Testimonials Convert Prospects Into Buyers – Marketing
Testimonials Convert Prospects Into Buyers
Bob Leduc
Big businesses get instant credibility with their well-known company name or brand name. But small companies have to create their own credibility. One of most powerful tools you can use for this is customer testimonials.
Here are 5 tips to help you get persuasive testimonials ...and use them to convert prospects into buyers.
1. Continuously Collect Testimonials
Start by setting up a file to store the positive comments you get from customers. Many good testimonials are hidden in the casual comments customers make during normal communications.
Dont overlook the positive comments you get by phone or in person. Write them down and add them to your file.
Next, look for some ways you can stimulate customers to give you testimonials. For example, send a postcard or email message to recent customers asking what they liked best about your product or service. Youll be surprised at some of the glowing comments you get.
You dont need a lot of testimonials before you can start using them. Three is normally enough unless your sales message is unusually long.
2. Try to Get Varied Testimonials
All of your prospects and customers are not exactly the same. Different aspects of your products and services are likely to appeal to different prospects.
Try to get testimonials that mention a variety of results achieved by your customers. The more benefits you can reveal with customer testimonials, the more business they will generate for you.
3. Some Testimonials Are Better Than Others
Avoid using testimonials that are not specific. For example, "I really liked your service a lot", is nice for you to know. But it wont stimulate many prospects to buy.
Instead, look for testimonials that describe specific results. For example, "In just 2 weeks I lost 9 pounds, feel years younger and still continue to enjoy my favorite foods." That testimonial will motivate anybody who wants to lose weight to get your program fast.
4. Get Permission to Use Testimonials
Always get your customers permission before using their testimonial. And tell them how they will be identified with the testimonial. For example, I usually include at least my customers name, city and state or country.
If you sell to businesses instead of to individuals you may want to include some other things about each customer with their testimonial. For example, your customers title, the company name, the type of industry or anything else that would appeal to other customers like them.
5. Highlight Testimonials When You Use Them
You can group all testimonials together in your sales letter or web page ...especially if the message is short. Or you can scatter them strategically throughout your message ...especially if the message is long. But always highlight testimonials so they stand out from the rest of your message.
For example, display them in italic letters enclosed in quote marks. On web pages you can further highlight them in yellow or some other color that contrasts with the background color of the page.
The 5 tips in this article revealed how you can get persuasive testimonials - and use them with maximum impact. Start applying these tips now in your business and you will quickly start converting more prospects into buyers.
Copyright 2004 Bob Leduc http://BobLeduc.com
About The Author
Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and prosper. Youll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NV
The Beginner Buyers Guide To Digital Cameras, Or The Ins And Outs Of Megapixels. – Digital Cameras
The Beginner Buyers Guide To Digital Cameras, Or The Ins And Outs Of Megapixels.
Warren Lynch
The most important part of buying a digital camera is making sure that the one you select meets all of your needs.
Digital Camera 101
Better digital cameras uses a chip called a "Charged Coupled Device" CCD instead of film. Light enters the camera, through the open shutter, and strikes the CCD where it is converted to digital data before being stored in the cameras memory.
While that is the simple description, things can get pretty complicated from there.
Megapixels & Resolution
Resolution is a measure of how many pixels are used to make a digital copy of an image. Pixels are tiny dots of light that make up a digital image.
The quality of a digital cameras image is usually measured in Megapixels where each megapixel represents one million pixels.
Heres how to determine how many megapixels youll need depending upon the type of photos you will be taking and what you intend to do with them.
1 megapixel
Almost obsolete, you might still find these in cell phones, PDAs, and desktop "web" cameras. Theyre OK if you only intend to email pictures to other people and those people arent going to be printing them.
1.1 to 2 megapixels
Only slightly better than the 1.0, this resolution is OK for an average 4x6 snapshot, but it isnt going to be a production quality image.
2.1 to 3 megapixels
This is the beginning of the decent camera range. You get very good 4x6 images and reasonably good 5x7 images. These cameras are low cost and provide a good platform for beginners.
3.1 to 4 megapixels
You are qualified to say that you have a "pretty good" camera. You get professional quality 4x6 images, real good 5x7 and 6x9 shots, and somewhat decent, but not great 8x10 images.
4.1 to 5 megapixels and up
People will be saying "Hey, great pictures!". You can count on professional images all the way up to 8x10s. Of course, as the megapixel count goes up, so does the price.
If you are only going to be viewing your pictures online, such as posting them at a photo site or using them on your web pages, keep your money in your pocket and pick yourself up something in the 1.5 megapixel range.
If you will be shooting pictures that will be printed at a print house, such as for brochures, postcards, etc, then you will need at least a 5 megapixel camera if not higher. Of course, youll also need to have a fat wallet or a lot of open to buy on your credit card because, even thought prices are steadily falling, these puppies arent cheap!
Once youve solved the megapixel puzzle, the rest of a digital cameras features, such as lens types, storage capacity and shutter speed are pretty routine and easy to understand. You shouldnt have a problem deciding on those features.
Join Photopheeds Daily Digital Dose and see Warrens Tips. Warren Lynch has been shooting commercial photography since 1979 in Louisville, Kentucky. Clients include Makers Mark Bourbon, Heaven Hill, Yum Brands, GE, Fruit of The Loom and many more highly recognizable brands. Have him make your product more recognizable too. Visit his website at www.wlynch.com or just him a call at 1-502-587-7722.
About The Author
Warren Lynch http://www.wlynch.com
Sign-up for Photopheeds Daily Syndicated Newsletter, the Daily Digital Dose and also receive Bi-Weekly Digital Photography Tips and Techniques from Warren Lynch an award-winning commercial photographer . http://www.photopheed.com
The Sellers Guide to the Buyers Eye – Real Estate
The Sellers Guide to the Buyers Eye
Elaine VonCannon
A strong tendency towards a sellers market will continue until the baby boomers finish the cycle of buying and selling real estate, estimated to end in 20 years, according to the Senior Real Estate Association. Baby boomers born between 1946-1964 are in their peak years for real estate investment.
Real estate investments will continue to be lucrative throughout the cycle. The realtor and seller must work together to develop strategies to compete in this market. New construction is booming, and re-sells are competing with them. If a buyer looks at a house that needs work, they may assume it