Making Your Online Testimonials More Believable

By: Dan Brown

Here''s ten POWERFUL ideas to use as a guide when dealing
with testimonials.

1. PICTURES Ask people if they would e-mail a picture
with their testimonial. If they don''t have one scanned you could
have them send their picture by mail and you could scan it. This
technique will give your testimonials more credibility.

2. ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES Most online testimonials you see
have text signatures. You could have people mail their written
signature, scan it, and upload it with their testimonial. People
will feel the testimonial is more official.

3. ONLINE AUDIO You could record people''s testimonials
with a mini tape recorder over the phone, on your answering
machine, or voice mail. Then you could convert the recording
into a online audio file and upload it to your web site. You can
find more information about converting audio recording''s by
typing "real audio" at a search engine.

4. POSTCARDS Have people mail you their testimonial on a
postcard, scan it and upload it to your web site. This will give
people proof that the testimonial isn''t fake because it will
have a post mark on it.

5. PROFILES Ask people to include a profile of themselves
with their testimonial. You could just have them answer some
questions like age, occupation, hobbies, favorite quote, etc.
This will make your testimonials more entertaining to read.

6. HAND WRITTEN LETTERS This is similar to the
"electronic signature" tip. Scan and upload the entire written
testimonial or letter to your web site. This will give your
testimonials a feel of realism.

7. RECORDINGS You could record peoples testimonials over
the phone with a mini tape recorder. Then, take the recording
and record it to an answering machine or voice mail system.
Under each one, include a phone number they can call to hear the
actual testimonial.

8. E-MAIL MESSAGES When you get e-mail testimonials,
publish the entire e-mail message instead of just the contents.
It will be more believable because it will include the date,
time, subject, who it''s from and who it''s to.

9. CONTACT INFORMATION When you get testimonials from
people, ask them if you could include their contact information
under the testimonial. This will allow potential customers to
ask your current customers questions about your product or
service before they buy. Usually, they will trust them more than
you.

10. ONLINE VIDEO If some of the people who give you
testimonials have a camcorder, ask them to record their
testimonial on video and send it to you. Then you could convert
the video to an online video file and upload it to your site.
You can find more information about converting audio recording''s
by typing "real video" at a search engine.

Dan Brown:
Dan Brown has been active in internet marketing for the past 4
years. Dan currently is working with the Zabang search engine,
introducing their new affiliate program which is due out July,
2005. http://www.zabangaffiliate
.com/