Whether you are selling a book or a product, testimonials and
endorsements are a necessary and vital part of your marketing plan.
Whether you need one endorsement to accent a particular feature of
your book or product, or whether you need several endorsements to
create credibility – you do NEED them.
Endorsements and
testimonials (which we will call endorsements for the sake of
simplicity) create the push that prospective customers need in order
to become buyers. Endorsements provide credibility to your claims
about the quality of your product and they affirm your expertise and
product knowledge. Even if you are not professionally trained in
your area of expertise, endorsements from professionals or well
known individuals in your field indicate that you can provide value
to the buyer. The simple fact that you have created your product
gives you expert status: after all, you could not have produced your
product without extensive research, commitment and passion. You
become the expert.
The purpose of
endorsements is to thoroughly impress your customers, causing them
to believe that their lives just will not be complete without your
product. Make them short and powerful, and don’t be afraid of a
little humor. People need to feel good about purchasing your
product.
The time to request
endorsements is before your product hits the market. You want the
opportunity to add endorsements to your media kit and news releases,
and you want to print them on your product and in your
advertisements.
Send requests for
endorsements, along with a sample of your product, well before the
product is available for sale. Aim for the stars when requesting
endorsements – ask people who are recognizable in your field and who
are as well known and widely known as possible.
Keep in mind that granting endorsements is also of great benefit to
the persons providing them, so don’t be afraid to ask. Free
publicity is always a bonus. When you implement your marketing plan,
the persons providing your endorsements will piggy-back on your
media and advertising campaign. To learn more about how to obtain
free media reviews and how to obtain media attention:
Click Here
People must hear the
name of your product at least seven times before it becomes familiar
enough for them to develop trust and a need to buy. The same is true
for the person lending their name to create your credibility – they
also need to be in people’s faces every day. Have you noticed how
often you see the name of Mark Victor Hansen, author of the
Chicken Soup book series? He endorses many products and in so
doing he has become a household name.
It is acceptable to
provide endorsers with the list of names of other persons from whom
you are requesting endorsements. Often the endorsers will be pleased
to be included in good company. Conversely, they may be flattered to
be included in the list of celebrities.
Be very respectful
of the time of the people that you are approaching for endorsements.
Value their hectic schedules and understand that you are not their
utmost priority. Busy people may not have time to thoroughly
investigate your product or service, or read your book from cover to
cover, so do the work for them. Send them a few versions of
endorsements that you would like, allowing them to merely choose one
and do some minor editing. Pre-writing the endorsements greatly
increases your chances of success and it allows you to emphasize the
points you want to make in order to impress your potential buyers.
Write endorsements
that are specific to your product and that are relevant to the
expertise of the endorser. Don’t ask an author of gardening books to
endorse your novel, your widget or your health food product. Keep
the endorsements relevant and exciting. Writing “This is a great
product” just won’t do. Your endorsements must make buyers feel good
or solve a problem for them. For instance, if you are selling a
healthy lifestyle book, avoid writing “I loved this book”. So what?
Instead, create solutions for your customers. Try something like:
“This book gives you all you need to tighten your sagging bottom and
make your heart happy without fad diets and expensive gym
memberships”.
Keep endorsements
short and relevant, with one to three sentences being sufficient.
Buyers don’t want to read an essay about your product – you have
only a few seconds of their time to attract their attention and
relay your message. Hit them fast and hit them good!
As your product
gains in popularity, you will receive unsolicited endorsements from
happy customers. Be sure to keep a file of them for future reference
and for future inclusion in your marketing campaign. Marketing must
continue forever, if you want to increase sales, and there is no
better way to increase those sales than by the recommendations of
satisfied buyers.
Endorsements are
part of your sales team. Placed on your product or book cover, they
create the justification and urgency that buyers need to part with
their money. Go get them!
Ó Copyright 2004 Ink Tree Ltd.
Ink Tree Ltd. helps authors publish, market and sell books.
We have all the tools you need to succeed in book publishing. Let us help you make your book a success. http://www.inktreemarketing.com
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