I'm building a system (that includes a blogging platform) that caters to writing up reviews for products in a specific niche. Now, I'm only a beginner in this field, (which is why I'm creating this site in the first place... to learn), so my content won't be as attractive or poignant as some of the industry leaders. It will get there though... I promise :)

Now, most of the people I want blogging on my site already have blogs, and probably earn some income on them. But, I want them to post these specific reviews on "my" site (hopefully that isn't wishful thinking). So, I'm assuming that I'd either need to pay them, or incentivise them.

1. Incentivisation

I was thinking... "Hey! I could pay them a portion of my commission when users buy the products from the bloggers review page!". But, that's kind of odd, as the bloggers would be geared to write biased reviews, in order to up their commission. Also, I'm pretty sure the bigger names wouldn't be attracted to this type of scheme, depending on their own blogs revenue streams.

2. Paying

I could just pay them flat out... and that's what I'm assuming I'll have to do. However... how much? Are there industry numbers I could look at someplace?

This is a pet project, and coming out of my semi-empty pockets, so I'm obviously wanting to keep these costs at a minimum (hosting is expensive). A part of me knows that "If I build it (and contribute to it), they will come"... but... I could use a small jump start with some big names in this niche :)

Any suggestions would be welcome... (before I start cold calling these people with ludicrous offers)... :)