It's a well known fact. To make a success of your business online, you need to inspire the trust and confidence of your customers. People need to know who you are... where your business is located... how they can contact you... and that other people have successfully done business with you.

The first three are easily accomplished. Tell people about yourself, how your business got started, and explain how you came to be an expert in your field. Then provide them with extensive contact information in order to alleviate any fears that you are an evil con artist working out of your dark, smelly basement... intent on taking innocent people for all they're worth.

By doing these three things, you will have put a face to your name... an important step when establishing a relationship with your customers and visitors. In order to really drive the sale home though, you need to convince your visitors that other people have benefited from doing business with you.

The most effective way to accomplish this is by using the almighty testimonial!

Now some of you may be thinking, "Why can't I just list my own accomplishments? Why do I need to bother with testimonials?"

The answer is simple. When you are trying to establish trust, going on and on about how fabulous will turn the customer off. They are not interested in listening to you brag. How do they know if they can believe your claims? You need to prove that other people -- people just like them -- have benefited from your product, service, or expertise.

Testimonials dramatically increase your credibility. They let your visitors know that other people have risked doing business with you and have been pleased with the results. Did you know that this one simple trick can actually increase your sales by a phenomenal 250%? It's true!

Of course, people often approach me and say, "But if I'm marketing a product for the first time, how can I use testimonials?"

It's a good question!

First of all, I would like to point out that making up testimonials is NEVER a good idea. Nine times out of ten, people are going to see through your devious ploy and you will have destroyed your credibility forever. It's so easy to get real testimonials... why would you risk your reputation by doing something like this? My advice? Keep it real.

With that said, how do you go about gathering testimonials?

If you are marketing a product for the first time, then it is unlikely that you will have customer testimonials right from the start. That's okay! Approach people who think you are knowledgeable in your field -- people who value your expertise -- and ask them to write one for you.

Ask? Yes, ask!! And don't be shy about it! You will find, more often than not, people will be flattered that you value their opinion.

It is really simple... in fact I am even including a sample letter that we have personally used in the past with great success...

Dear John,

Thank you for your purchase of [product name] on [date of purchase]. Your business is extremely important to us and if there is anything else we can do to help please let us know!

With that said we are contacting some of our customers because we would really like to get your feedback. We want to hear how [product name] has helped you successfully grow your business on the Internet. We want to hear it all...

How much have we increased your profits?

How much time have we saved you?

We would love to hear all of the details! We value your opinion and we really want to here from you! So please write your heart out!

With your permission we may use your comments as testimonials on our website. Please let us know if this is all right with you. Also, if you provide us with your URL we will post that along with the testimonial generating extra traffic to your website for free!

Thanks so much for your time and if you have any questions please feel free to contact us any time!

Sincerely,

Corey Rudl

You will notice that we asked permission to use their comments as a testimonial and asked permission to post their URL. Remember to always ask permission to use their URL or email address in the testimonial... this will give your testimonial huge credibility because people can verify that they are the real thing!

Also try to guide them through their testimonials. What I mean by this is by giving specific examples of what you want or asking them specific questions you are letting them know exactly what you want in your testimonial in a very subtle fashion that will get your customers thinking in the right direction!

Be sure that your copy includes your own testimonial. This is important too! People need to know exactly how your product or service has benefited you. Be honest. Talk about the successes and failures that you have experienced... and how they have served to better your product or service and further develop your expertise!

Once your customers have had a chance to use your product, approach them for testimonials. Again, don’t by shy about asking. Customer testimonials are the most powerful testimonials because they prove that you have delivered on your promises. Visitors are going to be interested in hearing from people who have paid for your product... and loved it!

Some marketers insist that celebrity endorsements are the way to go, but I would have to disagree. These testimonials can backfire on you because people know that celebrities are paid to say nice things. You are better off paying another industry expert for a testimonial -- someone who people are going to be more likely to trust because they recognize them as being knowledgeable in the field.

So what does a good testimonial look like? It should contain the following elements:

• A good testimonial is specific! One and two word testimonials like "Really superb!" or "Fabulous" don't tell your visitor how the customer benefited from your product. Instead, use longer testimonials -- preferably 2 or 3 sentences -- that discuss, in detail, how the customer benefited.
  
  
• Be sure to cite the complete attributions of the customer you are quoting. You need to include their full name, where they live, the name of their business, and their URL. People will be inclined to believe that you fabricated your testimonials unless you include this critical information.
  
  
• Do NOT edit your testimonials! While correcting the spelling might not be a bad idea, you should never change the phrasing or the terminology. If all of your testimonials sound the same, and if they are all grammatically correct, people may think that you wrote them yourself.
  
  
• When appropriate, consider using photographs of the testimonial writer. This tactic will actually triple the believability and selling power of your testimonials!
  

Finally, I would like to emphasize the importance of getting written permission to quote your writers. You MUST do this! You should also ask for a general release that will allow you to use the customer's comments in all of your current and future advertising... not just once in a specific ad or letter.

In fact, whenever someone sends you a nice letter or e-mail, you should immediately respond with a thank-you note and a request for permission to use the testimonial in all of your promotions.

This will get you well on your way to building a sizeable file of customer testimonials for future use!