Becoming a dooyoo revooyooer (Helpful Advice for New Members)

Member Name: mattygroves10

Product:	Helpful Advice for New Members
Date:	24/03/09 (431 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Following the advice will give you fun, frolics but not a fortune

Disadvantages: It's not a get rich quick (or a get rich at walking pace) scheme

For anyone coming into this new, Dooyoo is a site where consumers can research products they may be thinking of buying. The reviews come from users like you and me - real world users of the products and services. In addition, there's a speakers' corner where users can write more creative or general stuff.

If you register and join dooyoo, you can earn 50p per review posted (in actual consumer categories - not in speakers' corner or archive), plus 1.5p per member read. If you write an especially fine review, you can get a crown, worth £1.50 (as long as the crown is awarded in any areas except speakers' corner or archive). In addition, there are monthly competitions, worth up to £5.00. (This information is correct as of 24 March 2009)

Thing is, though, you can't just churn out a whole bunch of 150 (the minimum) word reviews and expect to get rich. You really, really should think about what you want to get out of dooyoo, and what you want to give back. My first piece of advice for the brand shiny new member, which I STRONGLY recommend you take, is not to write anything at all...yet. Read around the site. Go into the crowned review section here and read around to see what is considered an excellent review. Rate a few (fairly). Read and rate a whole bunch.

Do all this before even thinking of writing a word. When you do get to writing, find a product or service you feel strongly about - a movie you loved? An insurance company you hate? A book that knocked your socks off? A children's toy your kids never touch? Do a search on Dooyoo to see if it's in the catalogue (it probably is). Now, write your review, but write it in Word or the WP program of your choice. Proofread it. Proofread it again. Are there capital letters in the correct places? Is your spelling accurate. Now re-read your review, and try to put yourself in the consumer's shoes - does it tell a potential user of the item or service what he or she needs to know to make an informed decision? Is there plenty of personal opinion? Is it all your own work?

Now you can post your review. Once you've posted, go and read around the site some more. Have a rest - you deserve it. Don't write anything for a while - read around the site, and check your review from time to time for rates and comments. Are you getting mostly VUs (Very Useful ratings) with a smattering of other rates? Are you getting intelligent and insightful comments? If so, congratulations, you've probably done it right.

Did you get a load of SUs (Somewhat Useful) with a smattering of Us (Useful) and VUs? You've probably written a very short review with very little opinion - it's an easy trap for new folks to fall into. You've probably described the product, rather than reviewing it. Ask for feedback (not necessarily 'what am I missing', but more like 'can you help'). Read the Dooyoo FAQs. Consider revising your review.

Did you get a load of NUs (Not Useful)? You've probably either copied directly from a source (i.e. Wiki), you've written utterly unintelligably, or committed some other form of abuse. You are now in danger of being kicked off Dooyoo, so be warned.

Assuming you fall into the first category, you'll receive (in most sections, barring Archive and Speaker's Corner) 50p for posting the review and 1.5p for every member who reads it. If your review is exceptional, you'll receive an additional £1.50 when it's crowned.

Do keep in mind that that is my advice; that isn't official Dooyoo guidance. There are, however, site rules, readable here - http://members.dooyoo.co.uk/community/dooyoo_siter ules/ (you'll probably see the big green badge with the aforementioned link to your right), but which can be summarised:

1. Be original and don't copy.
2. Make sure your Premium Reviews are of premium quality.
3. Post each review only once.
4. Rate reviews honestly, and read all reviews properly before making your rating.
5. Be helpful, polite, and friendly.

Other rules of thumb to get both the best ratings, to have the most fun, and to contribute the most to the community:

1. Write well - proofread your work - spelling and grammar matter, and correctly spaced, spelled and punctuated reviews will be easier to read, get better ratings and are more likely to get a crown, plus they'll be more useful to the consumer. It's a good idea to write your reviews in Word (or the word processing programme of your choice). This will make it easier for your to proofread (both with your own eye and that of the spell checker) and, if dooyoo goes down, or your computer blows up, you've a better chance of not losing your masterpiece into the internet ether.

2. Contribute to the community - read around. Don't feel you have to rate everyone who rates you, but you should read around widely in those topics that interest you. A decent rule of thumb is to read more (up to double) than your reviews are read.

3. Don't churn. If you churn (i.e. post loads of reviews in a short space of time) each review will get fewer ratings (if you are really prolific you may end up with reviews with no ratings), and the quality is likely to suffer.

4. Rate fairly. Rate as you see fit - don't worry about how everyone else has rated - I wrote a prize winning review that did not receive all VUs (even though it did net me £5.00). Conversely, don't worry about how other people rate you - it's not necessarily revenge rating (i.e. someone downrating your reviews because of a rating you gave them) even if your review has 150 VUs - someone may well not find it that useful, either because they're looking for a specific bit of information, or because there is something within the review that was just less then helpful to them. Ratings should not be personal!

5. The guides are there to help. Message them (including me, as of this writing) if you'd like advice, guidance, need help communicating with the Powers That Be, and so forth.

6. Have fun!

Good luck, and keep in mind (and I cannot say this enough) Dooyoo is a fun hobby that happens to pay pennies. It's not a viable source of a significant second income. You are not going to get rich doing this, and attempts to defraud the system WILL get caught. But, if you play fairly, you'll have a good time, you'll make friends (some of which might even be real world friends), and you'll make some pocket money. Enjoy.


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(Note, I posted this in a slightly different form on the MSE forums. I thought it would also be useful to the community at large).

Note 2 - the star rating reflects the fact that dooyoo isn't so much a "get rich quick" scheme but rather a "get a few pennies over a reasonable amount of time yet have fun and improve your writing skills" scheme. For some people, that's a disadvantage.

Summary: Advice to get the most out of dooyoo, and to give the most back