Chris Brogan raises an interesting take on the old “blog swag” issue. When is a review item a bribe and when is it just a review item? Most bloggers deal with the issue from the blogger point of view, in this post I will look from the marketers side.

I am in the fortunate and enjoyable situation where I get sent stuff to review. Just recently I was sent a GPS tracker from ATP and SanDisk sent me a huge box full of expensive memory cards and a firewire card reader. When I am sent anything I check the terms.

• When do I need to return it?
• Confirm that nothing on my side is guaranteed, I might not even mention it let alone give a positive review
• What can I say about it should I write anything?

This sort of campaign works. The up side of the positive word of mouth can be terrific. Like most bloggers with a decent following, people have bought everything from mobile phones, books, gadgets to laptops based on my recommendations, and at least three quarters of those reviews have been for stuff I paid for myself. Not only that, but the ripple effect of getting a connector to use your product can cause a viral cascade. For example, I tell everyone who wants to listen about my Nokia N95, which led other bloggers to buy them and tell their audiences, who then continued the conversation. Those were people who were about to by Flip video cameras or iPhones most likely.

The down side is this is not a cheap way to promote a product, and get it wrong and it can backfire nastily. You really need to go in knowing that the review item is not all you do for the deal. Support is essential (especially if you don’t want a “this thing doesn’t work” style review), and generosity with time is as important as generosity with product.

Too many companies go in thinking “send some gear, get a positive review, everyone wins”. Anything but I am sorry to say. A good blogger will give an honest review. Their reputation is worth more than your gizmo will ever be. Also even those who are willing to be bought off might cause a backlash to them and your product.

A certain huge software company ended up damaging their relationships until they realized that too many NDA’s, company lines and controlling tactics were driving their best advocates away. Once they took the feedback their community involvement has been amongst the best.

With any community or blog program, plan from the start:

• Find someone who is connected to your ideal market
• Work with them to develop the ideal approach
• Become part of the solution and involve yourself in the community
• Listen to feedback and provide answers to questions
• Use the product as the start of the conversation, not the whole message
• Develop advocates through authentic means, not buy-off
• Disclose exactly your part and allow free flow of communication without unnecessary edicts or restrictions

In the end, if your product is good and your support is there to help, then just getting involved with the community might be all you need to get a great conversation started. If not, you will certainly learn where you need to improve. Just remember it takes more than a fat cheque book!