There’s marketing gold in your biz — ya just need to dig.

Hey varmints, did you know there’s marketing gold right under your nose?

Just below the surface of your business lie sparkly marketing gems that have the power to entice new people — and all ya have to do is make like Indiana Jones and unearth them.

Curious?

Let me and my book explain more!

I bought this holiday read on the strength of the endorsement from the Godfather of horror fiction — Mr. Stephen King!

I am a huge King fan — he scared the bejesus out of me throughout my teenage years, and I couldn’t get enough! (What is it with pubescent girls and horror?)

And what ya know, Kingy was right — this mighty read is brilliant — Rachie (and SK) recommend!

What publishers, Stephen King, savvy biz owners (and you will soon) know is that testimonials are treasures!

But all too often these tiny pieces of marketing gold are left undiscovered, cos for many biz owners it feels weird, icky or just plain awkward to ask people to blow smoke up your arse and tell you how wonderful you are.

Rachie’s aim today is to persuade you that getting (and using) testimonials can be:

A. easy peasy
B. super helpful for your prospective clients
C. key to getting your ‘why am I different’ message licked!
and
D. not at all weird

So, if collecting testimonials from happy clients is at bottom of your to-do list, just behind checking Google analytics, or balancing the books, this read is for you hoo

But first a tale of terrible testimonials.
Sorry, but your clients do not come pre-programmed with the nous on how to give generous and life-affirming testimonials — that’s why most of the testimonials you’ve seen are vague, ineffective, and frankly dull AF.

“Sammy is such a good coach, he made me feel safe and asked some really powerful questions”

YAWN!!!!!
Would this reassure you of Sammy’s coaching skillz or persuade you to splash your cash? No?
And what does this tell us about the clients’ experience or the coach’s uniqueness? Nothin!

BTW: This isn’t anyone’s fault; for decades we have been fed a diet that marketing should about us, out to sell and self-aggrandizing. Thats why we shy away from asking clients for feedback, or when we do, we frame questions around our skills or our service.
The result: flimsy testimonials such as the one above.

But hear me, a testimonial is never about you, it’s about your client and their transformation!

Let me share with you 3 easy steps to get terrific testimonials:

1. Ask past or current clients for feedback
2. Interview them
3. Transcribe and edit

Let’s break each step down.

1. The Ask
Pick your top 3–5 happy clients and email them asking to hop on a 10 min zoom call with you.
Frame your request like this (or words to the effect)
Would you be open to answering a few questions about our time together? I would love to know more about your experience so I can share what’s possible with prospective clients.

Asking clients for an interview as opposed to emailing them a bunch of Qs makes them much more likely to give you feedback.
Why? It’s frictionless — it takes away the pain of them having another to do on their list, then the pencil-chewing angst of coming up with the right, oh-so-perfect words to describe working with you.
Interviewing them for 10 mins = doing them (and you) a favour!

2. The interview
Make sure you have consent to record and transcribe your interview and reassure your client that they will see any edits before you hit publish.
Then ask these Qs:

• Before working with me, what was going on in your life? What were you looking for help with? And what drew you to me in particular?
• What were some of your biggest concerns and worries about working with me (if any) before we started?
• What has been your favourite part of doing this work?
• What was the biggest transformation you got? (And, if relevant: how did that impact different areas of your life?)
• What surprised you the most about working with me?
• Who would you recommend me to?

Framing the questions in this way tells a story — it demonstrates the arc of experience that your client had.
Their words — not yours — will appeal to future clients, assuage their fears and describe the benefits of working with you waaay more powerfully than you ever could!
P.S. Your uniqueness is locked away in these questions. As you interview clients, look for the clues as to why you — you’ll find these answers in their ‘favourite part of working with you’ and ‘what surprised them most’

3. The transcription
This is the fun bit!
Upload your zoom audio into otter.ai or happyscribe.com (both have free options) — and hit transcribe.
Inside the transcription will be the juiciest, most choices cuts of client word meat for you to use in your comms.
You’re looking for the words and phrases that include emotion, are specific, ‘sticky’ and speak directly to your prospective clients’ fears or goals.
Don’t be afraid to cut, edit, or splice sentences together for maximum impact — just make sure you show your client the outcome of your edits.

Now m’friends, edit these words down into punchy one-liners and longer more descriptive paragraphs.

And ta-da, you have marketing gold!

Use these shiny nuggets of love:

• in your social media posts.
• on your sales page.
• in the body of your marketing email.
• in the P.S. of your marketing email, with the invitation for them to take action.
• as a “case study,” going into depth about how a particular client got results (ask for permission — the majority of the time, they’ll be honored to be featured as one of your happy clients and success stories!)

Don’t be afraid to “recycle” a testimonial. 99% of your future clients haven’t seen it yet, and 1% of those who’ve already seen it forgot that they saw it.

Happy treasure hunting!