A couple of times a year now, someone emails in, asking for tips on how to become a tool blogger, reviewer, or YouTuber. They often ask a lot of the same questions, and I often find myself writing out the same thing over and over.
Sometimes I ask a question too. Why do you want to write or talk about tools? To make money? To get free tools? These are the wrong answers. The right answer is that you want to share information, your experience, insights, and opinions with your audience.
I strive for ToolGuyd to be an enjoyable, informative, and helpful resource for tool users and buyers. I should say that money and tool samples aren’t unimportant, as ToolGuyd is now my primary means of earning a living and access to the latest tools to check out plays into the same passion and interest in tools that got me started, but they’re far from being my primary motivators.
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After a couple of months, I will usually check up on the people I have given advice to. Some have been churning out great and valuable content. Some haven’t done anything, or have quickly started and then abandoned their efforts. Others have copied off of ToolGuyd, at least for a time before giving up interest. And some become “everything is awesome” brand and advertiser prioritized spokesmen who trash talk me/ToolGuyd at every opportunity because they think it’ll help them get ahead quicker.
There’s plenty of room in the tool review/news/info/etc. “niche” for more voices. If you’d like to get started, here’s how:
How do I get started blogging?
If you think you might want to start a website, register the domain, install WordPress or another content management system, and give it a go.
Get the ball rolling, and figure things out as you go along.
It will take a while before traffic builds up to where you’re seeing enough traffic, engagement, or revenue to make things tangibly worthwhile, which is why a lot of people give up. I haven’t given up because I find great satisfaction in what I do.
Do I have to be a professional?
No. I’m not, and someone who once commented on ToolGuyd calling himself a “newbie,” is now producing some nice reviews of professional tools.
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My undergraduate training is in physics with an added emphasis in applied physics, and I hold masters and doctorate degrees in materials science and engineering.
But you do have to have experience with tools, and you do have to be a tool user. There are tools that I cannot test, review, and recommend with confidence or authority, and so I don’t. There are rare times when I review a type of tool I haven’t owned or used before.
Sometimes even experience can be complemented with insight. Take my recent review on FIXT’s T-handle torque tool. I’ve never used that exact type of tool before, and I don’t wrench on race cars, but I think I did a great job testing and reviewing it.
Experience, understanding, and insight is what you need. And if you don’t have it, a willingness to put in time and effort can go a long way. Don’t want to do that? Then why do you want to talk about tools anyway? Don’t let the fact that you’re not a “professional” or tradesmen to hinder you. You don’t need a PhD degree either.
Do have any tips for expanding my audience and gaining new readers to my website or subscribers to my YouTube channel?
Write, or produce videos, and they will come.
Building an audience requires quantity, quality, time, and trust. That’s an AND. Quantity AND quality. You can have quality without quantity, but please don’t go the path of quantity without quality – it’ll show. Start with 10 ideas, and go from there.
I don’t produce YouTube videos often, so I might not be the best to ask. But I do know that volume is important. If you want to attract viewers, grow your audience, and potentially earn revenue, you’re going to need to release a steady stream of videos. There are a lot of strategies about how and where to place “subscribe” buttons and things like that, but I don’t seek out these resources. You might want to.
You can share your content on social media and in forums, but make sure there’s value. I will sometimes share content on the Garage Journal forum, but I’ve been a member there for a long time (before ToolGuyd even), and only share things I think the community will like. Share on forums because you value the community, and not because you want clicks. Spam forums with links and your reputation could very well suffer and any clicks will be empty.
This is important – create and share content for the message and information you want to provide. This is also true for reviews that you might have received tool samples to help create.
How to approach companies for free product samples to review?
I am upfront with brands, and always have been. Tell them who you are, what you want to test/evaluate/review, and why. If you’re looking for a product for personal use, then it’s a sponsored product you want to ask about, and not a review sample. There’s little difference to them, but there should be a difference to you and how you discuss the tool to your audience.
You should – and will probably need to – build an audience first. Start by reviewing tools you own or have purchased. Becoming a tool reviewer is not about the free tools or swag. Also, nobody’s going to send a product to a fly-by-night “reviewer.”
Don’t want to build an audience? Consider asking established sites and magazines if you could be a contributor. Editors will want to see quality sample work before they give you any assignments.
Much of the time, then and now, I don’t initiate contact by requesting tool samples. I build a relationship by requesting information or to be added to a brand’s media list. To me, access to information and answers to questions are invaluable, whereas I could always buy a tool if I want to test or review it desperately enough.
I took a look at old ToolGuyd emails, and saw that I started receiving free test sample offers starting at ~3,500 visitors and ~10,000 pageviews per month. That’s when the first companies started approaching me.
I started making sample requests when ToolGuyd started receiving ~12,000 visitors and ~35,000 pageviews per month.
There’s no guarantee that anyone will send you anything for free. Keep in mind that brands want return for their expenditure; they want product coverage and exposure. But never forget that your reviews are for your readers or viewers. Your audience should be your top priority – NOT the brands who send you products to test and evaluate.
Try to see what other tool reviewers are testing and reviewing. That will give you an indication of which brands might be willing to send test samples. But keep in mind that brands receive many, MANY sample requests.
At first, there’s a novelty about getting new tools to check out for free. But that novelty tends to wear off quickly, at least it did for me.
How Do I Earn Money?
This really shouldn’t be your top priority when you get started. Why? Because the path to pocket change is long and hard, at least if you do things right.
ToolGuyd earns financial support from Google Adsense, direct ads, and affiliate linking, and I also write for magazines on occasion, in a freelance capacity, to supplement the revenue.
With affiliate links, such as with Amazon, Home Depot, or other retailers, don’t spam ’em. Only provide an affiliate link if there’s some benefit to readers. I try to be very sparing, but sometimes the context of a post requires more links than usual. And sometimes there’s no context for any affiliate link, and that’s okay.
Here is a mostly-complete list of ToolGuyd’s current and active affiliate relationships: Where to Buy Tools?
Also, realize and remember that if you use an affiliate link to recommend a tool or product that you don’t truly recommend, and someone buys it and is disappointed, they’ll return it and the commission will be reversed.
I only include affiliate links where the same links would be included even without an affiliate relationship, and recommend this practice.
Google Adsense will tell you that large banners at the top of content areas are “hot zones,” but I find large ads in these areas to be annoying. We’ve been approached by a number of other advertising networks and services, but I like to keep things simple.
ToolGuyd is NOT supported by paid-for content or sponsored posts. I sometimes do participate in rare unique opportunities that align with my editorial ideals and ethics, and you’ll see notices whenever this is the case.
Can I earn some pocket change from blogging, YouTubing, or reviewing tools?
You can earn some pocket change from a website, but don’t expect immediate or quick returns. You’ve got to build up traffic and content, and it takes time.
If you want to be a tool reviewer, blogger, or YouTuber, then you’ve got to be in it for the readers and experience, and not the money. There are brand and money-first approaches, but I can’t help you there. My experiences have been and will be from a readers-first approach.
Is there an ideal blog or website service to sign up with? Is there a blog format I can use with my YouTube channel?
For a blog or website, or even for a mix of videos and written content, you’ll need a domain name and web hosting. A domain will cost you about $12 per year, hosting will cost you $60-120 per year to start. You can also try WordPress.com or Blogger.com for free blogging accounts, but even then you might at least want your own independent domain.
If you have a YouTube channel, then a website still makes for a complementary landing page where you can include links to your videos and more information about yourself or your channel.
Do companies provide you with tools to review and pay you to do so? If so, when did that begin?
No. Some have offered, and I know some of my peers accept money for reviews, but I do not. One can be a reviewer or spokesperson, but they cannot be both at the same time.
Do companies pay to post your reviews on their own sites after the reviews are live?
No. If they want to excerpt or link to a review, they’re free to do so.
Rami
Hi Stuart!
About a month ago you were asking about suggestions on how to improve Toolguyd. I know this is not the right post but anyway: I suppose I am not the only european reader you have. Whenever you are talking about torque of a certain tool, the units are always inch- pounds or foot- pounds (or whatever they are). In the future, could you also add newton-metres so it would be much easier for us europeans to realize just how powerful that certain tool is. I know that you have to do a little extra work to convert one unit to another but that would make reading a tool review much easier, since I really have no idea about american units.
Thanks already!
Stuart
Thanks for the suggestion!
There are actually a couple of reasons why I usually don’t do this.
1. Brands might follow different standards when they test and rate their tools for different continents or markets.
2. Brands’ ratings are sometimes rounded up or down, and so a conversion might conflict with official values.
I’ll keep in mind to do this. Sometimes I do, many times I don’t.
For rough ballpark inch-lbs to Nm conversion, you could divide by 10 and then 10%.
For example. 400 in-lbs divided by 10 and plus 10% is 44 Nm. 400 in-lbs is about 45.2. 100 in-lbs is ballpark 11 Nm, or about 11.3. 710 in-lbs is roughly 78 Nm, or about 80.2 Nm.
For ft-lbs, that gets messier – ballpark is to add a third. e.g. 1 ft-lbs is roughly 1.33 Nm, or about 1.36 Nm. 30 ft-lbs is roughly 40 Nm, or about 40.7 Nm. 135 ft-lbs is roughly 180 Nm, or about 183 Nm. If you go by in-lbs, that’s 1620 in-lbs, or roughly 178 Nm if you go by ballpark estimation.
I typically whip out a calculator or Google for conversions, even when converting from inch and metric and back, such as inches to centimeters or vice versa.
Toolfreak
It may also be worth mentioning that people don’t need to be dedicated reviewers/bloggers/youtubers – while I realize that’s the point of the post, I find even one-off reviews, especially videos, to be incredibly useful, whether it’s in deciding to purchase, or trying to fix an issue.
Some people may burn out trying to post a certain number of reviews each week if they are trying to make their own tool review website or youtube channel and get hits and followers. I’d say it’s better to just do reviews at your own pace, and when you buy a new tool or after you’ve had it for awhile and discovered some pros and cons. That really makes for a good review, when you can discuss things like why you bought the tool, how you plan on using it, and then how it has worked out and whether you’d buy it again or what you’d buy the next time.
Really, it’s almost a shame ToolGuyd doesn’t have a Youtube channel that blog readers can share their own review videos on, but I guess you don’t really need one, since anyone can just post their own reviews of their own purchases.
The internet is an invaluable resource, and contributing to the information on it can help out hundreds if not thousands of people or more. Posting reviews, even if you just do it once or twice a year when you get something new or have used something for awhile and just have to tell everyone how good (or bad) it is, helps all of the other tool nuts out.
Stuart
All true.
I started off just commenting on a tool blog (Toolmonger). Then I was invited to write for them. I couldn’t keep up the post frequency quota and started sharing my views on Garage Journal forum. I wanted a medium that was wholly under my control, and started ToolGuyd. When I started ToolGuyd, the site was a sort of side hobby, complementing my tool usage, and a way to get some downtime at night from my long and difficult days studying and working in the research lab during grad school.
Going from writing a couple reviews and sharing my opinions on a public forum to running a “blog” was a huge learning experience. With this post my intent was to condense and share that learning experience as I have done in quite a few emails.
Toolfreak
Toolmonger stopped updating awhile ago. Looks like Toolguyd has surpassed them and is the new home for lots of people that went there. Congrats on having completely replaced/overtaken the blog you wrote for.
Edward
Taking the time to write something up like this for everyone is helpful, but at the same time it seems like you are trying to make a point to certain tool reviewers out there that you don’t like. Reviewing tools may not be about the “money” as you say, but you really do seem to keep mentioning and emphasizing that you make a good income with these reviews, you have ads with tool companies, obviously that’s a good source of income, no? Reviewing tools isn’t easy and I agree with you that it takes time and lots of effort and no one blossoms overnight. Plus with all the negative reviews out there, I’m sure people who thought they could do it get discouraged when they see no positive feedback. I am certain I would quit.
I have watched and read a lot of other tool reviewers videos/website content and to me everyone copies off of one another in some format. Not everyone is going to agree with what the other person is doing be it their reviewing style, what they say, doing tool fights, or simply saying they have been researching something for months on end but yet it always shows up on their site right after another reviewer completed their own review. You have said you don’t do sponsered reviews which is great, but lots of other tool reviewers put up videos that have actual media people talking the entire time.. so are you saying they are sell outs as well? Isn’t the point of tool reviews to appease and help us the consumers out? I have no interest in reviewing tools so I appreciate having multiple sources to look at…. so the more tool reviewers the merrier in my opinion!
Stuart
I wrote out a long and detailed response, only for my browser to crash. I guess that’s what I get for leaving nearly a hundred tabs open across multiple windows. =(
Here’s the rewritten “Cliff’s Notes” version:
This was all meant for prospective reviewers because I lack the time to write it all out every couple of weeks when someone new asks about reviewing/blogging/YouTubing or similar. I don’t have problems with any other reviewers – that I know of at least – although I know of at least one or two that badmouth ToolGuyd at every opportunity. *shrug* To each their own.
“Good” income? Yes/no/maybe. ToolGuyd is now my primary source of earning a living, but my wife works full time and is very understanding and supportive.
I didn’t say it’s a good living. But this – and my freelance work – allows me to earn enough to where I don’t have to quit ToolGuyd and seek out a traditional 9 to 5 career.
What I pocket after all expenses are taken care of is far lower than what I would earn elsewhere or otherwise, but ToolGuyd is hugely fulfilling.
I often work a lot harder and a lot longer than if I were working for a company, but I’m my own boss and make my own rules. Plus, it allows me to work on all sorts of projects, although I don’t have as much time for anything until my son’s old enough for at least part time daycare.
I didn’t want for ToolGuyd revenue/support to be a focus, but everyone that asks about blogging, YouTubing, or being a reviewer asks about this – how to get “free” tools, and how to earn money.
Videos with product managers and media reps? That’s an interview – okay in my book, and can be helpful.
What I don’t agree with is “everything is awesome” content where money changes hands behind the scenes and readers aren’t any the wiser. It definitely creates a bias. If a reviewer, YouTuber, or huge multi-magazine publisher accepts money for editorial content, they should fully disclose this to their audience. If/when they don’t, it shows where their priorities and loyalties lie. I hate that as a consumer, reader, and viewer, and it does frustrate me as a content creator.
Edward
I will agree with you on some points. I think each reviewer has their own spin on how they want to present the tools. If a reviewer doesn’t know anything about a tool or has never used it in their life, or held it in their hand.. it will show. You are 100% correct, honesty IS a key player with reviews to keep people coming back and I agree not every tool is” just that awesome” some are just pure trash. I think most readers are aware that these reviewers are not purchasing the tools themselves even though they might say they are and that’s fine, you’ve mentioned reaching out to the company yourself.. so they took your advice and got an awesome tool in return so I will say thank you for them because now I have several tools on my must have it now list! but have you thought.. maybe the company doesn’t want to be called out and bashed by all the negative people out there? (Hopefully, I am not coming across as a one myself, that is not my intent.. I feel for people that are just trying to make something of themselves and that takes guts to get up there and review anything.)
The reviewers who are giving a very detailed review are the ones I trust, I like to see the tool in action and see if it’s going to hold up to the test. I disagree with you about the media rep videos I think that’s just like a paid advertisement which goes back to what you say you dislike about “huge multi-magazine publisher accepts money for editorial content” it’s pretty much the same thing I do recall some reviewers saying straight up that “their review is brought to you by…”
Again, I think it is great that you want to post this to help everyone across the board keep the reviews coming and I look forward to reading them as always!
Stuart
Some interviews might be “interviews” and paid placements as you said. But others are field interviews.
Product managers and media reps often share a very specific and pre-determined message. But they can also be invaluable sources of insight and information.
I tend to ask tough questions, and I get back great answers. But I don’t travel a lot and probably wouldn’t do field interviews. It’s too hard for a one-man band to do.
Benjamen
“The right answer is that you want to share information, your experience, insights, and opinions with your audience.”
While you and I share many of our motivations, I’d have to disagree with you that these are the only ones.
1) Many good blogs have started out as marketing for a particular store, construction company, manufacturer, etc. The difference between the good and the bad usually is they are written by somebody who can balance the needs of the readers and the needs of the person paying the bills.
2) You left out the eagerness to learn. That is a huge motivator for me (and I know you as well)
Stuart
Great points! I do enjoy certain corporate blogs, but I don’t have those in mind when I give opinions or advice on the topic.
An eagerness to learn wasn’t necessarily my initial motivation, but that is one of my incentives now.
One of the best perks of being a writer/reviewer/blogger/etc., is that it’s easier to get more behind-the-scenes information. The *why* and *how* behind tool designs. Product managers and media reps aren’t all readily willing to talk about things other than what you can read in a press release, but some are. This has given me completely different perspectives on brands, tools, and the industry, than I could have gotten any other way.
It’s even better when there are engineers at media events. Product managers and engineers especially are so very eager to talk about finer points, such as how they were able to improve power with different motor winding patterns, or how much work it took to shave 1/4″ off the front of an impact driver, or how they went through dozens of iterations before their ergonomics specialists were able to settle on a new drill/driver pistol grip geometry.
Benjamen
Just one finer point about “corporate blogs,” I meant it more in the spirit of this article. I know a lot of ToolGuyd readers are in some way involved with tools…they are a contractor, work for someplace that makes/sells tools, or use tools in their job.
Someone looking to start out might be able to volunteer to do some writing for their company even if it’s just internally reviewing a tool they find helpful and see if it leads anywhere.
Stuart
Kind of like http://www.coptool.com/ . Jay’s is one of the best examples of a retailer-linked blog that’s done right.
Jim Felt
Stuart.
I can barely manage my existing life let alone create a meaningful online presence. I’m so glad you and a few others I follow in different fields I’m interested in can.
More power to you.
10-4
PS. I wonder if Bosch USA will warranty the brand new tools I’ve started buying on eBay from “overseas” because they don’t yet import them? Though I’ve never ever needed them to on anything so far.
I know. “Off topic”…
Stuart
Probably not. It would be akin to a grey market camera item, but even without domestic retailer or distributor support.
Ace Calzadilla
Stuart, first let me say you have a great website. I always check up your site and the guys from tools in action. They are more YouTube based and your more technical in depth review love them both. I started my site back in October of 2013, after a fellow officer that I work with told me he was making thousands of dollars a month, but he has about 80 websites which he is always updating on a daily basis. I just have one TheToolReviewGuy. I have made a little money with Adsense and Amazon, but it’s not easy and I don’t have the time to update it like my buddy Does. I do enjoy reviewing tools when I get a chance, but it’s not an easy hobby to keep up with. I thank you for your great site which has given me the strength to grow mine.
One thing is true of what my buddy said write quality articles and many of them that is the only way I’ll get any traffic. I look forward to you review sir.
Stuart
Thanks!
I never intended for ToolGuyd to be a full-time endeavor, but it evolved and took me along for the ride. Regular content is the only way to grow, and even that’s not a guarantee. It’s tough.
By the way, check your inbox for an email from me.
Phil
I’ve thought about this many times, also to the point where I secured a couple domain names several years ago, and have done reviews informally on various items informally on a couple of my blogs. I buy lots of tools for my own use, and I am very particular and curious about quality and construction of whatever I buy. I’m very much like Dave Jones from EEVBlog when it comes to, “Don’t turn it on, take it apart.” I’ve thought of asking some folks that run an existing blog/review/enthusiast site if they’d want any guest copy as well. Lots of unfocused energy and abilities in between surgeries.
Stuart
It was really hard for me to get started too. I registered ToolGuyd.com around April of 2008, but didn’t actually do anything with it until December. It was slow building momentum, but readers made the work rewarding, as they very much do now.
You should also check your inbox for an email.
Alex
Hey Stuart,
Thanks for writing really great content. Sometimes its hard to find unbiased views for a particular brand and I find ToolGuyd.com to do a great job. The review you did on the New Wago Slimmer & Higher Current Lever-Nuts (221-Series) sparked a heated debate between an older electrician and myself about the usability of wago’s…but I won’t get into that here.
Back in November of last year I started a site that’s specifically for people interested in joining the electrical trade. I built the site because I know first hand how hard it is to get quality information about how and where to look to get started.
I started off really focusing on building the site first, then adding content (which I realize is in reverse order), then dropped the ball the past few months. Recently I’ve come at it with a brand new attitude and I really want it to succeed.
What did you do to help promote traffic to your site when you were first starting out? I’m doing all organic SEO with long tail keywords, but I’m still not seeing much traffic.
Thanks again for the great content.
Cheers.
Stuart
It’s tough finding helpful things to suggest because your topic area is so specialized.
Have you considered working with a local union or national organization? Maybe there’s some information they can suggest you work into the site. Maybe they could also tell you where they have a couple of jobs going on at the time. Show up one day with a box of donuts and coffee in the morning, and take a poll. Bring 3 side-cutting pliers and ask the electricians there which ones they’d buy or use.
Get some more content on the site, and then polish it up. Don’t worry about SEO – worry about creating useful content. At this point, quality, quantity, and longevity will be the biggest challenges ahead of SEO considerations.
Also, take down at least one of those Google Adsense ad units. Google allows for 3 ad units. More than that and they’ll eventually penalize you in some manner.
November of 2014? 4 months isn’t a lot of time to expect to see results. Keep at it and don’t give up. That’s pretty much the only surefire way to get anyone’s attention.
As for the Wago’s that would be a good discussion to add to your site.
Alex
Thanks for the reply. I’m taking your advice and will work on providing new quality content and removing some of the ads. I didn’t know about Google penalizing for more than three ads.
I have not reached out and contacted any professional organizations but will follow up on that once I finish writing a few more articles.
Thanks again,
Alex
http://www.electricianapprenticehq.com
Stuart
You’re welcome!
You can always improve the look of a site down the road. And you will. Look at what happened here – I did a complete overhaul this month.
But you can never make up the time lost on micro-managing of things that shouldn’t part of the first-stage strategy. This applies more to individuals than large organizations. If a company like Dewalt wanted to start a blog/magazine/news site, then they’d want to dial in the look and feel just perfect prior to launching. But they also have employees that can work in parallel.
Alex
I was too focused on getting the site to look good thinking that would drive traffic, but its quality content.
Have you heard of Pat Flynn? He’s been doing this for a few years and has some great stuff you may be able to utilize.
Thanks again Stuart.
Bob M
Stuart,
Great article and always a great blog. I made a go at blogging for a passion of mine and I kept it up for 2 years hoping for some pocket change. I applaud your tenacity and success in staying with it to make it work for you.
Write On!
Abhijit Dey
Hi Stuart,
Great blog site with lots of helpful hints, I am a DIYer from India, we actually don’t have concept of DIYing, I developed my own interest by watching YouTube and your site. Thanks for excellent advice and hope some great American names in TOOL brand will be soon available in India. ( Stanley offers some scaled down range
Thanks Again.