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10 New Ideas for Getting Inspired to Write

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Years ago, I had a golden retriever named Louie who loved pillaging trash cans. I tried yelling at him whenever he stuck his nose in the can. I tried different models of trash cans with hard-to-open lids. I tried putting the trash can inside a cabinet. But it didn’t matter. Louie was a trash can fiend, and he wouldn’t be denied. It got to be such a problem that I eventually called a dog trainer friend for advice. She told me to put mousetraps in the trash cans. After she reassured me that her method wasn’t going to harm Louie, I put a mousetrap in every trash can in the house. Then I forgot about it. I was working in my office when I heard a SNAP in the other room, followed by the sounds of scampering toenails. Seconds later, Louie came slinking into my office, his tail between his legs, and a betrayed look on his face. He never touched a trash can again. The point of the story? A few weeks ago, I gave you 10 of my best tips for getting inspired to write . They’re good ideas, ones that have worked for me in the past, and I think they’ll help you. But sometimes 10 isn’t enough. Sometimes, you have an unruly muse who, like my golden retriever, refuses to be good, and you have no other choice but to call a knowledgeable friend and ask for more ideas. Fortunately, I have another 10 ideas ready and waiting. One of these might just be the mousetrap that finally gets your muse to behave. 1. Browse concept photos Ever browsed through a stock photography site like iStockphoto, looking for the perfect picture, but you just couldn’t find anything that . . . you know . . . grabbed you? Well, try doing the opposite. Look at concept photos before you write the post, and then let the photo inspire you. On iStock, you can type “concept” or “[your subject] concept” into the search box, and it’ll give you a selection of photos that represent different ideas. This is exactly how I came up with the idea for my The Courage to Be Wrong post. 2. Write a letter to your internal editor I got this one from one of my college professors, and it sounds really weird, but here’s the idea. As writers, we all have a voice inside our head telling us our work sucks. Normally, it’s just a nuisance, but sometimes the voice is so loud that it overpowers your creative flow, making it impossible for you to write. In those cases, here’s what to do: instead of trying to ignore it, confront it. Write a letter to your internal editor and tell him (or her) how irritated you are, how he’s ruining your career, and to shut the hell up. Really let him have it. Oftentimes, it’ll shock the little bastard into silence, and you can get back to work. 3. Use a pattern interrupt I once met a painter who said that, whenever he is feeling bored with his art, he pulls out a peacock feather, sticks it in his pants like a tail, and goes back to work. It’s so strange, so wrong , that it always gives him a fresh perspective on the painting. Before you go looking for feathers though, let me tell you the secret: it’s a principle from neurolinguistic programming called a pattern interrupt. Whenever a thought process isn’t working for you, one of the best ways to get unstuck is to do something really strange. Throw water in your face, scream at the top of your lungs, dance around naked. People might think you’re crazy, but hey, you’re a writer. You’re supposed to be crazy. 4. Take a hit of caffeine I know, it’s bad for you. Over the long run, it also robs you of more energy than it gives you. But if you’re propping your eyes open with toothpicks, and you have to get a post done or else, I’m the last person to condemn you for needing a little pick me up. All of my best posts here at Copyblogger were conceived under the influence of Mountain Dew, and I’m convinced it’s eloquence in a bottle. If you need it, I say drink it. Caffeine may be bad, but it’s far, far better than your best ideas dying inside of you because you couldn’t stay awake in your chair. Just my opinion. 5. Get off your butt Whenever you’re feeling stuck, the worst thing you can do is sit at the computer and try to grind it out. You’re far, far better off getting up and walking around. Movement creates a sense of energy, and it can help you get your creative wheels turning when you just can’t figure out how you want to approach a post. Personally, I find pacing in circles to be the most helpful because it requires no conscious thought, and I can concentrate on the problem at hand. Taking a walk can also work, especially if it’s a path you know well. 6. Unlock your unconscious mind The longer I write, the more I realize it’s largely an unconscious process. You could be taking a shower, washing the dishes, sleeping — regardless of what it is, your mind is ticking away in the background, figuring out what to say and how to say it. Sometimes though, our minds are so cluttered that we can’t hear our intuition, and when that happens, writing is a struggle. The only way I know to solve it is to sit still and meditate, deliberately quieting your mind and doing your best to listen instead of think. Many times, a fully developed idea will just pop into your head, and you’ll know exactly what to write and why. 7. Browse the archives The next time you’re struggling for post ideas, try browsing through your blog archives for a few minutes, rereading old posts. If you’re anything like me, you’ll always have a different perspective now than you did then, and the old posts will bug you because they are a little outdated. You’ll see points you should have made, metaphors you should’ve used, nuances you should have noticed. All of which make great fodder for follow-up posts. 8. Lecture an idiot Sometimes, the best way to get inspired is to write a good, old-fashioned rant. In your mind, conjure an image of someone who said, did, or believes something idiotic, and then start writing what you would like to say to them. Sure, it’ll be angry and condescending. Sure, you’ll probably go a little too far. Sure, you’ll need to edit it before publishing it to the world. But who cares? Writing great prose has a lot less to do with mechanics than it does with figuring out how to get your blood boiling and then having the courage to put your passion into words. If writing a rant helps you do that, go for it. 9. Let other artists charge you up Creativity is contagious. Whenever you feel like your batteries are drained, find another artist doing their thing and just watch them for a while. If they’re good, something about it will charge you up, and you’ll want to get to work. Personally, I like to watch reruns of Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance . The show has nothing to do with writing, but the dedication of the dancers, the beauty of the choreography, and the emotion of the moment are so inspiring that I can’t help wanting to emulate it in my work. For you, it may be something else. Whatever it is, find it, and set aside the time to let it inspire you. 10. Look within Let’s get down to the real answer, shall we? If you’re really serious about writing, if you want to make a career out of it, if you want to be so good that people talk about and remember you, then the secret to inspiration isn’t getting inspired. It’s being inspired. It’s about loving what you do. It’s about loving who you are. It’s about loving your life . I’ve never heard of anyone who worked a boring job, came home to a boring family, watched three hours of boring television, and then proceeded to write something of spellbinding greatness. It just doesn’t happen. Here’s why: your writing is an extension of who you are . If your life is a soul-sucking heap of mediocrity, then your writing will be a soul-sucking heap of mediocrity. Similarly, if your life is an adventure that brings you such joy you want to weep, then that joy will seep into your words, and anyone who reads them will begin to smile. The difference between a legendary writer and a merely good one isn’t mechanics. It’s intensity. Train yourself to find that intensity, and you’ll never lack for inspiration again. About the Author: Jon Morrow is Associate Editor of Copyblogger. Get more from Jon on twitter .

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The Two Vital Attributes of Quality Content

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“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful” ~William Morris, poet and designer Imagine the household you would have if you got rid of every item that was neither useful or beautiful. Gone would be the plastic doodad with no known purpose, the ugly frame your great-aunt gave you, the Special Free Offer© you never opened, the collection of someday-useful peanut butter jars . . . Every room would be so much more pleasant to be in, and every tool so much easier to find. What if you applied the same rule to the content you wrote? Every email, sales letter, blog post, and comment you wrote would have to be useful or beautiful. Or both. Does that sound a little . . . scary? Most copywriters are fine with this, in principle. (Remember the first law of content marketing ? Every piece of cookie content should reward the audience for reading: by solving a problem they have, or by entertaining them. Sounds pretty similar, doesn’t it?) The main problem people have with this advice is they don’t trust their own judgment. They’re unsure if what they’re writing is useful or beautiful. And of course, some people are certain their writing would make James Joyce weep and Dale Carnegie gnash his teeth, while their readers are wondering what this pretentious and useless fluff piece is all about. Are you unsure? Never fear! Here are some guidelines to help. How do I know if my content is useful? 1. Write content that suits your audience Your content must match your audience’s level of understanding . Experts won’t consider entry-level content useful and beginners won’t get much use out of advanced discussions. Your audience must have the required resources — time, energy, money, potato chips — to use the content. Telling new parents about a relaxation technique that requires eight hours a night of uninterrupted sleep? Not useful. Your content must relate to something your audience cares about . I’ll never find content on how to dress in corporate style useful, because I don’t care about dressing in that way. 2. Write specific content Generalisations aren’t useful. Vague: Scooters need oil on a regular basis. Specific and useful: Refill your scooter’s oil tank to the indicator line with two-stroke motorcycle oil every third time you refill the petrol tank. 3. Write actionable content Useful content creates action . If your readers don’t do something as a result of reading your content (change their mind, buy something, tear up their desk calendar, dance a boogaloo, write a better headline , pick a fight, talk to their children, set a goal, start a collaborative experience ), then the content wasn’t useful. Your content must encourage, advise, mentor, support, bully, or dare your audience into acting. And you must, must, must include a call to action in every piece of content you write. How do I know if my content is beautiful? This is the point where people get uncomfortable. Don’t worry! You don’t have to produce sonnets to write beautifully. Experiences that provide pleasure or meaning are beautiful. Johnny B. Truant writes posts that are beautiful, although he’ll likely laugh in your face and pour jam down your pants if you say so. They’re beautiful because they’re funny and vigorous and meaningful. If you’re not Johnny, here are some tips. (If you are Johnny, hi Johnny!) 1. Write meaningful content If you write your content with emotion , it’s more meaningful. Ever read a “Thank you for subscribing” email with sincere gratitude in it? (I read one that was so beautiful I saved it. Really.) If your feelings don’t match the anticipated emotion it’s even more effective: an angry product review, an excited tax letter, a sympathetic auto-responder . . . Be vulnerable . Instead of writing about the mistakes some people have made, write about the mistakes you made. And what they meant to you. Write about the bigger implications . Fixing a dripping tap is ordinary. Learning to perform house maintenance as a sign of your new independence is meaningful. Real benefits are meaningful. Creating more wealth, more connection, more options, and more purpose are some of our most meaningful activities. 2. Write pleasurable content Write to inspire emotion in your readers: make them smile. Make them cry. Make them wistful. And make sure they know they’re not alone in feeling that way. If you know your audience well, you can write mass communication that feels personal , where every reader thinks you’re psychic because you’re writing Just For Them. Everyone enjoys the pleasure of feeling understood. Use the tools in your linguistic toolbox to make the writing entertaining : play with alliteration, hyperbole, rhythm, flights of fancy, metaphor, perspective, storytelling . . . whatever feels natural and unforced to you. It’s hard to beat the pleasure of seeing your name in print. Praise your readers in public, hold them up as an example, thank them, or mention them as an inspiration . . . and do it by name. Do you want to take it even further? Think of a piece of content that’s critical to your success, like your sales letter. What if you applied the same rules to every paragraph of that content? What if you judged every word ? If you wrote your sales letter and removed every word that wasn’t useful or beautiful: You couldn’t use weasel words like “actually” or “amazingly” or “absolutely.” You’d have to use evocative, beautiful words and images. The writing would be muscular, short and punchy (Like Hemingway would write it). You’d become a thoughtful student of copywriting , so you knew how to make each word as useful as possible to create the result you want. It would kick ass! Do you think you could improve the usefulness and beauty of your content? Tell us how you plan to do it in the comments! About the Author: Catherine is wicked passionate about helping people to start and grow an awesome website: she’s even published a manifesto about it. When she’s not adding five-minute missions to BeAwesomeOnline.com , she can invariably be found on Twitter .

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Johnny’s Copyblogger Wrap-Up: Week of April 19, 2010

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If you read Copyblogger and dream of striking out on your own, you need to know that independent business isn’t always good. Bad things do happen. For instance, I’m writing this in a bookstore cafe. Two tables down from me, there’s a guy with his headphones on belting out “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon. (You’re an old person in the blogosphere if you know who Carly Simon is. Hint: She’s kind of like the Jonas Brothers, except she’s female and not like them in any way whatsoever.) See, people think that being an entrepreneur means freedom and independence, but nobody stops to consider the perils of the Singing Cafe Guy. So be careful what you learn around these parts, or you could end up where I am. Now don your earplugs and take cover, because here’s what happened this week on Copyblogger: Monday: 4 Things an Ethical Internet Marketer Can Learn from Spammers In this post about things that non-spammers can learn from spammy tactics, Daniel Scocco missed at least one technique that successful spammers use to make sales: innuendo mixed with crime reports. I once got a spam email for some “adult services” that ended with this disturbing signoff: Mwah XOXO always :”‘~diana~’”:. Police: Man hunted in family slayings kills self I didn’t join up (despite promises that “i setup a private entry for you with my contact info for tonight”), but I did write about it on my blog. That has to count for something. Any post that has to start with a disclaimer is a good one in my book, and Daniel’s does. We’re not spammers… okay, fine. But if we can think like spammers just a little bit, we can probably improve our conversion even if we’re not selling Viagra. Mwah XOXO always :”‘~johnny~’”:. Read the full post here . Tuesday: The 8 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers So it wasn’t yet 11am on Tuesday when Stephen Covey called me all angry and yelling about Annabel Candy’s post title on Copyblogger, and how he wanted remuneration for use of his “X Habits of Highly Effective Ys” format. So I told him, “Stephen, I’m not in charge of Copyblogger. And plus, it’s fair use. And plus, how did you get my phone number?” That’s when the giant talking Lambchop puppet appeared and I realized I was dreaming, and then woke up in a bin of dead fish once again. Now that Covey is contained (oh yes – we’ve dealt with him), you definitely need to check out this post so that you can learn how to be Highly Effective. Annabel lists eight things that successful bloggers have in common… so that you can cut to the chase instead of getting lost in the minutia of what they do differently. Read the full post here . Wednesday: Copywriting 3.0: How to Bounce the Fat Kid off the See-Saw My job in writing this wrapup is to give you just enough of a tease about each post so that you’ll want to click through and read the whole thing. I can hint at interesting content, promise free tacos, or (my favorite) use “the WTF technique” — writing something that makes you say, “WTF? Better go check that out.” Well, I kind of don’t have to say anything on this one, because Erika Napoletano has written the ultimate “WTF” headline. It suffices to say that playground obesity and dismounting antics do, in fact, have a lot to do with copywriting. And it also suffices to say that Erika has five hot tips for how to unseat overweight children with linguistic jiu-jitsu. Let’s face it. With that headline, there’s no way you’re not going to read the full post . Thursday: Online Business Disaster: Where to Go When the Volcano Blows Leave it to Sonia Simone to find a way to reference both Jimmy Buffett and an Icelandic volcano (the one named when a cat ran across a keyboard) in a post about online business. But for real — where are you going to go when the metaphorical volcano in your business blows? What are you going to do when something really crappy happens, like a big client disappearing, a server crashing, or Journey reuniting for a comeback tour? Do you have contingencies? Do you have enough hairspray? Sonia has ideas for surviving eruptions in style. I need to implement some of them for myself, actually. Read the full post here . Friday: How to Get Free When You’re Feeling Stuck and Scared I relate so strongly to this post by Julie Roads that I’m not even going to make a joke about it. I spent two years scared out of my mind, and the problem is you can’t see the forest for the trees. My dad says, “You can’t see out of panic when you’re down inside of it.” So yeah, no matter what’s going wrong (particularly if it’s in your biz), you could probably use some coping skills. And that’s where this post comes in, so read it. Okay, maybe one joke. Q: What’s brown and sticky? A: A stick. Now go on and learn about frightened little birds . About the Author: Johnny B. Truant is one of the creators of “ Question the Rules : The nonconformist’s punk rock, DIY, nuts-and-bolts guide to creating the business and life you really want, starting with what you already have” — an awesome new course which will launch this coming Wednesday, April 28th.

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5 Warning Signs You Might be a Blogcrastinator

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blogcrastination (bl?g- kras - tuh -ney-sh uh n) — the deferment of writing a blog post to a later time; often a mechanism for coping with anxiety. If you’ve been a blogger for long, you know how ugly blogcrastination can be. It disrupts your goals, stifles your spirit, and makes you second guess your decisions. It can take you from writing a post every day to letting days, weeks, or even months go by without writing. It can even make you question whether you’re really cut out for blogging. I know because I’ve been there, and the good news is that there is a way through it. But first, you’ll need to accept that you are a blogcrastinator (this can be difficult and requires strength of character) and begin to develop an awareness of its telltale signs. See if you can recognize them in yourself: 1. You keep postponing If this is you, you sound a bit like Shakespeare’s Macbeth: “Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow . . .” The thing is, you honestly do intend to get writing. This afternoon or tomorrow morning or this weekend . . . Just not right now. First, you have to finish six loads of laundry, choose the décor for your new home office, and get to inbox zero. After that, blogging is definitely at the top of your priority list. Or so you keep telling yourself. Treatment Plan : Give yourself a series of very short time slots in which to write, interspersed with other activities. Do not make a big deal of this. Convince yourself it’s not in the least important, and you can do it in small chunks. Remember, you’re just jotting down a few sentences here and there. (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.) 2. You push so hard it hurts Your method of writing is to power on through, pounding your brain against the paragraphs over and over until you’re done with the piece, no matter what. In fact, you probably don’t call yourself a blogcrastinator at all, because you do finish posts . . . when you can bring yourself to sit down and write. The problem is, writing is so painful that you can’t bring yourself to do it very often. Treatment Plan : The prescription for this is simple: take a break for a few minutes! Pay attention to how you feel, and when the writing starts to feel like dragging a boulder uphill, stop. Preferably do something physical, like taking a brisk walk or putting away the dishes, anything to get out of your mind and into your body. This will let your creative faculties relax and breathe. If you make this approach a habit, you may be surprised at how darn enjoyable writing can be. 3. You are easily distracted This symptom wears two cunning disguises. The first lets you distract yourself with other ways of “working on” your blog, such as checking your site stats, tweaking your theme, spending four hours in Flickr Creative Commons looking for a killer post image , or (the most insidious distraction of all) doing research for your posts. The second disguise appears when things other than your blog or website or home life distract you. Because God only knows what will happen if you don’t get that roof reshingled today . Treatment Plan : You’re probably seeing blog posts as something you “have to” write. Try reframing them as an “I want to” or, even better, an “I get to.” Think about it. How many pursuits require such low overhead and so little equipment (hmm, computer, brain, and fingers — and the fingers are optional), and let you share so much with the entire world? Pretty cool when you stop to consider it. 4. You’re constantly generating ideas for posts Blogcrastination of this type can be a result of either fear or fun. If it’s the former, you’re perpetually jotting down ideas for future posts because this allows you to avoid the scary process of actually writing any. If the latter, you simply get off on brainstorming — it’s play to you. Unfortunately, it doesn’t get those posts written. Treatment Plan : Use your idea-generating ability to outline your next blog post as if it was a series of mini-posts. Pick a topic from your list of ideas, and then jot down bullet points or subheads for what it needs to include. Eventually you’ll have the skeleton of the post, and all you’ll need to do is go through and insert some connecting words and phrases. 5. You’re a chatter, not a writer You put the “social” in media. In your world, “twit” is not an insult and is always followed by “-er,” and you like nothing more than posting in forums and commenting on other people’s blogs. After all, it’s the way to make friends and organically grow your own following, right? And you truly do get a lot from the conversation. In fact, sometimes you think you do your best writing in those other places. Sadly, sometimes it’s your only writing. Treatment Plan : Turn those detailed comments, forum posts, and twitter conversation into blog posts. Use the same energy, building off the ideas of others; just funnel it into your blog instead. That way, you’re still getting to talk, and you’re building your blog at the same time. Now, was that so bad? Remember, blogcrastination can be overcome, and the pain it causes can be a thing of the past. The first step is to rediscover how much you can enjoy writing. We are all here with you. Okay, everyone, time for a group hug . About the Author: Michelle Russell publishes the blog Practice Makes Imperfect , where she blogcrastinates regularly, as well as spending plenty of quality time on Twitter . With superninja Wendy Cholbi, she also helps brand-new bloggers get their WordPress blogs up and running.

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Six Questions to Ask for Powerful Testimonials

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This is the second and final installment of The Secret Life of Testimonials . Most of us ask for testimonials. And if we follow up and pester our customers enough, we get testimonials. There’s only one problem. Our testimonials have no power. Testimonials are stories. And stories have power and grace, flow and rhythm. Look around you and you’ll see none of that in most testimonials. Limp testimonials are a fact of life, because clients don’t know how to give testimonials. But more importantly, because we don’t have a clue about how to ask for testimonials. As I mentioned last week, the way to ask for testimonials is to use six key questions. The six questions you need to ask to get a powerful testimonial are: What was the obstacle that would have prevented you from buying this product? What did you find as a result of buying this product? What specific feature did you like most about this product? What would be three other benefits about this product? Would you recommend this product? If so, why? Is there anything you’d like to add? Some folks may use slightly different terms for #1, like “What was your main concern about buying this product?” You can slightly amend this question, but don’t stray too much away from it, because it’s critical to bringing out the objection and the reason why this customer (and others) may have been hesitating to buy. A more detailed explanation of each of the six questions: 1) What was the obstacle in your mind that would have prevented you from buying this product? We ask this question because the customer always has a perception of an obstacle. No matter how ready the customer is to buy, there’s always a hitch. The hitch could be money, or time, or availability, or relevance — or a whole bunch of issues. When you ask this question, it brings out those issues. And it does something more. It gives you an insight into issues you may not have considered, because the client is now reaching into their memory to see what could have been the deal-breaker. There’s always an obstacle, and it’s often something you may not have thought of. So when the customer brings up this obstacle, it presents an angle that’s unique, personal, and dramatic. 2) What did you find as a result of buying this product? This question is important, because it defuses that obstacle. When a client answers this question, they talk about why the purchase was worth it, despite the obvious obstacles. 3) What specific feature did you like most about this product? Now you’re digging deeper. If you ask the customer to focus on the entire product, the answer gets “waffly.” That’s why you want to focus on a single feature or benefit that the customer liked most. This brings out that one feature in explicit richness and detail. 4) What would be three other benefits of this product? Having already got one big feature, you can now go a little wide and see what else the customer found useful. You can substitute the number “three” with “two.” You could even remove the number completely. But the number does make it easier for your customer to address the question. It lets her focus on a limited number of things and give you the ones that were most useful to her. 5) Would you recommend this product? If so, why? You may not think this is an important question, but psychologically it’s very important. When a customer recommends something, there’s more than your product at stake. The customer’s integrity is at stake too. Unless the customer feels strongly about the product, they won’t be keen to recommend it. And when they do recommend it, they’re saying to prospective buyers: “Hey, I recommend it, and here are the reasons!” 6) Is there anything you’d like to add? By this point, the customer has often said all she has to say. But there’s never any harm in asking this question. The questions before this one tend to “warm up” the customer, and sometimes you get the most amazing parting statements that you could never have imagined. Using testimonials to find and address objections This detailed method of constructing testimonials brings us to a very interesting observation: the testimonial is the flip side of the objection. Notice the first question we asked the customer? What was the obstacle in your mind that would have prevented you from buying this product? That “obstacle” the customer is talking about is really their biggest objection. So what does this tell us about how we should plan our testimonials? We should plan our testimonials to directly defuse each objection Let’s say you’re keen to sell a trip to the wildlife on the Galápagos Islands. Obviously, the trip is an exciting idea for travelers seeking to explore the wildlife on the islands. But even thrill seekers will most certainly have their objections. So if you did your homework and interviewed the potential customer you’d get objections such as: It’s too expensive It’s too far to travel There are no comfortable accommodations Now let’s assume these are the three main objections What are the testimonials going to say? I thought it was too expensive, but (here’s what I found) I thought it was too far to travel, but (here’s what I found) I thought we’d have to rough it out, but (here’s what I found) Each testimonial is a mirror image of the objection Sure you have already addressed objections earlier in your sales copy, but this defusing is now being done by the customer, who is a third party. And you know what that means, right? A third party is always far more believable to your prospective customers. And because each testimonial is specifically linked to an objection, it systematically reduces the risk not once, but twice. But how do you go about controlling the angle of the testimonial? You may want the customer to talk about expense, or distance travelled, or relevance. But the customer may want to talk about her fear of seasickness, or dangerous animals. So how do you control the angle? You don’t. You’re in the business of helping to construct the testimonial. This means you’re asking questions that give the testimonial structure. You don’t need to control the situation. But that doesn’t mean you can’t influence things. Here’s how you go about attempting to get the angle you desire. Start with the key objections you need to address Call up the customer. Ask the customer if expense, or distance, or comfort was one of their big issues. If they say yes, continue down that track, and they’ll give you the specifics of why expense or distance or comfortable accommodation was an issue. But if they disagree, and come up with a completely different issue, for example they say, “I thought the bad weather was going to be a dampener,” then hey, keep following that customer’s train of thought. Because that train of thought is now revealing an objection you hadn’t considered. And it may be a valid objection that just hasn’t come to your attention yet. However, you may decide that the stray objection isn’t worth pursuing. And that you can’t use the objection and corresponding testimonial. Well, no problem. If you decide you can’t use the testimonial, you can always call other clients to get the angle you’re looking for. Sooner rather than later, you’re going to get the exact objections, and the exact testimonials, that help to defuse those key objections. Which means that the testimonial isn’t something we just throw into our marketing. It means the testimonial is doing some real grunt-work in overcoming objections. The factor that makes the testimonial so much more powerful is that it’s doing so from a “third party” perspective, and doing it in a way that you as the seller could never do. You could never bring out the detailed specifics that a client brings out You could never paint the imagery and the emotion. And even if you could, it would sound like a whole lot of puffery. But when the client comes up with all that detail and emotion, the testimonial becomes rich, complex, and yet believable. And that’s the main job of the testimonial. Please try the six questions out for yourself! And let us know how you do with them in the comments. By the way, if you missed the first post on testimonials, you can find it here: The Secret Life of Testimonials About the Author: Sean D’Souza offers a free report on ‘Why Headlines Fail’ when you subscribe to his Psychotactics Newsletter . Be sure to check out his blog , too. An editorial P.S. Hi all, this is Sonia , intruding on Sean’s post for a moment if I may. When Sean sent me this pair of posts, he was also kind enough to include a review copy of his new product, The Secret Life of Testimonials . This pair of posts in and of themselves will get you remarkable testimonials. So the first thing I’d like to suggest is that you contact some happy customers today and use the techniques he’s taught you to boost the power of your testimonials. I think you’re going to be impressed with the results. But if you want to make your testimonials even more effective, I can wholeheartedly recommend The Secret Life of Testimonials . That’s an affiliate link, so if you decide to invest in his program, we’ll earn a few dollars. But I’m quite confident that you’ll make much more than that by putting Sean’s teaching into place. It’s really unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and I’m not easily impressed. Testimonials are both one of the most important pieces of your marketing message and one of the biggest stumbling blocks for many of us. Having a well-thought-out system can make all the difference for you. I hope you’ll at least go check out the details for yourself .

two masks Six Questions to Ask for Powerful Testimonials

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Six Questions to Ask for Powerful Testimonials