believer in redundancy I also set an alarm clock for 10 minutes after my planned wake up time just to be safe.  In the last five years of practicing this technique I have only had two times where the alarm has had to wake me up. 

Once I am awake I eat breakfast, shower and brush my teeth. Depending on my schedule sometimes that order is changed.  FYI shower and teeth brushing are a combined act. Then I feed the dog and set out the plan for the rest of the day. This is usually the point I leave for my day job. Now my usual morning commute takes me about an hour and a half so I take my tablet and use this time to read books and listen to music. Then I work my eight hour shift and return home with my usual hour and a half commute time home. Again listening to music and reading books on my tablet.

On my days where I don't go to my day job they usually fold out differently. After feeding the dog I usually walk into my office and start up my computer and turn on the morning news.  I grab my morning coffee, Hot chocolate, or Mountain Dew Kickstart and sit down at my computer for what I hope will become a productive day.  I start off my mornings by first logging in and checking Amazon.com, B&N.com and the rest of my sales channels to see if and how many books I have sold.  I also look to see if there are any new reviews because everybody knows reviews sell books.  Reviews are the digital world equivalent to word of mouth after all. I will talk more in depth about reviews another time. The I usually check my email, and hit Goodreads and authorsdb.com. Once I have tended to those I usually open up my word processor and look at my projects that I have waiting there.  Now I tend to think I am quite different from other authors in the approach I take to writing, but that also depends on what type of writing i'm doing.  Non-Fiction is usually a sit down and bang out from start to finish. My Non-Fiction projects all start with an idea and an outline and then I do my research and then write from page one to the end. Often times additional research is done in between the writing as well. 

Fiction how ever is a totally different animal. I have to date 10 current fiction projects sitting on my board. all in varying stages of development. This can be anywhere from outline, plot lines, character development, to writing. A few are merely one or two chapters that have been written out. Now most people would say that this is no way to write and for them that is probably right. I however find that my mind changes gears quickly and I can be working on one thing one day and have to change to another the next day.  This is not because I am lost it is because my brain has changed to something new. I will write more on this later too. 

After writing for a few hours I usually get up and have lunch. and this is usually the time I run my errands that I have to do during the day and try to fit my running in there as well. After which I usually return home and watch the evening news while the dog and I have dinner.  This is usually the time I also reserve for odd tasks like laundry, dishes, and paying bills. Then it is back to the office where I repeat checking my email, and checking Goodreads and authorsdb. The remainder of the night is spent playing with my dog, watching some TV, reading, playing computer games, and occasionally writing.  In earnest I attempt to write at least every day otherwise I would never finish a book. I also try to dedicate at least an hour of my day to marketing and social media.  So this is my typical normal day.  Obviously not every day is like this more often than not I spend more days taking care of the little fires that pop up than writing.

So what do you think? How does your day compare with mine? Do find that you are running out of day before you run out of things to get done?