[ Download MP3 | iTunes | Soundcloud | Raw RSS ]
Robb Sutton is the owner of Mountain Biking by 198, a blog devoted to mountain biking, a subject that Robb is passionate about.
Robb is a member of Blog Mastermind and also runs a personal blog at RobbSutton.com
He came to my attention after he revealed how he was able to score over $10,000 worth of free biking products for review on his blog. His blog is growing well and while I tend to focus on the direct monetization aspect of blogging, there’s a perk that isn’t talked about too much when it comes to blogging – how much free stuff you can get – and Robb is definitely enjoying this benefit.
It’s usually easier to get free products for review from companies rather than convince them to spend money sponsoring your blog, so this is an especially good tactic to get a reward for your hard work when your blog isn’t super big yet. Assuming the companies can see the benefit that your blog can potentially deliver, working a proactive approach to secure free goods is a good strategy, and certainly something Robb has done extremely well.
Robb’s also become an excellent review writer, which as you will hear in this interview is a powerful technique for affiliate marketing on blogs, something I’ve been doing for a long time and making very good money with.
Show Notes
- Robb explains how he got into blogging and his topic of mountain biking
- We learn how Robb is able to secure so much free stuff
- Robb breaks down his approach strategy to proactively seek free goods for review on his blog
- We learn how Robb was able to initially build traffic to his mountain bike blog, including three specific techniques that have worked really well for him
- Robb offers some feedback on how helpful participating in the Blog Mastermind course was for his blogging
The Yaro Podcast
[ Download MP3 | iTunes | Soundcloud | Raw RSS ]
I was flown down to LA to watch the taping of the Spielberg/Burnett reality show “On The Lot” because of my blog “FilmSchoolStudent.com” and while I didn’t get any money out of it, it was an amazing experience. The link on my name brings you to the story…
Hi Yaro-
I will need to make the time to listen to the audio- do you have transcripts of these? (please!) as I can pull the useful info out of a transcript in about 3-5 minutes, and I am busy…
I am also introducing myself here- I have just invested in the premium becomeablogger product- and have sorted hosting (or it will be once they process the email with my photo ID etc)- so I hope to have worked throught the first module over the weekend…
Nice product- this will be my first blog- I am a veterinarian- I have started my own home visit practice up (in my 3rd financial year)- and now am branching out into the web… should be fun- I haven’t been able to find even one decent blog around pet health (I am pretty strong on natural treatments)- so I feel it is a niche aching to be filled with good content!
I look forward to working through the process, nice post, cheers for now, ed
Hi Edward,
At the moment I don’t do transcripts for every podcast I release, but I am thinking about it.
Welcome to Become A Blogger Premium too! Great choice for a topic, you should face very little quality competition as I doubt many vets are going to become good bloggers as a way to market themselves.
Yaro
I was amazed at the total lack of decent pet health blogs, to be honest… Pets being such a huge niche… It will be an interesting journey, to be sure… thanks for yr reply, ed
Thanks for this podcast, I’ll definitely make time (probably tonight!) to listen to it.
Right now I’d just like to comment on two things though.
I’ve heard there are services that do transcribing for quite affordable prices, so if there’s enough demand I’d encourage you to do it.
As for the blogging to get free products, it just shows how creativity can get you far in terms of monetization of your blogs. I’d also like to recommend payperpost service or a similar alternative because you can get paid for every review post you make on your blog.
Good luck,
Andy
I downloaded this to listen to later as i’m in work right now. Yaro, I know this is a little off topic so excuse me for this, but I was wondering what your thoughs were on creating niche networks. (i.e. lots of blogs on different topics.) Do you think it would be better to stick to one or two topics and really focus on quality of content or to have multiple blogs on many different things? I would love to get your opinion on this. Trying the later option and finding it hard to manange fresh content for lots of sites (have about 15 now). I know you run quite a few sites yourself. I will have to look through your archives to see if you have already covered this topic. Like I said sorry if this is a bit off topic. : )
I’ve got an interview coming out next week with a guy who specializes in creating niche sites, so stay tuned for that!
Brilliant. Thanks Yaro. I’ll look forward to reading it. Your blog rocks! : )
Amazing! I can’t wait for that one…
These are great! I can listen to these interviews on my way to school or on the metro. People look at me as if I’m listening some crazy metal…and yet I’m being enlightened through the positive success journeys of people sharing the experiences. These are great!
Thanks again Yaro for the experience! That was the first time that I was actually the one answering the questions instead of asking them.
I was adding it up the other day and there has been a total of over 34,000 dollars of free product that has come through my doors…and I have more in the works!
Thanks for the help with the BM program…things are going great and only getting better. Be on the lookout of an ebook out of robbsutton.com with every detail that will help other bloggers get the same results on products for review purposes.
Thanks again
Robb Sutton aka. 198
Mid last year I was approached to review a mobile phone. While I could have kept it I chose (for various reasons) to use it as a reader giveaway. Now I’m being sent all sorts of opportunities to review dvds, fruit juice was another one and more recently a Lego set for my son (we’ll get this soon). It’s all on the reviews section of my blog. I use a combination of keeping stuff and giving stuff away. It’s a nice little sideline.
That’s a pretty cool added bonus! I know that I’ve received some free stuff already, but only small items for giving short mentions of products, not full reviews.
Fatwallet.com gave me a t-shirt and a box full of chocolates from a local candy shop and a personalized thank you note, so that was quite the nice touch. It probably helps that I live in the same area as their corporate offices, but didn’t even know that when I wrote the post 🙂
Another great post of yours. I just think product review will indeed beneficial. I will try it. A lot of successful bloggers recommend it..and there is another one.
Throughout all my sites I’ve only received about $200 worth of free stuff so far, $34,000 is incredible Robb. I’ve got to get some reviews done asap now.
Steve
Wow, what a great podcast! You’re right, this definitely introduces an aspect of blogging that most of us don’t think about.
I’m eagerly looking forward to next week’s podcast!
Lee
Yeah it is amazing on how much free stuff you can get, I know Jeremy shoemoney has gotten some pretty cool stuff on his blog, from free t-shirts to a free computer. It is pretty cool that maybe one day I’ll be able to get free stuff of my own on my blog.
This was definitely an interesting podcast to listen to. Thanks
I started liking your blog because your blog has everything to make money blogging including the interview from the pro who has been proven that can make money online, Other blog i found was not really trusted as they claimed that they can earn $100.000/month but they never tells the step how they can make it. This blog is amazing, i found like 3 – 4 useful podcast interview and i haven’t listening to them all, only listening 2 podcast already and got some new inspire to make money online safely. Thanks for all your hardwork yaro, appreciated
Good stuff. I need to focus on reviews more in the future I think.
Awesome! But I’m not much of a fan of mountain bikes. Tee Hee. I’d like to get a free house and lot. But I guess that’s not gonna happen, huh? I guess I’ll just polish on my review writing for now.
This is a fantastic idea to work on. I’ve heard of people getting free books etc to review, but actual bike equipment etc is awesome. I should do a tech review on a laptop or printer or something, see what happens from it. Thanks for the tips and podcast.
Great job Yaro! Listened to your interview with Adam Short and headed over to his site and joined up. I was able to sit in on my first webiar. Adam and Alen are right on the money with there classroom, thanks. Also I wanted to let you that I was impressed with your video’s on how to set a blog step by step with Gideon doing an excellent job wow! Looking forward to reading the Roadmap to become a Blogger .
Keep up the excellent work
Mo
Thats really good stuff. I have been thinking of trying product review as well. Gotta learn something from Robb!
The experience was really awesome. Now I am looking positively towards getting free stuff on my blog 🙂