Comments on: Life on the Balcony Vlog #1 – Soil Scoop Review

By: Stocking Stuffer Ideas for the Garden Lover under $20 « aHa! Modern Living

Stocking Stuffer Ideas for the Garden Lover under $20 « aHa! Modern Living — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:32:39 +0000

[...] Watch this tool in action on Fern Richardson’s blog, Life on the Balcony. [...]

By: A Couple of Things I Forgot to Mention

A Couple of Things I Forgot to Mention — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:03:03 +0000

[...] Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on container gardening in apartments and condos. I think I forgot to mention a couple of things that I think LOTB readers will be interested in. First, if you’ve held off on trying out the Soil Scoop for yourself, aHa Modern Living has provided a discount code (balcony) so that Life on the Balcony readers can receive 10% off. More details in the update of my Soil Scoop review. [...]

By: Follow Up to First Vlog Post

Follow Up to First Vlog Post — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:58:11 +0000

[...] subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on container gardening in apartments and condos. In the vlog review of the soil scoop, I mentioned that I was yanking out a silver South African Geranium and replacing it with a black [...]

By: Sue

Sue — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:39:03 +0000

Super video – well done. You look as if you’ve been presenting for years.

By: Fern

Fern — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:56:29 +0000

Kat–No worries. I really appreciate all the constructive feedback you and others have provided. Law school gave me very thick skin, so don’t worry about offending me accidentally.

Theresa–Thanks! My husband didn’t believe me that the crow call was real. He thought I added a clip of the crow from an iPhone app I have that will play real bird calls.

GenY–Yeah, I honestly don’t know how it would be possible to damage the metal scoop part short of driving over it with a car. Glad to be able to confirm that it will last a long time!

By: GenYgardener

GenYgardener — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:14:26 +0000

I bought my mother a soil scoop 5-10 years ago. It’s still in great shape even after years of use in Michigan clay and being neglected out in the elements. It is probably my mother’s favorite garden tool. They’ve been hard to find for a while–mom wanted to have at least 2 on hand–so it’s nice to see them coming back on the market.

In other words, Fern ain’t lying when she says it’s a good tool!

By: Kat

Kat — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:37:37 +0000

Fern I know you aren’t on aHa Modern Living’s payroll.
And I agree it is a fine line between product review and infomercial. For me it sort of crosses the line when you state the vendor’s name or list their website more than once (unless of course you are reviewing the vendor).
And just so you know, I only mentioned it because otherwise you did one hell of a job. I look forward to seeing more in the future.

By: Fern

Fern — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:54:38 +0000

Jayme–TONS of out takes. Maybe 20-30 tries that I couldn’t use because I said something stupid, made a weird look on my face, forgot what I wanted to say, etc.

By: Fern

Fern — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:53:26 +0000

Laura–I had a great experience using Windows Movie Maker. It was very easy to use and allowed me to cut the clips, put them together, insert transitions between clips, add music, etc. I’ve also heard great things about iMovie if you’re using a Mac, unfortunately my Mac only has Tiger on it and can’t be upgraded to Leopard (which is what iMovie needs to work properly).

Jenny–Yeah, tons of potential land mines to step on these days. Check out http://www.podsafeaudio.com for music by independent artists who have given permission for their music to be used in podcasts/vlogs.

By: Fern

Fern — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:33:34 +0000

Kat–Regarding the review/infomercial line. To be honest, it’s a fine line and I’m not sure where exactly it is. I really appreciate the feed back and will continue to tweak how I present future videos. I’m definitely a work in progress!

By law I have to say where I got the soil scoop, and it’s the ethical thing to do anyway. It’s not really fair that bloggers are held to a higher standard than magazines, for instance, but it is what it is and I would be upfront even if it wasn’t the law.

You should know that I would NEVER promote a product if I didn’t personally like it. I have passed up the opportunity to receive things for review that I know I don’t like (a particular variety of gloves, and chemical fertilizer, for starters). I know first hand that aHa Modern Living provides great customer service, so I felt confident that sending LOTB readers their way was win-win. You guys get a great product, at a great price, with great customer service, and a young business owner gets (hopefully) a boost in sales and some added name recognition. In this day and age of international mega-corporations undercutting the little guy and providing substandard products and services to us little people, I want to do what I can to highlight great small businesses that are doing things right.

Anyway, I just wanted to stress that I hold myself to a high standard of ethics and that you (and everyone else) can trust that when I say “I love this product” I really do use it and like it.