Dear Rotten Advice:
The product my company makes has been getting some terrible online reviews. The product isn't really that bad, though it does have a few flaws and there have been a couple of minor injuries. Would it be OK for me to post my own review, to even out the score?
Nikleb Salesguy*
Dear Salesguy:
Posting your own review may sound like a good idea, but it's not. There's only one of you, and thousands of dissatisfied customers; you need leverage. If there's one thing the web has to offer, it's millions of people with time on their hands. Why not harness that potential for your cause? It's easier than you might think - Amazon has a terrific service called Mechanical Turk that allows you to advertise for folks to perform small online tasks, usually for less than a dollar a pop. For a modest investment, you could have a hundred positive reviews online overnight. And while they're writing glowing reviews for your product, why not also have your online minions mark negative reviews "not helpful"? You'll get more positives and minimize the effects of the negatives: WIN!
Do be sure to use an assumed name when you're advertising for reviewers, so competitors and nosy bloggers can't figure out what's going on. Use your own name spelled backwards - it's easy to remember, and nobody will figure it out.
You may be asking: is this legal? Absolutely! Here's a better question: wouldn't your competitors be doing the same thing, if they were as smart as you are?
*We've changed the company name, to protect the writer's identity.
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