For many years, I have been big proponent of providing testimonials
to people and businesses who provided me with great service. I even
did this way before I started my first business. I simply wanted to
reward those who provided me with great service and attention.

What I didn’t realize until I had my own business is just how
important these testimonials were. What’s more, I came to realize
how much business I could actually attract simply by giving
testimonials! Once I saw this as a trend in my own business, I
started paying attention to what made a powerful testimonial and
came up with a three rules that helped me create these the fast and
easy way!

Be Real

While testimonials are powerful client attraction tools, they have
to be honest, authentic and real. In other words, I don’t recommend
just giving out testimonials to anyone to crosses your path. I only
offer a testimonial for a product or service that I genuinely
endorse.

Share Results

The most powerful testimonial describes the results you experienced
after using the product or service. Briefly describe the problem you
were facing and then the pain the product or service took away for
you and/or the result you experienced.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you are a life coach and you just took
a fantastic teleseminar about the top 10 things to know when raising
a teenage daughter. You get the inkling that some of the attendees
on the call would make great clients for you. Here’s what you could
say:

“I thought I knew everything there was to know about raising my
daughter, but after taking this teleseminar, you opened my eyes to
brand new ways of thinking about my role as a mother of a young
daughter who will face many challenges in the teen years. As a life
coach, I know that awareness is the first step, so thank you for
bringing these top 10 things to my attention!”
– Name, Title, URL

Use Statistics

Numbers and percentages tell compelling stories. Here’s an example:
“As a result of taking your self-study course on how to increase
sales, I have exceeded my monthly sales goals by at least 20% each
month!”

– Name, Title, URL

Don’t forget to include your headshot as well! Testimonials are the
most compelling when people can see what you look like.

I challenge to you simply be aware this week of other businesses you
work with that might be good candidates for a testimonial. Think of
it this way: if you provide one testimonial to a business each
month, at the end of the year you’ll have 12 other businesses
promoting you and your web site!

I really like the whole concept of providing testimonials because
it’s just a great way of getting your name and your website address
out to thousands of prospects as well as building good will!