"Facts tell, stories sell" is a phrase that you may have heard of. It is absolutely true when it comes down to the marketing of products and services too. It is obviously important to describe your product and how it can benefit the customer, but it is just as important to utilize powerful testimonials in your marketing materials.

So what is a testimonial exactly? A testimonial is essentially a story that has been provided by a third party which says good things about your product or service. For example, have you ever seen one of those infomercials for an exercise product? They always include testimonials displaying both the before and after images of using the product.

Why do testimonials work so well? They work because people tend to believe a 3rd party person more than they believe you. The reason why is because you have a financial incentive to tell me the product is good because if I buy it, you get paid. A 3rd party person has no financial incentive to say good things about the product. Therefore, the only reason why they would say good things about the product is if those good things were really true.

So how do you get testimonials for your products?

One of the most effective ways to get testimonials for your product or service is to provide a free copy to a few of your target market prospects in exchange for a testimonial. You may be giving up potential sales, but using this strategy will pay for itself over and over again for years to come since that it will allow you to increase the sales of your product drastically. This is a win-situation for everyone involved. You get excellent testimonials that you can use in your marketing and your prospects receive a great product for no cost.

If you have a product that you have already made sales for in the past, one way that you can get testimonials is to contact some of your previous customers. Ask them what they liked best about your product and ask them if they would be wiling to give a testimonial. John Reese, the author of a home study course called Traffic Secrets (which is unfortunately no longer in print) implemented this strategy after he made some initial sales of his course. He sent an email to all of his customers asking them if they wouldn't mind sharing a testimonial as to how this home study course helped them in their business.

As a result of this strategy, John Reese received HUNDREDS of testimonials about the quality of his home study course, as well as the positive results his students achieved as a result of applying what they learned from the course. He then turned around and displayed many of these testimonials of the sales letter of the web site he promoted the Traffic Secret course on. Regardless of what your product or service is, you can use this exact strategy.

By using testimonials in your marketing, you would be amazed when you see the results it gives you. Try it. Build a page with testimonials and then one without a testimonial and measure to see which page has a better conversion rate.