subject: Product Reviews: How To Make Powerful Product Reviews That Persuade Prospects To Buy [print this page] Author: Jeremy Gislason Author: Jeremy Gislason
With the new FTC rules in place, you may be wondering what to do about product reviews on your website or blog. Although steps have been put in place to limit and discourage fraudulent testimonials, you can still work within the guidelines and create booming product review sites. Recently, many customers have questioned testimonials appearing on sites anyway. As the Internet grows, more and more people are catching on to the tricks of the trade of the Internet marketing world. You can actually use this to your advantage and switch over to a new method. If you have built up a list of subscribers, you can use your own testimonials of products you have used and loved, and new ones you have tried out. When you use your own testimony and it is true, your faith in the product will shine through and influence your subscribers to buy the product. Customers can usually tell the difference between a sales pitch used for a product review and an honest testimonial from a user. A product review that has been written only to make a commission is much different than an honest review from an end-user. If you are an affiliate marketer, you know that product reviews allow you to deliver much more information about a certain product than what can be covered in a simple sales page. It shows that you have knowledge about a certain product and can give all the insider information about that product. This is what the customer really wants. The Secret To A Successful Product Review The customer wants to know all the secrets about the product before they make a purchase. You can give them this with a product review. If the sales page did not make them want to make a purchase, then they obviously need some extra information before they go ahead and make a final decision. They want to know if the product really does what it states it does. They need reassurance about this matter, because money is tighter than it has ever been for many people, and they want to make an informed decision. They are looking for an honest product review from somebody they feel they can trust before digging into their pockets and laying out the cash. If you have become a trusted authority figure for your customers they will trust your testimonials and make purchase decisions based on what you say and what they really need. This will go much further than any product testimonials from strangers on the sales page designed to make commissions only. Use The Product Yourself Before Making A Product Review To make an honest review you actually have to try out a product for yourself before making any recommendations. Being a product reviewer for your loyal customers is a job that you should take very seriously. Do not do anything that can jeopardize the trust that you have built up with your clients. They count on you to deliver an honest product review, and will remain loyal as long as you do not let them down. If you are just starting out you can ask the owner of the product for a free one so that you can write a review about it. In most cases you will not get a free copy of a new software, new e-book or physical product if you are new on the scene. It doesn't hurt to ask, however, because some of these people are just starting out as well and are willing to send you something free in order to maximize the exposure on their new product. If you have established yourself as a reputable product reviewer in your own niche, you will get more positive feedback from your requests for a free product, and in some cases you will be contacted when new launches or products are available and offered access to them for free automatically. Keep The Sales Out Of The Product Review If you write a good product review, you will need to keep the sales out of it because it will sell on its own without any hype. All you really want to do is state the pros and cons of the product and then forward them over to the sales page. The product review can be called a pre-sell, and if you have a customer that is sitting on the fence, it may be all that is necessary for him to decide to buy the product. In some cases, the customer has never heard of this item before; and he is counting on you to let him know that this product will help him solve a problem he is having, or give him other benefits. If you have any kind of personal proof you can show your people, they would appreciate seeing it. You can also tell a story or two about your experience using it. In other words, the more real you make this product to your customers, and they have trust in your word, the more likely you are to make sales. As you end up making more sales because of your honest product review, you will also build up your reputation because you have helped people. Word will get around that you are dependable and reliable, your customer base will grow and so will your income.About the Author: