Get Other People to Sell For You

Today’s question comes to us from Pam K., who asks “I’ve done a little bit of work for a few clients and they’ve been really happy. Is there a way that I can tell or show my potential clients how happy my last clients have been?

Great question, Pam! In essence, this is all about the magic of leverage: Letting other happy customers sell you and your services to future happy customers. And, not only is it magical, but it’s also super-easy.

The key to the magic is one element that most copywriters overlook—but that they look for themselves when searching for a service provider. To what am I so cryptically referring? Testimonials!

Testimonials let prospective clients see that you’ve worked with others before and that you’ve wowed their socks off. It’s a basic marketing technique, but it works. People can be easier sold by what other people say about you than what you say about you.

Collecting testimonials should be just as regular a part of your process as writing, editing and invoicing. Once you receive payment for your services, simply send a friendly email to your contact/client and politely ask if they would be willing to write a testimonial for use on your marketing materials. Something as simple as:

Hi CONTACT NAME,

I received the check yesterday—thank you! I just have one small favor that I’d like to ask. Would you be willing to write a short testimonial about how it was to work with me and the kind of work I delivered? Just a few short sentences would be fine. With your permission, I’d use it on my website and other marketing materials. If you don’t have the time or would prefer not to, that’s perfectly fine, but if you do, I’d really appreciate it!

You’ll find that some people will be more than happy to comply and will send along a testimonial right away, and some people, even people who were really thrilled with your work, just won’t. Eh, that’s life. You’ll have plenty more opportunities to gather testimonials as you go!

Once you’ve got your testimonials, make sure you use them! Put them on your website in a prominent place, print out a sheet of them for your print portfolio and pepper them (judiciously) throughout your resume and cover letter. People love your work! Let the world know! And let those happy clients sell you, for you.

What’s your first step to get testimonials? How many clients are you going to contact? And do you have a different technique for collecting their praise? Let us know in the comments below!