Try to create a place where people can land for suggestions: R4Review

R4Review aims to become a one-stop destination for all sorts of reviews. The team of bloggers tries its best to provide authentic & differentiated content and reviews.

"We are in this space to provide genuine reviews of every kind of service that can be requested or taken by an individual", mentions R4Review. The bloggers attempt to weave a story around the product with relatable content.

Looking back, where did it all begin? 

It wasn’t definitely like any summers of 69. My connection with blogging is as old as my connection with Mumbai. And after all these years, I know one thing for sure that I love them both. It’s because of these blogger meet-ups that I got in touch with bloggers from different walks of life, explored this domain and found myself into it in no time.

What's in the name? 

My blog goes by the name – R4review. It is the name that stands for our motto. We are in this space to provide genuine reviews of every kind of service that can be requested or taken by an individual; be it a luxury or necessity. We believe that every penny spent by our audience should be worth it. And when they come to our portal, they can find the reviews by someone like them and get an honest opinion.

What is your USP in this cluttered space? How does your content give you an edge?

With so many people working on the same pitch as ours, it is very important to maintain a USP which makes us different from others. In our case, it is the scope of our work (number of cities covered) and the fact that our teammates are selected from our audience itself, who have flair for writing and are keen to provide honest reviews. Since the content published in the actual voice of a user, it gives us the necessary edge.

Please take us through your content creation process. How do you stay relevant and relatable?

Content is the key to our readership. We try our best to provide authentic and original content to our audience. Each review written on our website is the actual experience experienced by one of our team members at a particular location. It then goes to our content head who makes sure it is error and plagiarism-free. We try to make our content the voice of the readers.

How do you make moolah with your efforts?

For us, genuineness and honesty of the thoughts are more important than money-making, but we do need money to pay our bills. We accept campaigns only if we are 100% sure about the brand and usefulness of the product. So basically the earning mainly comes from sponsored content, social media promotions, brand collaborations, and affiliation programs.

How do you maintain editorial objectivity with the influx of brand briefs?

With so many bloggers and brands working together these days, it is your duty to maintain your genuineness. We always try to meet our own set standards for honest and authentic reviews. With barter collaborations, it's not a big deal but when it comes to paid ones, we make sure that the brand is on the same page as us, while presenting the pros and cons of the product.

Also, we try to weave a story around the product, so that our audience is able to relate it to their day to day life.

Also read: Animal testing is something that all brands should stop doing: Nimisha Popat, Hair Care Square

One instance/experience that made it all worthwhile

This was back in the year 2016. I was out of India for a while but landed back in August 2016. Being onsite, I used to not blog regularly or attend blogger meet-ups, but after coming back to India, I started active blogging again and attending blogger meets. One day, at one of the Indiblogger, meet, I was about to introduce myself to a number of fellow renowned bloggers and influencers, but I was astonished when I found that they already knew me and my blog R4review. That brought utter joy and proud to me.

Another instance was when R4review was invited by the best
technology conference on the planet, Web summit. The summit “Surge-2016” was in
Bengaluru and R4review was one of the media partners of the event.

It is all these moments that made me feel that this is all worth it.

Weirdest brand brief/request ever

I cannot think of anything particularly weird at this moment.

If not blogging, you would be?

I guess if not blogging, I would be a pilot touching the heights. It’s the height that has always fascinated me.

A day in your life…

Being at onsite, my day begins with going through my daily meeting calendar and regular email-check ups. After spending hectic 9 hours from 9 to 6 at the client location, I get onto the blogging, assignments and brand follow-ups after 6. It is in my daily routine to go through all the emails for potential collaborations and checking various platforms that provide decent campaigns.

Because of the time difference between the USA and India, I don’t talk to my team members in India regularly over the call, but I make sure that the right campaign goes to the right person in the right city. My wife also helps me with it. This consumes 3-4 hours of my time every day and after that, its time for my dinner, work out, and back to bed-time.

Message/tips for upcoming bloggers

With the kind of competition out there, all I would like to say to the upcoming bloggers that instead of rushing into getting quick brand collaborations and just focusing on increasing your follower count, start your blog/social media account by creating content that is fresh, unique and refreshing.

Try to create a place where people can land for suggestions and get genuine opinions. Focus on building authentic readership and then approach brands to get the collaborations on your terms.

Your Favorite Influencer

My favorite influencer is from the travel blogging sphere: Shrinidhi Hande. He has been blogging for more than 10 years now and I have enjoyed his journey as much as he did. His writing has all the necessary details and descriptions in the best possible language, which gives you multiple options to choose from, and the best part is the tips related to budget traveling.

He is quite regular with his posts and they are always informative, which makes him one of my favorite influencers.

The Future you foresee for your Personal Brand

For now, if you talk about my personal brand, they are obviously my blogs. I have always dreamed about R4review to be a one-stop destination for all kinds of reviews. So yes, I want it to be the best review portal across the globe.