Writing for Reviewstream

*Originally published on 9/22/09



Internet writers often have to find multiple sites to write for. Putting all of your eggs in one basket is often unwise as it's not the most stable employment. Some sites tank like Informative Post (it was sad, I rather enjoyed having that site around) and even writing for Associated Content alone is not recommended as you would have to post several articles a day, which would ruin your page view average.

The general compromise is to write for several sites at once, posting a few articles to each site. It gives you multiple streams of income as well as puts less stress on the editors who run the site.

One site that I came across was Reviewstream. You can review anything you want and the site says that you can make two dollars per review. That's not a whole lot on it's own, but if you churn out 3 reviews an hour, it acts as nice supplementary income.

The site says that reviews that don't qualify can get the bulk rate, which is a fifth of the going total, so in this case it's 40 cents a review. The problem is that they're not really clear on what qualifies for the full payment and what doesn't.

They used to send you an email with a form letter saying to go into detail and give personal experience. Even when you do this, you can still get the 40 cent payment. No matter how long or in depth your review is, there is still a good chance of getting the bulk rate. I tried to outsmart the system once and say that i didn't want the bulk rate, turns out they just outright reject you in that situation so you're kinda stuck in that regard.

I've noticed that it's not so much how you review the product, but what product you're reviewing. If you want to go through your DVD and book collection, you can but you'll only get the bulk rate on those reviews. Items like electronics or household items fare better, though even that doesn't guarantee you the full payment.

The minimum payout is $50.00, which doesn't seem like a lot, but if most of the reviews pay out 40 cents, getting to 50 bucks is going to take a long time and you might get frustrated with it and give up.

They also have a feature where you request when you get paid, so if you want to wait until you get up to the 100 dollar mark, or higher, you can just let the account pile up until you're ready for the money to come in. Though given the fact that writers, above all else, crave a steady paycheck, you'd think just a weekly payout would be more efficient. Even a bi-weekly payout would mimic a full time "real" job so it would give the reviewer a certain sense of satisfaction, getting that income in every week or two.

I wouldn't advise trying to use this site as a primary source of income. If you're lucky you can make six bucks an hour, but even that's assuming that you've figured out a way to guarantee getting a full payment on every review you write. If you're looking for a way to make some extra money on the side, this site is definitely worth checking out.