Tutorial

How Often Should You Email Your Subscribers?

All marketers will know that building an email list should be your number one priority when starting out in any kind of online business. If you ask any marketer what they would do if they had to start again, most will invariably say that they would start to build their list from day one and wish they would’ve done this the first time around.

This is because an email list is an asset you own, unlike the many social media platforms that you may be on who can shut you down without any notice at all.

So, after you have started to build your list what then? Well, you email them on a regular basis with useful help, tips and advice. You should also try to entertain them and open up to them and show them the real you rather than a business persona.

This opening up builds the know, like and trust factor that will make them more likely to buy from you again and again.

The key is to be yourself and don’t try to fake it. They want to know about you and your perspective on things or they wouldn’t have signed up.

You can also send them offers that you may think they will be interested in but the key here is not to promote everything under the sun (especially poor quality products that you haven’t personally invested in).

They want to know that you have their best interests at heart and that you don’t just think of them as a commission on a sale!

So, now you have an email list and have started to write to them; great.

The next question is, “How often should you email your list?”

Believe it or not, this is one of the most commonly asked questions regarding email marketing. Some marketers say that you should mail daily so that your list can get to know you.

You’ll be creating a habit where they look forward to your emails. This is true and there are several marketers who mail their list several times a day and make six figure earnings from email marketing.

On the other hand, many other marketers feel that you shouldn’t swamp your list with emails or they’ll get fed up and unsubscribe. So, they mail less often… but they make good money too.

So who is right? How often do you mail out?

The truth is that there is no right or wrong answer to this question. It depends on several factors ranging from the people on your list to the type of marketer that you want to be. We’ll look at a few tips below and they’ll shed light on how frequently you should mail.

The Golden Rule

The golden rule is that you should do unto others as you’d want others to do unto you. If you do not mind receiving several emails from marketers promoting products every single day, you’d probably have no qualms mailing your list daily or even several times a day.

However, if you prefer getting one email every 3 or 4 days from a marketer and daily emails seem like too much for you, you can choose to email every 3 or 4 days.

You’ll feel better about yourself… and this will reflect in your emails.

You’ll also attract subscribers who prefer fewer but better emails. It’s of vital importance that you do what’s right for you and your list.

If several people on your list tell you that they prefer fewer emails, then mail less frequently. You must have a ‘feel’ for your list.

What Type Of Marketer Do You Want To Be

There are two types of marketers when it comes to email marketing. One type follows the ‘Churn and Burn’ method of email marketing.

Basically, they release products constantly and use traffic generation methods such as solo ads and paid ads to build their list.

They then hammer this list with emails promoting offer after offer after offer. This can be very effective and they may make thousands of dollars doing it.

However, they’ll burn out their list quick and this explains why they keep having to add new subscribers to the list.

The second type of marketer sends fewer emails to the list and he or she is more concerned about building a relationship and rapport with the list. The focus is on repeat customers and the long term value of the customer.

Their goal here is to build a business and not sacrifice long term profits for short term rewards.

Providing value and helping their list is put ahead of short term profits. They treat their subscribers as people and not cash cows.

Both methods are just as profitable… and ultimately, you should choose one that you’re comfortable with.

Do You Have Something To Sell?

If you feel like you have something to sell to your subscriber that will be of value to them, cast aside your hesitation and mail away. Just make sure you exercise due diligence and check the product out first.

Never make the mistake of blindly promoting a product that you don’t have a clue about. Like they say, trust takes years to earn and seconds to break.

A good practice to follow will be to always have a link to something a subscriber can buy. Even when you’re sharing information and providing value to your list, there should always be one link in your email that will take them to your store or a product that they could buy.

Curious subscribers will click on the links and you will make sales. So, even if your emails are purely helpful content, do find a way to add a link or two subtly within the email that could lead to sales. After all, you are a marketer and you do need an income to keep your business going.

At the end of the day, the best way to know how often you should email your list is to self-reflect on your business goals and to do what is comfortable for you. Monitor your email open rates, click through rates and unsubscribes. With these stats you’ll have all the information you need to figure out just how often your list wants to hear from you.

If you want to know more about building your list after they have opted in, check out the featured resource below where you can get a free report about simple list building to expand your knowledge further.

Breaking Goal Setting Down To Maximize Success

How do you move a mountain? One shovelful at a time. It’s a cute saying, but how many of us grab the shovel and start frantically banging away at the mountain, trying to whittle it down through sheer brute force?

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the size of the mountain. It’s easy to get frustrated and angry because the challenge seems insurmountable.

That’s why so many ideas to help change your life fail—the frustration gives us an out, a way to rid ourselves of something so vast. It’s an open invitation for defeatism and defeatist thinking.

So how do you move a mountain? You make it into a series of tasks. You have the end goal; now you have to make your timeline. The catch is – you need to make it backward. You need to start with the year-long goal first and then slice it into 12 parts (one for each month).

Then slice each of those into four sections (one for each week) and then each of those into seven (one for each day). See the pattern?

Let’s look at this in a little more detail:

Figure Out Your Big Year-Long Goals

Although it might not be the whole mountain that you’re looking at, your yearly goal should be BIG. At least big enough to be a little scary.

There is wisdom in the expression that “it’s only the frightening things that keep us interested.”

What’s big enough to be a little bit frightening without taking you off into the world of outright terror? What will challenge you this year?

Most of our big goals run into a few general categories.

Career. Are you looking for a new job or a promotion? Do you want to leave a low-paying job and get something with a better future or more in line with what you like to do? Is there something you’ve always wanted to do that would boost your career significantly (like gaining certification or additional training) but that you’ve never taken the time to do? Now might be the time.
Heath and fitness. Many people make goals to get “healthy.” The problem with that this kind of goal is not measurable. “Healthy” can mean many things to different people. Does “healthy” mean losing weight? Not necessarily. It could be exercising more. It could be eating better and less junk food. It could mean making sure you get enough sleep at night. Be specific in your goal. Ask yourself how it can be measured and quantified.
Fun. This goal is also rather vague. What do you consider to be “fun?” For some, a day at the beach would be fun, for others, it would boring. Often “fun” is used as a placeholder for some activity that involves being alone or alone with a significant other. Think about times in the past that you considered ‘fun.’ What were the elements in common? Create a goal then that incorporates those elements. If fun is your goal, be specific about what fun means to you.
Relationships. This goal often arises in several parts. Sometimes we want to have a relationship, whether friendship or romantic, that we don’t already have. Or it might be we want to strengthen an existing relationship. Ask yourself where in your relationships you need the most help. Remember that you might need to enlist the cooperation of the person you’re having the relationship with to succeed here. Resolving to spend more time with a person only works if they’re likewise interested in spending more time with you.
Giving. Donating to your favorite charity is the most obvious goal in this category, but it might be that you’d like to take your commitment to the cause a little deeper this year. Consider giving your time and talent to your community. But don’t forget that giving time to your family also counts here. Often we become so caught up in work and the pressure to earn money and support the family, that we sacrifice the time we could be spending with them. Re-evaluate where you give your time, and then consciously choose where you want to spend it.

Instead of making a New Year’s resolution, sit down for an hour or so and daydream about this time next year. What do you want this year to look like at the end of it? Who do you want to be in this year? Be specific. And don’t worry about “how.” That part comes later. Just figure out the “what” for now.

Decide what you can reasonably do in a month. If you’re taking a rock here and there from the mountain, it will never look any different. You need to concentrate on one small part at a time. Go back to that year-long goal and pick something that you can realistically do in a month.

Now, schedule a re-occurring appointment with yourself once per month to reflect on the progress you’ve made so far on this goal. Look at the long-term plan, the mountain you’re going to move (because you are going to push it), and fix what you can accomplish in the next 30 days. Write that down too.

Take the mountain out in monthly chunks. If your overall goal is to change your career, one month might involve learning a new skill set, say a programming language. The next month might be getting real-world experience by designing and building a website for a charity for free, just as a demonstration project.

Break That Down Into Weekly Goals

This time, the re-occurring meeting with yourself is once each week. It can be a shorter meeting, about 15 – 20 minutes to plan out some steps you can take to get closer to your goal in the next seven days.

Write these down. For example, using the idea of working toward a change in careers, week one might be researching the best programming languages to study and which ones are in highest demand. Week two might be working through the first half of the book or video course you have on learning the language, while week three would be finishing the book and making some test programs, and so on.

Maybe you won’t have a finished web page or object-oriented database interface by the end of the week, but you’re making progress to get you there.

Now you’re ready to look at the wheelbarrow full of rocks. In the morning, jot down your to-do list for the goal you have in mind. Following the previous example, you might be doing the next three lessons in the language tutorial, finding a server to create pages on, or learning how to create that database.

Dividing the mountain into successively smaller and smaller pieces makes it easy to see how daily goals become weekly become monthly become annual goals, and moving the mountain suddenly becomes doable. If nothing else, it removes the overwhelming initial fear of trying.

This type of planning is flexible and powerful. Instead of saying, “I am moving that mountain,” all you’re saying is “I have a wheelbarrow full of rocks to put over there.” You still have the scary, impressive goal to aim for, but you’ve made it manageable. It’s now broken into bite-sized chunks that you can handle on a day to day basis.

Take control. No one will care about your goals like you will. The timeline here is yours, so take ownership of it. Our calendars control too many of us, instead of us being in control of our calendars.

One final note: Do you know someone that cannot make a move without checking their calendar? Are you one of them? If so, you might be begrudging the time set aside for contemplation each week or each month to get caught up on the progress. Don’t. It’s your schedule, and the end goal is worth the time. If that weren’t the case, you wouldn’t have gotten this far.

You have work/school/kids to work around your schedule. That’s understandable. Few of us do not have a full dance card. But isn’t achieving this beautiful far-flung dream worth skipping an hour of TV each week? What if you sacrificed that time you’d spend playing that game on your phone, or checking Facebook?

Prioritize the time in your week/month by the core values you have. How important is this goal? Where does it rank against the other items in your to-do list? Spending time with the family might be more critical, but maybe spending time vacuuming isn’t.

This fact is especially important for children. Trying to achieve a balance between work and family, and still finding time for some self-investment is a delicate thing. Remember that word – this is an investment. You are investing time and energy and even money into your future. Keep in mind; the payout will benefit you as well as your family.

While this tool is a form of time management, it’s a different type. It’s counting down, making the goal smaller and smaller instead of planning. You’re planning backward – to go forward. Stay the course, and those yearly goals won’t know what hit them!

How To Write A 5 Star Kindle Book

Let’s say you want to write a Kindle book.

And further, let’s say you want to make sure it gets 5 star reviews and makes you a very nice, juicy, residual income.

Here’s how you might do exactly that:

First, choose a BIG niche that sells really well.

When you’re talking about Kindle, you’re talking about VOLUME. After all, a $2-4 profit on a book means you’ve got to sell a lot of books to make real money.

Selling a lot of books means you need a big money-making niche – something like:

Food / cooking
Self-development
Relationships
Making money
Diet / weight loss
Health / fitness

You can’t go wrong with any one of these niches.

Now then, narrow your niche down to a specific topic. For example, you might narrow down “Diet and weight loss” to “How to lose belly fat after 40.”

Forget about reinventing the wheel – it takes too much time and it’s too risky. Instead, you’re going to improve the wheel.

Go to Amazon and search for all the belly fat and fat loss books, especially the ones tailored for people over 40.

You’re interested in anything in this sub-niche that is selling under the Kindle Bestseller rank of 20,000.

Why? Because of they’re under 20,000, then they’re likely selling about 10-15 books per day or more.

What – that doesn’t sound like a lot? Okay, let’s do some quick math:

If a book has a profit of $3 per sale, and is selling 15 copies per day, then that’s $45 per day.

Okay, I know that’s not going to make you rich, but think about this: At $45 per day, times 30 days, is $1,350 per month… Residual…

…As in, you publish the book once and get paid over and over again.

Increase the price or increase the sales and your profits go up.

Look, I can’t tell you how many copies you will sell, but if you do what I’m about to suggest, and you do it once a month, in a year you can have 12 residual revenue streams from 12 books.

Multiply 12 times $1,350 and see what that is per month.

Now do I have your interest?

Okay, back to your research…

You’re going to find these books in your subniche that are ranking under 20,000 and you’re going to read the reviews – especially the five star and one star reviews.

Make a list of everything people love about each book, and everything they hate.

For example, the list of things people love might be:

Great motivation, made me want to start losing the fat immediately
Liked the diet examples
Enjoyed the tips, especially the ones about exercise

And things people didn’t like might be:

Not enough sample exercises
Not enough resources – where are we supposed to find the things the author recommended?
Too many typos – should have edited it better.

Write down all of that.

Now then, you’re going to keep what the customers liked, and improve what they didn’t like.

NO PLAGIARIZING, by the way.

You’re going to write your own book – or outsource it – with specific instructions on what to include.

That’s right – you don’t even need to write it yourself. Just give your instructions on what to include and how to write it to an outsourcer and let them handle it for you.

Your book will contain everything people love about the other books, and everything improved about what they didn’t like about the other books.

Do this and there is no reason for people to give you negative reviews, which is important.

As you know, Amazon reviews are HUGELY important.

Your book will eventually get more sales than the books it is modeled on as you get more and more positive reviews.

Meaning your income should surpass that of your competitor’s books.

Now then, rinse and repeat for your next book, and the next, and…

WAIT! Two more things…

First Impressions Count

First: Your book cover must be so mesmerizing that it STOPS Amazon customers in their tracks.

Everyone is busy. They’re skimming. They’re in a hurry. And there are hundreds of books in your category.

If your cover doesn’t stand out, and I mean STAND OUT – then the battle is lost.

You can have the greatest book ever written, but if the cover stinks then you will get few sales.

Here’s what to do: Find a great Kindle cover designer on Fiverr. You might need to pay more than $5 – it’s worth it.

Ask them to make your title(s) BIG and BOLD.

Remember, on Kindle a lot of people are looking at titles on their smart phones. If the titles are small, they can’t read them.

Ask for high resolution graphics, because people associate higher resolution with higher quality.

Second Thing:

Get Some Reviews

Now, when I say reviews, I mean REAL reviews.

Some people might tell you to get fake reviews from Fiverr or review exchange groups, but don’t do it.

Amazon has gotten smart about these things and they are cracking down.

Instead, ask your friends, family, acquaintances and so forth for real, legitimate reviews.

Also, place an email opt-in page with a nice freebie at the beginning and end of your book. This will build you an email list of readers.

ASK your readers (politely) for reviews.

What About Promotion?

Good question. Here’s how to do a killer promotion that gets your book ranking high on Kindle:

So far you’ve got a great book, a captivating cover, genuine reviews – you’re already ahead of 98% of the other books on Kindle.

The only thing left for you to do is shoot your rankings up on Amazon.

Here’s what you do…

Enroll In KDP Select

Promote your book on as many promotion sites as you can find. There are all kinds of Facebook groups dedicated to free Kindle books.

Set your book on a free promotion through KDP Select.

Your goal is to get your book downloaded like crazy in spikes, because this is what catches Amazon’s attention and gets your book ranking higher.

Also, if you have a series of books (HINT HINT) then link all of your books together. As soon as one KDP Select promotion is over, set the second book on promotion and so forth. This will cross-promote your books and your sales should see a compound effect.

Continue the above, along with building your lists (remember you’re placing an offer to get on your list inside your books.) Whenever you publish a new book, let your list know. Let them download it for free during the KDP Select promotion, and ask them to leave reviews.

Rinse and repeat and repeat and repeat…

If you really want to scale this, you’ll hire someone to act as project manager and you’ll start publishing multiple books per week, outsourcing everything.

Yes, this is a six, or maybe seven figure business if you stick with it.

And you thought we were just going to talk about writing a single Kindle book…

…okay, if you only want to do ONE book for now, make it a great one and tie it in with something else you’re doing.

For example, if you’re a coach or consultant or provide services, let your book be your ambassador and show the world that YOU are the expert.

It makes for a much better and more effective business card than a little slip of paper with your name and phone number on it.

The sky’s the limit, so have fun and become a best-selling author THIS month before you put it off any longer.

Have An Unbeatable Opt In Offer

Do me a favor, will you? Go to Google and look up a few niche blogs. Start by typing in the niche word and then the word blog such as “insomnia blog” or “dog training blog.”

Now look and see what, if any, opt in boxes you see on the blog. If it’s a good blog marketer (and not just some random person blogging about their personal life), they’ll have a subscriber area.

As you go through the page 1 SERP (search engine results page) links, notice the difference between opt in forms that simply say, “sign up for updates” or “sign up for the free newsletter” and those that address the visitor’s urgent problems.

Here’s a stark contrast you can see as an example. On one website the opt in form looks like this:

But land on a different insomnia site and the results are much different:

Wow! On this one you’re promised the newsletter, but also a FREE Sleep Starter Kit you can use TONIGHT.

There’s a big difference in who is addressing the visitor’s urgent issue of being sleep deprived.

Another site, located at http://www.insomnialand.com/blog, promises a free sleep training kit and says you’ll be sleeping better within 2 weeks.

So the problem with bland opt in offers is that they don’t address the visitor’s problems with any urgency – and they don’t entice people enough to fork over the name and email details.

So what can you offer that sets you apart from other marketers in the same niche?

Find Out What Your Niche Needs

One of the worst offenses to your visitors is to offer them something they don’t even need. When you think of need, dig down deep. Dig where it hurts – where they feel desperation.

Instead of “How to Have Pretty Skin,” touch on the concept of shame and beauty with a report called, “7 Ways to Clear Up Acne Overnight.”

Be specific about the problem.

Add a sense of urgency to the mix.

It’s not enough to offer a report on how to make your first $100 online, but offer it on how to make that first $100 today.

If you don’t have a list at all yet and you don’t know what they need; start researching. Where do you look? First, turn to forums. This is where people routinely go when they need advice from others in the same predicament.

You can go to Google and type in the niche and the word forum and visit a myriad of forums to see what people need. So here’s a great example: http://www.psychforums.com/insomnia – when you go there, you don’t even need to go into the threads to get some great opt in report ideas for insomnia, such as:

Natural Insomnia Remedies
How to Fix a Messed Up Sleep Schedule
How to Sleep When You Don’t Feel Tired
A Beginner’s Guide to Curing Insomnia

Another place you can visit for ideas on what consumers need is the comment section of other blogs. Whenever you see a blog with a thriving community, people will often comment and discuss their needs – especially if the post doesn’t answer all of their questions.

For instance, if you see a comment that talks about the difference between insomniacs and perpetual thinkers, that could spark the idea for you to create a report called “Do You Really Have Insomnia?” where you differentiate between someone having sleep problems and someone whose mind won’t shut off.

Another place to look and see what people need in any niche is through keyword tools. There are free and paid tools. Ubersuggest is a free option. Just type in your niche and you can see what people want to know.

Using this tool, if I type in “insomnia” first, one of the top 10 listings is “insomnia cures.” Click on it and go one step further, and you see report ideas such as:

Insomnia cures for depression
Insomnia cures during pregnancy
Natural insomnia cures

Deliver Value They Would Gladly Pay For

For many marketers, their big mistake isn’t in coming up with an idea. They mess up when they fail to provide value. You see, this is your very first impression with a potential new subscriber.

You want to go above and beyond and wow your audience with what you over deliver to them. So when you sit down to start planning your opt in offer, think of it as a paid offer.

You want to give away a whole course. Something where they download it or access it and can’t believe you just gave that away. This will do more than just appease a new audience – it will have them sharing it with others.

When you finish creating your opt in offer, put a price on it. In fact, you might even create a page somewhere online where you’re selling it for that price. That way you can show more value by saying, “My FREE Gift to You: Download My Insomnia Kit Now (Regularly $27)!”

But don’t skimp on the information. Your subscribers will know if you’re trying to dupe them.

They want true value, and if you prove yourself the first time, chances are they’ll turn into rabid, loyal subscribers form that point on.

It will also help you increase conversions whenever you do put a product out in the marketplace. Your readers will be thinking, “Wow, if s/he gives this much value away for FREE, I can’t begin to imagine what great information s/he’s charging for!”

Beat The Competition

You want to be the best you can be at all times with your business. But you also want to make sure you’re better than the other guy. Always one step ahead of him and outperforming his offer.

So that means competition spying time! Go through the same steps you did when you were first checking out the offers for your niche on page one of this report. Make notes about what offers are already out there.

The best way to one up the competition is to get on their list. Go through their system and be a subscriber so that you can experience the pros and cons this other marketer has to offer.

Look at every detail of their opt in freebie. How big is it? Is it broad, generic information or detailed and specific? Do they have poor spelling and grammar? Do they have blatantly wrong information?

Make notes of everything you like and dislike and keep those handy whenever it’s time to create your own offer. So for example, if one insomnia expert said in his report, “have good sleep hygiene,” but he didn’t expand on what that meant, you make sure you do in your report.

Make your opt in offer longer, meatier, and more informative than the competition. Another way to do it better to be very cutting edge with your information.

So take your niche and go to Google and type it in. Then click on the News tab. So here’s an article I just pulled from the recent news about insomnia:

https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-go-back-to-sleep

You can add that to your report. This up-to-date research might give someone a huge relief from their worry – or it might alert them to urgent information they need to know now.

Offer Multiple Formats For Your Prospective Subscribers

Many marketers have nothing to offer. Just updates. That’s the worst type of opt in offer to have. Anyone can go to your blog through their bookmarks, or choose to use an RSS feed to check in.

Here are some of the formats you can choose to offer for your new subscribers:

Email Series

These can be done in a variety of ways. Usually it’s a timing slant. So for instance, you could offer:

7 Day Diet Plan
2 Week Sleep Improvement Course
365 Day Stress Relief Tips

Short Report

Like this report, you can create a short PDF file for your subscribers to download and devour. Extra points if you encourage them to share it virally with their friends!

Membership Access

Give someone access to something exclusive – a membership site. You can have a free level where users get in and get to see inside, and then they can level up to a gold or silver membership.

Audio File

Not everyone likes text. Some people like to learn on the go. You can create a podcast that subscribers love. It can be you talking or you interviewing someone – or even you being interviewed by someone else!

Video File

A video course is a great opt in freebie. Not everyone has fast Internet, so if you go this route, give them the download files to watch on their desktop so they don’t have to worry about streaming speed.

Split Test Your Offers

Make sure that whatever option you choose when creating an unbeatable opt in offer, you test and tweak throughout the year. Set up a split test so that you have different offers.

See what people like best. Test different formats for the same information. Test different offers completely. Test different ways of saying what it is you’re offering them as a freebie.

OK, there are 5 thing that you can do to create an unbeatable opt-in offer. If you want to know more about building your list after they have opted in, check out the featured resource below where you can get a free report about simple list building.

10 Ways To Use Testimonials To Boost Sales

Do you know what an ego booster testimonial is?

It goes something like this: “Joe Smith is the greatest, nicest, smartest, sweetest, sexiest, gutsiest, tallest, handsomest guy I know – buy his stuff!”

It sounds good to Joe Smith. Heck, it sounds AMAZING to Joe Smith.

But does it sell his stuff? Generally, no.

Prospects who read testimonials like that either think they’re written by a friend, or they simply have nothing to do with the product at hand.

So how do you write a great testimonial, and more importantly, how can you use them to boost sales in your business?

Here are 10 tips to do just that:

Use Ego Booster Testimonials Sparingly

If they’re the only ones you have right now, then they’ll have to do for now.

Most people won’t like testimonials like these and will probably not believe them anyway and if you use them too much it could even put people off.

So, you really need to work on getting better testimonials that actually convert.

Focus on results-based testimonials

Results based testimonials are really powerful. Here is an example of one:

“After using the xyz product, my conversions increased by 4% and my overall sales increased by $32,958 in three months.”

Your audience is going to be putting themselves in the shoes of this person, and thinking they can get results like that, too.

Which is exactly what you want, by the way.

Got Plain Text Testimonials? Add Photos

A photo of a face – regardless of how pretty or not pretty it might be, can increase the likelihood of your testimonial being read by as much as 80%.

Plus, it adds credibility that your testimonial is real.

Don’t underestimate the power of seeing the person behind the testimonial; we are social creatures and seeing faces will definitely make readers more likely to believe them.

Use Big Numbers

If you’ve got a testimonial that uses numbers, then feature those numbers as a big, bold headline. For example:

32,955 3X $26,598

Additional Visitors Conversions More Income

“After implementing just one traffic technique that Josh taught me, I got 32,955 more visitors in one month, three times as many conversions, and made an extra $26,598 for the month.”

Add Headers And Footers To Your Video Testimonials

Video testimonials are great, but… not everyone watches them. And of those who do watch, not everyone watches the whole thing.

So here’s what you can do to make sure people get the most important point out of the video… place that point above the video itself.

For example, “I didn’t have a clue how to get started, but thanks to XYZ program I can now get almost any page to rank in Google.”

Then at the bottom of the video, you might give more information, such as, “George was struggling to rank his pages, but then he took the XYZ course and followed the simple steps. See how he did it here ->”

That last bit can be a link to a sales page or blog post, unless of course this testimonial is already on a sales page.

Place Links In Any Testimonial Not On The Sales Page

If your testimonials aren’t on a sales page, then link at the bottom of the testimonial to a page that gives samples, and write something like this:

“Click to see a sample of what Joe is talking about ->”

You see, you can use testimonials anywhere; why not place one in the footer of your emails or website?

Use Your Amazon 5 Star Ratings

If your book – or any of your products – are on Amazon, then use your 5 star ratings and reviews on your sales pages as well.

For example, you might have a Kindle book on how to get traffic, and you sell an entire course on traffic, too.

Don’t be afraid to use your 5 star reviews for your book on your course sales page.

Be sure to emphasize that while the book has great info and awesome reviews, your course has ten times as much info as the book.

Use Product Pictures From Your Customers

If your customers have sent you pictures of them using your product, then by all means place these photos on your sales page.

Prospects love to see customers using and loving your product because it makes them feel better about buying it themselves.

Some people record unboxing videos and put them on YouTube so others can see what they are getting.

You may think this is mainly suited to physical products, but this can also be done with digital products where viewers are shown around the members area etc.

Compare Your Product To Others

Comparison reviews can work great if you’re in a competitive market, especially if you create a chart comparing the features and ratings of your product versus others.

Then again, if you’re in a market where buyers are unlikely to know about the other product unless you tell them, you might want to forgo this one.

Also, don’t be too negative when talking about competitors products as this can cause you problems if they find out about it, so just stick to the facts if you do decide to use this.

Don’t Forget To Screenshot Testimonials

Your customers might have great things to say about you on social media or through text messages. Simply take screenshots of these compliments and post them as testimonials.

Every time you see something positive about you and your products, take a screenshot and save it to a folder just for that purpose.

To take a screenshot on Windows, press the PrtScn button. Or to capture just the active or foremost window, press Alt+PrtScn.

On a Mac, press Shift-Command-4.

How Do You Get All These Testimonials?

It’s simple really. All you have to do is ask! That’s it!

Send out a survey to each of your product buyers to see what they thought. When you get back positive responses, ask if you can use them as testimonials.

You might need to condense what they say – simply rewrite it without changing the meaning and get their okay on it.

For the really enthusiastic customers, ask if they will do a recording for you.

Think outside the box and you will see that there are many ways to use testimonials to boost sales and to increase authority status so start gathering them now.