Every business person who has any kind of product or service, and the merest beginning of marketing sense, invites TESTIMONIALS.

These might be called "reviews" or "peer reviews" or "customer comments" but they are all testimonials - a third party endorsement as to the merits of a product which helps another potential customer decide whether they wish to engage with this product or service.

Customer testimonials are a wonderful thing for the merchant/marketer, because customers often pick up on benefits the marketer hadn't thought of, and their use of personal words and phrasings can bring the product/service to life in a whole new way.

Whenever I am asked by someone to submit a testimonial, I am always delighted. If I like the product or the person involved, this is a wonderful opportunity for me to pay back in kind whenever I can.

Because I always heed a call and have written many reviews and testimonials, I learned that there are AMAZING BENEFITS in testimonials - you actually get much, much more that you give on this occasion!

Here's what YOU get out of it:

The first benefit is peer-to-peer lifting.

If you comment meta on an expert's products, or review it, or give a testimonial for it, it puts YOU on a par with the peer you are reviewing and raises YOUR status.

A real testimonial is signed with full name and contact details; that is absolutely a perfect "mini advertisement" for you, right there!

Next, we have the marketing challenge of writing a GOOD testimonial for print, and to create one for audio, or voice recording, with the onset of audio testimonials you can now hear on many commercial websites.

For a lot of beginners in marketing, to get away from their own products and to consider things from the CUSTOMER'S point of view for a change for someone else is just what the doctor ordered to get some new perspective ON THEIR OWN products and marketing efforts and wordings.

So this is also a great learning exercise as well.

Wherever the testimonial goes (and some of our most used testimonials from peers are on more than a dozen websites, on stationary, catalogues, products, advertisements, print brochures - everywhere!) there goes YOUR name, YOUR web address - that's the REAL PAYMENT for a USEFUL testimonial from the person who asked for it.

And that's FREE QUALITY ADVERTISING!

What is a useful testimonial?

Useful testimonials contain:

• good soundbites (no third party waffle, in other words),
• congruency and enthusiasm,
• no self advertising,
• GIVING to the thing you're testifying to with all your heart and soul;
• short and concise;
• clearly highlighting BENEFITS YOU have really received from the product or service;
• HONEST.

Useless testimonials, ones that will NOT get printed, used, displayed on the other hand are those which:

• try to sell yourself on the back of the other or their products,
• convoluted ambiguous waffle,
• going on about some hobby horse of self instead of focussing on THE BENEFITS OF THE PRODUCT OR SERVICE;
• sounding arrogant,
• trying to be cleverer than the product you're reviewing or commenting upon.

So, and to sum up, this is what you get for under ten minutes of your time when you choose to write and submit a star testimonial.

• Status.
• Valuable learning experience.
• FREE and possibly LONG TERM HIGH QUALITY advertising for yourself.
• Your chance to reach a new and different audience.
• Finding out about giving leading to receiving in actuality.

All for ABSOLUTELY FREE!

And here's the last tip.

When you see a product or service that uses testimonials, which you also use and where you are aware of the benefits, stop and send in your testimonial immediately.

If you support it by a picture of your beautiful self, it is even more likely that the recipients will be delighted to display it for them AND for you - and this is advertising exposure of the highest quality indeed.