How to Create a Good Review
In this article, I want to get into the nitty-gritty of how to create high-impact reviews, organized chronologically & labeled by importance.
Have Pictures During or Soon After Your Experience (Helpful but not Required)
As long as you have a decent camera or camera phone, take pictures during or soon after your experience. If you don't have a decent camera or camera phone, see if someone else can take one that they can send you immediately after taking it. If neither are available, consider where you might get pictures that have already been taken as long as permission is present for you to use the photos.
Real estate example: If you bought or sold a property, these pictures could be of the property, with or without you.
If Adam's your agent, sometimes a drone shot is possible:
If you just sold your house and don't have any photos, consider using photos from your listing (& it's a best practice to cite the source, especially if a professional photographer, as I do below in this case):
Image Courtesy Raider Photography
These pictures could be a picture at the closing table if you're a buyer, holding the keys for the first time or otherwise.
These pictures could be pictures of you interacting with your agent.
These pictures could be pictures of your agent helping in some way.
Take the Time to Write a Review Soon After Your Experience (Most Important)
While your memory is fresh & while the work that the one that you are reviewing is top of mind, write your review. If you don't do it while it's fresh, the review will have a tendency to be less meaningful and you are much less likely to actually perform a review.
Use Grammar/Editing Software in Composition (Helpful but not Required)
One of the best public statements that anyone has ever made about me as an agent, one that I teared up over because it was so meaningful, and had multiple grammar/spelling problems. That didn't take anything away from how meaningful it was to me, but in that form, it did discredit the author and what he said in terms of the public perception.
Whether you are using Microsoft Word, Grammarly, or otherwise, it's helpful to get some support so that your public review is cast in the best light. The first line of defense for this task is editing software.
In addition, you might want to ask someone else for editing help, such as the person you are reviewing if they are a good writer. For instance, I scored an 80/80 on the writing skills PSAT, and am happy to assist anyone who would like me to look at their review to suggest grammar/spelling edits.
Cross Platform Share Your Review on Pages Specific to the Individual (Very Helpful)
A lot of the time for a review is simply in the composition of the review, but to maximize your review's effectiveness, it's a best practice to copy it and paste it into multiple locations. Some locations may be obvious, but others may not be. If the person you worked with provides you a list of suggest locations to post, they would love for you to post in those places. Many people won't take the 5 minutes to do that, and even doing that will mean a lot to someone like me. That said, if you're feeling more generous with your time, especially if what the person you are reviewing did for you included many hours of their time, consider looking elsewhere for where to post reviews. Places like