10 Most Effective Questions for Take-Action Testimonials

Client testimonials can make or break a web site. They are a vital factor in establishing a relationship of trust with new visitors to your site. Visitors want to see that others just like them have hired you or purchased your products and have successfully overcome some hurdle or some issue. Better yet, when the testimonials specifically note how the client’s life or business has been enhanced by buying your product or service, the visitor then begins to believe that it will help her overcome a similar issue, as well.

Several years ago I updated one of my sites. I continued to get phone calls from potential clients who wanted to hire me, but the calls were much different than I had gotten previously. The difference was that I spent the duration of the phone call in sales mode to convince them to hire me, which is something I hate to do. I’d never had to do that before. Typically when someone would call me, they were already sold on the concept of hiring me and just wanted to know when we could get started.

I racked my brain to try and figure out what in the world was going on and what had changed with these prospects. Suddenly it hit me that in the update of my site, my client testimonials had gotten lost in the process and weren’t on the new site. This gave me the motivation I needed to get additional testimonials from satisfied clients and determine how to best display those testimonials for maximum impact. Once I added those to my new site, things returned to normal and those rave reviews did all of my selling for me.

So, now you know that testimonials can serve as an important sales tool on your web site. How do you go about getting testimonials that say something more compelling than, “Jane is great to work with!”, which is useless for all practical purposes.

Here are ten questions you can ask your clients to get results-oriented testimonials for your online business:

1. What factors made you to choose my business to assist you with ?
2. What were your preconceived notions about using . For example, “What were your perceptions about working with an accountant before we started?”
3. How has that perception changed since you hired me/bought my product?
4. What do you like most about working with me/using the product?
5. Did you expect it would work as well as it did?
6. Did you have any objections/hesitations before you decide to hire us/buy the product? If so, what were they? How did we overcome your hesitation and objections?
7. What are the three biggest benefits of working with us/using the product? OR How has your life changed/things changed since you began using our service/product? Please be as specific as possible (i.e. we increased sales by 25% in 3 months; I lost 15 pounds in 20 days; I doubled my income last year). You may also want to ask this as a before/after question, i.e. “How are things different now after hiring us than they were before you hired us?”
8. If you were to recommend me to a colleague, friend, or business associate, how would you describe the way I provided my service to you (or, the way I helped you achieve a certain result)?
9. Is there anything else you’d like to add that I haven’t yet asked about?
10. Can I share this information in our marketing materials?

If you don’t have any client testimonials on your site, it’s not to late to go out and solicit a few. Use some or all of the questions noted above to increase the trust visitors have in your services and products and increase your sales dramatically!

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Online Business Coach and Internet Marketing Strategist Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online businesses that they love. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

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10 Most Effective Questions for Take-Action Testimonials

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4 Amazingly Simple Ways To Double or Triple Your Internet Sales!

It’s sad, but true. Most internet entrepreneurs are struggling with poor response, and have no idea how to go about increasing the effectiveness of their marketing beyond increasing the size of their advertising budget. This foolishness never ends.

The truth is, most internet marketers don’t have a problem getting traffic. They have problems converting browsers into buyers, and more often than not, the problem lies with their web copy.

It’s brutal, but bad copy is bad copy, long and short.

It costs nothing to tweak your web copy, and yet you can get measurable, marked improvements in response!

Here are 4 little known ways which cost nothing to implement to, radically improve your internet profits.

Response Booster #1: Add DRAMA!

Fact #1: It’s hard to get anybody’s attention

Fact #2: It’s hard to keep their attention

Read this:

“Bill was shocked. He had never seen so much blood in his life… it was almost nauseating. It wasn’t his fault. He buried his face in his hands and wept… she was such a lovely child….”

I bet you really want to know what happened next, don’t you?

Well, I don’t know what happened next either cause I just made that up. But I think this proves how powerful a device drama can be.

The key is to keep your reader hooked!

If your reader doesn’t read your copy, your copy has no chance of selling anything!

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from the famous mystery writer Dashiell Hammet, who gave other budding writers this advice:

“When in doubt, have someone come crashing through the door with a gun.”

Response Booster #2: Give Them The Facts

Do you know what’s the #1 trend online?

Skepticism.

There are way too many scandals in the political, economic, educational, religious and financial arena.

People just don’t know who to trust anymore, do you?

On the web, almost every mother’s son is THE GURU.

Who do you trust?

Does your sales letter answer the questions: Who are you, why should I pay attention to you and why should I buy from you?

You have to back up what you say with the cold, hard unadulterated FACTS.

Response Booster #3: Empathize

Here’s a direct quote from Robert Collier from his legendary out of print book, “The Robert Collier Letter book”:

“The reader of this letter wants certain things. The desire for them, is consciously or unconsciously, the dominant idea in his mind all the time. You want him to do a certain definite thing for you. How can you tie this up to the thing he wants, in such a way that the doing of it will bring him a step nearer to his goal?”

You must get out of your own ego and get into theirs!

When you truly know your prospect inside out, you’ll be able to display empathy in your sales copy, and be able to push their emotional buttons, and hit them in the “sweet spot” to make them say, “I really want to buy this.”

Response Booster #4: Dress Up

It’s really important that you know why your website looks the way it does.

While many will argue that it’s not always true… people DO judge a book by its cover, and for that matter, your website from how it looks.

You can radically increase the chance of your prospect doing business with you, by conveying credibility through your font and color section. It’s easy to tell an amateurish website from a professional.

If you don’t convey credibility, you’ll lose the sale as people are wary about credit card fraud, and there’s no way they will gamble with fate and give their credit card number to a website that looks like crap.

Ask yourself, “Do the graphics enhance readership and credibility, or are they there simply for the sake for being there?

This is the vest best “litmus test” for using graphics in your web copy.

There’s one more thing that stands between your web copy and the results you should be getting from it.

YOU.

Go for it!

Dan “The Man” Lok

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A former college dropout, Dan The Man Lok transformed himself from a grocery bagger in a local supermarket to an internet multi-millionaire. Dan came to North America with little knowledge of the English language and few contacts. Dan just created a 4-part video explaining exactly how he makes millions online, watch them here >> http://www.websiteconversionexpert.com/

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%%4 Amazingly Simple Ways To Double or Triple Your Internet Sales!%%

4 Amazingly Simple Ways To Double or Triple Your Internet Sales!

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11 Steps To Publishing Success

Even if your best friend owns a top publishing company, giving you an immediate “in”, this does not guarantee publishing success.

First, you have to write a quality book that has a clear target audience. And your book must answer a common problem or need that audience shares. Then you have to develop a marketing plan, and stick to it for at least two years.

Let’s begin with the process that should commence before you write your first word. Begin by reading A LOT. Read both books you passionately love and books you can’t seem to make it past page five. Then figure out what the author did in the book you loved, and what was wrong with the book you couldn’t finish. Write down these points so they are crystal clear to you. Read other people’s books for inspiration and to discover what you should avoid as a writer.

The next step is to plan out your book. Narrow down your subject, and then divide it into chapters. Each chapter should address a specific aspect of the problem your book is going to solve. In each chapter, break the specific aspect down into several parts. This will help your readers take in your information a bit at a time instead of overwhelming them with every bit of information clogging up the pages until they feel like they’re about to go blind. It’s not quite spoon-feeding the information to your readers, but it’s close.

The next two steps are obvious. Write your book and then revise it. And then revise it again. And perhaps again. Of course, writing is extremely hard, and writing a book can seem like an impossible task. There are many books out there that give you guidelines to help you become familiar—and even love—the process of writing and revision. Find a number of books about writing. Better yet, find a number of books about writing the specific type of book you aspire to write. These can serve as roadmaps on your writing journey.

Once you’ve written your e-book and revised it at least twice, show it to someone else whose opinion you respect. If you’re lucky enough to know a good editor, see if you have something to barter for him or her to go through your manuscript. Or join a writing group and let the other members critique your work.

Then take all these ideas from other people, and revise your manuscript one last time. And then stop! Put down that pen! Get your hands off the keyboard!

One of the most important steps to actually producing a book is to know when to stop writing and tinkering with it.

You’ve finally written your e-book! Pop open the bubbly! Give yourself a night out on the town!

Okay, now that this necessary celebration is out of your system, what do you do next?

Now the secrets to turning your e-book into profits…

E-books are a revolutionary way to publish your book without incurring the costs of print production. All you need is a relevant and targeted subject and some inexpensive software, and you can transform your manuscript into a book.

The problem, in terms of actually seeing any profits from your e-book, is that the market is overwhelmed with e-books, and many of them are not worth the time it takes to download them. Just because the ability exists to easily produce an e-book, doesn’t make it good writing.

Make sure your book does not simply rehash old material. You will injure your credibility as an author by claiming to offer valuable new insights and disappointing your audience with material they’ve read a zillion times before. So spend enough time writing and revising your book to make sure it’s of the highest quality and presents the most current information. A good book will eventually sell itself; false claims about your book will make it extremely difficult to sell any future books you may write.

Assuming you have determined that you do indeed have a quality product that answers some question or need of your target audience with NEW information, how do you know how much to charge for it? Rule number 1: Set a price for your book equal to its value. An under-priced book will only give the impression that your book isn’t worth very much.

To figure out a fair price, estimate how much time you put into creating it and how difficult it was to transform the necessary information into understandable and engaging writing. Figure out how much your time and effort is worth, and then price it accordingly. The goal is for you to be adequately compensated for your talent, your time, and your effort.

Once you’ve figured out a price that is high enough to convey the value of the book, but not so high as to be out of the reach of your target audience’s mean budget, then it’s time to offer it for sale on your website. To attract sales, you will need to develop a promotional campaign, particularly if you are an unknown author.

There are multitudes of books about self-promotion that will guide you in your efforts. Choose a plan that is both creative and professional. Learn how to write a catchy yet informative press release, and send copies of your e-book to sites that specialize in e-book reviews.

Learn how to write powerful sales copy, or hire someone to write it for you. This is an essential. You absolutely need excellent sales copy to sell your book. Make sure the copy includes all the reasons your target audience needs your book, and the benefits they will derive from buying it.

Use graphics in your promotional materials. Beautiful graphics have the power to instantly convey the quality and value of your e-book. Graphics can also convey the amount of valuable information the book contains, and your careful attention to detail. Professional graphics sell professional books. They reassure the customer that the product is what it claims to be.

Consider excerpting chapters for articles. You can offer these tidbits for free on your website as a sort of demo of your book. Include an order form for your e-book at the end of the excerpted articles.

Finally, when you set up your download link, make sure to simplify the process. It’s a good idea to offer a few bonuses that make your book even more enticing to purchase, but make sure the bonuses are valuable and high quality. Too many bonuses that are basically a load of useless stuff will compromise the impression your audience has of your e-book. The goal is to convey to your audience that they are getting a quality product for a good deal. That means applying restraint, especially when it comes to adding bonus items. Too much free stuff offered diminishes your credibility.

Make sure your book is a quality product. Make sure it is relevant and current. Develop an effective marketing plan that includes excellent sales copy and excerpted articles. Then offer your book for sale, and wait for your audience to discover you!

To recap the 11 steps to publishing success:

1. Start researching in your subject. Read a lot.
2. Plan a content structure for your e-book.
3. Don’t rehash old material.
4. Start writing and sustain your pace. Do not edit and write and the same time. Let the ideas and words flow from your mind first. You get to express more content in less time.
5. Know when to stop writing and start editing.
6. Price your e-book.
7. Design an e-cover for your book.
8. Get external reviews or find creative ways to get testimonies, e.g. barter trade.
9. Prepare a sales copy and set up a site promoting your e-book.
10. Consider creating a free giveaway version of your e-book.
11. Write articles related to your subject and submit them to major article directories. Your resource box points back to your sales page.

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Nelson Tan is the webmaster behind Internet Mastery Center. Download $347 worth of FREE Internet Marketing gifts at http://www.internetmasterycenter.com

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11 Steps To Publishing Success

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How a Business Can Go Green

Today, the term “going green” is used to describe steps that a business and its employees can take to lessen the company’s impact on the environment. Typically these steps involve lessening the “carbon footprint,” which means the amount of Carbon Dioxide generated by the business practices and processes of the company. For some, the practices are common-sense and practical steps to take to use less energy and thus save money and lessen the world’s dependency on oil. 

Adopting environmentally-friendly and energy efficient business practices provides numerous benefits to new business owners looking to control costs, attract customers, and become socially responsible.

Here are some important information on implementing an environmental strategy for your business, including steps to becoming energy efficient, compliant with environmental regulations, and a recognized “green business.”

Comply with Environmental Regulations

As a green business, you should practice what you preach. This means complying with all environmental regulations relevant to your business. Compliance not only protects the environment, it protects your business from fines and legal action from the government. .

Develop an Environmental Management Plan

Running a green business means creating an environmentally-friendly, energy efficient workplace. A sound environmental plan will help minimize your company’s eco-footprint, and encourage green business practices throughout your organization.

Build Green

If you are opening a business in a new or remodeled building, make sure you build green and install energy efficient heating and air conditioning systems, appliances, equipment and lighting.

Buy Green Products  -

Consider buying green products that are

1. Made from post-consumer, recycled materials
2. Bio-based
3. Non-toxic
4. Energy efficient rated products
5. Renewable and recyclable
6. Locally produced, such as food that is locally grown and organic
7. Purchase ENERGY STAR or other energy-rated appliances and office equipment
8. Provide energy saving tips to your employees
9. Seek green power and renewable energy sources

Adopt Energy Efficient Practices

Good energy management is good business. The prudent and conservative use of energy is one of the easiest and most cost effective steps you can take to cut costs, increase profitability, and create shareholder value. Given the potentially high returns and minimal risk, implementing energy efficiency practices is at the core of most business environmental management strategies.

Conduct an Energy Audit

Whether you are opening a home based business or moving into an existing commercial building, having an energy audit conducted on your facility will help you quickly identify areas where you can save energy costs.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Wastes

Most businesses can save a substantial amount of money by reducing waste. In addition to lower removal costs, waste reduction measures help cut costs on raw materials, office supplies and equipment. Furthermore, by streamlining your operations to reduce waste, you may also be able to enhance your overall efficiency, productivity and public image.

Develop waste management procedures throughout your operations that includes:

1. Use of post-consumer, recycled products
2. Elimination of excessive product packaging materials
3. Optimized use of paper products
4. Participation in recycling programs, such as EPA’s WasteWise

Conserve Water

The increased demand on our nation’s water supply is threatening human health and the environment. By implementing a water efficiency program, you can not only help conserve this precious resource, but cut your costs associated with buying, heating, treating and disposing of it.

1. Have a water audit conducted at your facility by your local water agency
2. Conserve water using best available technology and water saving equipment utilities
3. Minimize discharges to sewer/wastewater

Prevent Pollution

Every business generates waste. For some, it may be only waste paper or dirty water; for others, it may be hazardous or toxic wastes that require special handling and disposal.

Whatever the type or volume of waste your company generates, it is costing you money. You pay for what you use twice – once when you buy it and the second time when you throw it away. The bottom line is that preventing waste will save you money.

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How to Master the Art of Customer Loyalty, 4 Simple Tips

All sorts of literature have been put together about the fundamental role that customers play in the ongoing success of every profit-based organisation across the World. A great deal has also been said in management training about the tactics that businesses should adopt in order to attract and retain these customers. Do any of us really have the time to leisurely search through the ramblings of scholarly articles and research papers? Do you want to know the winning formula for running your own business – without having to waste your time sifting through heaps of books and magazines?

If this seems familiar, then keep reading. These points are put forward here in a clear and easily readable style, helping you to – “step by step”, design you own tailored customer-oriented tactics.

- Today’s customers have more choices than they can comprehend, and because of this, the task of maintaining customer loyalty is getting tough for businesses everywhere. Most customers genuinely want to do their shopping at just one place, but they end up going elsewhere when their current favorite isn’t able to give them the personalised service and bargain prices which they feel they’re entitled to receive. Establish personalised relationships with each of your customers – don’t treat them like cash machines, and make a point of trying to understand them by making a personal connection.

- Be sincere with your customers. Customers don’t need your attitude; they look forward to your empathy. Listen to what your customers have to say, identify their needs, and then do everything you can to fulfil their ambitions.

- Treat your customers seriously – they can be smarter than you think. Take periodic feedback from your customers and incorporate their ideas into your products and services.

- Your responsibility isn’t over when the customer walks out of the shop with the product. As business coaching experts say, the real task, in fact, begins after that. Tracking the customers to learn their level of satisfaction and the overall workings of the purchased products will leave your customers with a pleasant thought that there is someone listening to their grievances.

- Lastly, small gestures can leave lasting impressions. Try to remember the Birthdays and Anniversaries of your regular customers. Always strike up a friendly conversation when a customer walks into your place of business. Help them to choose the best product or service for their needs, and most importantly of all – never fleece them.

These simple strategies can help any business become a favourite among its customers. For organisations that don’t have the resources to spend “big money” on advertising, these five suggestions can act as a guideline for understanding common customer tendencies. Winning over loyal customers doesn’t always take thorough planning and sustained effort. Usually, just a bit of genuine sensitivity in your business dealings along with a rock-bottom price and a personalised approach is all that may be required to win the long term loyalty of your new and existing customers.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of the L2L Group. He specialises in delivering Executive Coaching, Training and Consultancy Services to International Businesses across the World. Want to discover more about these insightful business building success strategies? Get Alan’s essential FREE Business Pack today!

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