Feedback is a process in which information about the past or the present influences the same phenomenon in the present or future. As part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop, the event is said to
"feed back" into itself.
Have you ever stumbled upon a testimonial that left you thinking who on earth would write such a strong statement about a freelancer‘s services? Testimonials are one of the
most effective ways to legitimize your service claims and convince clients to hire you. Freelancers should know how to use them to their advantage.
I have seen a lot of online portfolios and believe that most of the freelancers
fail to use testimonials to yield results. Some testimonials hold
strong endorsements that prospective clients may relate to as a gimmick
and others are too weak to help with a freelancer’s credibility.
Use it right though and it will be a great marketing tool to help improve your freelance business effectively.
1. Mind the Amount of Testimonials
Let’s say John is eager to buy product A and a product B. He finds
that on the Internet, a good number of people have bought item A, saying
that it is a great product and they recommend others buy it. As for
product B, he searched high and low and it seems that nobody has
anything good to say about it. What do you think are the
conclusions that John would draw from this exercise?
Based on the feedback he got, he’d probably won’t mind spending his
money on product A, and he’d probably be more wary about buying product
B. Even if he could afford both, it is not surprising to expect a more
reserved approach to the latter due to the fact that no one has anything
(good or bad) to say about the product.
This is a philosophy and concept that is also applied for marketing your services using testimonials.
The more people you can get to say good things about you,
the more clients you’ll get to buy your services. If nobody says
anything about your services, clients will not believe in your service
claims, and most probably won’t even think to hire you.
2. Focus on the Value of the Testimonials
People are more likely to buy a product when a popular or famous
person endorses it. It is because there are clients who are obsessed
with the success of these celebrities. These customers would
buy whatever product they promote.
To no surprise featuring James Franco in the promotion of the Galaxy
Camera will contribute positively to the sales volume produced and
publicity of the Samsung bundled camera.
You can apply the same to your services. Let’s say you crafted a logo design or worked for a reputable or popular brand,
you may ask the owner of it for a feedback about your services.
The next thing is to turn that feedback into a testimonial. The fastest
way is to ask your client if it is alright to him that you
attach the feedback as a testimonial in your portfolio.
In order to increase the likability of converting into clients you
can add his photo, contact (Twitter or email) or a logo of the brand he
represents next to the testimonial.
3. Write Testimonial Statements on Your Own
Now, this doesn’t mean faking your own testimonials, let’s get that
cleared. Truth be told, it is very hard to get a testimonial from a busy
client. Most successful figures in the field are busy and would not
have the time to give you an endorsement even if they want to. Plus,
giving you a testimonial will not benefit them as much as it would
benefit you. So what do you do?
Draft a testimonial for them to work on. Some
clients just don’t know what to say or write about you. They’d be glad
to lend support but somehow or rather, their testimonials may not do
justice to what you have to offer. That’s one of the reason they hired
you in the first place! Write a testimonial highlighting what you have
to offer, how easy you are to work with and other claims that they can
attest or lend support to.
On their part, it is merely selecting statements they agree with, and
if they would allow you to attach their good name to the write-up
before you put it up on your portfolio site.
4. Place Testimonials in Strategic Places
If you really want to use testimonials to convince people to hire you, you ought to
place them strategically where readers can find them. Testimonials need to be in viewable places
on your website where prospects can see them easily. If you have
testimonials compiled in buried pages in your navigation menu for
instance, chances are that potential clients who’ve been looking for “who else says so” won’t find it.
Once they leave your site, you are never getting them back again.
Home pages, the ‘About page’, sidebar widgets, and within the content of
pages are perfect areas to place your testimonials. Just don’t overdo
it.
Conclusion
There are many ways you can use to market your freelance services.
Using testimonials is one of them. To make sure that your testimonials
are getting you the results you want, you should know how to use them
the right way. Are you using testimonials to rope in new clients? Let us
know how it is faring for you so far.
