I get these sorts of requests on a regular basis, and usually just send the sample off (a lot of times it seems to be a small blog writing about various products). I wonder how to tell whether its worth it - should I ask them how many visits they are getting or is there some method of verifying the popularity of the site independently? I'm a small business (www.moboleez.com), and it costs me $ every hat I send out for 'review', and sometimes I wonder if its not just a hobby site someone put up in an afternoon just to get companies to send her free products. Not that I'm cynical! Maybe if I google them....

I get these sorts of requests on a regular basis, and usually just send the sample off (a lot of times it seems to be a small blog writing about various products). I wonder how to tell whether its worth it - should I ask them how many visits they are getting or is there some method of verifying the popularity of the site independently? I'm a small business (www.moboleez.com), and it costs me $ every hat I send out for 'review', and sometimes I wonder if its not just a hobby site someone put up in an afternoon just to get companies to send her free products. Not that I'm cynical! Maybe if I google them....

Diane, That's actually a very timely and important question. There are TONS and I mean TONS of product blogs out there and you could throw a lot of money away sending something off to every one. I would probably check out the blog before I sent a sample. Look at how long the person has been blogging (you can tell this through their archives or earliest blog post), check out how many (and the nature of) the comments the posts receive, see if the blog has ads and if so what products are being advertised (also, if you're comfortable doing so, maybe contact some of the companies that advertise on the site to get their take on it). Some blogs have traffic meters right on the front page that tell you how many visitors they get. BTW--I ran across your product at the Atlanta Gift show in Jan. and just loved it!! Really great idea.

I agree with the blogger above and yet I am one of those people who request samples all the time. As an editor of a regional parenting magazine, I rely on toy samples to produce our annual toy guide. Last year's guide in December 2007 had photographs of more than 50 toys and over 100 toys mentioned. (That said I had product samples for close to 250 toys, of which 50 I requested personally, knowing the topics.) I think it is important to check out a publication or an online web site before sending a sample. And to always ask for contact info. I always send out a media kit, our awards sheet, a sample of the last toy guide in PRINT and my direct contact info with each request. I also always tell each company that there is no guarantee that if a sample is received that it will be included in the guide, yet I always promise that each toy received will go to a deserving child. At our magazine, each year a charity is selected to receive all the samples. One year it was children's cancer centers, another year hospital pediatric units, another year battered women's and children's shelters and last year foster kids. (I remember Mattel sending a box just for the charity when I asked for a few Barbie samples.) We run the annual toy guide in our audited circulation print edition and online. The print version always looks better. Here is a link to the online version: www.baystateparent.com/news/2007/1201/Front_Page/ click on the cover to read and view toy articles. While I recommend always checking and verifying media request, we couldn't produce our annual toy guide without samples. A photo and a press release don’t give us enough information to recommend a toy to our readers. Hand-on play is the way to go – be it a magazine writer, a parent and or a child.

i have had some guy claiming to be from sports illustrated contact me, and of course i sent product, it was when our company first started so i was excited, the sad part is the guy was actually a writer for sports illustrated, he just wanted free stuff!

Susan--you're spot on with your comment. Kids Today also requests product from time to time, but I think the key for the retailers and the manufacturers is to get as much info up front as they can. It sounds like you do a great job of giving them the info they need. Writers--sadly there are people out there who do just what you said. I don't have an answer for that one.

This is an interesting and timely feature. I have worked in the industry for many years and have sent scores of products out for review over the years on behalf of numerous manufacturers. I have never had an issue with a writer not being who they said they were until recently. I agree and understand what Susan is saying above on the product samples. It is very difficult for most writers to really review a product without a product sample. I work with bloggers on a daily basis and have never to date had an issue with their not reviewing or posting something on a product sample that was sent. I consider myself very savvy with the media but even this one and only individual recently was so good that I even believed he was for real. I became suspicious of this individual when I did not see his outlet on a media database, saw no Web site info for this publication and asked for a copy of the magazine and media kit repeatedly and did not receive these materials.