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Planning to Review Pods/Sauces

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I am soon going to be reviewing some pods and sauces but would like to post here to inform anyone who wants to spread word about their company or pods

If you are willing to send sauces/pods for me to review I will gladly give a shoutout and links and whatnot in my video descriptions.Just message me and we can discuss details :)

PS - I am not asking for free product :)
 
This is just my opinion.

I think that anyone looking to get into review has no place asking for people to send you stuff. I made 20 videos out of my own pocket before I got anything for free to review. I still pay for almost everything I review.

In order for a person to warrant the cost of a free bottle or pod, they have to have a significant viewer base. Ted Barrus has 4000 subs and over a million total views. I have 64 subs and less than 10,000 views. THere is a reason I don't get many review bottles.

Nice avy, btw. Love my some Binding of Isaac.
 
Ummm I wasn't saying for free....I am willing to pay.I never said anything about free lol

And yes whole pods

And yeah! :) Isaac for the win!
 
I have to agree and disagree with JHR. It really costs next to nothing for a user or business to send out a bottle of sauce or some pods to review. I have a ton of plants and send out about 4-8 boxes a week to members here. I am always looking for people to review some pods. I always send them back to people who have hooked me up, and then I find people who never ask for anything from me, try to do things the right way (looking for trades, not freebies) and just a random noob who is just stumbling on here. It costs me the SFRB fee, which is a few bucks. And I know a ton of members that are the same exact way. As far as a business goes, a new business is looking for people to review their sauces, and at least he is letting them know that they can use him. The bigger companies generally could care less and don't need reviewers.

We are talking about people eating peppers and sauce. Let's face it, there is no future (monetarily) in it. Ted got where he is because he snorted powder, threw up on camera, and acted like a fool. To his credit, he has managed to turn his style around a bit, but he got the subscribers and views because he did stupid stuff that isn't reviewing peppers and sauce but acting like people who spend their life on YouTube want to see people act when they eat the worlds hottest stuff.

The only way you are gonna make a few bucks is if you go the ad route on you tube, but just a personal note, if I have to sit through politics before I watch you eat a pepper or sauce I am going to the next one. It actually turns off the people who really care about the review and keeps around the people that are just there to laugh.

Tracking views and subscribers is dumb, if you are in it for that then start snorting stuff and get kicked in the nuts by characters from Whinne the Poo. But you are not helping the community. If you want to really help the people here make informed decisions about which peppers to plant, or which sauces to buy then take it seriously and you will get all the free pods and sauce to review than you can handle.

Just a FYI, the whole "the seeds are where the heat is" adage is a myth. The seeds are bitter and mess up the consistency of the pod. Not to mention, trying to fight through pulling seeds out of your teeth while simultaneously battling a Bhut or 7 pot is just self inflicted misery. The placenta secretes oils, which is the main concentration of heat. The heat lies in the placenta and oils. You should split the pod, pull the seeds, make sure you throw any placenta you accidentally tore out back in the pod.


My .04

Sorry for any typos, still learning to type on the damn iPad.
 
Thanks MGOLD :) I am not in it for any sort of monetary gain just something to upload and spread the word about sauces and peppers.And thanks! I'll split the pods and remove the seeds that way I can grow and give back to people as well :)
 
I have to agree and disagree with JHR. It really costs next to nothing for a user or business to send out a bottle of sauce or some pods to review. I have a ton of plants and send out about 4-8 boxes a week to members here. I am always looking for people to review some pods. I always send them back to people who have hooked me up, and then I find people who never ask for anything from me, try to do things the right way (looking for trades, not freebies) and just a random noob who is just stumbling on here. It costs me the SFRB fee, which is a few bucks. And I know a ton of members that are the same exact way. As far as a business goes, a new business is looking for people to review their sauces, and at least he is letting them know that they can use him. The bigger companies generally could care less and don't need reviewers.

We are talking about people eating peppers and sauce. Let's face it, there is no future (monetarily) in it. Ted got where he is because he snorted powder, threw up on camera, and acted like a fool. To his credit, he has managed to turn his style around a bit, but he got the subscribers and views because he did stupid stuff that isn't reviewing peppers and sauce but acting like people who spend their life on YouTube want to see people act when they eat the worlds hottest stuff.

The only way you are gonna make a few bucks is if you go the ad route on you tube, but just a personal note, if I have to sit through politics before I watch you eat a pepper or sauce I am going to the next one. It actually turns off the people who really care about the review and keeps around the people that are just there to laugh.

Tracking views and subscribers is dumb, if you are in it for that then start snorting stuff and get kicked in the nuts by characters from Whinne the Poo. But you are not helping the community. If you want to really help the people here make informed decisions about which peppers to plant, or which sauces to buy then take it seriously and you will get all the free pods and sauce to review than you can handle.

Just a FYI, the whole "the seeds are where the heat is" adage is a myth. The seeds are bitter and mess up the consistency of the pod. Not to mention, trying to fight through pulling seeds out of your teeth while simultaneously battling a Bhut or 7 pot is just self inflicted misery. The placenta secretes oils, which is the main concentration of heat. The heat lies in the placenta and oils. You should split the pod, pull the seeds, make sure you throw any placenta you accidentally tore out back in the pod.


My .04

Sorry for any typos, still learning to type on the damn iPad.

Damn that was well said. You just absolutely summed up what I was trying to explain to Ted the Idiot way back when. Wish he could read that.
 
Yes I did read it lol.
And thanks for caring no time to chat I have more powder and Nasal Napalm to snort. And just a FYI most of my subs came from a specific pod I ate not snorting powders. Don't know how of some of these "idiots come up with this crap"
I use google statitics and chat with my subs to find out what video got them to subscribe. I am one of the few that can say I have probably chatted with 90% of my subs. People look like fools when they speak of things they know anything about. Drudge didn't show puke videos,Diane sawyer didn't show puke videos,bbc didn't show puke videos. They all showed me eating the worlds hottest peppers. When I eat something hot ( if it's hot enough) I have a reaction and that's what people like. People watch mostly for my pod tastings and sauce but I do have many that like the challenges also. Have I puked on video? Many many times but I have tried to not do it ( bad for the health ). Will I do it in the future ? possibility
Do I make money doing this ? Yes (but I have a real job this is small potatoes) I'm a partner but everything I make goes right back into this. I have invested more time and money than some of the godly growers in this forum have on plants and hobbies. I do this cause I have a passion for it. Maybe I was attention seeking but I guess now that I have the attention I don't seek it as much. I have and still do listen to people when they give me advice. I was a prick when I came on the scene and have tried to grow but I still can bite back. I'm trying very hard to be a better person and have made many friends. I wish you luck at doing reviews.
 
I have invested more time and money than some of the godly growers in this forum have on plants and hobbies. I do this cause I have a passion for it.

Best of luck to you Ted.
No ill will here, but the above quote sticks in my craw. No. No, you haven't, you have no idea in that regard.

Besides that, good luck and while I don't watch your videos, I think you should do what you want to do.
Just like I don't judge you, please don't judge people here growing, thinking you know what time, effort and money they put into them. They are learning skills, possibly buying land, and attaining knowledge to make it work, not just tasting and testing ;)
 
I am going to preface this with I do not hate you Ted. I never did, and I think that you can handle some stupidly hot stuff and have enough people watching you to get some semblance of the community "word" out successfully. To add, this post is about reviewing things on the net, and my opinion is my opinion.

First, I mentioned you because you are probably the most watched hot stuff "guy" on YT. I could have mentioned that idiot who tricks his girlfriend (dangerously) into eating foods with supers on them, the guy who pours milk all over his face after he eats a pepper that has 7 names melded into one, or when he eats a pepper, and gets kicked in the junk by a fluffy.... I was simply telling Isaac that he can go that route and get tons of views, or he can do it for the fun of it and help out the community. I could care less and I am not his mother and he can choose what he wants.

You (Ted) have done some great videos, but you also have taken peppers and rubbed them in your eyes. That is not only dangerous, but ridiculous. You have every right to do whatever you choose, and I am not here to tell you that you cannot, but that I do not think that rubbing peppers in one's eyes is a pepper review. You even responded to a comment with something along the lines of "Tosh has contacted me and I think that is awesome." We all know Tosh's show, and if you dont, you should; but lets be real, there has never once been even a semblance of sincerity on that show. So which one is it? You want to get the word out there or get on Tosh?? Because I personally do not want everyone thinking that because I grow peppers I am rubbing them in my eyes and making a fool of myself. Not to mention the droves of kids that watch your video, sign up for sites just like this, and then feel entitled and flood the boards and inboxes with "Give me this" messages. They are directly related. How many do you think dare their friends to do what they saw on the FBI channel?? You can give all the disclaimers you want, but they are gonna do it anyways (we were kids once and take a disclaimer as a challenge). You may not feel responsible for the world, but as a self-proclaimed voice of the pepper world, your videos have an impact.

You can take this as pontificating, or whatever you like, but I stumbled upon this community a year ago, have met the nicest people I have ever met in the world and found a hobby for life. I am going to continue to grow and enjoy peppers whether or not there are videos like this on the tube. I am not telling anyone they are not welcome here, I still believe, however, that my opinion is just as valid as anyone else's...
 
Everyone is allowed to have a opinion. I will say that rubbing the Butch T in my eyes was the dumbest think I have ever done. I cant really explain the video and why I did it except to say it was for attention. The guys at wreckless eating wanted a video so I gave them something over the top. I had no idea it was going to be that bad and yes I did damage my eye. It was a wakeup call for me. I had seen the woman in India that everyone speaks of and thought I will show people what happens when a normal person does it. STUPID,STUPID,STUPID. I know kids will watch it and nothing I can do about it. I could take the video down but some people enjoy it. Long time ago I was trying to get on Tosh doing all the crazy challenges but I leave most of that for guys like my buddies L.A. Beast,Brad Bishop, and Chuck From THe Bronx. I am trying to focus on reviews but occasional I will give them a challenge video. for my million view vid I tried Nasal Napalm and I thought I was going to die. Why did I do it? to payback my subscribers for loyalty and for purchasing stuff from companies. I am a part of this industry if people like it or not. I help get the word out on sauces and pods. I do not and will not debate this if anyone wants to.
I have spoken to many people like my friend Tony Ainsworth (darth Naga) about what I have done. and honestly some of it has been bad (everyone thinks they can be a reviewer or eat ultra hots) and I made the mistake of letting people think that. I have helped people too and I don't help anyone new anymore. Last person I helped was Brad Bishop and now i'm done. I agree that the forums,blogs and companies have been getting flooded with requests for free stuff. Its the nature of the beast and its going to happen. I get 100 request a week asking for free pods and I cant send them. I have to pick and choose who I send to. I have sent to a few kids after speaking to the parent and one of them has become very popular and I will continue to help the kid.( http://www.youtube.com/user/bandgreen ) I have many videos that I should remove but I cant do it. I made it so I will leave it up. People always ask "what do views have to do with anything" views help get the word out with me. I know who is subbing to me and I know why. I check stats all the time to see whats going on and whats working. when I tried to make a more professional style review with less shouting people didnt like them. they still like the product but they want me to act like FBI not some boring guy.
About the comment "[background=rgb(255, 250, 242)]I have invested more time and money than some of the godly growers in this forum have on plants and hobbies. I do this cause I have a passion for it." DId I name you ? nope I didn't and the GODLY that refers to some of the people here on THP most people know them. I never mentioned you so why should YOU be offended. If I want to insult a specific person I will use that persons name. i'm just stating what I [/background]believe.
Also If you dont want people coming here begging for stuff maybe you should make a rule or make it a special elite pepper club LOL........I'm just playing I really wish that would not happen but hey it is what it is deal with it and move on.
hope I didn't piss ya off i'm trying to be myself and chat back

Hey one more thing I can get the word out by being on Tosh,Worlds Dumbest or Cnn. It does not matter Mgold86. If people see me rub a Butch T in my eye they wont think you do it also. That is very narrow minded if you think that. Do I and my friends think its cool that Tosh contacted me? Yes what will the benefits of that be. 6 million people will see my video, a percentage of them will subscribe out of those subscriber a percentage of them will also become chileheads. AND YES I KNOW THIS FOR A FACT ITS ALREAD HAPPENING NOW. what will the negatives be? here is a few some people will try the stunt they showed, some will think the industry looks like a joke. Most wont care. It all adds up in the long run man. its getting the word out.
 
I'm not offended, why would I be? You can say what you want and try it on, just like I said "just tasting and testing ;) "

I'm just saying throw away remarks like that annoy people. On one hand you didn't just eat peppers and show up on youtube and get where you are with nothing else, hundreds of others have done so and are nowhere.
You have done work to get where you are IMO.
So I'm just pointing out that while you say you have spent a lot of time and effort on doing what you do, don't belittle others efforts doing something you may not know about.
Each to their own and no hard feelings here.
 
It really costs next to nothing for a user or business to send out a bottle of sauce or some pods to review.

(Addressing only the quoted part as this topic has gone all kinds of directions...)

Pods? yes. Lightweight, lots produced cheaply, cheap to mail.

But sauce costs money - liquid and glass don't ship for free. It costs me $ to manufacture the sauce, and one doesn't really consider the cost of goods manufactured in a scenario like this. It's business - if I give away a bottle of sauce I am not losing what it cost me to make it, I am losing my % of the retail price $5, because that's what I would have otherwise sold that bottle of sauce for. And then it costs $3-4 to ship a bottle + packing materials + my time for the post office trip.

It's not a fortune - and it also isn't that much money, but it's certainly not "next to nothing". If a stranger approached me on the street and asked me for $9 I'd be really, really unlikely to hand it to them and I'm betting you wouldn't either.

And that's not counting the 5-figures I've spent over the 3 years of launching my company with trademarks, website, graphic design, testing, permits, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Now obviously there is a benefit to being reviewed - if the reviewer has an audience it can help to generate sales. How many sales? sadly not nearly as many as reviewers/bloggers like to think. When a review gets posted I see maybe 3-5 sales from it. yup. That's it. No windfall.

But there is a benefit of course - it's a goodwill gesture in the pepper community and it helps to socialize my product and get my company name out there....and of course I link to the reviews from my site - which probably helps those sites as much or more than it does me. But if someone's on the fence about a purchase and reads a positive review about my sauce then it certainly can help.

So for me it's about credibility. You have no idea how many people ask for free hot sauce saying "I have a youtube channel, give me sauce to review!" - then I look at the channel and there isn't a single hot sauce review and they have 2 followers, presumably their g/f and their dog. I posted one here at THP that was so laughably offensively idiotic....and when I said no they insulted me. Nice.

Then there's folks like the OP in this topic. Someone who's just starting out, which is great. Go forth and start reviewing, I applaud the effort and enthusiasm - go make videos and sample some peppers. Show the world that you are articulate and intelligent and charismatic and that you can provide valuable feedback and insight. Build an audience. Earn your stripes. And THEN ask me for some sauce.

Without doing that first, there's little credibility, and no audience. As a business I have to consider sending "free" sauce as a marketing expense. And as such I have to decide where to invest that marketing expense - do I send a bottle of "free" sauce to a hot sauce reviewer like JayT at THP who has loads of followers and an articulate and detailed delivery because he's established credibility in the industry? Or do I send it to someone just starting out where I have no idea what I'll get even in terms of constructive criticism?

It's a business decision - as much as I'd love to send free sauce to everyone who asks me for it, at $10 a pop that's a terrible business model. To date I've received over 200 requests for free sauce in just under 2 months in business - really. That's potentially $2000 out of pocket for me, and 95% of those requests have been totally janky. The one exception to the "people new at reviews" I made was with HeatAddicts - they had a cool logo, Jarret came across very respectfully in his email and he had a couple of vids up already for me to review and see if I liked his style. And I was glad I sent them sauce to review as I think they're really working hard at building a rep and doing quality reviews. I respect those who've shown me that they too will work at their craft.

I don't mean to post a novel - but there's really no such thing as "free sauce". There is judicious application of the allocation of marketing funds. Kinda saps the fun out of it when you put it that way, but it is what it is. Part of that budget is sending out "free" sauce. In business you have to view the big picture. An apt comparison is In backpacking - there's an expression about the weight you carry on a 5-6 day trip - "if you watch the ounces, the pounds take care of themselves" instead of a spoon & a fork, you carry a spork because it saves you an Oz. think of that like the 1 bottle of free sauce...they add up. And so it's not a lot different in business. If you don't watch the cents, the dollars fly out of the window pretty quickly. When you're Tobasco, sending a bottle of free sauce costs next to nothing. When you're someone like me, it's an expense that requires consideration.

Just trying to add some perspective as a small start-up business on the subject of sending sauce to reviewers and the associated cost/value. Don't get me wrong - I do send free sauce. Sometimes if I just want to get the feedback of someone I respect, I'll send them some sauce for free. But I pay for it, so "free" is a matter of perspective as well.

:cheers:
 
(Addressing only the quoted part as this topic has gone all kinds of directions...)

Pods? yes. Lightweight, lots produced cheaply, cheap to mail.

But sauce costs money - liquid and glass don't ship for free. It costs me $ to manufacture the sauce, and one doesn't really consider the cost of goods manufactured in a scenario like this. It's business - if I give away a bottle of sauce I am not losing what it cost me to make it, I am losing my % of the retail price $5, because that's what I would have otherwise sold that bottle of sauce for. And then it costs $3-4 to ship a bottle + packing materials + my time for the post office trip.

It's not a fortune - and it also isn't that much money, but it's certainly not "next to nothing". If a stranger approached me on the street and asked me for $9 I'd be really, really unlikely to hand it to them and I'm betting you wouldn't either.

And that's not counting the 5-figures I've spent over the 3 years of launching my company with trademarks, website, graphic design, testing, permits, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.

Now obviously there is a benefit to being reviewed - if the reviewer has an audience it can help to generate sales. How many sales? sadly not nearly as many as reviewers/bloggers like to think. When a review gets posted I see maybe 3-5 sales from it. yup. That's it. No windfall.

But there is a benefit of course - it's a goodwill gesture in the pepper community and it helps to socialize my product and get my company name out there....and of course I link to the reviews from my site - which probably helps those sites as much or more than it does me. But if someone's on the fence about a purchase and reads a positive review about my sauce then it certainly can help.

So for me it's about credibility. You have no idea how many people ask for free hot sauce saying "I have a youtube channel, give me sauce to review!" - then I look at the channel and there isn't a single hot sauce review and they have 2 followers, presumably their g/f and their dog. I posted one here at THP that was so laughably offensively idiotic....and when I said no they insulted me. Nice.

Then there's folks like the OP in this topic. Someone who's just starting out, which is great. Go forth and start reviewing, I applaud the effort and enthusiasm - go make videos and sample some peppers. Show the world that you are articulate and intelligent and charismatic and that you can provide valuable feedback and insight. Build an audience. Earn your stripes. And THEN ask me for some sauce.

Without doing that first, there's little credibility, and no audience. As a business I have to consider sending "free" sauce as a marketing expense. And as such I have to decide where to invest that marketing expense - do I send a bottle of "free" sauce to a hot sauce reviewer like JayT at THP who has loads of followers and an articulate and detailed delivery because he's established credibility in the industry? Or do I send it to someone just starting out where I have no idea what I'll get even in terms of constructive criticism?

It's a business decision - as much as I'd love to send free sauce to everyone who asks me for it, at $10 a pop that's a terrible business model. To date I've received over 200 requests for free sauce in just under 2 months in business - really. That's potentially $2000 out of pocket for me, and 95% of those requests have been totally janky. The one exception to the "people new at reviews" I made was with HeatAddicts - they had a cool logo, Jarret came across very respectfully in his email and he had a couple of vids up already for me to review and see if I liked his style. And I was glad I sent them sauce to review as I think they're really working hard at building a rep and doing quality reviews. I respect those who've shown me that they too will work at their craft.

I don't mean to post a novel - but there's really no such thing as "free sauce". There is judicious application of the allocation of marketing funds. Kinda saps the fun out of it when you put it that way, but it is what it is. Part of that budget is sending out "free" sauce. In business you have to view the big picture. An apt comparison is In backpacking - there's an expression about the weight you carry on a 5-6 day trip - "if you watch the ounces, the pounds take care of themselves" instead of a spoon & a fork, you carry a spork because it saves you an Oz. think of that like the 1 bottle of free sauce...they add up. And so it's not a lot different in business. If you don't watch the cents, the dollars fly out of the window pretty quickly. When you're Tobasco, sending a bottle of free sauce costs next to nothing. When you're someone like me, it's an expense that requires consideration.

Just trying to add some perspective as a small start-up business on the subject of sending sauce to reviewers and the associated cost/value. Don't get me wrong - I do send free sauce. Sometimes if I just want to get the feedback of someone I respect, I'll send them some sauce for free. But I pay for it, so "free" is a matter of perspective as well.

:cheers:

Dude, you oughta win a Pulitzer for some of your posts. Great stuff man.
 
This is not the correct forum to post a wanted ad.
 
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