Why Testimonials are Number One in Selling your Book or Service

By Judy Cullins
Posted Tuesday, February 1, 2005

Even if your book or service is excellent, they won't sell well unless you give your potential customers a reason to buy. Testimonials work harder than other promotional words, so be sure to start early collecting them.

Back Cover Testimonials

Here, you will need three testimonials-- one from a celebrity or leader in your field, and the others the man or woman on the street--thrilled readers. These testimonials are the most important thing to include on your back cover--better than benefits, better than your bio, because your prospective buyers trust your book more when others recommend it.

Collect many more testimonials each time you email or meet someone interested in your topic. Put these in your front pages of your book.

Web and email Sales Letters Testimonials

Once you collect 5 - 10 testimonials loaded with specific benefits, keep them in your Word folder "Book Testimonials" and "Web Testimonials." Organizing your files and folders make it so much faster to retrieve these gems that help your sales grow.

Sprinkle your testimonials throughout your web site and email sales letter. If you don't have a Web site, check out with a good book and marketing coach how to sell via email. Ecommerce succeeds without investing a lot of money--a number one way to market Online.

Without a short or long sales letter, you have little chance of consistent monthly sales.

You Don't Have to Finish your Book to Get Testimonials

Think about the people you ask. Are they busy with their business and personal life? Know that they probably won't want to read the whole book. You need to make it easy for them to "buy."

In your first email or letter, include your chapter titles, your "tell and sell," a page or two from your best chapter. Say you know how busy they are and include a list of benefit words and phrase they can choose from to make it easier. Dan Poynter, self publishing guru, gave this testimonial for "How to Write your Print and eBook at the Same Time."

"This is not a book on how to write. It is a book on how to get it written. It is full of the shortcuts, experiences and tips only an insider could know. Whether you are working on an eBook or a pBook, you will find Judy Cullins' wisdom invaluable."
Dan Poynter, author of The Self Publishing Manual and
Writing Non-Fiction

If you are writing fiction, include a few of your best scenes from a chapter or two

Tip: Offer to email more of the book if your testimonial giver wants.

Write a List of 5-10 Benefits and 5-10 Features.

Know that benefits sell, features describe.

Boost your Book or Product Sales Beyond you Wildest Dreams With Simple Testimonial Steps in the eBook "How to Get Testimonials from the Rich and Famous."

This headline gives the benefit of boosting sales first, and then explains how to. Without letting your audience know the benefits, most will drop interest.

Notes:
Testimonials help ease doubts of first-time buyers, and they're especially useful for credibly conveying subjective strengths that distinguish your company from competitors. Imagine that you're sticklers for quality, for instance, and have a quote from someone describing the devastating flaws they received before switching to you.

You can deliberately collect testimonials with such an impact in mind. Here's how.

First, brainstorm a list of characteristics that separate you from competitors. Also list catastrophes that could occur when someone bought from vendors who fall short in respects where you excel.

Second, institute a routine of surveying new customers after you complete their first project. Besides making sure they were delighted with what you did, ask if they previously bought this sort of thing from someone else. If so, why did they switch?

Stay on the lookout for disaster stories, the more dramatic the better. There's no need to name the competitor involved. Get your customer's permission to encapsulate their tale of woe and rescue in a signed testimonial.

Gradually collect one blurb per distinguishing quality on your list and sprinkle them where shoppers will see them.

About the Author
Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including "Write your eBook Fast," and "How to Market your Business on the Internet," she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says...and Business Tip of the Month at (http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml) and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com