Dooyoo.... I certaintly doo! (dooyoo.co.uk in general)

Member Name: Lools_24

Product:	dooyoo.co.uk in general
Date:	11/02/09 (218 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: I have learnt a lot

Disadvantages: My initial churning!

I joined dooyoo just over three weeks ago.....My reasons for joining at the time we TO MAKE MONEY plain and simple! However I soon realised that this was not what the site was about and spinning (churning) out rubbish reviews for 500 dooyoo miles was a ridiculous idea.

To set the scene, I was off work ill (with the killer flu that I have been trying to shake off for about 7 weeks)... Even when I am ill lying in bed on the sofa all day just drives me mad and puts me in a state of panic as I need to be doing something. So I decided to review our finances and think about saving money/ ways to earn extra cash. Buying a new house is top of the agenda, so in preparation we are looking to make sure we have a decent deposit. We both earn decent wages for a 23 and 27 year old and do make sure we enjoy life, my boyfriend does make a conscious effort to save each month.... Myself on the other hand well the amount of money I have wasted over the last year is shocking when I eventually calculatie I looked in my over packed wardrobe and realised I still have things with the tags on. So I had a clothes sort out and ended up with two piles, one for the charity shop and one for things to sell on ebay.

My curious mind then looked on moneysavingexpert.com and I discovered dooyoo. After calculating in my head I though what an excellent way to make some extra pennies for writing something which I love. Writing reviews on products (many of which I have wasted money on) seemed like a perfect solution

1) Churning

I came across this term after reading a few reviews.... Well after I had churned out about 50 reviews I actually bothered to read other people's reviews after one of the guides suggested (so politely) I take a look at other peoples reviews. My first thought was "Oh dear I think I have misunderstood the site and maybe annoyed a few of the doo yoo community".
I did make a conscious effort to exceed the 150 word mark and make my review of a good standard BUT being truthful I knew I could do a lot better. Although I was writing a lot of reviews at this time I was enjoying it so much. It suddenly became not just about the money, I had this real passion for writing. I have changed my views now and have learnt a lot from my fellow dooyoo ers. I now put real thought into the reviews I write and I hope my passion for writing comes through!! The subjects I write about are things I have real enthusiasm, experience and passion for and I will be carrying on this . I will now be writing a max of three reviews per day. I do have a list of subjects that I want to write about and will be working my way through these from now on. It's unbelievable really in the last few day how many people have rated 3 of my reviews ... probably more than all of the previous reviews put together. Thank you to everyone and I hope you can see the quality of my reviews improving!

I can finally say I think have got the hang of how the site works and NO MORE CHURNING.

2) Reviewing
I try and set sometime down each day now to read the work of other people. I think about the products I want to buy and review them. I also try to read and review the work of the people that have rated my reviews and return the favour. I would like to be in a position where I have reviewed as many peoples reviews as people have reviewed mine. I very rarely mark as somewhat useful, if I feel someone has not actually put effort into the review and "Churned" the review out I just don't rate it! If it's a helpful review I mark very useful, and if it's not the best of reviews i.e. spelling and grammar badly structured but effort has been put into it I mark it as useful. I have found everyone to be really friendly. It makes me laugh some of the comments I get... especially about my love for fake tan and the colour pink. I promise I'm normal and not Barbie or a Paris Hilton wanabee!

3) Appreciating the opinion of others
I am a very opinionated person in general and do like my views heard. I will admit at times I do think I am always right. However joining dooyoo has actually, and I do have a greater appreciation of points that people make. For example with certain make up products I may have rated the product as great, or alternatively rubbish and I see a totally contrasting review. I previously would have just convinced myself I was right. But now with dooyoo I read on and can appreciate the points they have made, or how their experience of something differs to mine.

4) Understanding what makes a good review
This comes from reading the work of other people and thinking about what I like and what I don't like. My greatest learning point is how to structure my work. I'm a bit of a rambler and go off the point. By starting with headings and working section by section to fill out the points I want to cover works for me and I hope makes my reviews easier to read. Thank you fellow dooyoo members for

5) Personal Development
As part of my role at work I co edit a section in the company magazine. Writing on dooyoo has given me the chance to develop my writing skills and . I plan on transferring these learnings into my work and have even included this as a strategy to improve my writing style on my personal development plan! So I am going to ask people please give me feedback on my work. If it is good tell me why and if its bad also tell me why!

Summary
My advice to new dooyooers is read other people's reviews before you write, make a list of all of the things/ products you are really passionate about, get writing, then check over your work!!! Also writing your review on Word is the best option, just to pick up typo's etc.

Who would have thought it........ From churner to learner!

Summary: Not just about the money