Who Will Buy My....? (dooyoo.co.uk in general)

Member Name: QueenElf

Product:	dooyoo.co.uk in general
Date:	28/03/07 (197 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good rewards. Friendly people.

Disadvantages: can be manipulated

“Who will buy my …..!”

A strange title, yet an apt one for a part of Dooyoo that people rarely mention. So much that I hesitated before even thinking of writing a review. What could I add that countless others haven’t mentioned before? Frankly I think that everything about it has been covered by most members at one time. It was quite interesting going back over the older reviews and seeing how far the site has developed even in the 16 months or so that I’ve been a member. For newer members you may often see references to ‘coming over from the other side.’ This is usually a transition from Ciao to Dooyoo and shouldn’t be mistaken for messages from the grave. ‘Although there are a few old members…?’ Sorry about that, my weird sense of humour just asserted itself. Okay, well what is Doyoo as if you didn’t know by now?

Overview.

For those that join the site and write reviews it becomes a source of income, a way to write about something you have bought, a book you have read, an experience that you want to share. It’s also a good way to meet people although the actual messaging process is a bit slow compared to other sites. It’s also a dual process. If you can’t be bothered to read other peoples reviews then why should they read yours? For the general public that don’t belong to Dooyoo it’s a site they can visit where they can get an unbiased opinion (hopefully) on an article they are thinking of buying. This is where reviewing can sometimes be a tough process. Do you write a wonderful review on an average product and say it’s the best thing since sliced bread, or are you honest and lose out on that lovely golden crown? Yes, I know that often people are awarded crowns because they have written a really good review and have been voted for by other members, but there are reviews that get rewarded for what seems to be no apparent reason and great reviews that are overlooked because they give the thumbs down to the product. Mere speculation, maybe, or something to think about?

The Site Itself.

Compared to other sites Dooyoo rank favourably with the design, the ease of use and the absence of loads of irritating cookies. As someone who has her own website it’s awfully tempting to overload your site with adverts when income from your site exceeds expenditure, but on a large site it’s unnecessary and annoying. It also says that the site in question may not be doing that well if they need loads of adverts.
For a non-member it’s quite easy to navigate around the site and this is beginning to influence custom. (More about this later).
For a new member joining the site is easy. Just click on registration and you are talked through the process online. For someone who reads this and is considering joining I would say that there are two ways to go about the process.
1). The easy way is to join immediately and think about uploading your picture and adding more details at a later date. Most people have a good idea of their interests to start with.
2). Think first of what you want to say about yourself and if you are knowledgeable about having some web space to yourself you can prepare things like a user name, a picture, links to favourite sites later.

Once you have joined you can easily find your details by logging in and checking on the words my Account in the top navigation bar. You can also set certain e-mail alerts by following the easy instructions. For a new member I would suggest becoming familiar with the site before you read or write a review. As you become more active on the site you may gain people who enjoy reading your reviews and, in turn, you may add a member to your list of friends. Each time you login it’s wise to check for any messages from friends on the site. It’s a nice way of keeping in touch if you haven’t the time or space to keep up with your e-mails. As you start to write you may find that your e-mail alerts are much more frequent, especially if, like me, you belong to other sites. An average day for me consists of thirty e-mails from sites and individuals.

What to write about?

The list of topics on the site is plentiful and can be overwhelming. The categories are listed in alphabetical order and many have sub-categories. There is a general search engine for the site and this can narrow down your search, but using the minimum of words can sometimes be far quicker and easier. More popular categories such as DVD’s are listed in an A to Z, but the book category is far too large to categorise by title, so authors are used instead. Before you even begin to write it’s advisable to read other reviews, especially those that have a gold crown by the side of them. These are used to denote the most popular or the most helpful reviews. When considering a topic bear in mind your potential audience. Some members can write on any topic, others specialise in certain fields. If your topic isn’t about something you have strong feelings on then your readers will pick up on that and the usefulness of the review will show in your members ratings. Above all, never try to waffle a review simply because it seems popular, your lack of knowledge will trip you up.

The Rewards.

This is what most people are interested in and reviews that gain a lot of reads naturally make more money. For every person that reads and rates your review you receive 3p whether or not that review is really that helpful. I have seen members churn out reviews that I can’t be bothered to read because the content is frankly crap. Everyone gets tempted from time to time to write an average review in order to get a token or payment for a special occasion. Lowering your own personal standards to gain an extra few pence or even pounds is selling yourself short if you believe in what you write.
A particularly good review can be nominated by other members for the coveted crown that gives the writer an extra £1.50. Sometimes a review just gets the crown regardless of comments…I did say I had a theory about that. Personally I don’t think I am writing my best at the moment. I’m proof-reading my first book jointly written with another dooyoo member. I’m also working on my own first novel and writing for another few sites. I came back to dooyoo because I have always enjoyed writing on here and I want to keep my membership active.
There are other rewards that can never be counted in terms of money. Those are friendships made down the years. I have made some wonderful friends in the last five years These are very dear to me and encourage my efforts to become an author. Sometimes I’ve touched a life and made a small difference, this is the reason I left Ciao, because I wanted to spend more time writing fiction.

The Final Word.

I said earlier on that I was approaching this review from a different angle, but first I knew I could not write a review without touching on the site, it’s advantages, it’s people, and it’s success. I don’t think it’s fair to mention other websites when I’m covering dooyoo, but I belong to about five others, mainly for surveys only. Lately I have participated in a number of surveys that covered Internet usage and specific sites. In several surveys dooyoo has been listed as a site that could be trusted to give a fair, impartial view about buying products. It’s been ranked alongside sites such as M&S, Switch.com, AOL, NTL, Google, Yahoo, and many more. I was looking around on Amazon at Christmas for books for my daughter, son-in-law and my 18 month old grandson, Jack. In many cases the books had been reviewed by members of Dooyoo.
This is the way that dooyoo makes money and allows it’s members a fair reward for writing reviews. I’ve consulted the site when buying larger purchases and this is where fairness comes in. I don’t want a review that says this product is great just because the reviewer thinks the manufacturer will pay dooyoo more money and they will get a crown review. Other sites may operate like that, but their name is not on the surveys I fill in.
Doesn’t that say a lot about the site and the people who write honest reviews?

Summary: A different slant on a much-covered site.