Here's The Deal On Testimonials (A Real Marketer In A REAL Niche)

[Daniel E Taylor]

I've been seeing this testimonial debate over the past few days
because of the FTC.

Even seeing John Reese saying remove all testimonials... Which made
me lose ALOT of respect for him.

I'm in the music production niche and I never use hype to sell. It's
unnecessary.

But it seems like in the internet marketing niche you guys are so
use to the HYPE that you interchange HYPE and TESTIMONIAL as
if they are one in the same.

I use lots of testimonials. And anyone saying that they won't significantly
boost your sales needs to get out of marketing.

For my testimonials I make the person leave a name, city, and website
where applicable.

My testimonials hit me up all the time saying lots of people contact
them after reading their testimonials to make sure it's real and if
my product worked.

They always put in a good word for me which usually gets me the
sale.

This happens all day everyday.

Why does "John Reese" and many other marketers assume everyone
who buys marketing courses are selling internet marketing products?

I find the most effective testimonials are the REAL ones.

"I'm joe and when I started I didn't have a clue and thanks
to daniel I got my first online sale. I'm so excited. The skys
the limit for me... I reccomend this to anyone looking to get started".

Do you honestly think the FTC is going to go after you for that
testimonial?

Many of the marketers are running scared because they have
been using their "Friends" as testimonials who already make
big money and try to pretend like it's because of their product.

WARNING IM MAKING THIS UP AS AN EXAMPLE:

"Hi I'm Mike Filsaime and thanks to John's product I made
$100,000 in 7 hours".

no you made $100,000 in 7 hours because you already run
a million dollar company.

I see those type of testimonials ALL the time. And the consumer
is tired of this BS, and so is the FTC.

Unless all of the pyschology and human nature studies have been
proven irrelevant than testimonials are a big factor in sales.

Yes I've sold products without testimonials. But trust me when I say
you're leaving money on the table without them.

Plus many of you have to remember something about John Reese,
Frank Kern, etc...

They already have a huge following and reputation and people who
buyt their products over and over so yea they
don't really need them.

But what about business owners/marketers who REALLY have to advertise
(Google adwords, articles, youtube, etc...) and our business depends
on continuing to convert new prospects into paying customers.

Ask Eban Pagean if he is going to remove all the testimonials from
his dating website.

Many of these guys are showing their lack of REAL marketing knowledge
from the perspective of a business owner who isn't internet famous
and has to rely on sound proven marketing strategies to build and
run a successful business.

So my 2 cents:

Don't use stupid outlandish claims in your testimonials and if you can
just use testimonials that paint you in a good light and may not use
specific results.

Daniel

[Scott Ames]

Results not typical. The average forum post has no opinion. 4% of all forum posts are silly.

[lakshaybehl]

Originally Posted by Scott Ames

Results not typical. The average forum post has no opinion. 4% of all forum posts are silly.

LOL... you made me laugh man

[keyaziz]

I have to agree that some niches don't need hype at all and in fact this can cause you to lose sales.

My boyfriend is a metal head and when we started his product a few years back we followed the sales formula taught in the IM world. He was very uncomfortable with this but we had decided to follow the rules because we wanted to make it work.

Within a few minutes of putting it up we scrapped it. He made the page from the heart - no fluff. Just what the product does and some true testimonials.

In fact currently we have decided to add the product to his music production website once he has improved it as he is quite embarrassed over his first attempt (despite the fact that it has helped so many people and it rarely gets refunds in fact I think its had 2 in 2 years). Instead of even adding a slightly salesy page, we are just going to put the product up and write exactly what it does.

Some niches really don't need anything more than that

[Daniel E Taylor]

Originally Posted by davebo

who cares about the stupid testimonials already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
.

People who run/own real businesses that they live off of and
have a passion for and want to know the best way to
maximize business while being the most efficient.

Last time I checked this is a marketing forum to talk about
marketing. I don't think it would be appropriate to talk about
who won the patriots/Broncos game on this forum.

So I guess people who don't run real businesses and just
come on the forum to talk sh*t and sound smart wouldn't
care much.

Daniel

[Kevin Williams]

John Reese is just telling everyone else to stop using testimonials so there will be less competition and he can use more.

[yourreviewer]

Originally Posted by spire8989

John Reese is just telling everyone else to stop using testimonials so there will be less competition and he can use more. Okay maybe not, but you never know.

This is outright plain and silly. John Reese would care less about the competition.

[JohnMcCabe]

Inside this little, insular world of "Internet Marketing", I think the panic about testimonials comes from a few past sins coming home to roost...

1. Products where the list of testimonials and the list of affiliates are virtually identical, without disclosure.

2. Products where the sales page takes the phrase "fake it until you make it" far too literally, making up testimonials and using stock photos to make them seem real.

3. Trading products/services for testimonials. How many threads have you seen just in the main forum offering "10 copies of my new product in return for testimonials?" Not reviews, testimonials.

4. The widespread use of flogs and splogs with phony reviews telling of glorious results, especially in the health fields. Just today, I got spammed with several invitations to read reviews for a new "natural cure for cancer" ebook.

Bottom line, if you're worried about getting your barn inspected, get rid of the manure...

[Kevin Williams]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

This is outright plain and silly. John Reese would care less about the competition.

You appear to have your sarcasm shields up. Prepare to be boarded!

[yourreviewer]

Originally Posted by spire8989

You appear to have your sarcasm shields up. Prepare to be boarded!

I am responding to your post where you mentioned John is probably doing this because he wants less competition. My post was not meant to be sarcastic and I was quite serious when I said John would care less about competition because he is a top guy in IM.

[Steven Wagenheim]

Hey Daniel, where you been? I missed you!

Great level headed post and your testimonial is a perfect example of one
that isn't going to get anybody on your case.

A little common sense and honesty goes a long way.

Thanks for the reality check.

[Kevin Williams]

Originally Posted by yourreviewer

I am responding to your post where you mentioned John is probably doing this because he wants less competition. My post was not meant to be sarcastic and I was quite serious when I said John would care less about competition because he is a top guy in IM.

I didn't imply that yours was sarcastic, but mine that you responded to was.

[yourreviewer]

Originally Posted by spire8989

I didn't imply that yours was sarcastic, but mine that you responded to was.

Peace buddy. No harm meant.

[John_Reese]

I just wanted to chime in and clarify what I meant about removing testimonials.

I was using it in the context of RESULTS-BASED testimonials, not just any testimonial. I'll be clarifying this on my blog.

Daniel, in your business if you have a customer says, "I love Daniel's product, I bought it and made my first $50 just a few days after I got it!" but the majority of your customers DON'T make $50 in a few days after they buy your product, the FTC is saying you CANNOT USE IT in your marketing.

Yes, that's what the language says. You cannot use testimonials that make claims of results that the average buyer of that product does not achieve.

This is what's a bit scary about the new guidelines. Will they come after you if you used the above testimonial? Probably not. But would they be in the 'right' based on their new guidelines to move and shut you down? YES.

This isn't about hype claims. This isn't about selling make money stuff. It's about results based testimonials and what the average person achieves when they buy the product. That's how CRAZY and broad these new guidelines are.

-John Reese

[Killer Joe]

Originally Posted by John_Reese

Yes, that's what the language says. You cannot use testimonials that make claims of results that the average buyer of that product does not achieve.

Hi John,

I know this sounds like I'm splitting hairs here, but the proper word used by the FTC is "typical" and not "average".

In fact, if you look at their online documents and use the search function in your browser you will see the word "average" is not used anywhere.

Here is a paragraph below to illustrate...


"Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides – which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as “results not typical” – the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor."


The legal definition of 'typical' is substantially different than the legal use of 'average'.

Believe it or not, it makes a huge difference.

Btw, I read your piece on this subject. Thanks for your thoughts on the matter.

Much success,

Bill

[Noah Fleming]

[QUOTE=John_Reese;1275930 Will they come after you if you used the above testimonial? Probably not. But would they be in the 'right' based on their new guidelines to move and shut you down? YES.
[/QUOTE]

According to the FTC they said anyone in question would first be issued a warning and asked to comply. I dont know. I think the changes are fair and welcome. It's like the wildwest out there.

Ever seen the Jeff Paul "Internet Millions" infomercial? This is exactly the type of person we can thank for the FTC cracking down...and rightfully so.

YouTube - Jeff Paul | Jeff Paul infomercial |...

Of course, testimonials are only a small piece of the pie. I guarantee we're going to see them extending this to the claims made in copy too.

[Mike Hill]

Originally Posted by Daniel E Taylor

I've been seeing this testimonial debate over the past few days
because of the FTC.

Even seeing John Reese saying remove all testimonials... Which made
me lose ALOT of respect for him.

I'm in the music production niche and I never use hype to sell. It's
unnecessary.

But it seems like in the internet marketing niche you guys are so
use to the HYPE that you interchange HYPE and TESTIMONIAL as
if they are one in the same.

I use lots of testimonials. And anyone saying that they won't significantly
boost your sales needs to get out of marketing.

For my testimonials I make the person leave a name, city, and website
where applicable.

My testimonials hit me up all the time saying lots of people contact
them after reading their testimonials to make sure it's real and if
my product worked.

They always put in a good word for me which usually gets me the
sale.

This happens all day everyday.

Why does "John Reese" and many other marketers assume everyone
who buys marketing courses are selling internet marketing products?

I find the most effective testimonials are the REAL ones.

"I'm joe and when I started I didn't have a clue and thanks
to daniel I got my first online sale. I'm so excited. The skys
the limit for me... I reccomend this to anyone looking to get started".

Do you honestly think the FTC is going to go after you for that
testimonial?

Many of the marketers are running scared because they have
been using their "Friends" as testimonials who already make
big money and try to pretend like it's because of their product.

WARNING IM MAKING THIS UP AS AN EXAMPLE:

"Hi I'm Mike Filsaime and thanks to John's product I made
$100,000 in 7 hours".

no you made $100,000 in 7 hours because you already run
a million dollar company.

I see those type of testimonials ALL the time. And the consumer
is tired of this BS, and so is the FTC.

Unless all of the pyschology and human nature studies have been
proven irrelevant than testimonials are a big factor in sales.

Yes I've sold products without testimonials. But trust me when I say
you're leaving money on the table without them.

Plus many of you have to remember something about John Reese,
Frank Kern, etc...

They already have a huge following and reputation and people who
buyt their products over and over so yea they
don't really need them.

But what about business owners/marketers who REALLY have to advertise
(Google adwords, articles, youtube, etc...) and our business depends
on continuing to convert new prospects into paying customers.

Ask Eban Pagean if he is going to remove all the testimonials from
his dating website.

Many of these guys are showing their lack of REAL marketing knowledge
from the perspective of a business owner who isn't internet famous
and has to rely on sound proven marketing strategies to build and
run a successful business.

So my 2 cents:

Don't use stupid outlandish claims in your testimonials and if you can
just use testimonials that paint you in a good light and may not use
specific results.

Daniel

Here's the first logical post regarding the FTC stuff... I totally agree with Daniel and all the remarks he's made thus far in this thread.

Mike Hill